Home Away From Home.

This post has been edited (and edited, and edited through the months I was on hiatus) so much so that I decided to just write a new one. My sentiments are the same, however -- Hotel Benito will always be my Hong Kong home.

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A and I were walking back to Ramada (a dinky hotel my dad booked at the last minute - long story!) to meet my folks before they headed out on the A21 back to the airport. We had gone to Mongkok for the day and decided to get out of the B2 MTR Exit. I normally do not look up while walking on heavily-populated streets, but that evening, as I walked down Cameron Road, I decided to stop and look up. On the huge billboard in front of me was a sign announcing a new hotel that had just opened the month before. This was around 4+ years ago. The new hotel was news to me and my friends on the Pinoy Exchange Hong Kong thread (an online thread we help moderate). See, we had been looking for a nice boutique hotel. A number of us wanted to organize an EB in Hong Kong. Many of us budget travelers, we had wanted the comforts of a nice, clean hotel, without the hotel price. Hotel Benito was just that - the location came as a bonus.

Not the same billboard as this one replaced the one announcing the new hotel.

Home away from home - Hotel Benito.

Hotel Benito opened in 2007. An IKEA-inspired (well, we all think so, as it smelled like IKEA when we first walked into our room back then) boutique hotel smack right in the middle of busy Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon.

On our next trip to Hong Kong for Holy Week of 2008, my mom wanted no other hotel. It was Hotel Benito for its location! So I called and booked us 3 rooms. Needless to say, the experience was superb! My dad especially enjoyed their business lounge*, with free-flowing coffee, tea, hot choco, water, juice and Japanese Rice Crackers! Haha! My siblings loved the fact that they had laptops available for use at the lounge (if you're the type who hates lugging a laptop when you travel) and free net access** in rooms! We also loved the idea that the hotel was surrounded by bakeries, fast food joints, and shops. It was also a 2-minute walk to the nearest MTR exit; A stone's throw away from the A21 bus stop (DIY travelers know how important proximity to the bus stop is!). My youngest brother loved it that it was next door to Tom Lee Music. My kids and I just loved everything about it.

Watsons Personal Care Store right below the hotel, the famous dessert place - Hui Lau Shan, right across. 

McDonald's 24-Hour store, KFC, Yoshinoya and Burger King right outside your hotel! Look! A Crocs store!

When I first took my little boy, who was then 6 months old, to Hong Kong, I considered Hotel Benito right away. It was most convenient for kids. Especially when you have to take numerous trips back to the hotel for naps, poop breaks, or just to dump half a day's worth of shopping. Parent travelers would know what I mean when I say: Convenient location is NECESSARY when traveling with kids. LOL!

6-month old RL, looking out the window at Hotel Benito.

No way we're staying at a guesthouse again!

There was one last-minute trip to the homeland where I didn't get to book with Hotel Benito. We were so last minute then, plus it was peak season, that we decided to book ourselves into a guesthouse to save on budget and the hassle. I felt so sorry for my kids that I allowed them that experience! RL (who was then 1), A (then 8) and I had to squish into a room the size of my bathroom. Heck, even my itsy-bitsy bathroom at home is bigger than that room! Sure, I may have saved half of what I would've spent at Hotel Benito, but I learned my lesson that trip. We were booked for 6 nights - 3 of which we spent in that small hole. A small hole not even worth my 300HKD.

Let me tell you this, nothing is worth the extra moolah when it comes to convenience and the comfort of your kids. When all is said and done, a nice, safe hotel puts a single parent's traveling dilemmas at ease. After that small box of a stay, each Hong Kong trip was planned with Hotel Benito in mind. We haven't stayed anywhere else since. I've probably convinced every aunt, cousin, friend, pastor, officemate, etc to stay at Hotel Benito! So far, we've stayed at this hotel a total of 8x, not counting the separate times my family has booked with Hotel Benito without us.

RL checking out our Deluxe Twin Room. Nice! 

Mounted LCD TV that shows Cartoon Network, National Geographic, HBO, etc.

Book Direct and get welcome fruits and a note from their manager when you arrive.
You also get a daily supply of bottled water (2 bottles/ room) if you book directly with the hotel.

Nice, Clean Bathroom.

Shower enclosure, with Shampoo and Body Wash.

Coffee, Tea, and Bottled Water! Personal ref inside the cabinet to the left.

Of course it's not the Four Seasons nor The Pen. It's a Boutique Hotel.

But the hospitality here beats any 5-star hotel in Hong Kong. Their concierge, Louie, greets me with a "Welcome Back" each time he sees me. But because Hotel Benito is my Hong Kong home, to me, his welcome is synonymous to "Welcome Home."

Perfect location! Click on the map to enlarge. 

Hotel Benito is at 7-7B Cameron Lane cor. Cameron Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Standard Room Rates are HK$825 and up. Rates vary, so write to them to inquire for rates for your stay.


For inquiries and bookings, email them direct at info@hotelbenito.com or through reservation@hotelbenito.com. 

*Business Lounge access is HK$40 for single entry, HK$70 for multiple entry for the duration of your stay - inclusive of free-flowing water, coffee, juice, crackers, and use of their laptop computers with internet access. 

**Free wifi in rooms! Wired internet is also available, LAN cables are available upon request.

Check out the Hotel Benito webpage here.


http://www.hotelbenito.com