When my uncle told me he stayed at the August Moon in Hong Kong some 40 years ago, I figured the name must have outshone the building.
In Hong Kong, I often ran into drab buildings with flowery names, as if the names could mask the blandness of the architecture.
But when I first saw this postcard of the August Moon, I changed my mind.
I love the intricacies of the balconies and the way they light up at night. The modest entrance seems so film noir.
The matchbook is from the early 1970s, before a 7th digit was added to phone numbers. When I lived in Hong Kong 20 years after this matchbook was printed, an 8th digit was added to keep up with all the mobile phone numbers.
As with most old distinctive buildings in Hong Kong, the August Moon is no more.
On the last leg of a round-the-world tour during Christmas the early 70’s, my parents and I landed in Hong Kong and stayed at the August Moon Hotel. I have some pictures of those days, crowded streets and literally hundreds of thousands of shops to browse just a piece outside the front door. I stayed again at August Moon several years later but remember that one special Christmas. Sad to hear it is all gone today.
just seen this. I stayed there with my parents in 1971. we were on a world trip in Pan Am.
What a great opportunity! The Hong Kong you saw in 1971 must have been spectacular!
We lived in Macau 71-75, but made trips to Hong Kong periodically and the AM was our resting place of choice. It had a certain non hustle bustle atmosphere about it which attracted us prior to marriage and afterwards.
My last memories of Hong Kong, apart from leaving Kai Tak, were when our family were put up in the AM in 1974 for three nights after we vacated the RAF married quarters in Kowloon Tong as my father was posted back to the UK after his 2 1/2 year tour of Hong Kong. My brother and I were despondent leaving HK to go back to dreary UK and we had a last fling in HK with our friends during our stay at the AM. As a 13-14 year old but tall Chinese people often thought we were a great deal older, sometimes 21 years old so we could enter many places without a problem but having no money meant we could not really take part in HK life.
On the last night we were in our room over looking the street, three mates were with us when we noticed that opposite us, or diagonally opposite us were many young ladies who were waving at us to come over! We guessed correctly what this place was and gave it a miss.
HK was a dream place for many British Forces brats, the first bit of real freedom in a hot climate were a great time could be had. No Rugby matches on cold deep muddy fields and the HK islands and wild places were wonderful and we had to go back to the cloying awful Britain. For the first three years back in UK it felt like a prison sentence, it was so bleak and dreary after the sun and heat and freedom of HK.
Glad I just googled the August Moon and your site came up as it brought back many long forgotten memories.
Thanks
PS. Still have the August Moon match book and brochure somewhere in the house.
Thanks
That Bar was “Fuji Topless” and my then six year old brother would look at the taxi driver with his reddish hair, blue eyes and freckles and say “ Fuji Topless, please” and they always deposited us – a two child family- right in front of the August Moon.
Just found this site whilst searching for the August Moon and so wonderful reading the comments. I was born and bred in HK in mid 60’s and remember going to AM in the afternoons with my grandfather for his daily San Miguel. I would have been about 4 or 5 but we would sit up at the bar each afternoon and have a chat with whoever stayed there and he would give me a sip of his beer. It was our time together and I have never forgotten it. I lived there for about 20 years and still call HK home and still visit when I can. Thanks
My wife and I stayed for a week in the August Moon late in 1976, on holidays from Rabaul.PNG. Loved the piano bar where we met a chap with surname Johnson on leave from RAAF Butterworth and his wife. We learned that it was his mother’s garden in which our wedding photos were taken 2 years previously in Ulverstone, Tasmania. Small world. Until seeing this post for the past 40 years we had believed that the August Moon had burned down.
One of our sons, wife and 2 little girls now live in Discovery Bay, HK. They transferred there with Macquarie Bank in Sept after 8 years in London.
That is such a great story! Thank you! It’s fascinating how much that area has changed, yet many parts still look the same (from what I remember 20 years ago and from photos back in the 60s). How wonderful that your son and his family live in Hong Kong now! I hope my kids will live there one day so I’ll have an excuse to move back!
Until seeing this post for the past 40 years we had believed that the August Moon had burned down ++ August Moon Hotel was restructured … not burned down
My Father [ the late ] John T L Tan was the founder of August Moon Hotel
My fiancee and later wife loved the August Moon back in the 70s.
I was stationed at RAF Kai Tak in the early seventies and spent a few evenings around the piano as this was the meeting point for us. I remember the piano player when I was there was Les Gibbons a corporal in the MT Section at RAF Kai Tak. I still have the book compliments of the August Moon Hotel after all those years. I don’t suppose I would recognize the places . I read somewhere the hotel is no longer there. A few San Miguels and then a trip to the “Casino Grill” Minden Avenue for a “Chateaubriand steak. Thanks Susan for letting me reminisce about the time I spent in Hong Kong.
My family stayed in the August Moon a few times in the 70s. My mom mentioned we stayed before and the manager came over, thanked us and gave us a repeat discount of 10%, I think.
The first time we went they had the wildest hamburgers on toast every time- didn’t matter who ordered it. It was a standing order/something to do on our HKG to do list like going to Ricky’s bakery to get a solid chocolate easter basket to carry back home (to Guam), tea at the Peninsula, or a trip to the toystore in the basement of the Sheraton with the scary long escalator, and that freakishly fast roller coaster in the HongKong zoo!
Back in those days Pan Am had jumbo service nonstop to HK from Guam- it was common to go there for suits in 24 hours (remember the Nehru jackets?) and gambling in Macau on the hydrofoil that bounced your head around due to only the front rising out of the water, Aberdeen’s floating restaurants and the revolving restaurant for the pepper steak which had been featured in restaurant guides, oh yes, and the grottos of the Tiger Balm Gardens. Most business people went there and stayed inside the Holy trinity of the Hilton, Pan Am and American Express- so no one ever stayed at the “the Moon” which made it our little place.
Back in those days a digital watch was 100 us dollars, Tsim Sha Tsui had the first people movers and the only way to HKG island was Star Ferry or the tunnel by light bus (double deckers didn’t do the tunnel- subways were just being planned and HKG only had one type of money issued by HongKong Shanghai Bank.
The waiter back then was Henry -in 1975. Our floor captain was Paul. The staff was really friendly. They did not have a coffee shop but there was a dining room that served coffee and tea, it was a bit dark with very comfy chairs and not ever crowded- but the food was ok. My Dad loved the pancakes with Golden syrup that had to be cut out of the dispenser. A couple of cans would get bought at Star Ferry Grocery and end up in the suitcase till the next HKG trip.
They were posting closure notices on the guest doors as was required by local law (a month before closure?) the very last time we stayed. Maybe they closed a week after we finished our stay in HKG that time, so my parents suggested we have hamburgers and had them sent up to the room. My mom asked for lightly toasted bread and we got toast on the side and regular hamburger buns. I switched my bread to toast, being a teenager at the time- the tradition was set and that was how I would eat it. The most upsetting thing to our family was they were tearing it down to make an office building so we wouldn’t be able to stay there again ever.
I remember my parents had run out once back on our first trip to get an extra suitcase and the shop clerk remembered we stayed at the the August Moon so they delivered it (but forgot our names) and then someone from the front called up each room to ask. The desk manager apologized for the delay and mentioned that the description of my parents by the shop clerk had been very vague. You (we) all looked alike- blond hair blue eyes, you know, foreign guests… my Dad got such a laugh out of that. I don’t remember many Chinese staying there- I think it had a large western clientele. There were lots of business dealings in HKG with Western Europe and the US.
I remember my little brother’s favorite landmark to find the hotel. To hear a little 6 year old boy blurt out “Yeah, we’re staying across from Fuji Topless” used to just send other tourists into spasms of laughter or choking embarrassment….
And they had those really great bound tourism books that changed color each year. They made a point of giving one to each adult. My dad collected them.
The downstairs had a small ice cream window to the street that kids would stop by and get a cone outside through the window.
I really do miss the August Moon. My mom chose the hotel at the travel agency because she liked the name. Each time we went she would buy a small picture of HKG island from Kowloon’s view and you could see how the buildings were creeping up to Victoria Peak. We would look at the picture between trips and mention the next time we were going back..we always assumed it would be to the August Moon.
Thank you SO much for this! It’s absolutely fabulous! I feel like I know so much more about Hong Kong back then, and definitely about the August Moon. That’s quite a story, and a melancholic one at that. Hong Kong has stayed the same in some ways (tea at the Pen is still there, as are the Star Ferry and Sheraton), but on the other hand it’s changed a ton. The service in Hong Kong is amazing, but I’m not sure it’s as good as it was when you stayed at the August Moon and they called each room about the luggage your parents bought!
I stayed at the August Moon while on R&R in 1969.
Very cool! I’m so glad you go to see it before it was torn down. Thanks so much for your comment and your service!
When I was a child living on Guam, we traveled a lot throughout Asia — and one of my favorite memories was staying at the August Moon Hotel in Hong Kong. As I recall, they didn’t have a “regular room” available, so they gave my family the honeymoon suite — complete with heart-shaped bathtub! The hotel hosts were very friendly, the balconies were wonderful, and I loved the city so much. Traveling during those years was fantastic.
I must have been about 7 or 8 yrs old when we stayed there. We had the same thing happen where we ended up in the honeymoon suite.Yeah, pink heart shaped bathtub! I think the bed was also heart shaped.That was back around 1965. I’ve never forgotten it after all these years. Dad had several suits made and we shopped for cameras. Hong Kong was The place back then!
I resently was going through my scrapbook from when I was in the service, remembering the different countries I had visited so long ago. I ran across a hotel receipt from the August Moon dated Feb 21 thru Feb 26, 1966, showing I had stayed in room 106. The cost was $33 Hong Kong dollars per night. I remember it didn’t have a lobby, only a desk. It did have a restaurant, of sorts, as I remember eating a steak, which wasn’t very good. From then on I ate local foods at local spots. It was a comfortable hotel, however and the service was good. I used it as a base to sitesee Kowloon, Aberdeen the New Territories, Vitoria Peak, Sheung and several other different sites around the harbor and shore line. I also remember catching the act of Gladys Knight, at the HongKong Hilton, one evening. And they say you can’t go home again…I just did, through a copy of my R&R orders, a hotel receipt, a coaster from the HongKing Hilton a receipt from the Star Ferry and a red feather I picked up from somewhere I can’t remember. Thanks for the memories….
Thank you for posting a photo of the August Moon Hotel.
I fondly remember staying at the AM for one night in August 1975 whilst on route to London on my big OE from NZ. I have tried to find a picture previously but I was unsuccessful, so thank you again.
I stayed at the August Moon hotel in June of 1971, while travelling. They had a great piano bar . A black gentleman played and he was terrific. we would all sit around at night and sing, while he played. A charming place, the likes of which we won’t see again.
Thank you so much for your comment, Norm! That piano bar sounded amazing. Yes, I can’t think of any place like that these days. So sad.
The Piano player’s name was Freddy Abraham, a Filipino. His piano playing was mediocre, but he collected people around a piano bar and became friends with everyone and knew them by name and remembered what they drank. After your first visit, you never had to order a drink again. He was a community switchboard and people would pop in and ask where a friend was and Freddie knew what bar they were hanging out in that night.
It was a great place in its time. It was sad to see it disappear.
Wow, that sounds fabulous! I’m going to ask my uncle if he knew Freddy. He stayed there in the 60s. My mom met an American piano player at the Oriental in Bangkok in the mid-60s. He sounded very similar and knew everyone and everything that happened in Bangkok. Years later she read in the newspaper that he was murdered somewhere in Thailand.
the august moon! i covered kowloon on foot as a teenager popping into and pestering for matchboxes in the 70s v: every hotel, bar and resto was a target!!! this place, unlike most other hotels in downtown kowloon, didn’t really have a lobby per se, just a couple of chairs and a small desk ! the lighting does this pic great justice, it looked like any other block of flats in those days
So interesting! Maybe they didn’t want people loitering in the lobby during the Vietnam War?
In 1968 on our return home from a month in Ceylon, I, five fellow UCLA “Project Ceylon” team members and our adviser stayed at the August Moon Hotel. Tonight while sorting through memorabilia from my trip, I found a card tag with the hotel name, my room number (301) hand-printed on it, and the same “A M” logo on the back that’s on your matchbook cover. I immediately did a search to see if the hotel still was in business and came to your site. Though disappointed that the August Moon is gone, I’m delighted to find so many wonderful anecdotes and past memories of it! My experience that month was one that has helped shape my life, and I’m sure those of you who offered their stories can say the same about whatever took you to that part of the world and led you to the August Moon.
Thank you so much for your comment! I also love reading anecdotes about the August Moon. It’s sad how many hotels and other buildings are no longer in Hong Kong. But thanks to the internet, we can preserve these wonderful memories. It seems like the August Moon was a special place for so many people. I love how you write that that month helped shaped your life. I know my time in Asia helped shape mine!
Three friends & I, serving in the Peace Corps in the Philippines, sailed from Manila to Hong Kong in July 1963 & stayed at the August Moon for a short vacation. I still have some of the hotel’s onion-skin stationery. The phone # had only 5 digits: 69321. Here’s what I wrote to my parents: “The hotel costs each of us about $5 a day, and has everything. We have adjoining rooms with a marvelous view of the bay—the window is as wide as the wall. Each room has a private bath, 2 upholstered chairs, a big closet, a writing desk-dressing table, a pole lamp, bedside lamps, a radio, & telephone. The whole building is air conditioned.” At that time Hong Kong was suffering a drought, so severe that it was making international news. I wrote lots about that, including “Our hotel has running water from 7:30 to 8:30 at night. Each morning we get a pail full of water for the day, and they bring us carafes of ice water twice a day. We leave the water in the tub after bathing, and it’s used for flushing toilets and cleaning floors.” Those conditions didn’t deter us from having a splendid vacation in HK!
This is wonderful! What an amazing trip you must have had. My mom spent the summer in the Philippines the year before and made a side trip to Hong Kong, too! She stayed at the Sunya Hotel up on Nathan Road and had the same experience with water during the shortage in 1962. I guess it hadn’t gotten better by the following year. That’s so great you still have the stationery!
I just happened to find this site….I often search for things I remembered from early 1970 when I stayed in Hong Kong while on R&R from Vietnam. I stayed at this hotel and remember it quite well. Calling my memories “Fond” memories would be an understatement, I will always remember the days and nights I spent in Hong Kong, it was so surreal after a year in a war zone. I had some incredible experiences there.
Thank you so much for your great comment! I love hearing from people who have stayed here! I’m sure it was a very surreal experience. Hong Kong will do that to you, especially after being in Vietnam. Thank you for your service to our country.
I stayed at the August Moon for a few days in 1966. I still have fond memories of that small hotel. Hong Kong was a pleasure to visit in those days compared to 2012.
Thank you for your comment! It sounds like such a great hotel. Yes, I can imagine that little of what you saw in 1966 is still recognizable in Hong Kong. In the 90s, I thought HK must have looked the same for the last 30 years, but then when I see photos from the 60s, I can see that wasn’t the case. And it certainly isn’t the case now!
I just found “compliments of August Moon Hotel” The Official guidebook of the HongKong Hotels association. Being born in August I can only assume my father gave it to me from one of his trips. We were stationed in Guam. Only 6 numbers to the phone 636321 on 25 Kimberly Road Kowloon. Shows the beautiful balconies.
Wow, thanks so much for your comment! It’s great your father stayed there. I heard the lobby was non-existent and they didn’t have a coffee shop, which was pretty unusual for hotels in Hong Kong back then. My grandparents often stopped in Guam on their way to Asia, spending a couple days there to break up the trip. They always spoke highly of the island.