Hotel Name: Daxiong Hotel
Address: Flat K, 4/F, New Lucky House, 15 Jordan Road, Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
“I’m staying in that building!” I exclaimed to myself as I approached the Daxiong Hotel. As a frequent visitor to Hong Kong I was familiar with this apartment block, though I didn’t know it’s name. When I booked online I was looking for a budget room in the Jordan area, and that’s how I booked the Daxiong Hotel.
The Daxiong Hotel is a guesthouse-style accommodation located in New Lucky House on the corner of Nathan and Jordan Road, which is one of my preferred areas to stay in Hong Kong.
If you’ve been to the Kowloon side of Hong Kong then you should be familiar with this building as its hard to miss. Located on a prominent corner, New Lucky House is decorated with distinct triangle patterns of yellow and green.
New Lucky House is not to be confused with the nearby Lucky House, which made the news for being crammed with coffin homes.
The building reminded me of the Chungking Mansions, which is the most famous apartment block for budget accommodation in Hong Kong. New Lucky House isn’t as big or crazy, and I didn’t have long to wait for a lift here compared to Chungking.
I was worried that the hotel would be hard to find, but there are signs clearly showing the way.
I was also relieved to find that the building isn’t a solid block as it appears on the street front. From behind there are open walkways along each floor.
The hotels and guesthouses in this block are basically converted apartments.
I checked in and then was shown to my room on the next floor.
As I expected, the room was tiny, but this is to be expected for budget rooms in Hong Kong. I’ve stayed in rooms that felt like coffins, so this was relatively palatial. Often the rooms are so small in Hong Kong that I don’t fit fully in the bed (I’m 6’1″). When I booked this room I considered this inconvenience, and I saw that the bed is along the length of the room, not the width. In this case my feet at the end of the bed are not touching the wall.
Despite the cramped space there was enough room to place my bags at the end of the bed, and it had a useful table by the bed. There is free wifi in the hotel, and I had no problem with the reception. The room was air-conditioned and the bed was comfortable, so it was an adequately comfortable hidey-hole in the depths of Hong Kong.
Another consideration is to pick a room with a window so as to not be in an airless box. Technically my room did have a window, but it was in the bathroom and facing an internal cavity of the building. No view to speak of, but at least it let light in my room and made the room not feel like I was trapped inside the building. The bathroom itself was clean and and a good hot water service.
I wandered around to get a feel for the rest of the building, as who knows when I will get to see the insides of this building again.
I walked by another set of rooms that looked straight out of Blade Runner.
From the back of the building you can see the urban density of Kowloon.
Whenever I’m staying in such buildings I like to take the stairs at some point to be familiar with how to get out in an emergency. Good to know where the fire hoses and extinguishers are. I’ve been in a hotel fire before so I take this seriously.
As for the location, the hotel is right in front of one the gates for the Jordan MTR station, and it’s easy enough to walk down Nathan Road to the harbourfront. I love this area of Hong Kong as it still has a lot of night markets and street activity.
I paid 302.50 HKD ($38.60 USD) per night here, which is about as cheap as it gets for a single room with a private bathroom in Hong Kong. It’s worth check for occasional bargains first, such as this special at a 4-star hotel I found.
Overall this was a good option if you are visiting Hong Kong on a budget and can’t bring yourself to stay in a hostel room. If you’ve never been to Hong Kong the sizes of the rooms here maybe a shock, so brace yourself. And if nothing else you will get a very Hong Kong experience of staying in one of the crowded apartment blocks of the city.
Book the Daxiong Hotel or search for more hotels in Hong Kong.
