Making the best of available space in Hong Kong

Before Hong Kong was handed back to the Chinese, we had visited a young relative in Hong Kong, who rented a small apartment in a high-rise block in the city centre, close to the waterfront. Space here is a premium and was used very creatively.

On entering the apartment, the double bedroom was on the right. It was two metres (the length of the bed) by two metres (the width of a small double bed plus enough room at the side of the bed for a ladder and to stand get dressed). The bed was a high bunk with a storage area below and there was a narrow wardrobe next to it, at the opposite end from the sliding bedroom door.

The lounge/diner/kitchen was not much larger. The built-in benches and table just about accommodated four people. It was situated under the other half of the bed, behind the storage. The rest of the room contained a mini kitchen range and a lounge area filled with a 2-seater sofa.

The bathroom had a small wash basin, a wc-bidet and a full room-width one-metre sit-in bath/shower. The whole apartment would fit into one fairly average sized room in a UK 3-bedroom semi-detached home. The use of space in the apartment was reminiscent of our first stay in an apartment in La Plagne, the ski resort in the French Alps, many years earlier.

In our hotel room, we had twice as much room as our relative had in the apartment so don't panic if you've booked into a known hotel chain - there will be room to swing a cat, although we don't recommend nor condone it!

We spent a few days in Hong Kong, visiting The Markets at Stanley and Kowloon, Food Street and Ladder Street,. We even managed a day trip to China and before moving on to our next destination.

posted 2013, visit 1990s.