Room Service: iClub Ma Tau Wai Hotel (To Kwa Wan, Hong Kong)

iClub Ma Tau Wai Hotel
To Kwa Wan, Hong Kong

I was in a rather jocular conversation with the gentleman arranging hotel transportation in his native Cantonese, joking about the size of an average Hong Kong residence. "You've seen the size of the rooms in this tower," he added, "it doesn't add to much".

An ongoing topic of conversation. I get it. In "Asia's world city", a constant just like the weather and how cold things are back home. Hong Kong is known for its infamously small living quarters, leading to many places lacking space for a stove! But this property, the iClub Ma Tau Wai Hotel, despite its typically small and cramped concept, was quite the treat for my wife and I. It all lies in what kind of services you want.

In our quest for the right accommodations in Hong Kong, we knew that North American expectations like an indoor swimming pool was more or less out of our budget. On the other hand, we didn't want to stay in the useful yet creepy room without the window (many affordable properties like this exist in this city). This hotel is a medium in the spectrum of various places to stay in. A sort of limited service hotel but with a useful number of amenities.

Try the second floor for a very good example. My wife joked many a time in our weeklong stay about going to the second floor between sightseeing and resting in our room. It's because they offered day-long coffee and tea - a blessing for someone like me, more used to powdered milky oil substitute in the one cup instant coffee maker located in the room. This hotel hand four coffee machines with various beverages enjoyed particularly by continental Europeans.

Even at breakfast the staff offered juices, pastries and little buns; easy enough to get the day going so you can find some famous dim sum elsewhere in the city. The second floor also featured an outdoor lounge, where you can gaze at the sky with your cappuccino, wondering where life will take you next.

The room was so spectacular I almost forgot about it. Okay, it wasn't that bad at all. As it was a relatively new property, the decor was hip and cool. White in various shades with lots of padding around the walls, making the sleep feel less claustrophobic! Floor to ceiling windows made the room feel bigger, though the view upon To Kwa Wan (a working class neighbourhood) was certainly not Victoria Harbour views.

Just a note - the property has "Ma Tau Wai" in its title, but the actual district in the address is To Kwa Wan. It's likely they utilize the name Ma Tau Wai for the road nearby.

Shower pressure was excellent as was the wifi which included a guest network for people not staying in the hotel.

A few drawbacks though. There was an exercise area but it was beside the coffee and tea wet bar area on the second floor; odd layout. Service staff were kind and graceful, while the suits at reception were arrogance at its worst.

Free shuttle to Kowloon MTR Station, but you have to call them to ensure they show up. Public transit was a handful, as the hotel is far from the MTR system if you walked, and we needed an app to take advantage of the bus routes.