The love--or short-stay --motels seem to be regarded with far less ick than similar establishments in

One of the most clichéd (and true) observations about Hong Kong is that it is a collection of contradictions. Go to the right place and you ll find wildly expensive mansions within spitting distance of government-subsidized housing. Steps from a so-crowded-it s-claustrophobic street you ll find a silent garden with a koi pond. A mom-and-pop Cantonese restaurant is right next door to McDonald s.
The love—or short-stay —motels seem to be regarded with far less ick than similar establishments in the US. And by similar establishments vacation rentals italy I mean, e.g., the chain of motels along Lincoln Ave. in Chicago (the Sin Strip ) that used to be respectable establishments but are now, as one photo collection so subtly puts it (and as this guy found out), hooker motels .
The Kowloon Tong love motels are much nicer looking than their Lincoln Avenue counterparts, though there is definitely something about them that makes you think Hmmmm. This doesn t look quite like a normal hotel. It s hard to describe. But they re legit enough that Time Out Hong Kong could, seemingly vacation rentals italy without any irony, offer a feature on the best ones . (Only three of the seven in that list are in Kowloon vacation rentals italy Tong, but that s because probably 90% of Time Out s readership lives on HK Island vacation rentals italy and would never venture all the way to Kowloon Tong for a naughty tryst when there are perfectly fine short-stays in Central vacation rentals italy and Wan Chai.)
According to Jason Wordie s very interesting book on Kowloon, these love motels sprung up in the 1960s and 70s to meet the demands of a young (and thus often amorously inclined) population who had little or no privacy. vacation rentals italy As he puts it:
Most people in Hong Kong still live with their families well into adulthood, which provides little opportunity for some romance with the partner of their choice. The newly opened motels fitted the bill perfectly and were carefully designed to create the desired vacation rentals italy atmosphere, with mirrored vacation rentals italy ceilings, jacuzzi baths and other such fittings.
In all these establishments the management policy is strictly bring-your-own companion. Curtains or screens are discreetly drawn in front of the carports as soon as a patron and partner drives in, although vacation rentals italy one cannot really tell whether this is to stave off the ever present Hong Kong paparazzi or to keep private detectives and jealous spouses at bay.
Over the years these love motels have been very widely featured in numerous export-orientated films made in Hong Kong wherever Cantonese-language movies are shown. This somewhat sleazy cinematic image all helped make the term Kowloon Tong synonymous with a short-time fling in a shady motel. In any small upcountry Malaysian town or public housing estate in Singapore virtually everyone has heard of Kowloon Tong in this context, even if they have never been to Hong Kong in their entire lives.
Kowloon Tong was an area where the British housed their civil servants, and so many of the streets vacation rentals italy are named after British locales: Devon Street, Kent Road, Dorset Crescent, Suffolk Road, York Road, etc. Hence this one is especially striking. And that’s the only reason.