2g

Have looked at various serviced appartments, for a short stay. A friend is relocating to HK for a job and I will visit HK just before she starts her new job. We were looking at service appartments, but most require a minimum stay of longer than two weeks. My friend has a flat to stay in in Happy Valley and will move to the flat at the beginning of Sept. We are looking for accomodation for two weeks for two people in a convenient location. Any suggestions? Or, are we just better off looking solely at hotels?

Lizzie_17

I recently moved to HK and my company provided a list of serviced apartments, I checked and almost all say there is a one month minimum, but this one seems to accept daily rentalshama Causeway Bay (http://www.shama.com/index.php?_room...&property_id=6)
I stayed at one in Happy Valley that was quite nice, but I don't know if they accept less than a month's stay:
Happy Valley 88 (www.88servicedepartments.com)

Cicerone

I think with a stay of a 2 weeks or more you might want a kitchen, as you probably don’t want to go out for diner every night, and being able to cook breakfast and the odd Saturday lunch would be appreciated as well. In addition, serviced apartments usually have a self-service laundry so you don’t have to pay hotel laundry prices. (Coin laundries are very, very rare in Hong Kong. Drycleaners will do laundry as well as dry cleaning, they charge on a per kilo basis for laundry.)

There is a chain of serviced apartments with various locations on Hong Kong Island, some are small studios and some are 1800 square foot 2-bedrooms priced accordingly, take a look at http://www.thev.hk/. I don’t know anything about this group or the quality of the apartments. They do have some in the Happy Valley and I think also in Causeway Bay.

Another thought are the serviced apartments at Two MacDonnell Road in mid-levels. These are available for short-term rentals. There is a grocery store across the street which is a convenient feature. I like the location on MacDonnell Road, as it is close to the great walking path on Bowen Road, you can walk down to the Peak Tram station or Hong Kong Park in about 5 minutes or to Central in a bit more. This is in a quiet residential neighborhood. The hotel has a free shuttle bus to Central as well, and a small gym a restaurant. Look at http://www.twomr.com.hk.

Check room size on all serviced apartments, as some can be very small, and when you add a kitchen and sitting area into that, really tiny indeed. Many kitchens may only be a small fridge and a microwave, so if you want an oven and stove, be sure to confirm that they are in the unit.

2g

Thanks for the helpful information. Lizzie_17 are you still in Happy Valley, we recently heard the supermarket there closed (Wellcome) is this true? What has come in it's place? Just curious.

Will follow up with the website provided. At present we a reservation at a hotel. Not really looking for a kitchen or more than just a comfortable place to stay, but a laundry would be nice.

rkkwan

Like Cicerone says, just bring laundry to the dry cleaners for cleaning (per kilo). Fairly inexpensive, quick turnaround, and usually not that hard to find one.

Cicerone

Happy Valley is quite a large area, has several hundred thousand residents, and is served by more than one supermarket. There are several Wellcome supermarkets in the area, see http://www.wellcome.com.hk for a list, not sure which one you are referring to as having closed. But other supermarkets in the area would be the Jason’s in Jardine’s Lookout just above Happy Valley (which IMO is better than Wellcome, see http://client.tequila-hk.com.hk/Market_Place/jason/), and also Park N Shop (see http://www1.parknshop.com). You will also find small mom and pop stores in the area as well as the fruit/veg and “wet” market in Bowrington Road, which would be walkable from most of Happy Valley.

All chain grocery stores in Hong Kong deliver for free. Many also have an on-line ordering service which provides delivery as well. So you can shop someplace like 360 (lots of organic), the Great Food Hall in the Pacific Place Mall or City Super in the IFC Mall and have the bulk of the items delivered (perishables are usually not deliverable). I think the best grocery store in Hong Kong is probably Oliver’s in the Prince’s Building, they have on-line shopping and delivery as well. (Dry cleaners and liquor stores deliver as well. Most any shop here will deliver for a small fee or if you purchase a minimum amount. One of the many pleasures of living in Hong Kong.)

2g

Thanks, Cicerone we were lead to belive that the one only supermarket in Happy Valley had closed and we'd have to go to Causeway Bay for grocery shopping.

Thank you for all your help, your posts have been extremely helpful to my friend and I.