A Few Nights in Hong Kong Micro Apartment

Admittedly, the decision to book Hong Kong Airbnb was a last-minute and not a well-considered one, but I was trying to get as many cultural travel experiences as possible.

I couldn’t remember the hotel I stayed in years ago, the one I loved for its hustle-bustle Hong Kong neighbourhood. But, even if I found it, I wasn’t sure we would want to spend good money on it since a hotel stay in Hong Kong gets pricier each year, and for less money, we could get a good room via Airbnb. So that’s how I convinced my best friend.

Hong Kong Micro Apartment

I put the filters on the Airbnb website: private room, two guests, $100 per night and city centre. And finally chose the one with a female owner. After getting my friend’s approval, I booked our Hong Kong AirBnB. All within 15 minutes.

All good.

When my plane was delayed for more than four hours, I informed the owner of our Hong Kong AirBnB that I would be reaching at an odd time. I was worried she might object to it or make me wait for hours until the standard check-in time since, after all, it was not a hotel, but she was okay with the inconvenience.

Again, all good. Or so I thought.

I reached the neighbourhood and stood in front of an old building undergoing a major renovation; my guess was to keep it standing still. Then, finally, the owner came down to greet me. She informed me that the place was on the 9th floor. I sent a quick prayer for a lift.

There was. Phew!!

Shoebox size Hong Kong Micro Apartment

She opened the door, and I stared at a real-life Hong Kong micro-apartment I had read about. Unfortunately, she “forgot” that there would be two guests and only a single bed. I could have argued more, but I was sleep-deprived, and that small bed was so inviting at that time.

So when she gave me the key and showed me the dial-up cable and a TV that wasn’t plugged in, I thanked her and closed the door behind her.

For the rest of my solo travelling day, I dreaded telling my best friend, who would be arriving close to midnight, that one of us was going to sleep on the floor of the iconic Hong Kong micro-apartment alternately each night. And by floor, I meant the narrow space between the fridge and the bed.

It turned out that she accepted it better than I anticipated. She even sent a picture of herself spreading her legs as far as possible, trying to touch both sides of the wall, to our WhatsApp group. I kept the picture for future blackmail.

In the end, we made it work. We dolled up using the microwave mirror in the morning and survived without getting onto each other nerves in the evening.

My friend even bought a fridge magnet of the road name, where our Hong Kong micro-apartment was located as a travel souvenir. I guess it made it into our top ten best travel memories.

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