Any advice...Caribbean Coast?

We have a friend who moved there last year and we had a look around as we were considering it too. She reckons the pros and cons are:


Pros

Decent sized flats for the price

Clean and well maintained

Clubhouse - pay as you go, no monthly fees

Bazaar useful for necessities - and you can get to it without getting wet

Nice views (although the seaviews will disappear in time)

Places to go for a walk

Pets allowed (only place TC I believe)

Free shuttle buses

Friendly staff

Relaxed feeling or being away from it all

Not really any noise from the planes

Taste (ParknShop) in TC, although apparently it can be busy with sightseers at times

Small wet market

Various Club activities

Safe environment for kids

Pleasant walk to TC if you don't want to take the shuttle bus - there is also supposed to be a walkway opening up between CC and Coastal so you can walk to TC undercover, perhaps someone else can confirm that


Cons

Thin ceilings, floors and walls

Not always finished (e.g. bottom of drawer not fixed, no shelves in bottom kitchen cabinets, unpainted baseboards, etc.)

Only window cleaning service permitted is very expensive

Queueing for the shuttle bus (even 15-20 mins on Sunday morning)

Small, poorly equipped gym - more space and furniture for reading newspapers

Lack of space on the shuttle buses for shopping

Can be very windy, is one of HK's hottest areas in summer (may not be a con for many)

Lots of construction slated

Lifts can take 5 minutes at morning rush hour (at least in our friend's block)

Barking dogs (the staff don't really do anything)

Out-of-hours renovation (again, staff don't really want to get involved)

Lack of transport options - only a few buses because the MTR wants to maintain its monopoly


We've spoken to a number of expats who have moved out there and the consensus is that it is good value for money (the overwhelming reason it seems to move there) but, if money was not an option, they would look elsewhere because of the inconvenience.

I live in Seaview Crescent, not CC, but in addition to Claire's post--


MTR from Central to Tung Chung is around 25minutes. Guaranteed seats most of the time from TC to Central


12 minutes to the airport by cab ($25-30), 20 by bus ($3.50)


Taste and Citygate in general are crawling with tourists only during the weekend, the rest of the week it's fairly quiet


Bike and pedestrian lanes make it safe for kids and adults to ride bikes and walk/run

To add to annebin's post, to be on the safe side you need to allow one hour from CC to Central via the MTR - waiting time for shuttle bus, shuttle bus, waiting time for MTR.


The taxi to/from the airport is around $40 to CC. You often need to wait at the airport for a Lantau taxi so it's advisable to do a telephone booking.


Annebin> Is your SC flat furnished? We saw a few and one had a decent sized master bedroom, although the living room felt like a corridor. How do you find the construction? Much room coming through from the neighbours?

Hi Claire,


Our unit is semi-furnished, and we're very happy with the lay-out (3-BR with a maid's room+own T&B). There are only 2 3-BR units out of 10 on the whole floor-- unit B & unit G, both of which are facing the sea. Among the 2-BR units, I think A has the most efficient lay-out.


The master's BR in unit B tower 5 is slightly bigger than the one in unit G. But in Tower 3, it's the opposite. Tower 2, being sandwiched between 1 and 3 has slightly smaller master's BR


WRT the construction, we're not bothered at all by the noise, and since we're on a high-enough floor, our view is (and hopefully will not be) compromised


Agree with the 1 hour allowance, even among SC residents..

drbubb is banned - see the Rules - sarcastic answers are not welcome on these forums

We are in Costal Skyline and find them noisey and the construction noise is going till 7.00 at night.