[HappyGypsy]

Hi All

My first posting, and first up I want to say thanks to the geoexpat community for all the great info I've gleaned from the forums.

We are contemplating buying a bed for our guest room before we arrive in HK. Primarily it would be for use by our parents when they visit, and they would be uncomfortable on anything smaller than a queen.

We are anticipating spending HK $50-$60k for a 3 bedroom apartment most likely in the midlevels.

My questions are as follows:
1) are we being to optimistic to think that a non-master bedroom would be big enough to fit a queen?
2) should we wait to buy it there? (I read some posts re people complaining about the cost and range of matresses, and that there is not much available larger than a double. Also, if get one here we will get a 'W' hotel bed - have to be the most comfortable in the world ).

Thanks

[jgl]

2. Be aware that different countries have different mattress sizes. I can't remember exactly, but I believe that HK is similar to UK sizing, and different from US sizing. So if you buy a mattress in the 'wrong' country, you might have trouble finding a bed frame to fit it.

Mattress selection is pretty limited in Hong Kong, but if you're buying a W bed, cost is obviously not much of an issue. At the expensive end, there is a pretty good range to be found. There is no problem finding queen and king sizes, it's the selection that tends to be a bit more limited.

[carang]

i wouldn't be spending the money on something like that without KNOWING that it would fit!

Wait until you get here and see where you end up living.

We are very lucky. we live in a village house over 3 floors. it's 2100' with 5 bedrooms. i KNOW that 2 of the bedrooms are ok for a US KING size bed. HOWEVER, this is my 8th place in HK and only the second that had even one bedroom that would fit the king bed. granted, i NEVER paid anywhere NEAR to what you are budgeting for your place(now we pay about 1/4 of your budget), but still... it seems like it would be silly to throw the $ out the window if it didn't fit!

good luck with your move!

[carang]

on the other hand, you could always find a flat that fit your required dimensions.
ie. take your tape measure with you to make sure your second bedroom would fit a queen.

[marcuslai]

Originally Posted by HappyGypsy

2) should we wait to buy it there? (I read some posts re people complaining about the cost and range of matresses, and that there is not much available larger than a double. Also, if get one here we will get a 'W' hotel bed - have to be the most comfortable in the world ).

Thanks

you can buy the W-equivalent (or superior) from the the several simmons showrooms here. the prices here will be slightly more (~ 20%) expensive than say 1800mattress, but u'll get much better service and wont have to diddle with international delivery from W.

simmons also have much better matching frames/springbox & pillows than what the W offers.

simmons offer various width/length combinations for different mattress types - esp the fancier ones. (e.g. queen lengths of 190, 196 cm)

[Wendy]

Hi Carang,
Can I ask where you live? We are in Happy Valley but paying $50,000for a 1700 sq ft. We like the area and have a lease for 12 months but we have talked about trying to save money not waste it on rent!!
Tks W.

[HKChigger]

Originally Posted by Wendy

Hi Carang,
Can I ask where you live? We are in Happy Valley but paying $50,000for a 1700 sq ft. We like the area and have a lease for 12 months but we have talked about trying to save money not waste it on rent!!
Tks W.

Actually where Carang lives is not the only place with cheaper options. If you are willing to commute you can live for peanuts. I believe Carang is in Discovery Bay, but there are also other options like Sai Kung, Clear Water Bay, Ma Wan, Sha Tin, Hung Hom, Lam Tin which are cheaper than the Island in general. In fact even within the island itself down the line North Point > it's going to be cheaper.

If you want to save big bucks just go live out in the Northern New Territories. If you stay around the East Rail Line or West Rail Line the commute would be longer than the island by a ways, but you could maybe rent a full village house for like $12,000 or buy one for $3 million BRAND NEW.

[carang]

thanks chigger,

we actually moved out of DB last summer as it was just getting too expensive. we are now in sai kung country park and loving the space. we do find the commute a bit much but it's still manageable.

[HappyGypsy]

Hi All

I tried to post a response a couple of days ago, but as a 'newby' it looks like I need more practice as I seem to have sent it out cyber-space somewhere.

Thanks for the info. Interesting to here a 'queen' is not always a 'queen' (on many different levels ).

Am certainly interested in getting maximum bang for our rental dollar. We're moving from Manhattan (but are Australian), so we have seen 'small' but it sounds like HK will still be a shock.

Marcuslai - sounds like you know a lot about beds. Yes, the W is made by simmons.

And yes, we will wait until we get there to get a bed. Makes sense after reading everyone's posts. Thanks!

Looking forward to joining you all on the 'other side'.

[cb1118]

hi, I am actually an interior designer

to be able to fit anything into your house or your room.
first, you must understand the size of the elevators of your apartment, since everything must pass there first.
if it can pass the elevator, it probably can pass your front door too.

secondly, concerning fitting something into your room and feel comfortable to move around, you just need to remember you need about (HK standard) very minimum 630mm space to move around (of any side), that's the depth of a wardrobe (cabinet)

according to standard, the best fit space is 831mm moving space

well this is HK....you may also consider to set the bed to the corner of the room.
instead of gaining access onto the bed from 3 sides,
you may only leave 1 or 2 sides to ge onto it.

it's up to you, as it is your house.