Considering this is your first trip, I would highly recommend starting with an escort (which it looks like you will).  It will be a much more relaxed/comfortable experience when compared to the bar or street girls.  You'll also have a little more control over situation (using your own hotel, at the time you specify, with a girl who's most likely reviewed, etc).  I'd recommend starting with either cumintj.com or mexicolindobar.com.  Both are very reliable.  

As far as the bars, HK has by far the best talent, but I'd recommend also checking out Adelitas, Las Chavelas, and Tropical.  You'll probably go back to HK, but they're worth at least seeing once.  Plus, they're next door to each other.  I think the bars open around 10 am, but from my experience, they're not worth going to until later in the afternoon.  Not only do most girls show up later in the day, the talent seems to improve as the night progresses.  On the other side of the coin, if you go early, there will be fewer customers to compete with.  The same applies to street girls, except they don't necessarily open at 10 am.  I'm not sure what time the bars close, but I'd imagine it's around 4 or 5 am, if they do actually close.  

Not speaking Spanish will not be a problem.  I speak very little and, although I wish I could (I'm learning), it hasn't been a problem.  The waiters at the bars will speak English and help you with anything you need.  Also, the owners at Cumintj and Mexico Lindo Bar speak English, so you won't have a problem there.  

Yes, you should use pesos, especially if the exchange rate is still around 15:1.  Some girls still use the 10:1 rate to determine their prices.  I've been recently quoted 60 dollars or 600 pesos.  Pesos are your friend.  The casa de cambio across the street from the Jack N the Box in San Ysidro tends to have decent exchange rates.  

It might help to have a Mexican SIM card, but it isn't necessary.  They're very easy to buy at any OXXO or even at a Telcel store.  You can coordinate with escorts via email (most hotels will have wifi) and most of the bar girls use WhatsApp now, so using a Mexican SIM isn't that necessary unless you have other reasons, like you can't get caught calling Mexican numbers.  

Can you take bar/street girls back to your hotel?  It depends on where you're staying.  If you coose to stay at one of the hotels attached to the bars, then yes, they can go to your room whenever you want.  If you're staying outside of the La Zona, which I recommend you do, then that will be a little harder.  You're best bet would be to ask a girl to join you in your room after her shift.  I don't have any experience taking bar girls to hotels outside of La Zona, so maybe someone else can chime in.  

Also, check out another great site, tjamigos . com.  It's dedicated to TJ and contains a wealth of information.  Have fun and be sure to review your experiences!

Many, many years ago (circa 2003) I posted The Newbie Guide to Tijuana on this site.  Don't know if it can be still be found here or not (or if you can find it with a Google search), but it contains more information than I can put into this post.

Can you bring a girl from Hong Kong or another bar back to your hotel?  It can be done, but it's not something I recommend for those new to TJ--or even  experienced hobbyists--do.  (It can be expensive as and definitely requires some knowledge of how things are done in TJ.  To avoid paying a bar fine you'll end up hanging around a bar for hours buying drinks for a girl who may disaapper when her sift ends and she's promised leave with you.)  Even if you do get her to your hotel you'll probably regret not getting an escort anyway as most bar girls bail as soon as possible and you end end up spending more than the $300 an 8 hour over night GFE session with an escort would cost.  (And you probably won't get a GFE from a bar girl even if you subtract the MSOG part because she leaves after the first round.)

Bar girls and street girls typically go to a hotel/motel that is associated with the bar they work at or the part of the street where they stand.  If you're going to see a bar girl or street girl plan on (1)  the session being 30 minutes (or maybe less) and (2) using "her hotel."

Don't go to the Zona before mid afternoon.  (Late night is fine, but not so mornings.)  Afternoon is when the cops, street girls, and bar girls show up.  Consequently, early morning hours (say 6am to noonish) are the time muggings are most frequent.  (My favorite time to hit the Zona is mid afternoon until early night time.)  I never go before 2pm as if one goes too early there isn't much of a selection.

Hong Kong (for reasons I do not understand as I prefer small bars) is the most popular bar in the Zona.  Adelitas and Tropical are popular places with Gringos and decent bars for newbies to visit.

Yes, get some food!  Since I am not sure where you will be staying it's hard to give recommendations, but I'll mention a couple of places downtown.  On 8th Street between Revolucion and Madero is a place with wooden window panes and a yellow awning called both Tupios and Centenario.  It has good, inexpensive home style Mexican food.  By the Caesar Hotel (around 5th and Revolucion) at the side walk level is a more expensive upscale restaurant with good food.

There are more good restaurants in TJ than you have time to visit.  Some of them are Villa Savarios, Chan's Chinese, Komasa, Pampas and La Diferencia.

Standard wisdom is to use pesos, but I'm not sure that on one trip it will save you a really significant amount of money.  That being said, I carry both dollars and pesos as there are times each gets me a better deal.  (Just don't promise to, say, pay a street girl in dollars and then pay her in pesos.)

What to do in the mornings when you should avoid the Zona:
--See an escort.
--Eat breakfast at Tupios, someplace on Revolucion like Tillys, or in your hotel.
--Around 2nd and Constitution is the  old town hall that is now a museum.
--Take a $5 taxi to see the Cultural Center called the CECUT (which is closed Mondays).  
--Play tourist and buy stuff on Revolucion.  (Two places with higher end tourist stuff are the Empario near the Caesar Hotel and San Borns at 8th and Revolucion.)
--If you want to see the real downtown Tijuana for locals then walk up and down Constituition, which is one block west of Revolucion.

Finally, most escort agencies have a $300 3 hour daytime rate or a $300 overnight rate as well as English speaking escorts.  Escorts can show you the town and/or the night life if you want to spend the money for a good looking guide or party girl