Serviced apartments

su_joe · 10-05-2006, 12:04 PM

Hi All,

I am a newbie who may be moving to HK from North America. A real-estate agent has recommended both (small) serviced apartments as well as (larger) residential apartments.

The serviced apartment arrangement seems convenient but I am curious if there is a high security risk (e.g., because people have your keys) involved.

Has anyone out there either stayed in a serviced apartment for quite a while or heard of someone who did? Is it at all recommended to do so or is it best to find a "normal" residential building?

Thanks in advance...

su_joe

larac · 10-05-2006, 12:58 PM

When we frist arrived we had 6 weeks at Hanlun Habitats in Mid-levels - no security problems and the girl over the hall had been there a year. Great way to save on having to find and buy all your funtiure etc and all your costs are fixed as all the services are included. As a single I would definitley consider it but once we moved to our own place I realised just how temporary it felt and now I love having our own place.

JBest · 11-05-2006, 11:22 AM

I am staying in serviced apartments (Hanlun, Midlevels) and will be there for about 6 months. I wouldn't worry about the security aspects - they keep a close eye on whose coming and going. Overall I would say that a serviced apartment is fine for short stints but for me it doesn't really feel like home. For example, at Hanlun, you can't have friends stay overnight without registering them in 24hrs before and, unless you can claim that the person staying is a 'partner', you will be charged an additional fee. I also find the lack of a washing machine and oven a complete pain but perhaps other apartments have these facilities.

vmlinuz · 11-05-2006, 12:50 PM

I'm also in a Hanlun Habitats property, and I've been there since July last year...

I think it depends on what sort of person you are. I'm not particularly houseproud, in that as long as I can make the space feel my own, it doesn't particularly bother me that it's temporary and not really my place. To be honest, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to housework, so having it all laid out for me is quite nice The thing which particularly put me off renting was that it seems that most places are at least partly unfurnished, and I didn't want either the effort or the upfront cost of buying my own furniture.

The one thing which does make it feel more temporary than home is the lack of a key. I don't know if all the HH properties do it like this, but I have a keycard rather than a key, which gives it a bit too much of a hotel feel.

freeier · 11-05-2006, 12:59 PM

anyway i heard hanlun doesn't allow u to bring another 'guest' overnight unless u can prove the guest is your spouse... so take that into consideration for the swinging singles...

eanniemeanie · 11-05-2006, 01:09 PM

I signed on to DeFenwick for a year. I'll let you know how that goes, but the apts are nice and spacious, actually look like 1 bedrooms, instead of a hotel room (also has washing machines in apt.)

Of course, if you read my other thread, it is a more colorful/seedy area so I guess that depends on how you feel about that.

larac · 11-05-2006, 05:00 PM

Totally agree on the washing machine because everytime we sent out clothes out they came back smaller - very convenient and quite cheap to have your laundry done though so I wouldn't let that be the decider. Also the comment on the oven is true but I looked at about 50 apartments to rent in mid-levels and not one had a proper oven. Most have just a microwave and a toaster oven like the Hanlun places. I'm yet to see an apartment with a dishwasher so at Hanlun they even do the dishes for you and they have about 5 people cleaning at once so if you are home it doesn't take long. Another plus for serviced apartments is that you don't have to commit to a year - I think we had just a week or two's notice that we had to give. For our apartment we had to sign up for 2 years with a break clause after 14months and it was a 2 month deposit and a months bonds and apparently that's standard, so it's a huge outlay on top of furnishings.

coolgirl · 15-05-2006, 10:56 AM

I stayed in a Hanlun apartment for 1 month. Very nice bed, comfortable, posh even. But it's a hotel. I like being in my own apartment esp. after spending 1 1/2 years living in hotels.

Also, if the company is paying, Hanlun is ok. But it's pricey if you're going to pay for it yourself.

coolgirl · 15-05-2006, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by freeier:

anyway i heard hanlun doesn't allow u to bring another 'guest' overnight unless u can prove the guest is your spouse... so take that into consideration for the swinging singles...

I hated this, especially when my parents came over and stayed with me. I had to pay HKD 2K for a week's stay. I argued with them but cant do anything about it.