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Good places to stay if working in Central?

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  1. #11

    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    You know where the airport is...
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    Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun would be good places to start. Walk from Central is under 30 mins. Your budget should be doable for just under 400 sqf. And as mentioned by @MABinPengChau, supermarkets and small restaurants in the area. Also coffee shops if you are into those. Laundry services abound as well.

    Alternatives to walking are busses and the trams. Taxis would be under hkd40, uber less than hkd60.

    For Queen's Terrace, my only issue was leaks from the upper unit, so make sure to check that out.

    calisg408 likes this.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
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    3,886

    I live in Sheung Wan, it’s a great neighbourhood but rental’s not so cheap (relative to many others).

    FYI, Sheung Wan IS the Chinese name for ‘Central’ which today makes up an area served by 3 MTR stations (on the island line). Admiralty, Central and SW. SW (Central by definition) is where the Brits landed when they took Possession of HK (on Possession Street).

    The expat definition of Central is a bit narrower and is based on the MTR stations. So depending on which building you work/live in, You could have a very short walk to work (under 10 mins).

    As for where to live first, I’d plump for a hotel too for the first few months, but definitely not North point....(sorry Jimbo). Hotel prices are bargain basement (and were even before Covid because of the protests) but it won’t last much beyond Q1 in my opinion. Which means you’d want to be in a flat (taking advantage of cheap(er) rent before prices start to jack up (which they will do fast when it happens)

    But that leaves you a small dilemma. 1 yr is normally the minimum lease. So if you’re gonna want to move out in 1 yr., time spent in a hotel to begin with will eat into that.

    And thus get a break lease flat direct from another expat who is desperately trying to get out of their contract without being screwed by their landlord. DONT SIGN A NEW LEASE through a rental agent on your first place.

    No time to write more now, but if you pm or reply I can tell you how to find one.

    calisg408 likes this.

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Feb 2019
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    3,240

    Agree with other posters: take advantage of the chaos and get a short term services apartment first! In many cases they are even cheaper than renting right now.

    hongkong7 and Natfixit like this.

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    Get a nice hotel for the first few months with daily cleaning etc. The Mira in TST is close to the TST MTR, Kowloon Park, and shops and their monthly rate is about $15k. Their base room is small but you can probably negotiate something a bit nicer especially if you have Marriott status.

    The Kerry Hotel in Hung Hom could also be fun and you can take the ferry into Central now.


  5. #15

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
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    Only problem with a hotel is that arriving in Hong Kong for the first time, you'll likely get homesick for some home cooked food. In a hotel you can't cook.

    I remember vividly our strange one-pot serviced apartment meals as we figured out the culinary landscape here. I don't know how I'd have survived with no simple pasta our first month or so. Was quite ill within the first 3 months.


  6. #16

    Join Date
    Jan 2014
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    1,269

    not all buildings in Sheung Wan or Sai Ying Pun have broadband internet access.

    you might want to do a bit of research beforehand..

    calisg408 likes this.

  7. #17

    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    Taiwan and HK
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiaque:
    ... In a hotel you can't cook...
    You need to hang out more on the quarantine website- people cooking steaks in toasters, using the iron to make grilled cheese, the creativity is endless!!

    But, yes, if you like to cook, need at least a serviced apartment...I could live without my own cooking and subsist on bread, peanut butter, and fruit (hmm, that is about half of my current quarantine menu...).

    Quarantine ends tonight at MIDNIGHT!! (off-topic, just had to say that...).
    Elegiaque, drumbrake and calisg408 like this.

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
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    3,886

    Just been informed that friend of my wife is living in the Ibis hotel currently (in Sheung Wan, well I'd call it SYP myself....), very close to Queens Terrace (BTW I wouldn't recommend QT personally as a building to rent in - Over priced in my view).

    He's paying HK$300 per night, (20sqm room - Which is a typical size in HK). Good option for a short stay if you want to keep costs way down. (not sure how long he committed for to get that rate though)


  9. #19

    Join Date
    Feb 2020
    Posts
    6

    I arrived in HK in August. I still haven't got an apartment as I am enjoying the benefits of cheap hotel stays. It is a nice way to explore different areas of HK. I stayed at Royal Plaza and currently at Harbour Grand North Point. Here I have full sea view!! Looking at moving to the Langham for a change. Ask hotel directly for rates as they are much less than advertised. Get a rice cooker. I wish I had mine in quarantine.


  10. #20

    1. Definitely spend much more than 10k, which gets you nothing. Definitely I think closer to or above 20 if you want to live in the central areas people are suggesting here. But out here in the Western District I am living very comfortably within that range, sea view etc., just a few stops away from Central. Not a fancy brand new building though if you need that.

    2. There are a lot of good hotel deals now but when I was still in one during the tail end of quarantine it was very difficult to use it to open a bank account, get my work to register an MPF (they called it "inappropriate" as an address and of course I did not have a standard utility bill to prove I lived there) and of course get an HKID. This continued to be the case for some things with a serviced apartment, although you can probably work out some better address situation with them.

    calisg408 likes this.