Looking for an apartment with efficient layout

Hi everyone...my fiance and I are looking for a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment with good layout. We've come across a lot of 3 bedroom apartments with 2 very small and almost non-functional bedrooms. we would prefer to find a 2 bedroom apartment where both bedrooms are good sized and functional. We haven't decided on which part of the city we want to live...we don't mind commuting...both of us will work in Central...


We prefer modern/newer buildings with good amenities (gym, pool mostly). We don't have kids but may start a family in a year or so.


for now, we're open to all suggestions...our budget is 50-70k. Thanks!

The problem you are running into is that newer buildings tend to have poor efficiency (big difference between nominal and actual square footage) and very small rooms. The developers can make more money that way. Bel-Air Phase 8 is the ultimate example. The building is very fancy with a "how cool are we" pool but the pads are tiny, with a "third bedroom" the size of a closet.


If you want larger rooms and better layouts, you'll have to look at older buildings, mostly mid and low rise. For example we live in a building from 1956 (ancient for HK). We have large rooms and an excellent layout with lots of light. However the outside isn't nice and "shiny" and we have no facilities.


I would look in Shouson Hill, Pok Fu Lam, Stanley, Happy Valley.

My fiance likes bel air no. 8 a lot for its amenities....but you hit it on the head about the poor efficiency there...


I'm less concerned about efficiency since we will try to make use of the amenities, but i really hate the poor layout with the small bedrooms...what are we suppose to do with those...frigging retarded...


it seems that she's dead set on bel air though - she thinks it's "not in the middle of nowhere" and she loves the pool...


Thanks for your advice...we really appreciate it

If I had to move to Bel-Air (kicking and screaming) I would definitely choose "Residence Bel-Air", i.e. the oldest part. It has way better efficiency than the "Oreo Towers" (Phase 8), it is cheaper and the apartments are much nicer. The pool is also better. I find the Phase 8 pool more of an ostentatious architectonic feature than a nice place to hang out. On a side note, the fact that they charge for visitor parking (of which there is plenty) is IMHO both rude and vulgar.


As for "middle of nowhere", communications are great with frequent bus service and only 20 minutes to Central. The shopping centre is ok. The grocery store (an International) has typically astronomical prices. The big waterfront park is really nice. One of the few parks in HK where you can both ride a bike and have your dog off leash.


If you like Bel-Air, look at Repulse Bay Apartments (AKA 101 Repulse Bay Road). Slightly older so better and larger layouts. It shares outstanding facilities with The Repulse Bay (AKA 109 Repulse Bay Road). Also The Manhattan in Stanley/Tai Tam. Transit times to Repulse Bay and Bel-Air are roughly equivalent to Central.