For generations they have provided cheap, efficient laundry services to the the time-poor and the less well off.    Now shrinking flats and skyrocketing rents have given the humble launderette a luxury renaissance in Hong Kong.  

Free WiFi, phone chargers, magazines, and hip hole-in- the-wall cafes changing the face utilitarian neighbourhood mainstays as the city’s residents jettison their own washing machines in favour of a few valuable extra square feet at home. 

“The rent in Hong Kong is very expensive, so we want to make use of the area and make the environment more comfortable and more stylish,” said Katol Lo, the co-founder of Coffee & Laundry – a combined cafe, launderette and art gallery…

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