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A decent hotel in the heart of Shenzhen with spacious rooms, cable TV, pool, sauna, gym and high-rise karaoke club.

Possibly outdone by the equally huge Garden Hotel, China Hotel is still up in the top three hotels in Guangzhou and hogs the prime spot next to the city’s Trade Fair ground. There’s a large, well-equipped gym, health centre, outdoor pool and a vast range of decent restaurants and cafés.

Staying at the mansions is a badge of honour to some budget travellers, an unpleasant necessity to others (see Kowloon – Tsim Sha Tsui). The dingy hallways and semi-squalor contain dozens of guesthouses offering cheap, boxy and usually stuffy accommodation in an excellent location. Oppressive and fascinating at the same time, Chungking Mansions is a warren of small-scale commerce and Hong Kong’s cultural melting pot. Chungking House is probably the best option, with larger, more comfortable rooms than elsewhere in Chungking Mansions.

Hardly a resort hotel but worth a night’s escape to leafy, low-rise Lamma Island. Modest but neat air-conditioned rooms with TV and minibar. Lamma’s famous Han Lok Yuen pigeon restaurant is nearby (see Han Lok Yuen, Lamma).

Opened in late 2001, this very smart hotel with modern gym and lovely atrium pool is a complete contrast to its threadbare sister in Wanchai. Rooms are equipped with the latest Internet and audio-visual gadgetry. Well located for Tsim Sha Tsui shopping and dining.

This decent and good-value hotel is reasonably well located and even boasts its own art gallery. Standards are high (it’s run by the Inter-Continental Group), there are four restaurants, a gym, pool and sauna.

The cavernous lobby gives some sense of the size of this imposing 1,000-plus room hotel, boasting its own up-market shopping mall and good eating and drinking options.

Very competitive long-stay deals start at two weeks’ duration. But décor is tired 80s, and the rooms smallish. Long stayers benefit from maid service, free local calls and Central shuttle bus.

Given the location, the prices aren’t bad, and even better for long stays (two weeks plus). The décor is depressing 80s and the rooms smallish. Discounts of 30 to 50 per cent are often available in low season.

A reasonably good value option with comfortable, if basic, rooms. Fairly thin on facilities, but with a modest restaurant and smart Japanese-style business centre.