Thanks for all the info and suggestions.
Perhaps I can clarify as I realize that my choice in hotels does seem quite inconsistent.
I am not tied down to one "class" of hotel or anything in specific, in fact I like a bit of variety when I travel. I am more concerned with specific attributes that lead me to book one or another. While I was planning on staying island side the whole time, a couple of discussions with people led me to believe that the Kowloon view is not to be missed, so I booked a harbor view suite at the IC since it sounds like that is one of the best (and hopefully reliable) views which we will enjoy for the first two nights.
Regarding my choice of island side hotel, I have looked at everything from the Butterfly on Wellington to the Conrad (hilton points) and looked at MO, Shangri-La, and Upper House. For this purpose, I am less concerned with hotel rating and more with location, we will probably not spend too much time in the room when staying on the island. We enjoy staying in some smaller more "local" properties as well as treating ourselves to luxury, a little variety is nice. Basically, I am willing to pay for something special like the view from the IC. But I expect that we will use our hotel on the island side just as a place to sleep and be gone most of the day so we don't need a big room or exceptional service.
When I found the Butterfly it was because I was specifically looking for hotels near LKF and Central since we very much enjoy being able to walk to dinner and nightlife and were a little hesitant to have to ride the MTR to get home after having a few drinks....
I appreciate all of the suggestions and info on the board. I also appreciate the poster that emphasized how great the public transit is. Sounds like I don't need to limit myself to Central or LKF areas. i might just burn some of these hilton points and stay at the Conrad, or may still stay at the Butterfly just for the sake of trying something new. I'm really open to any hotel that is clean and convenient.
Thanks again for all the info and suggestions.