Hi,
I'll be moving to HK on a company transfer/secondment around year end, and will probably be staying for either a year or maybe slightly less. My new working location will be in Central, and I can probably get housing allowance from my company.
Anyway, would like to ask those of you with more experience, what areas would be good to live in and what kind of price would I be looking at? This is also mainly so I can know what kind of baseline to negotiate from regarding my housing allowance. At the moment I'm thinking about trying to negotiate a budget of around $10k, and possibly up to $15k if I can get it, but the company will definitely not expect to pay anything over $20k from what I understand.
What I'm looking for: Easy access to food. Short commute, preferably by underground/metro/MRT (not sure what it's called in HK), as my office is right next to the station in Central. Location is more important than size, as I don't have too many belongings.
Simple example: Coming from Shanghai, the financial district here is on the east part of the city across the river. But most things happen in and around the west part of the river, such as food, nightspots etc. So while some expats prefer to live closer to work, I would want to live slightly further but have easier access to everything else, while spending about 20 minutes on door-to-door commute to work.
Is there somewhere in HK like that? Or is my example unsuitable?
Any feedback on what to expect etc. would also be appreciated. Have no idea about rental costs in HK but I've seen urbancube prices and that makes it (and something like it) one of my current top choices.
EDIT: Just looking for something for myself, no family/kids/wife/gf/s.o. concerns, so location is more important than space.