The room is equipped with takeaway slippers, a jug, tea, coffee and a hair dryer. The bathroom is small but sleek and attractive. Room sizes are 22 to 32sq m, which hotel staff say is about 30 per cent larger than most Hong Kong hotel rooms.
Price: From $182-$364 per night. Continental breakfast at adjoining Cafe 15 was included.
What's in the neighbourhood? The Kowloonbay International Trade and Exhibition Centre (KITEC) sits on the next block, and the MegaBox 19-storey shopping complex is just 600m away. KITEC has a nine-screen movie theatre (showing English-language films with Chinese subtitles), outlet stores, Starbucks, McDonald's and a 7-Eleven, in addition to noodle cafes. MegaBox lists nearly 40 international restaurants and food outlets. There, you'll find H&M, an ice rink, Imax theatre and indoor kids' playground. Travellers on an expense account or with deep pockets may dare to dine in the Goldin Financial Centre (17 Kai Cheung Rd), which features French, Japanese and Cantonese restaurants.
Toiletries: The basics, including a toothbrush and toothpaste kit.
Food and drink: Cafe 15 adjoining the hotel serves a continental breakfast of cereal, toast, yoghurt, fresh fruit, salad, baked goods, tea, coffee and juice.
The cafe also serves lunch, an a la carte all-day menu, plus a happy hour is planned. If, like me, you shopped a little too late and skipped dinner, stores inside KITEC and MegaBox sell cups of noodles you can make in your room.
The bed: An oh-so-comfy king.
Facilities: A small, 24-hour gym with treadmill, cycle and elliptical trainer. More adventurous exercisers may want to walk or run among the throngs of people en route to work or school in Kowloon Bay. Take a phone with data in case you get lost.
Noise: I heard virtually no traffic noise, as the hotel sits on a quiet street. I did, however, notice the whirr of the air conditioner all night.
Online: camluxhotel.com
The good? The 185-room, six-level hotel resides inside a former vacuum flask factory called New Camel House. Photographs and products are displayed through the hotel and incorporated into interior fixtures and fittings (for example, metal flask inners line the front of the reception desk, and you'll also find replica flasks used as lamp shades). The place is retro-modern; rooms are spacious and comfortable. The hotel's exterior remains the same, but the interior has been opened up to allow more light in. It's advertised as the first hotel in Kowloon Bay, having opened in April. Check out the mosaic on the upper walls of the entry foyer.
The bad? Noise from the cooling system and the green glow of an overhead light (presumably the fire alarm). I wore airline eyeshades to bed. The hotel sits about 10km and across the harbour from Central Hong Kong.
Perfect for: Business travellers whose work takes them to K-Bay. And anyone who wants a larger (by HK standards) room without an oversized price tag.
