Hong Kong Holiday Apartment Basics

I started looking for a Hong Kong holiday apartment because family and friends coming to visit me would constantly complain about the expensive nature of housing in the bustling city.  I found that when a group of four or more were travelling together, it quickly become a nightmare to house them.  One option was to place them in hotels but with the city famous for expensive real estate prices you were looking to pay $300-$400 USD a night for a room that would only house two people.  This quickly became impractical for families and large groups of friends coming to visit.  The natural next option was to look for serviced apartments.  Unfortunately in Hong Kong pretty much all the serviced apartments require a minimum of a one month lease, and with friends and family visiting for 1-2 weeks only the serviced apartments wouldn’t house them.

Prices Have Gone Up.

Hong Kong apartment rental prices have always been notoriously expensive.  An additional difficulty for visitors coming to Hong Kong that is the large number of expatriates that have come to Hong Kong since 2008 has driven up the price of short term apartment rentals dramatically.  There are so many expatriates in the city they are struggling to find places for their children in international schools according to this Wall Street Journal article.  This spike in population has been a primary cause for prices of Hong Kong short term accommodation to move up dramatically in the past few years.

These two factors combined, I found it made sense to try and locate a Hong Kong holiday apartment to rent for my friends and family that were travelling to the city for less than two weeks.

How To Pick Your Holiday Apartment

• Location, location, location is important.  You generally want to be centrally located on Hong Kong island as that is the centre of everything.  Apartments in Sheung Wan, Sai Ying Poon or Wan Chai are the suburbs closest to Central and thus are excellent choices.  If you are more price conscious you can stay further out in Kowloon, however commuting will be a little bit more of a hassle.
• Proximity to train station.  The Hong Kong MTR (train) system is super efficient so as long as you are close to a train station you can travel to pretty much anywhere in Hong Kong within 30 minutes.  Trains run till shortly after midnight so that is your most efficient and cheap mode of transport.
• How many guests the apartment can accomodate.  Most listings should list how many guests can be accommodated comfortably.  Don’t worry too much about the apartment size, all Hong Kong units are small.  But read the apartment description closely to see how the landlord accommodates groups of four people or more i.e. how many real beds do they have, do they have a sofa bed, do they have extra mattresses etc.
• Wireless Internet.  Most Hong Kong holiday apartments are privately owned apartments which are rented on the side.  Lots of owners stay in them when they aren’t rented out, thus most of them have an internet connection provided free of charge.
• Linen and Fresh Towels.  If you are staying for more than a week check that linen and fresh towels are provided.  Basic linen and accessories are cheaper in Hong Kong than in the west (they are sourced directly from China) so most landlords are able provide complimentary.
• Pricing.  Check the pricing of Hong Kong holiday apartments.  Prices vary greatly, but for apartments located near Central you are looking in the $250 – $400 USD a night range for apartments that can accomodate up to 6 people.  Works out pretty competitive for groups: you’re only $50 USD a night in a city notorious for real estate prices!