[shahirakk]

My husband is in HK looking at apartments - WE are keen to live on the South Side (6 month old baby) and he liked both Repulse Bay and Tai Tam.
In terms of community and amenities - which is better?

I know with Repulse Bay the beach is right there, the supermarket, doctors etc are all on site and the club is excellent and it's not too far too commute with a wide choice of buses. However it is more expensive to rent than Tai Tam

Wrt Tai Tam, there is a good supermarket close by (Park n Shop), a small parade of shops, good amenities provided in the block and the American club close by. How easy/ difficult is the commute? My husband needs to get into the office by 7am and I wonder about the commute.

IF you live in Tai Tam/ Repulse Bay - I would appreciate your ideas and your experiences of living there.

Thanks for your help in advance
Shahira

[hkmum73]

Hi Shahira,

I assume from your note that you have not yet moved to HK? My husband and I moved here about 11 months ago and looked at a number of places on the South Side so perhaps I might be able to give you my perspective on it. We currently live in Repulse Bay and let me give you an insight into our decision.

The trouble with Tai Tam is that there is no direct transportation into town, you will most likely need to take the building shuttle service to Stanley and from there take a connecting citybus (the big one) or mini bus (the small green one). That's not a problem if you intend on driving everywhere. My husband works in Central and has long working hours so the extra 10-15 minutes to get to Tai Tam makes a big impact to his commute.

The other issue with Tai Tam is that your closest food/shopping destination is Stanley and that place is fully loaded with tourists on weekends and most weekdays so it's quite annoying once you become local.

I agree that Repulse Bay is expensive and you get less for your money than areas but it's worth it. We enjoy going for walks on the weekends down to Repulse Bay or South Bay beach. It is also an easy commute to Central and most other places either by car or by public transport.

Anyway, I think it's a personal thing. Let me know how it works out. Good luck!

L

[shahirakk]

Dearest L,

Thanks so much for your reply. We havent moved to HK yet & my husband is back from HK in London now.

I wasnt aware that the buses did not run to Central - so this sounds less doable.

In terms of doctors, pediatricians etc - How do the two stack up?

Shahira

[bexterHK]

we moved from the midlevels to parkview in tai tam several months ago and are quite happy. the buiding has a great super-market, kid & adult friendly club house, restaurants, and a private shuttle bus that runs to wan chai/admiralty/central every 10 minutes. the commute to central (using the shuttle bus) takes me 10 minutes at 7:15 AM.

the other parts of tai tam take are beautiful but considerably further from central. repulse bay is a bit closer than the rest of tai tam, but parkview is definitely the closest.

the downside of parkview is the common perception that it is a 'stepford development'. i haven't found that to be the case as our neighbors are all quite nice, but the perception lingers on...