USA hostel and Mirador Mansion (Tsim Sha Tsui, HK) Review

I got mixed reviews for USA hostel while researching on it. Pinoyexchange forum recommends it but most of the foreign reviews usually do not. Still the reviews prepared me not to expect too much. More especially because we got this via mileage redemption and we did not pay a cent for it. I was already expecting we will be given a room that is not really within USA hostel (as most of the reviews had mentioned). Since they own a bunch of hostels within Mirador mansion, I knew that depending on availability we may or may not get a room that we prefer.
 

Booking and Check-in

We had booked for a double deluxe room via Delta.com (delta miles redemption). The official check in time is 2pm and checkout is 11am. Two days before our arrival, I emailed to inquire if their rooms have wifi. If you need this, you need to inform them beforehand. So that upon checkin they will know your preference (not all rooms have wifi access). Wifi is free of charge.

If you prefer a room with window/s, you also have to mention this beforehand. Note though that not all rooms have windows and therefore for deluxe rooms it is not guaranteed. It is only guaranteed for superior rooms. I am not sure if the superior rooms are actually advertised as when I booked through Delta the only choice was deluxe room. I think the window request goes with additional charge. 

We arrived around 1pm and we were already allowed to checkin. We were given a room on the 10th floor in New Kowloon Hostel instead. 

While waiting for the elevator, the lady who was assisting us to our room asked Rene if his luggage was heavy. He said no and that it was ok (thinking that she was intending to carry it). And then we were surprised that she directed us to the stairs instead. LOL ok that's when we realized - oops wrong answer! :p So there we went 3 floors down by the stairs.

Room and amenities

We got to the main door with its own key lock and there is a water dispenser by the entrance. If I remember correctly, we got room 33. I wasn't surprised that the room had no window. But I was pleasantly surprised that it was a triple room. We had an extra bed for our stuff to put on, yay! :)

As expected there is a TV although there were only local channels and there is no remote control. There were a lot of hooks and hangers for clothes. Glasses for drinking were also provided. There were also slippers (although I am not sure if this is sanitized). I then checked the bathroom if it looks clean. Looks ok. Unfortunately, I find the sink and toilet seat quite high. And I consider myself above average in height for an Asian. 

I was so thirsty when we checked in that I got to try the free water immediately by the entrance. I was disappointed that it wasn't cold at all (seems the dispenser is not turned on) and the water seem to taste like tap water. Although I usually don't have a sensitive stomach, I just played it safe and opted not to drink from it anymore. We instead bought bottled water from nearby 7-11 at the ground floor.

 
As usual, space is an issue. The bathroom space is really small but this is already expected. I also noticed the tissue from the tissue dispenser was damp. Good thing we brought our own. I did overhear another Asian requesting for a new roll of toilet paper from the reception as theirs were also soaked.

The room itself is not so bad as we can still walk around, there is a huge mirror with a long table and a plastic chair. The air conditioning is good. The towels and linen are probably a hit and miss. Some look clean but some look a bit dusty and worn out. So we still used some. And I noticed they do clean up the room daily and change the sheets and towels. The replacements seem to be a hit and miss too.

To have an idea of what the room looks like check out the photos here. Our room almost looks similar (closest to photo #6) just without the windows and having 1 double and 1 single bed. 

Checkout and other Services

We checked out around 10am and surrendered our key at the reception. We immediately got the key deposit back. As our flight is still in the evening, we left our luggage for storage with them (for a fee: HKD20=3 hours, HKD30=6 hours, HKD50=whole day). 

The day before we had inquired about their offered theme park tickets. They mentioned that they sell discounted admission tickets but forgot to inquire beforehand. So  I inquired with them on the day we were going to Ocean Park, but they said that prior reservation should have been arranged for them to get the tickets. Lesson learned: should have asked about this through email when I inquired about the booking.

Staff

The person who replies to my emails (Sandy), usually replies within a day. In general I find the staff at the hostel not too courteous. I guess I am used to Filipino hospitality so comparing to Filipinos they would appear to be quite rude. However, I'm sure it is not intentional. When a guest was also asking for toilet paper and their supplies room was locked, the staff knocking at the door kept shouting at the person inside that it sounded like they were in a fight. Turns out the shouting staff was Filipina when we checked out because she was speaking Tagalog with some of the guests checking out as well. When we asked her questions in Tagalog, she sounded polite in contrast to how she sounded the day before. I guess she has acquired the Hongkong ways, then.

Mirador mansion

If you're checking this hostel out, you're probably aware already that this hostel is located within Mirador Mansion. The building itself is huge. And there are a lot of establishments around it. As noted from a lot of reviews, the people surrounding the area seem a bit intimidating at first, a lot of Indian and African-looking nationalities. It might get a little bit scary if you're a lone female traveller. But if you're Asian-looking, you're usually ignored which is a good thing. :) It's the Caucasians that are usually being harassed with all kinds of sales talk, not really sure what they're selling though.

What I like about this place is its location. It's close to almost anything. The nearest MTR station is D1. Several 7-11 stores are scattered around it. There is also an I-Square mall with a supermarket just across the Chungking mansion which is about a block away from Mirador.

The elevators are quite difficult to get into especially when going down. They have dedicated elevators for odd and even floors. Once we took the stairs from the 10th floor all the way to the ground floor. Almost upon reaching the ground floor, the stairs got a bit creepy because of all the stains everywhere which looked like blood. I felt like I was in a scene from the game Silent Hill. 

In getting up, if the line is long for our floor (10th - even) and the other elevator has ample space, we take the odd one until 9th floor and just take the stairs up. The main elevators are operational I think only until 10PM. But you can still take the service elevators at the far back.

There are several money changers at the ground floor of Mirador mansion. Best not to change at the main entrance as it has the worst exchange rates. I was able to get good rates at Wing Hoi and another one near the side entrance.

Overall, I find our experience at USA hostel and Mirador mansion quite tolerable. It's not something to rave about but I think it really wasn't so bad. If you get this at a low price, don't expect too much and just enjoy the experience.

Asia Miles Redemption Review

I had a few Asia Miles nearing expiration and was looking for the best way to use them. I was close to having enough miles to redeem for a Manila-Hongkong roundtrip ticket. However, the taxes I needed to pay is almost equivalent to buying a promo ticket online through Cebu Pacific. Rather than redeem for a flight alone via Cathay and pay around P3,600 in taxes, I opted to avail the Cebu Pacific 50% promo instead so that Rene and I are in the same flight and just pay about 4k each for a roundtrip ticket.

So I browsed through Asia Miles' website to choose what else I can redeem with my miles. Initially, I wanted to redeem for hotel stays. However, the choices of hotels although a lot required a lot of miles. My miles were only good enough for 1 night. I did not want to save 1 night and pay for 2 expensive nights (for a 4D3N vacation). I would rather pay for cheap accommodation as I am comfortable staying in hostels (I eventually got free accommodation via Delta miles redemption instead). So the choices now narrowed down to free tickets (merchandise available for redemption for Philippine residents are not too attractive as well).

Among the ticket choices that I can use in HK are Disneyland tickets, Ocean Park, Madame Tussaud/The Peak, and Harbour Cruises. If you plan on getting to all these places, might as well consider which has the best HK$/miles ratio and also what else you can redeem with the remaining miles. Say Disneyland is HKD700/15,500 miles while Ocean Park is HKD500/13,000 miles. For Disneyland, 1 mile=HKD0.045 while Ocean Park is 1 mile=0.038. In this case Ocean Park has more value. However for me the remaining miles is almost useless. Since my miles can still afford the Disneyland redemption, I opted for Disneyland instead.

Upon redemption, I immediately got a confirmation email indicating the estimated time when the redemption letter is expected to arrive. My letter arrived 2 weeks later (here in the Philippines). When I redeemed the ticket at the Disneyland ticket express counter in Hongkong MTR station, it was accepted immediately. Aside from the original redemption letter, they asked for my Asia Miles card and a proof of identification (ex. passport). The ticket agent then handed me 2 admission tickets which is valid to be used once within 6 months as well as maps of Disneyland. So the self-collection was a breeze.

I still think the miles would have been a better value if I had used it for a free flight. However given the limited amount that I had, I still saved a lot in my trip. I think the redemption process itself is quite slow having to wait for the redemption letter to be mailed. In addition, if you're redeeming for hotel stays or some tours, prior reservation is required. I think in terms of hotel redemptions, Delta fares better as the redemption and booking is done at the same time and the email is sufficient proof.

Delta Skymiles Redemption - Marketplace Review

For our recent HK trip, I was able to redeem my Delta Skymiles in exchange for free hotel stays. I didn't know about this option before until I browsed the Delta website to check for any good deals similar to Asia Miles. Luckily, they had just started the Delta Skymiles Marketplace early this year to allow fliers who earned miles not enough for a free trip to redeem them instead for merchandise or hotel stays. Unfortunately for my account (as I am based in the Philippines), my only options for redemption are hotels and car rentals (no merchandise available for redemption).

I did some search for how much miles are needed for hotels in HK. Am glad to see that there were a lot of options. Aside from the miles required, information such as hotel rating, location (including map), and even amenities are also provided. Booking on your preferred date is also immediate. The available accommodations change daily (probably updates real-time). You can also opt to sort the search results by amount of miles required, rating, etc.

I was surprised to see one day that there were also hostel options. This is good news for me, as my miles were only good enough for 1 night in a hotel but for a hostel, it's already good enough for 3 nights. So for our 3-night stay in HK, I chose USA Hostel. I got this for 15,990 miles (for a double deluxe room).

 

In addition to using miles, one also has the option to add cash if your miles are not sufficient. I did some mock checking for hotels to see how much I would need to add. The rates are still a good deal. This allows more flexibility in using your miles. You can either use them all up or just set a fixed amount for redemption.

After booking, a confirmation page will appear as well as support contact information in case of questions. The downside is that the 2 contact numbers provided did not work for me. I tried contacting both but they do not seem to work outside of the US. I didn't attempt to make an overseas call as it might be too expensive.

I tried to email through their support email but the reply just referred me back to the same contact numbers. I was frustrated with this. If you have changes or additional questions, then you're at a dead end.

Because of this, I attempted to contact the hostel directly 2 days before our flight. Fortunately, the hostel acknowledged the booking through the booking number that was provided in the confirmation page/email from Delta. I then inquired all my questions directly with them.

Upon checkin, the hostel noted correctly that the accommodation has been fully paid. So we did not pay any more additional fees / taxes (just the key deposit which was returned upon checkout and surrender of the key).

Overall, I consider the experience pleasurable, as we were able to get free accommodation for 3 nights and had no hassle in checking in. The only problem is trying to contact Delta in case one needs to make changes to the booking if you're outside of the US.

Blogging about Past and Future Adventures

I am sooo late with my travel blogs. So many things to do, so little time. I feel as if I live to travel and see places, that as soon as I get home from one, I am already planning for the next adventure.

Sounds like an expensive lifestyle? Not really, the most I can do is just once a quarter. Still, this already counts unplanned trips / vacations from say, company outings / team building.

I'll do my best to catch up on my updates on trips so that it can also benefit others searching for information, especially now that summer is here.

Let's see, my backlogs are:

Baguio trip in Feb 2010
Beijing, China trip Nov 2009
Caliraya May 2009

Hahaha, the last one is almost a year ago already. I'll probably start with the latest. I probably won't write anymore about Caliraya as I did not do any planning there. So I wouldn't really know much about the rates. For Baguio, I planned the itinerary but the logistics were prepared by my officemates. Beijing is completely my DIY project. So it would be fun to talk about it later in detail.

Right now I'm busy planning for our upcoming Coron trip in May. We already have tickets to Busuanga for May 14-18. So for those who will be there around the same time, please get in touch (a comment will do). We are a small group (currently 3 pax) so we are considering joining other groups to minimize costs.