[Simtub]

Hi All,

I'm relocating to HK and would quite like to live on the HK Island side but given average rent prices around the Central/Sheung Wan area are around 10k for Shoebox size studio/1bedroom apartments I feel I'd need to brace myself for a dramatic change in adapting to a small living space.

I know if I look around I can find some nicer older flats to live in for that budget which has more space but for the purpose of this topic I'd like to stick with small studio flat living experiences.

Has any of you lived in these types of small studio style apartments when you first moved here? How was your experience?

[jimbo]

Firstly though why restrict yourself to the central/sheung wan area where the rents are traditionally higher anyway due to the location?

Travel a bit further out on the Island line to say North Point/Quarry Bay and you'll get more for your money and its still only 20 minutes by mtr to central.

[Simtub]

Originally Posted by jimbo

Firstly though why restrict yourself to the central/sheung wan area where the rents are traditionally higher anyway due to the location?

Travel a bit further out on the Island line to say North Point/Quarry Bay and you'll get more for your money and its still only 20 minutes by mtr to central.

I mentioned Central/Sheung Wan because the office is based there. I wouldn't mind living North Point and Quarry Bay too though. I posted to see if people had lived in those small cramped places in Central/Sheung wan areas.

[vmlinuz]

Originally Posted by Simtub

average rent prices around the Central/Sheung Wan area are around 10k for Shoebox size studio/1bedroom apartments

The average rent may be 10k for a studio/1br, but I'm living in a decent-sized 2 bedroom place in Sheung Wan for very slightly more than 10k. It is at the Sai Yin Pun end of Sheung Wan, to be fair, but that's not an issue for me...

[backpacker]

horrible..I lived in a 200 sqft studio in Central in my 1st month here (and I paid more than $10K). Not fun at all as I have to sit on my single size bed to watch TV. There was just no room to manuever. I felt like I was in a prison cell and just don't want to spend time there in the weekends. A home should be a place where I can relax afterwork...so I moved to the Kowloon side after a month.

[jayinhongkong]

Originally Posted by backpacker

horrible..I lived in a 200 sqft studio in Central in my 1st month here (and I paid more than $10K). Not fun at all as I have to sit on my single size bed to watch TV. There was just no room to manuever. I felt like I was in a prison cell and just don't want to spend time there in the weekends. A home should be a place where I can relax afterwork...so I moved to the Kowloon side after a month.

I've seen worse than that. My cousin lived in an apartment that had been subdivided into three or four different units. The entire area of his unit was under 100 sf and the toilet was in the shower stall!

[xxxlionxxx]

Originally Posted by jayinhongkong

I've seen worse than that. My cousin lived in an apartment that had been subdivided into three or four different units. The entire area of his unit was under 100 sf and the toilet was in the shower stall!

And stuck in one of those cells for a while, one would get pretty irritated and start bumping into others in the street.

[Corner Blitz]

Having just gone through this exhaustive process.....

There is not much of a price break from Sheung Wan to N.Point or Quarry Bay. You're better off staying close to the action in S.Wan than paying the same amt of rent and being away from LKF, soho..etc.

I did the shoebox studio for 4 years and you get used to it. For alot of us it's part of the HK experience. You'll adapt faster than you currently think.

[MovingIn07]

The mere thought of a shoebox was enough to send me running for the hills. I looked at 1200 sq ft apartments and thought THEY were small. So I've moved a long way away (Gold Coast) which works for me. There ARE always options, but they always involve trade-offs.

[Trebor]

I'm in a slightly larger studio in Wanchai but closer to Times Square MTR. It's 343 sqaure foot and has a seperate bathroom and kitchen and a double bed/sofa/tv/desk for laptop combo area.

As i'm not here indefinitely it's certainly good enough for me for the time being as it's not far to either the Wanchai (10 min walk) or LKF (25 bucks in a cab) bars.

The price is 150% of what you are quoting though at $15,100 per month.....but my employer is paying. If i was paying or was to stay here longer than what I am I would look for somewhere a little bigger over in Kowloon most probably.