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ICE HOUSE Map Serviced Apartments $$

2836 7333; www.icehouse.com.hk; 38 Ice House St, Central; studios per night $1000-1800; MTR Central (exit G)

Next to the Fringe Club and up the hill from Lan Kwai Fong, Ice House offers open-plan ‘suites’ spread over 13 floors that are bright, colourfully decorated and fitted with small kitchenettes and work areas. It’s a favourite of visiting journalists. The down side is that some of the rooms on the top floors are very noisy, and service can be cavalier. Monthly rates start at $20,000.

CITY GARDEN HOTEL HONG KONG Map Hotel $$

2887 2888; www.citygarden.com.hk; 9 City Garden Rd, Fortress Hill; r $850-2500, ste from $3000; MTR Fortress Hill (exit A);

It may be in gritty Fortress Hill, but readers have nice things to say about this exceptionally well-turned-out hotel, and not only for its service and generous discounting policy (fortnightly/monthly packages from $8200/13,800). Enter from the corner of Electric Rd and Power St.

MINGLE PLACE AT THE EDEN Map Boutique Hotel $$

2850 6289; www.mingleplace.com; 148 Wellington St, Central; s $600-900, d $750-1000, monthly packages s $13,000; MTR Central (exit D2);

It may call itself a ‘boutique hotel in Central’, but with rates posted as ‘3 hours extended session’ and the like, we know what this place is up to… Still, it is probably the most luxurious knocking shop you’ll stay in. Rooms are comfortable but small.

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KOWLOON

Splendour rubs shoulders with squalor in Kowloon. Hong Kong’s poshest hotel, the Peninsula, is here in Tsim Sha Tsui, within spitting distance of the (in)famous Chungking Mansions. A huge range of other hotels and guesthouses can be found in Kowloon, catering to all budgets between these two extremes.

Tsim Sha Tsui East, an area of reclaimed land northeast of Tsim Sha Tsui, is weighed down by mostly anonymous top-end hotels. It’s served by the MTR East Rail (East Tsim Sha Tsui station) and most hotels run shuttles to Tsim Sha Tsui proper and/or to Central. You’ll find many more top-end hotels lining Nathan Rd as it travels north from the harbour.

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TSIM SHA TSUI

PENINSULA HONG KONG Map Luxury Hotel $$$$

2920 2888; www.peninsula.com; Salisbury Rd; r $4200-5800, ste from $6800; MTR Tsim Sha Tsui (exit E);

Lording it over the southern tip of Kowloon, Hong Kong’s finest hotel evokes colonial elegance. Your main dilemma will be how to get here: landing on the rooftop helipad or arriving in one of the hotel’s 14-strong fleet of Rolls Royce Phantoms. Some 300 classic European-style rooms boast wi-fi, CD and DVD players, as well as marble bathrooms. Many rooms in the Pen’s 20-storey annexe offer spectacular harbour views; in the original building you’ll have to make do with the glorious interiors. There’s a top-notch spa and swimming pool. Spring Moon Click here is one of the best Cantonese restaurants in town.

SHERATON HONG KONG HOTEL & TOWERS Map Hotel $$$$

2369 1111; www.sheraton.com/hongkong; 20 Nathan Rd; s $3000-3600, d $3100-3700, ste hotel/towers from $6400/7300; MTR Tsim Sha Tsui (exit F);

This large, very American hostelry at the start of Nathan Rd is as central as you’ll find in Tsim Sha Tsui and offers a high level of comfort and great facilities. The tower rooms command superior harbour views (and higher prices). The Sky Lounge, on the 18th floor, is worth a visit for the stunning views and there’s a rooftop pool and gym.

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BUDGET BLOCKS IN TSIM SHA TSUI

Chungking Mansions

Say ‘budget accommodation’ and ‘Hong Kong’ in one breath and everyone thinks of Chungking Mansions ( Map; 36-44 Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui; MTR Tsim Sha Tsui, exit F). Built in 1961, CKM is a labyrinth of homes, guesthouses, Indian restaurants, souvenir stalls and foreign-exchange shops spread over five 17-storey blocks in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. According to Gordon Mathews, an anthropologist who studies the place, it has a resident population of about 4000 and an estimated 10,000 daily visitors. Over