Bishop Lei International House - Hong Kong, Hong Kong 

Great value and what a view!!
Posted: Fri, Feb 15 2008
If you're not religious, don't let the whole 'Christian Hotel' thing put you off. There was nothing spiritual about the place except for the feeling of being in the clouds when looking out from a harbour view room! We managed to get a harbour view room (an absolutel must!) for HK$810 a night. The rooms are smallish and the hotel doesn't have too much to keep you entertained but you're in Hong Kong...get out and see the sights. Come to think of it, we couldn;t even use the pool because there were severe storm warnings. The customer service was ok but nothing to write home about. Location is great but half way up a mountain, expect to do some walking or use the escalators or a taxi! Nevertheless, great location.

The low down on Harbour View Suites...
Posted: Fri, Feb 08 2008
The Harbor View Suite sounds great from other reviews, however after booking online and paying a premium rate, I was offered a room on the 3rd Floor with no harbor view (i.e. no water visible only the backs of the buildings in front of the Hotel). I finally got a room on the 9th floor after a lot of discussion. I could at least see a tiny part of the harbor. My advice is to make sure to secure a room higher up in advance, otherwise its not worth the time and effort of coming up the hill if you don't have a room with a view. The location is a long way back up the hill even by bus or escalator if you need to pop back to the hotel for anything during the day. The location also has its advantages with easy access to Soho, via the mid-level escalators. There is a bus stop in front of the hotel door which links with the MTR. Its not too far to walk to the Peak from here - however none of the staff knew the path to the peak - so we found it ourselves! Free wireless internet in all rooms is excellent. The Elevators are extremely slow in this hotel. Checking-in and checking out is also quite slow. There was renovation work going on in January 2008, so it got noisy from 9am in the mornings. Don’t plan to work in your room as the noise will drive you crazy.

Tiniest room ever!
Posted: Sun, Jan 13 2008
If walking from Central, the hotel is situated near the top of the mid-level escalators which are fun for the first couple of times but I found them a bit tiresome after a while. However, there are a number of buses which stop outside the hotel and taxis are very cheap. Can't fault the staff - very helpful. The breakfast (included in the price) was fine and included an egg station, cereals, breads and a hot buffet. Had requested a non-smoking room but got a smoking room but not much smell. Couldn't open any of the windows but the biggest qualm was the size of the room. I had booked a double even though I was a solo traveller. The room had space for the double bed, a small desk and a tiny table to open a small suitcase. The wardrobe would have been able to hang up about 3 items. However, the bathroom was OK and adequately stocked and there was free tea and coffee in the room. The other gripe would be the incredibly thin walls. I could hear entire conversations from the room next door and when they started singing at 11.30pm I think everyone would have heard it! Annoying Xmas music playing through the entire hotel including a kids sing Christmas Songs played quite loudly at breakfast! One plus point - free wireless broadband. I guess if I coudn't find anything else I would stay here again and the areas around Shelley Street had lots of good restaurants.

Super Deal for Hong Kong Island - Harbour view suites a must!
Posted: Mon, Dec 31 2007
I am sitting in a Harbour View Suite #2309 at the Bishop Lei with a panoramic view from both rooms that is amazing. Not only this, but we heard the apes in the zoo this morning, saw an eagle soaring over the botanical gardens below and can watch the star ferries come and go. All of this for $960 HK a night! This has got to be the best deal in HK. If you are here purely to shop, then the midlevels is not for you. But if you want to experience HK, do some touring, shopping and enjoy the restaurants of Soho, this is THE place. We thought we wanted to stay in central and were not willing to pay the price (two adults & one child) for other hotels. We have a two room suite here. Everything is clean and new. Large TV, quiet airconditioning, floor to ceiling windows, crisp white duvets, down pillows and shuttle to take us almost anywhere. We are using the mid level escalators, but I can imagine that in August, it would get tiresome. We used the hotel organized limousine service to get here. Very simple, nice and reasonable. The breakfast buffet this morning was passable for the price ($260 for 3 ) . Hotel has nice exercise facilities, but the pool is closed for maintenance. It is so nice walking along Robinson street, and easy to get to just about anywhere. Very close to the Zoo and Botanical gardens (we can see the animal enclosures below) We booked a non-smoking room, but arrived at 7 a.m. and were offered a smoking room. I checked it (super sensitive to vile cigarettes) and there was no trace of smoking. We were thrilled to have early check in. I love this hotel!