Surviving your HK Hotel Quarantine: 11 things you need to make it through

A short list of what to pack for quarantine based on our experience in August 2021.

Whether it’s the 7, 14 or 21 days you need to do based on your situation at the time, going through the mandatory Hong Kong quarantine process in one of the designated hotels can be daunting. In August of 2021 we completed the mandatory 14 night quarantine (based on the rules at the time) after arriving from Europe. If you’d like to know about our stay in more detail and what you can expect, read more about our experience here.

To make your hotel quarantine experience the best it can be, we’ve compiled a list of items that are sure to help you in surviving the Hong Kong quarantine!

Prepping to survive your Hong Kong Quarantine: items to pack from home or purchase pre-arrival

1. HDMI cable so you can hook up your laptop to the hotel TV Being able to watch what you want, is game-changing when it comes to surviving your quarantine stay. Although each hotel’s technical setup & offered channels list will be different, bringing your own HDMI cable that connects directly to your laptop will more than likely put you in control of the TV setup. If you don’t have one lying around at home, here’s the standard HDMI - HDMI cord you can pick-up from Amazon. Just make sure that if you are also able to connect the HDMI cable to your laptop, or grab a cable that has 1 HDMI end and one suited to your laptop. Check out the technical setup of your hotel's TV before your stay.

2. Something small from your kitchen that reminds you of home Ok so you’ll technically survive without this, but this post isn’t about surviving, right? Bringing along your favourite coffee mug and tea towel from home can add a great sense of coziness to your room and will help you survive the HK quarantine process. We saved the Kg’s in our luggage, but brought some tea towels from home, which were not only practical to dry dishes with but also gave me a sense of home every time I passed them in the “kitchenette.”

3. Books/magazines to read Being stuck in 1 room for a week or two is a great time to catch-up on some reading! A classic, some magazines or something new you picked up in the airport on the way to Hong Kong, having something to read can be a great activity, especially because ordering books online once you get to Hong Kong we found was tricky!

4. Small hands-on activity sets Either to be brought from home or pre-ordered online & delivered to the hotel, small activities will also help to fill your days & evenings. When we stayed at the Four Points, they provided us with a small puzzle, but I would have preferred to have more activities like this to balance out all the Netflix.. Here are a few ideas: Paint by numbers Jigsaw puzzles of Hong Kong Sudoku colouring book for adults

5. One word.. Coffee! If you’re like us, then no morning is complete without a great cup of coffee. Unless you’re splurging on a 5* quarantine hotel, chances are your room will come with a kettle and unlimited packets of instant coffee. Now while this a good to have, to really make your quarantine comfortable, we suggest investing in the possibility to have & make great coffee in your room. Some hotels will let you rent out a coffee machine (such as Nespresso), but if this service is not available, it might be worth considering buying a mini machine. Nespresso has some great mini machines like the Essenza Mini that go for anywhere from 90-130 EUR (depending on what deal you can snag) and capsules are easily available to order in HK online (either through Nespresso itself or standard supermarkets).

6. Manual Laundry Machine If you have a lot of laundry, are travelling with a limited amount of clothing or honestly just don’t want to wash things by hand (read more about the laundry situation in this post) a portable mini washing machine will do nicely. Since we brought some extra clothes for “quarantine’ing” e.g. sweatpants, etc., we were fine just washing a few bits and pieces by hand throughout the 2 weeks.

7. Exercise equipment This is also very important. We strongly feel like maintaining some physical activity is a crucial part of surviving the HK quarantine process. Were not huge sports people, but doing a small workout from youtube 4-5 times a week was so needed, since you’re not moving at all really for weeks!! Our hotel was nice enough to provide a yoga mat (which totally sufficed paired with some low-key youtube workouts) for us. If this isn’t the case in your situation, bring one from home or check these out: Extra thick yoga mat by BalanceFrom Classic mat by Gaiam Essentials Eco friendly mat by IUGA If you’re more into fitness, consider hiring out a mini walking pad/treadmill or exercise bike. You can do this:

• Renting through your hotel (some have this service which needs to be booked in advance)

• Buy second-hand from someone finishing their quarantine. The relevant Facebook groups always have some equipment circulating, so if you get lucky with the dates to accommodate easy transfer this is the best option

• Rental from a supplier in Hong Kong. There are recommendations for suppliers people have tried out in the HK quarantine support FB group which you can go for

• If all else fails, buy one for yourself to either hopefully sell/giveaway onto someone else coming into quarantine or take home with you. Although this can definitely get pricey, here are some options: Sunny Health Manual Foldable Treadmill - basic & gets the job done LSRZSPORT 2 in 1 Treadmill - extra wide Kingsmith Ultraslim Foldable Walking Pad - fancy & super compact

Also before you buy, please check your hotel policy on the delivery of large items such as exercise equipment to your room, as some hotels may not allow you to bring in large equipment due to lack of space in the rooms.

During your stay, apps & online stores

8. Your go to for takeaway food If you’re new in the city, Hong Kong’s main takeaway delivery apps are Foodpanda & Deliveroo. There are thousands of restaurants to choose from in this city, so not much left to be said here.

9. Grocery delivery If you opt for one of the better hotels, chances are you will not need to order much takeaway or grocery, as all your meals are provided & usually you aren’t allowed to cook in your room either. However, having the option to get extra snacks, drinks or even milk for your coffee will make your stay much more comfortable and not just survive the HK quarantine process. For smaller shops, we found using the same Foodpanda (they have a grocery section called Pandamart) the most convenient, as you don’t have to sign up for additional grocery accounts etc., and they the basic products. Other popular supermarkets include Marks & Spencer, Marketplace, Parknshop stores which all offer delivery.

10. Get ahead and set up your local Hong Kong SIM if you’re a new resident If you’re just arriving into Hong Kong, you will need a local Hong Kong number & SIM. Trust me, getting this up & running whilst you’re in quarantine will not only save you time and money, but a few headaches for when you get out! After some research into HK options without a 2 year contract, we found the most recommended vendor was Birdie Mobile, which has good network coverage and offers well-priced, no commitment, pay monthly packages. You can setup your account & order a SIM to be delivered to your hotel, setting your local number up before you even leave the room. You’re welcome :)

Also, if you do choose to join Birdie & get a monthly plan of 90HKD or more, you can use our referral code to receive an extra 4GB of free data and 100 HKD coupon for you bills. Just fill in the code: 3FPMC when registering.

11. For all your tech supply needs As with all travel, don’t forget your plug adaptors! If you prep before your trip & can order from amazon - these multi-functional world-wide travel adaptors work in 150 countries. If you forget & your hotel does not have any extra adaptors to lend, you can order them locally from Hong Kong:

• The go to electronics store, Fortress, has some travel adaptors available and can deliver quickly, although you’ll need a HK number to setup and account with them & place your orde

• For a quicker solution, try Expansys. We ordered the standard EU-UK plug adaptor online and it was at our quarantine hotel door in 3 days.
  

We hope that this list will help you feel more prepared for your Hong Kong hotel quarantine experience. Wishing you the best of luck and re-assuring that it will be okay! 💓

If you have any more questions feel free to leave a comment below or check out our "Move to HK" Instagram highlight for all the stories we did from our quarantine.

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