My first night in Hong Kong I stayed at the Renaissance Harbourview, a typical 4-star business hotel. It was quite a shock when my business contact took me to the Warwick Hotel on Cheung Chau for the remaining 6 days. Cheung Chau is a small island hidden from typical visitors - this is not the Hong Kong you see in the brochures. It has a feel of mainland China with the added quirk of being home to several excentric expats. The pace is very relaxed, with no cars on the island although there is a little ambulance that looks like a really old golf cart on steroids. The Warwick is a leasurely 10 minute walk from the ferry. English is not widely spoken but the locals are very friendly and will try to help.

The Warwick hotel is a six-story hotel from the seventies that really would benefit from upgrading. I was initially disappointed with my room, but it was clean and reasonably spacious by Hong Kong standards. Plus everything worked in the room. The manager spoke reasonably good... more