Tung Chung (Seaview Cres/ Carib.Coast) vs Park Island

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  1. #1

    Tung Chung (Seaview Cres/ Carib.Coast) vs Park Island

    Hi... I'd be grateful for anyone living in the above complexes to rate their experiences and help me decide.

    I am an Australian moving to HK in October ; my employer has given me a housing benefit; I need to live on/nr Lantau - with easy access to Tsuen Wan and the Airport. Dont want to spend nore than 8.5K for a 1 or 2-bedroom and would love a pool/gym in the complex.

    Locals have been suggesting PARK ISLAND. Looks great from an aerial view and on their official website, but a few photos I saw on the midland.com website are not particularly attractivel! I need some feedback from expats living there now - is it really a resortlike place; shops, quality of flats, easy boat access to Tsuen Wan and bus to MTR etc.. Is the express ferry expensive?!

    In TUNG CHUNG I have been recommended Seaview Crescent and/or Caribbean Coast. How close are they (walking) to MTR, shops - which one has better views - do they have swimming pools, again, quality of build etc.

    I would be grateful for any feedback

    thanks all!!! Cheers

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Park Island
    Posts
    2,057

    Red face

    Hi,

    I haven't actually stayed at Park Island. I went to Park Island in June to rent an apartment for this coming Aug. Park Island has a resort style living. There's both indoor and outdoor swimming pools and 2 gyms as well. However, from memory I don't think there's many restaurants there. Maybe 3 or 4, can't really remember. The ferry takes less than 30 mins to get to Central. I'm paying about HK$8400 for a 2 bedroom apartment about 700 square feet. Hope I've been helpful. Have a look at http://www.gohome.com.hk or http://www.centalist.com/listing/search_e.asp Do a search on Ma Wan or Outlying Islands.

    Hope I've been hopeful.


  3. #3

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Sai Kung
    Posts
    664

    sunniefaith, its not exactly correct what u said about the number of restaurants on park island... actually there are quite a lot already, and more are opening up.... there should be now at least around 10 or more.
    so there is enough choice ;-)

    i live in park island as well.... drop me a line when u move to here....
    i love this place.... its really like resort style living....just great. and i love the pool here. and the gym is seldom crowded.... u would never expect that in hong kong ;-)


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Posts
    46

    I too live in Park Island and I absolutely love it. The quality of the apartment, managment, club house is to my utmost satisfaction. If you PM me I can send you my person website and you can look at the pictures I've taken on park island. I feel the commute to Tuesn Wan, Tsing Yi and Central not to forget Kwai Fong is convinient. We have a couple of restaurants but they usually close around 10pm. We have a parknshop but its not the best parknshop. Umm.. I had a friend who lived in the one bedroom apartment fully furnished and she paid $6000 HK.

    Pumi, where on PI do you live? I love on block 5. PM me


  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    11

    To balance those opinions expressed already, let me give you the Tung Chung view!

    Tung Chung has direct, quick (less than 30 minutes) MTR access to HK Island, and consequently, all places in Kowloon and elsewhere in between. Ma Wan does not.

    Tung Chung has lots of open spaces, and more outdoor areas for strolling than anywhere else in HK (trust me, I've lived in quite a few of them). Jump on a bus, and you can be on the largely unspoiled (at the moment) beaches of South Lantau in less than half an hour. From Ma Wan the best you can do is the Gold Coast (DO not go in the water there!!).

    Tung Chung has an increasing range of restaurants and bars - the 'Aviator' pub recently opened (very nice, Western-style venue), as did the Novotel, with Asian and Western options. There's a good Thai restaurant, Shanghai, Cantonese etc. Ma Wan?

    Shopping, if that's your thing, is getting better, with lots of outlets opening - the only downside is that these draw increasing numbers of people from the city, especially at weekends. There's even a cinema, and numerous medical and dental facilities. Ma Wan?

    Talking about Park N' Shop (one of HK's supermarket chains); the one in Tung Chung recently underwent a face lift, and is now probably one of the best in HK. It still has its faults, notably some erratic stocking, but let me ask you this: how many supermarkets in the world would answer and action a customer email in less than 24 hours? This one did - I complained (politely) that three or four items (including a particular brand of western musesli, and fresh basil) seemed to be out of stock, and I received a reply, with promises of action less than 12 hours later (this was yesterday). Today it's been sorted!

    Noise? The apartments you mention are displaced well to the south of the departure / arrival paths to the airport; there is, of course, some noise, but it's not a problem, and can't be heard over the buzz of an aircon. Again, trust me: nowhere in HK is quiet - the rural idylls of Sai Kung (I've lived there) are generally punctuated by incessantly barking dogs. Give me the aircraft any day. Ma Wan, incidentally, is directly beneath the approach / departure (and that's worse) paths form the airport, albeit several miles to the east.

    Pollution? Tung Chung is often cited as having the worst air quality in HK. Again, this is very misleading. Misguided people in Disco Bay think that it's better two or three kilometres away on their side of a low hill; believe me (again, sorry) that the differences are miniscule. Central or Kowloon, are, of course, far worse, Sai Kung is generally better. The sad thing is that nowhere in HK is especially good on a world scale. It's the one thing that I really would like to change here.

    I could go on...Both Caribbean Coast and Seaview Crescent are great - excellent clubhouses (the former has a much larger pool), and if you get high enough (up to 60 floors) you' ll love the view. However, I opted for the latter, for 2 important reasons: with small children (in puschairs) you can walk to the shops / MTR (in 10 minutes or less) without having to de-buggy them to get on and off the shuttle bus; and secondly, if you go for the view at Caribbean Coast, you'll be facing directly into the afternoon and evening sun. This means those attractive balconies are useless in the summer, and more importantly, you'll be running aircons all day.

    Hope that helps your decision making!

    Bloggs


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    450

    I have friends in Tung Chung Crescent and Coastal Skyline who like living out there as well.


  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by bloggs:
    To balance those opinions expressed already, let me give you the Tung Chung view!

    Tung Chung has direct, quick (less than 30 minutes) MTR access to HK Island, and consequently, all places in Kowloon and elsewhere in between. Ma Wan does not.

    Tung Chung has lots of open spaces, and more outdoor areas for strolling than anywhere else in HK (trust me, I've lived in quite a few of them). Jump on a bus, and you can be on the largely unspoiled (at the moment) beaches of South Lantau in less than half an hour. From Ma Wan the best you can do is the Gold Coast (DO not go in the water there!!).

    Tung Chung has an increasing range of restaurants and bars - the 'Aviator' pub recently opened (very nice, Western-style venue), as did the Novotel, with Asian and Western options. There's a good Thai restaurant, Shanghai, Cantonese etc. Ma Wan?

    Shopping, if that's your thing, is getting better, with lots of outlets opening - the only downside is that these draw increasing numbers of people from the city, especially at weekends. There's even a cinema, and numerous medical and dental facilities. Ma Wan?

    Talking about Park N' Shop (one of HK's supermarket chains); the one in Tung Chung recently underwent a face lift, and is now probably one of the best in HK. It still has its faults, notably some erratic stocking, but let me ask you this: how many supermarkets in the world would answer and action a customer email in less than 24 hours? This one did - I complained (politely) that three or four items (including a particular brand of western musesli, and fresh basil) seemed to be out of stock, and I received a reply, with promises of action less than 12 hours later (this was yesterday). Today it's been sorted!

    Noise? The apartments you mention are displaced well to the south of the departure / arrival paths to the airport; there is, of course, some noise, but it's not a problem, and can't be heard over the buzz of an aircon. Again, trust me: nowhere in HK is quiet - the rural idylls of Sai Kung (I've lived there) are generally punctuated by incessantly barking dogs. Give me the aircraft any day. Ma Wan, incidentally, is directly beneath the approach / departure (and that's worse) paths form the airport, albeit several miles to the east.

    Pollution? Tung Chung is often cited as having the worst air quality in HK. Again, this is very misleading. Misguided people in Disco Bay think that it's better two or three kilometres away on their side of a low hill; believe me (again, sorry) that the differences are miniscule. Central or Kowloon, are, of course, far worse, Sai Kung is generally better. The sad thing is that nowhere in HK is especially good on a world scale. It's the one thing that I really would like to change here.

    I could go on...Both Caribbean Coast and Seaview Crescent are great - excellent clubhouses (the former has a much larger pool), and if you get high enough (up to 60 floors) you' ll love the view. However, I opted for the latter, for 2 important reasons: with small children (in puschairs) you can walk to the shops / MTR (in 10 minutes or less) without having to de-buggy them to get on and off the shuttle bus; and secondly, if you go for the view at Caribbean Coast, you'll be facing directly into the afternoon and evening sun. This means those attractive balconies are useless in the summer, and more importantly, you'll be running aircons all day.

    Hope that helps your decision making!

    Bloggs
    Thanks Bloggs for opening up Tung Chung for me. I have been eyeing the Seaview Cres and Im glad to hear that its a 10 min walk to MTR. My only concern is the commuting to Tsuen Wan , will it be easy to get there (commuting time??) . My future employer said "too easy" just take MTR to Tsing Yi then jump in a cab. ?! Cannot/will not use a cab everyday I have to work in Tsuen Wan.

    Seaview has sea views and is reasonably priced.. 6-7K for a small 2 bedroom; better priced than Park Island. I am aiming at an all inclusive package - feasible?? to include elctricity/internet and possobly the club/pool. I am a swimmer and the pool is a must. is it a reasonably sizede one?

    MOST IMPRESSED withthe comments you made on the supermarket!!

    Cheers

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Park Island
    Posts
    2,057

    Red face

    Thanks Pumi for the info. Well, at least, I don't have to worry about my dinner every night!


  9. #9

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    11

    Euroaussie,

    Tsuen Wan is not a problem; the E21 goes from Tung Chung - there are stops outside all of the three main complexes here - and runs regularly (I think every 10 minutes in the peak hours). I'm not sure how long it takes, but I do know a couple of people who work in Tsuen Wan and commute from here. I think the company is 'Long Win' Bus Company - they do have a website with timetables and routes.

    Rents are down right now in all of the flats around here; even the larger 3 bedroom (1124 sq feet) are going for 9K - negotiable. 6-7 for a smaller one is very feasible. Have a look around at all three complexes - don't take my word for it!!

    The pool at Seaview is nice - certainly big enough for real exercise; good clubhouse with squash, badminton, tennis, gym etc. You should negotiate a rent with the management fees included.

    You can ask for furniture, but I would think that you'll have to pay for your electricity / internet yourself - there's too much scope for vast bills for a landlord to take those on. If you're careful, and out at work, 7K a month should be feasible.

    Hope that helps.

    Cheers,

    Bloggs


  10. #10

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    22

    Sunniefaith, I find you always giving advice to others, very helpful!

    Blogg, you are so informative!

    Let's keep ourselves updated all the time.


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