Silvermine Bay or Cheung Chau are OK, but I prefer Tong Fuk or Tai Long Wan.
Tong Fuk is at the far end of Cheung Sha beach on Lantau. There are around 5 businesses running about 100 guesthouses. My favourite is the shop next to the pub (they have houses at the back away from the noise). Tong Fuk also has excellent pub and restuarant facilities. I used this area frequently during winter as a weekend break (OK, OK it was a dirty weekend). The place is tranquil and pleasant. During the summer weekends you may not be able to just turn up, as it will be packed. And also full of kids holding allnight BBQ parties.
Pui O on Lantau has twice as many guesthouses but many are 10mins from the beach. There are a fair number overlooking Pui O’s beautiful beach, and they are spread out. So if you choose wisely you will get a quiet spot even on a summer weekend.
For something that’s nearly camping but you don’t have to carry anything, you can rent a room at either Tai Long Wan beach or Little Sai Wan beach in Sai Kung. Hong Kong’s two best beaches in my opinion.
A few hundred dollars by kaido from Wong Shek pier to Tai Long Wan. A hundred by taxi then 30min. walk to Sui Sai Wan. Or bus then 1.20hr walk along maclehose trail to Tai Long Wan.
Once there you can rent an room very easily, some don’t have air-cons, and on summer weekends I would give them a call first.
I did this way back when just a few dingy rooms were available back in the late eighties. I still have fond memories of the mid-week breaks I took with my fiancee. Back then it was deserted.
Cheung Chau is OK if your looking for a browse through the market and a good candlelit dinner in a quirky restaurant. A huge number of guesthouses exist very cheaply in the rundown northwest of the island (they are cheap because it’s a favourite suicide location) watch out for cockroaches, to the southeast is a relatively expensive hotel and an adjacent beachpub with watersports.
Peng Chau had only a few rooms the last time I was there, but better restaurants and pubs. Nothing more exciting though. Good for a day trip rather than weekend.
Ping Chau in Mirs Bay [now mainly known as Tung Ping Chau] has rooms but you need to pre-book and plan carefully. Take a day trip first to get to know the place.
And the cream of the crop is the boutique hotel on Cheung Sha beach, Lantau. Very nice, very clean, very romantic. Next to HKs best restaurant (in my opinion), and on a lovely beach. You need to book by internet and it isn’t the cheapest option. The name escapes me but check the internet for Lantau hotels and it should pop up.
By the way, in Silvermine Bay there are around 300 rooms available at 1/4 the price of the Silvermine Bay Hotel. Just walk past and take a left, then a right.
I have stayed in all these places except Tung Ping Chau ( I did a week with the army there as a school trip). I have been taking local breaks for all my adult life, and quite a lot of my schoollife too (man, we had some great parties on Lantau).
Post edited by: Martin, at: 2007/07/17 22:58