Exclusive | With tourists gone, Hong Kong guest house owner hopes sex doll ‘brothel’ will keep her afloat

More than a year after the city’s first business renting out the life-size sex toys went under, the unconventional service returned on Saturday, and in a more sophisticated, hi-tech manner. But the duo behind the venture say they did their legal homework and hope the public will realise they are offering an important service for some men

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A sex doll in a maid’s outfit at the guest house in Jordan, Hong Kong. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 7:05pm, 4 Apr 2020Updated: 11:00pm, 4 Apr 2020

When veteran accommodation businesswoman Shirley (not her real name) took over a 15 room-guest house on a floor in a Jordan building in November last year, she planned to turn the establishment into a short-stay “love hotel”.

Shirley hoped that tapping into the demand of couples for private rooms could shield her business from the slump in tourism caused by the social unrest that was gripping the city.

But with a complete drop-off in visitors to Hong Kong amid the coronavirus pandemic and 200 guest houses predicted to close this month alone, according to one industry figure, she is banking on sex dolls to keep her business afloat.

Kenneth Lee has developed an app that lets users book a short-stay hotel room and he has partnered up the businesswoman behind the sex doll “brothel”. Photo: Edmond So

She came up with the idea after meeting a friend who sold the silicone companions. “I paid a visit to a friend’s place where he showed me a doll,” Shirley said. “Then I thought to myself: ‘It’s quite interesting.’”

She talked it over with Kenneth Lee Wai-lin, who had developed an app for booking love hotel rooms and tutored her on pursuing the business model. “The size of the market is like a dark tunnel,” Lee said. “If you never go in, you’ll never know where the gold is.”