When thinking about our stay at the Gold Coast hotel, I have really mixed feelings. There are many great things about this hotel; the grounds are amazing, the setting is beautiful, the public areas are really impressive and the staff all speak good English. The beach is really nice as is the pool area, in fact the whole hotel is beautiful and all this only 30 minutes from the centre of Kowloon. Breakfast is great too.

On the negative side, this hotels is advertised as 5* and for the following reasons I beg to differ; there was no complimentary bottled water in the rooms, no bathrobes available and the bathrooms are dated. The towels are tiny and poor quality and you only get 2 towels (i.e one each!) so when I washed my hair I had to use a hand towel which was the size of a facecloth! There was also no turn down service.

Another word of warning which I didn't realise before we chose this hotel is that you have to pay for the bus into Kowloon. We made the mistake of thinking it was a complimentary service. Don't get me wrong, its not the cost that was the problem as its very reasonable (25 HKD), the problem was that you have to buy your tickets in advance and because you don't always know what time you will get up and what time you'll be ready to go into the city, when we went to get our tickets there were often none left. This meant having to get a taxi on quite a few occasions which cost approximately £12 (24 USD) each way which can soon add up. I think the hotel should offer the bus service every 30 minutes when the hotel is busy as opposed to every hour which would give people more chance of getting a ticket when they want one, or worst case scenario having to wait 30 minutes for a ticket on the next bus. Just something you may want to consider if you're thinking of going into the city every day.

And last but not least are the rules!! This hotel is full of rules. Theres a lovely fountain in the lobby and people tend to sit on the wall and have their picture taken. We got told off for sitting on the wall of the fountain as this is not allowed! We walked around the pool area to take photos, we got told to go back as we were wearing shoes and this is not allowed around the pool area. Also, one night we managed to get on the last bus back from the city (11pm) but people tend not to buy a ticket for the last bus back because if its full when you get there you don't get a refund for your ticket. So, if you want the last bus and theres room on the bus, you get on and the driver gives you a ticket which you pay on your return to the hotel. Fair enough. Well, when returning on the last bus we got our tickets from the driver and decided to get off the bus at the 7 eleven where the bus stops at the mall next to the hotel as we wanted to get some water for our room. We thought we'll pay for the bus tickets when we walk back to the hotel. However, when we went to get off the bus, the driver asked us where we were going. We explained we were just going to get some water and would pay for our tickets in 5 minutes when we walk to the hotel. He told us we couldn't do this and after a few minutes arguing about it, one of us went to the shop while the other was made to stay on the bus and was practically frog marched to the concierge desk to make sure we paid for our tickets. We were completely embarrased on the bus and all for the sake of £3.00 which we had every intention of paying. We also experienced a similar problem when we didn't have our breakfast vouchers one morning but I won't go there!

Its such a shame because these minor things all started to add up and took the shine off our experience of this hotel. However, I probably sound like I'm contradicting myself when I say that I would recommend the hotel because its a nice place to stay but I think its important to think of it as a 4* property and definately not 5* as advertised. Bear this in mind and get to know the rules and you'll have a great time.

The Gold Coast hotel is not quite a 5 star hotel but there are a few points that made it a pleasure to stay at.
If you are after a get away that still allows you to travel into Kowloon for the shopping then the Gold Coast is an oasis.

The Good:
The gardens are lovely and well maintained.
The buffet dinner (BBQ) was outstanding - there was more food there than you can imagine. It was very busy on a Friday night so were were glad we got there early and booked.
Large Pool is good for those that like to lounge in the sun

The Bad
The bed sheets are really thin and need to be thrown away as they have passed their use by date - 5 star hotels normally have quality sheets
The massage is part of a gym and even though the massage I had was nice the whole experience of getting to the room was not worth the money they charge.
The floor in the room and passage for some reason was uneven which felt strange

The Ugly
The rooms are a little tired and the decor needs a re-vamp

Overall the Hotel was great and we enjoyed staying there

My family and I have just returned from 6 nights at the Gold Coast Hotel Hong Kong. It was planned as an extended stop over to break up the long journey from Heathrow to Sydney.
We had pre-booked (500HK$) a Mercedes Limo from Hong Kong Airport to the hotel, on arriving at the arrivals hall a smartly dressed man was waiting for us clearly displaying a board with our name. He promptly showed us to the Limo and we were taken directly to the hotel.
The hotel is a 25 minute journey from Hong Kong Airport.
The lobby of the hotel is very impressive, polished marble everywhere and very clean. We checked in, and our luggage was taken to our room. The room was clean and bright and had a lovely balcony over looking the sea and marina. There were 2 double beds, however were not the standard size and were a bit small. The most comfortable way of sleeping was if my wife and I slept with one of our children rather than together.
The hotel has a beautiful lagoon style pool area and very well established fauna. There are cabana’s available if you need to get out of the heat of the sun, however there is plenty of palm trees for natural shade. Lying by the pool you could be in any tropical country it’s absolutely gorgeous. There are two water slides, that can keep children occupied.
The hotel has direct access to the beach; however the beach is used more by the locals than hotel residents. The beach was clean, had a shark net and life guard, however the sea did not look too appetising.
Logistically the hotel does seem to be a little way out of Hong Kong; however there is a hotel bus that leaves either end [Hotel to HK – HK to Hotel] on the hour, the last bus back from HK is at 11pm; the journey time is about 30 – 40 minutes depending on time of travel.
The hotel offers an extensive buffet breakfast and dinner. Or you can opt for the short walk the Gold Coast Mall, sounds rather grand however is made up of a number of restaurants, 7even11, and a MacDonald’s all reasonably priced.

Stayed here for 12 nights from 13th October. Fantastic hotel and would thoroughly recommend for a bit of relaxation from the bustle of Kowloon and HK island. Staff were friendly and although the breakfast was quite expensive, the meals in breakers bar were excellent value. 4 course meal for roughly £10.00 each. Staff in bar were very friendly giving us advise on what to see and where to go.

Room was beautiful. Fantastic view from our Grande deluxe room. South China sea on one side and marina on the other. What more could you ask for. We never had a problem with noise. All in all a very relaxing place to stay