Hong Kong: Butterfly on Prat Boutique Hotel

It's my third time at Hong Kong in 4 years time -- I skipped year 2008. I brought my camera with me, but decided not to take pictures, as my trip was really more for relaxation and shopping, and not for sightseeing.

My trip was supposed to be a loner's getaway. The flights were booked late last year via Cebu Pacific's p1so fare promo (only Php1,219 round trip), and had no time to look for a companion for fear that the seats might be used up quickly. Lo and behold, a friend of mine expressed his wanting to join me. We just waited for a seat sale this year and finally booked his flights, same as mine.

I super love Hong Kong for shopping and relaxation. I don't want to live there, but I want to always go back -- at least once a year. This time around, we tried a new hotel based on friends' recommendation. It's called Butterfly on Prat located at Prat Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui. We booked the hotel via www.asiatravel.com, since it's cheaper to book there compared to booking through Butterfly's main site. We weren't required to pay the hotel booking online, rather, we paid at the hotel on our last day. For 3 days and 2 nights, we only spent HK$1,300, where when split into two resulted to each of us paying HK$650 or approximately Php3,900.

Butterfly on Pray boutique hotel was actually nice and just a few blocks away from the MTR. If you're planning to stay there, you can ride a train to Tsim Sha Tsui and exit at N2 or A2, then just walk towards Prat Avenue. Request for a higher floor because there are lots of clubs and pubs in the street where the hotel is located. Our stay in the 13th floor was peaceful enough.

Aside from the semi-see-through bathroom, the room has good air conditioning, great set of pillows and blanket, big flat television, spacey closet, secured locker, a microwave and a refrigerator. We don't know if the lined internet inside the room is free, since we didn't have our laptops with us. Instead, we just used the two available laptops with high-speed internet in the lobby. If you want to work out, they have a small gym located at the 5th floor. The hotel staff was also nice enough to lend umbrellas when it was raining on our last day.

If I remember it right, here are the things I did on my stay.

Day 1

Arrival to Hong Kong around 7:30 in the morning
Breakfast at Ajisen Ramen and Hui Lau Shan
Bought a Tourist Day Pass card -- HK$55, 24 hours unlimited MTR use
Bus to Tung Chung
Shopping at Citygate Outlet Mall
Train to Tsim Sha Tsui
Check-in at Butterfly on Prat hotel
Ate lunch a small, nearby eatery
Train and shopping at Wan Chai and Causeway Bay
Dinner at a Simply Thai restaurant in Times Square
Dessert at Ben and Jerry's
Back to the hotel to sleep

Day 2

Train to Central station
Ate brunch at 360 Degrees inside The Landmark
Train back to Tsim Sha Tsui
Shopping and walking from Tsim Sha Tsui to Jordan
Train to Mongkok
Shopping and walking at Mongkok
Dinner at KFC
Passed by the Ladies Market for window shopping
Went back to Causeway Bay to buy an important thing
Back to hotel to pack
Went to McDonald's for midnight snack

Day 3

Check-out at hotel by 10AM and left our luggage bags
Breakfast at Pie and Tarts in Tsim Sha Tsui area
Walked towards Silver Cord for last shopping
Lunch at the food court of Silver Cord
Passed by Harbour City for window shopping
Walked back to hotel to get things and changed shoes (it was raining hard and my Sanuk is super wet)
Taxi from Tsim Sha Tsui to Kowloon -- around HK$47.50
Airport Express to Airport -- HK$90
Afternoon snack at Hui Lau Shan
Airport check-in of luggage bags and claiming of boarding pass
Window shopping inside the airport
Dinner at Cafe de Coral
Dessert at Ben and Jerry's
Departed Hong Kong at 7:40 in the evening