Get more leg room for just a few dollars more

There's no room service and no luxury toiletries or skyline views - but for about the same price as a capsule bed, the city's many guest houses can offer a place to rest and a good deal more space.

In Causeway Bay, one of the city's main tourist districts, prices for a small room in a guest house start from HK$280 for an overnight stay from 11pm to 10am.

It comes with a double bed, an en suite bathroom and space for your luggage. Prices for a 24-hour stay start from HK$450 to HK$600 on weekdays and go up to HK$1,000 at weekends, depending on the room's size.

This compares to the estimated HK$240 per night for a bed in Hong Kong's first capsule hotel.

The budget motels rarely have street-level shopfronts but are well-marked with signs. Many also offer hourly rates starting from HK$100.

Staff at several of the guest houses said customers were a mix of Westerners and mainlanders.

Yesterday when the Post visited budget hotels across Causeway Bay, occupancy rates varied from half full to fully booked.

This was despite the fact that many mainland tourists had begun the journey home after the Lunar New Year holiday.