Hotel spotlight: The Salisbury, YMCA of Hong Kong

In all likelihood, “YMCA” doesn’t conjure up “glamorous cosmopolitan destination” imagery for most travellers. But I promise you, if budget is a concern at all, there is no better kept secret of where to stay in Hong Kong than the YMCA Salisbury. Right along Salisbury Rd in Tsim Tsa Tsui, what it lacks in glamour it makes up for in location, location, location. It is an incredibly family-friendly hotel, and makes a great base for your family visit to Hong Kong.

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Vibrant, sophisticated, cosmopolitan Hong Kong boasts a range of luxury hotels – perhaps the most famous being the Peninsula Hong Kong, the flagship hotel of the eponymous luxury hotel brand. But our budget-conscious travel sense was not ready to pay 700 CAD a night (or more) for this experience. Luckily right next to it, is the YMCA Salisbury. The same location, the same view, at a fraction of the price, we felt like we were getting a steal.

Hotel information

Location

The Salisbury is located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon district, which makes up the north shore of Hong Kong harbour.

Kowloon and Hong Kong Central (the south shore of the harbour) together make up Hong Kong’s downtown, and between them contain almost all of Hong Kong’s best known hotels. Hong Kong Central is more “posh”, containing the region’s political, business, and administrative centres. Kowloon is more “authentic”, a little older but very lively with markets and street food. We think it is a little more kid-friendly, with lots to see and do within walking distance. Central has the better skyline, but this is also better appreciated from the Kowloon side.

In any case, it’s very easy to travel across the harbour between Kowloon and Central via the Star Ferry, a ride that takes less than 10 minutes and costs less than a few dollars.

Getting around

From Hong Kong International Airport: take the Airport Express to Kowloon station, then a free shuttle bus transfer (the K2) to the Peninsula Hotel.

The Salisbury is a 5 minute walk to the Star Ferry Terminal, which will take you to Hong Kong Central and other Hong Kong islands.

Taking the Metro: The East Tsim Tsa Tsui MTR station is a 5 minutes walk, the Tsim Tsa Tsui MTR station is a 7 minute walk.

Room options

For families, the Salisbury offers rooms with a king bed and sofa pull out. (Like many hotels in that part of Asia, they do NOT have the option of two double beds.) You can opt for a room with a view of Victoria Harbour – which is totally worth it, in our opinion. You get your own phenomenal iconic view of Hong Kong Central people flock to Tsim Tsa Tsui to see.

The Salisbury also has economy level rooms, with single beds or twin beds (double occupancy). These rooms are more like upscale private hostel rooms.

Dining options

There are two restaurants on site. The Mall Cafe offers more casual service, and serves breakfast buffet and a la cart at other times. The Haven restaurant is more upscale and serves international buffet fare. At our time of stay, there were no meals included with the room.

Quite literally around the corner is Nathan Road, and the entire area is renowned for cafes, markets, and street food.

Reasons we loved the Salisbury, YMCA Hong Kong

You are in the middle of everything

The Salisbury is exactly where you want to be as a tourist in Hong Kong.

It’s right across the street from the Tsim Tsa Tsui Promenade and the Avenue of Stars. Along the iconic pedestrian path is the Hong Kong Cultural Arts Centre, the Hong Kong Space Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the Clock Tower monument. As we mentioned, it’s right next to the Peninsula, which is an icon in and of itself.

At night, visitors gather along the promenade for the Symphony of Lights, a coordinated light show of the actual *skyline*. The accompanying soundtrack also plays from the promenade.

You get a prime view of Victoria Harbour and the Hong Kong skyline

The Salisbury has prime real estate when it comes to vantage point. Our kids could wake up and admire the skyline right from the hotel window. At night, you can also catch the Symphony of Lights show right from your room!

Convenience

The MOST convenient thing (besides quite literally walking into landmarks as you step out the door) is the proximity of the Star Ferry 5 minutes away.

We took the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Central a number of times – once there and back even just for the view and the fun of it. There is a bus terminal and metro station conveniently located on the Central side (eg. to get to the Peak, for example). The Star Ferry also connects to a number of other Hong Kong islands.

Being steps from the Metro helped too. We even took the Metro in from the airport. (The streets in the area were all shut down and the bus service suspended the night we arrived due to huge demonstrations going on… it’s a bit of a long story. It took us a bit longer to walk to the hotel from the MTR station as the roads were *barricaded* when we arrived.)

The neighbourhood has a little bit of everything

As we said, you only have to step out the door to major attractions. Then, turn one way and you hit Nathan Road – a vibrant shopping and eatery district. This area really lights up at night, with street eats and even mobile playgrounds popping up in front of shopping centres. Turn the other way and you hit Kowloon Park Drive and luxury shops; Cartier, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Fendi, to name a few.

Just a short stroll away you will find parks and green space, a great way for kids to unwind and relax after a busy day of sightseeing. We stumbled upon the expansive Kowloon park entirely by accident, while out on a late afternoon stroll. Walled and pedestrian only, the kids loved this park. It has a ton of walking paths, gardens, and fountains, as well as a playground, and even an aviary. Truly a sanctuary and hidden gem in the middle of a busy city.

You get access to the YMCA facilities

Staying at the Salisbury gives you honorary YMCA membership to the gym. This includes a fitness centre, a lap pool leisure pool, a climbing wall, and fitness classes that run throughout the day. Jet-lagged and don’t want to venture out for sightseeing? Go for a swim. (At least, that’s what we did.)

There is also a small outdoors children’s playground on site, which is good for those zillions of breaks that kids need to burn off energy.

Friendly staff

Overall, the hotel is very kid friendly, the staff very understanding of kids who might not always be on their best behaviour.

Any downsides?

The rooms were a little outdated, although very neat and clean. During our stay, many of the harbour-view rooms were undergoing renovation, so it looks like that might change. The room we had was generously sized, and easily fit both of our Shrunks toddler beds with plenty of room to move about. Depending on where you are in the hotel, the internet connection can be patchy. Overall, nothing that impacted our stay.

We were not looking for an upscale experience, necessarily – but with the excellent amenities and unbeatable location and view, we still felt like we were being pampered! We felt incredibly lucky (maybe even a little bit smug as we casually watched the Symphony of Lights from our room!) to have discovered the YMCA Salisbury, and hope to share this gem with other families traveling to Hong Kong.