Where would you live if you were us?

[PDLM]

"oversea buses"???? what in the world are those?

S/He means cross-harbour bus.

[Nickie3]

Thanks everyone, this will be a great help! We’ll stay in a serviced apartment for a month and leave Poppet at home while we check out the options you have mentioned. Then will make a decision on whether to bring her over or not. Can anyone suggest a suitable serviced apartment? Also, the 50,000 is just for accommodation if we don’t spend it it’s no big deal but we don’t get to keep it... It’s not part of his salary (unfortunately). One final thing – we don’t have any furniture… does this make a difference in terms of restricting where we can rent? We don’t have much in NZ either so pointless to bring it over. Are we better to buy stuff when we arrive? Or get a place that is furnished? What do you think…

[AIP]

Buy the furniture here. Most places are unfurnished. Some rooms in HK can be quite small so if you bring furniture over it may not fit. You can get some great bargains on this site and asiaxpat. Also some lovely chinese furniture at great prices if you go over to Zhuhai (or buy it in HK at 4 times plus the price!)

[Redvelvet00]

Thanks everyone, this will be a great help! We’ll stay in a serviced apartment for a month and leave Poppet at home while we check out the options you have mentioned. Then will make a decision on whether to bring her over or not. Can anyone suggest a suitable serviced apartment? Also, the 50,000 is just for accommodation if we don’t spend it it’s no big deal but we don’t get to keep it... It’s not part of his salary (unfortunately). One final thing – we don’t have any furniture… does this make a difference in terms of restricting where we can rent? We don’t have much in NZ either so pointless to bring it over. Are we better to buy stuff when we arrive? Or get a place that is furnished? What do you think…

There are service apartments all over, but if you want to be close to your husband's office, you could try the one in Causeway Bay across from Times Square. Also, you might want to look at STAR CREST apartments in Wanchai. They are pretty new, really nice, in a good area close to lots of restaurants, bars/pubs, transportation, shopping, etc... I have friends (also a couple with a dog) who live there and they love it. It also fits with your budget and you could probably get a 3 bedroom and still be under $50K for rent. Most apts are unfurnished, but a lot of them do have some furniture that the landlord is willing to leave or remove as you wish. There is an Ikea here where you can buy furniture within a modest budget and lots of other local furniture stores as well.