Hotel Benito - Hong Kong

Hotel Benito was indeed a lucky find for us as we were planning our Hong Kong trip. At first, we were considering the hostels in Chungking and/or Mirador Mansions but I was iffy about those since we will be travelling with kids. We knew we would be out all day and only needed a safe place to stash our stuff in and sleep in at night but I still wanted some place nice.

We chose to ride the Airport Express (for the experience, as most in our group were HK first-timers) and were shuttled by bus (for free) from the Kowloon station to Park Hotel (Chatham Road corner Cameron Road, because the driver knew where this was). We easily saw Hotel Benito's building and just walked to it (around 3 minutes, with luggage and kids in tow).

Hotel Benito's entrance is at the side street going to Cameron Lane (not facing Cameron Road). Other landmarks that will tell you you're near the place are Watson's, Aji Ichiban and Body Shop as well as KFC, Burger King and Yoshinoya signs. It's a one-minute walk to the MTR B2 exit.


the very clean (someone kept on cleaning all the glass, which our kids kept on kissing and touching) and simple lobby/reception area, with 2 elevators to the right servicing the building


standard twin room (which we got for HKD800/room/night [around P4,340/night] for the first 3 weeknights and HKD950 for our last night, which fell on Thurs-Fri; if we stayed another night, the weekend rate would have been HKD1500/room)


the twin beds can be moved together to form a bigger bed (which accommodated my family of 2 adults, 1 preschooler and 1 infant well enough), and there is ample cabinet space to stow your things in


really clean comfort rooms with a separate shower area (no tubs though); two bath and two hand towels were provided and changed daily


the separate shower area; hot water isn't a problem; shampoo and liquid soap dispensers inside (and they smelled nice enough and felt minty)


toilettries provided include toothbrush/toothpaste, razor, comb and cotton buds/balls and are replenished as used

The air-conditioning in our room was working fine. We were also provided with two bottles of water daily; an orange and apple upon arrival; and packets of coffee, milk tea and jasmine tea (electric kettle provided).

There seemed to be only 20 TV channels or so, most of which were Chinese. There was Nick Jr. so my son was happy enough. We did not bring a laptop so we weren't able to test the internet cable but our relatives in other rooms surfed and Facebooked just fine.

There was also a mini ref where we kept our drinks cold (even froze beverages for next-day outings).

The staff were really unobtrusive but quite helpful. The concierge would readily whip out a map to draw on to better direct you to where you want to go (and they spoke and understood English). They also allowed us to leave our bags in their care so we can wander around Hong Kong already before the check-in time of 2:00 PM and allowed us to leave the bags there for last-minute shopping after check-out (12:00 NN).

I also appreciated the care that went into cleaning our room. Our first night there, we pushed the beds together but without care and found it the next day (after coming home from Ocean Park) pushed together by the window, with some of our clothes that were left on the bed piled neatly on the backrest of a chair. Our scattered belongings on the dresser table often got some semblance of order too, even the nebulizer we brought will be stood upright under the dresser, ready for next use.

One other thing was the lack of noise in that area. We'd hear the occasional siren of a police car/ambulance maybe but it really wasn't noisy there, and we stayed at the 3rd floor only. If I would have a point of contention, it might be waking up to a big face (a well-lit ad from across the road) but our curtains were always drawn, anyway.

And we just really loved that we could walk to the MTR (and from there, walk to several places in an air-conditioned environment) and that restaurants that are familiar were nearby. Most of the shopping we did were also around the area (Nathan and Kimberley Road).

Hotel Benito did not offer any meals with its rates, but I guess it didn't want to compete with the restaurants near it. Less than 5 minutes from it are the noodle houses and barbecue shops and dessert cafes at Carnarvon Road... and just across it is Hoixe Cake Shop (Hong Kong's version of Bread Talk) which offered soooo many great things, we practically lived there too.

I would really highly recommend Hotel Benito to others looking for a nicer place to stay in Hong Kong and would definitely book rooms there again should we return.

Book rooms now!!!
Hotel Benito
7-7B Cameron Road,
Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Tel: (852) 3653 0388
Fax: (852) 2369 1283
Email: info@hotelbenito.com
http://www.hotelbenito.com/eng/index.htm

Please note that we travelled as a caravan of 8 adults, 3 preschoolers and 1 infant and were in Hong Kong between August 22-27, 2011, the height of summer (and summer sale) there.