[captaincleanoff]

I am just wondering if anyone could give me any information about the Horizon Suite Hotel in Ma On Shan. Any information at all would be great.

The cheapest rate is listed as being $6800. However, this does not include electricity, maid service, or broadband. All of these things I will need.

I am just wanting to get an idea of how much it will end up costing per month. I will probably only need a maid service once or twice, and I definately need broadband.

I am aware of the travelling time/distance, this is not really an issue for me.

Also, is anyone aware of a way to contact the hotel via email? I can only find a phone number.

[cyrus.rockt]

HI

You're so lucky that you've got me

I was really suprised of the cheap price and that's why i made a trip to the hotel today. At first the hotel is awesome and that's the point!

The offer is only a fake campaign for me, because they've got no rooms for this offer

But if you want to move in the same room, you can have it for 17000 HK$ a month.The smallest room is avaible for maximum 4 person and it's quite nice. The bus runs only every hour to the Daimond Hill MTR Station and if you want to use the taxi, you've to pay least than 100HK$.

Was a nice trip to the hotel, unfortunately i lost 100 buck...

[Sleuth]

Cyrus.rockt,
Did you have to have an appointment to see the place? I was thinking of dropping in next trip over.
Any idea how often the bus runs to University KCR?

[WeLuvDodgeball]

We've been in Horizon Suites for 6 weeks now and like it here.

Yeah, the $6800 offer is a bit of a joke. I think they have a few rooms for that rate on the 2nd floor, but from what the sales people told me, they are always occupied.

And yes, they are all to happy to show you the show suite on the 18th floor for $17000 a month. But, you don't have to take that one.

Its like any large apartment in any of the world's major cities. The higher the floor, the better the view. The better the view, the higher the price. We choose a 2 bedroom suite on the 7th floor and are paying approx HK$9100 a month, on a 12 month contract. We didn't opt for the maid service as its only 1 a week for an hour or something likethat so it didn't seem worth it to us. However, if you've got the money, id go for it. Also, the gym/club on the mezzaline floor is nice, but again... we wouldn't use it enough to pay for the monthly fee so we opted to not exercise this benefit.

Broadband is something like $168 a month, but a little cheaper if you book and pay for 6 months in advance. This is what we did so basically you pay $1068 for each peridd of 6 months.

The staff here are very friendly, and they run this place like a US govt. office with the amount of security they have. Its a bit funny sometimes how many Men In Black suits they have around, but its ok.

There is a mini Park-n-shop branch extending from the lobby so you don't have to walk all the way, 15 minutes, to Ma On Shan shopping center to visit the big grocery stores. Also, the pool is like 50 meters look and looks as if its flowing into ToLo harbour. Its absolutely beautiful to go there in evenings, when the air polution isn't so bad. We've had several fantastic evenings in a row of watching sunsets over the harbour.

Another nice benefit is the frequent free rides Horizon Suites offers. TsimShaTsui is $10 a ride, and Central is $18, but Diamond Hill, University, Sha Tin town center, and a couple others are free.... mostly hourly services. I use them once a week or so, but to be honest with you, its easier to just use the KCR Eastline. Its a 12 minute 37 second walk from Horizon Suites, I did time a couple routes to see how long it would take. Service from Ma On Shan station is every 3 minutes during the day, and 5 minutes during the late evening.

Ma On Shan is very quite compared to Central, Kowloon and other parts of HK proper. Here we have very wide, American style roads and sidewalks/walk pathes, and there is a really nice park here between Horizon Suites and Ma On Shan Plaza, Sunshine City, and the KCR line.

There are plenty of restaurants here as well, but they are almost 100% local food. There is a pizza hut, mcdonald, hardees, and a couple wantta-be western restaurants. Other than that, nothing... But we cook most meals so its not really a problem. Also, there are no coffee shops here. This kind of sucks, but we are 8 minutes away by KCR to ShaTin town center so we can get our Starbucks fix quite easily there.

Hope that helps.... This place isn't for everyone, and is likely too far away from the main action of Hong Kong proper for most. But its easy to pop up for a look, and its very easy to get here using the MTR/KCR line so I'd advise you to at least do that and decide after you've spoken to them.

-Brad

[captaincleanoff]

thanks very much for you information, much appreciated. Is there any way you can get a room for between $6800-$9000, paying monthly? I cannot tie myself into a year contact, as I am not exatly sure how long I will be staying inHK

[WeLuvDodgeball]

Hummm.. If you don't avail of the service options (maid, club membership, etc..) it will be cheaper. What I would do is call Horizon Suites, tell them your budget, and they will tell you if they currently have rooms available within that range.

I don't know about shorter term contracts though. I've heard of 6 month contracts here, but the highly discounted rate is for 10+ months minimum. There is a pretty good opt out clause in that you just need to tell them 1 month in advance if you need to break your lease. Then you are scot free....

Tip: We called and they only had a couple rooms to show us at a rate over $10,000K a month, we visited a week later and a couple additional rooms had opened up on lower floors that were cheaper. So, if you don't like the rooms/rates they have on the day, just call back a week later. Like any hotel/serviced apartment, people are coming/going all the time...

Good luck...

Originally Posted by captaincleanoff

thanks very much for you information, much appreciated. Is there any way you can get a room for between $6800-$9000, paying monthly? I cannot tie myself into a year contact, as I am not exatly sure how long I will be staying inHK

[busyinhk]

To add one more piece of valuable info. There are two options for paying the electric (or it was like the in 2006)
1. Pay about 1000 per month and use as much as you want
2. Pay about 1 dollar per unit (pay as you go)

We went pay as you go and it worked out cheaper.

[WeLuvDodgeball]

I will confirm the pay-as-you go. I used the AC most hours of the day in the summer and the most we ever paid was $785 I believe. During the winter the bill was around $125 per month, no where near $1000 fixed rate.

Our experience with Horizon Suites was pretty good. We heard a dirty rumour that they would try to squeeze 20-30% rent increase after year 2, and thats what they did to us. They asked for a 38% increase in rent for a 3rd 12 month contract. Needless to say, we moved out 4 months ago.

Horizon Suites in Ma On Shan remains a good option if you are coming to Hong Kong for 1 or 2 years, with few intentions of staying longer. Its furnished, nice enough, and the little Park-n-shop downstairs is a life saver. We really miss the shuttle service they had from TST, it was so much more convenient than using public transportation (what a pig I am to ever complain about Hong Kong's MTR and bus network!!!).

If you are considering coming to Hong Kong for longer than more than 2+ years, I still think Horizon Suites is a good place to start for your first year. You can get settled into Hong Kong and then find a place to live in an area of the city you prefer 12 months later. You will just need to consider what to do with your furniture, as Horizon Suites is fully furnished, as is its cousin Horizon Habourside and Oceanview (I think this is what they are called).

Other than the ridiculous rent increase they ask of expats, I had complaints about this place.