This may not be the ultimate guide, but hopefully you will allow me to share with you my experience on how I decide on which hotel to stay and why I chose that particular hotel.

Let me give you an example. My last international trip was to Bali in indonesia. Initially, I would go to a few sites to compare prices, from asiarooms.com, asiatravelmart.com and so forth. I get a rough guide on the pricing and use the lowest price to negotiate with my agent.

The hotel I chose for Bali was Mercure Kuta. I targeted Kuta as it provides the best location on the island if you want a vibrant lifestyle and one which you can walk around at night with many things to do. Food will be easily available. Downside would be it would be packed with people. As per all our free and easy trips, we prefer a crowded locations so that everything will be close by us. This happened to be one of the best choice as I had tummy ache immediately upon arrival in Bali. It was pretty bad as it knocked me out for a good 24 hours. So one whole day of programme gone. But the pharmacy was at hand and with some medication, I was very quickly back on shape and ready to see Bali.

It also proved to be a good location as any time when I have the free time, I would be able to go across the road anytime to bask in the sun or people watching. It is an activity loved by most.

For Hong Kong, personally I would want some place where transportation is the easiest. My choice of Pruton Prudential is certainly something I would highly recommend all. The hotel rooms are of reasonable size (which is amazing in cramp and small Hong Kong). It is a rather new hotel and the biggest bonus is that it is located right on top of Jordan MTR. The first time I stayed there, it was a rather cheap affair but I do notice how its price has been creeping upwards to almost RM500 a night now.

Plus point for this place is that the ladies market is nearby and maybe a 2 minutes walk away. Plenty of food courts around. Personally I would not recommend “cha chan teng” as I feel their hygiene levels leave a lot to desire. Nonetheless the trendy foodcourt like fairwood, cafe de coral, etc seems to be a much better choice personally given the price, servings and hygiene.