Anyone living in Vision 1? Any cons?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

Hey guys,

I’m finally making my move this week to Taipei and I’ve pretty much settled on choosing one of the smaller apartments in Vision 1 close to Taipei City Hall MTR.

Does anyone in these forums live there or know anyone that does? Are there any negative points I should know about that I may have missed?

Thanks,

Alex

2

Well, if you are going to stay at the smaller apt, very soon you might think that it’s too tight…
Just don’t pick apt that gives on Keelung rd, it’s damn noisy and dusty
Otherwise, I just think there’s a lack of light/windows…

Compared to other buildings of this type, V1 has the advantages to have cheaper management fees for more services. The crowd is good.

May I know how much is the rent? Shouldn’t be over 25K or it’s not a good deal!

Hope this help,

3

Hey,

Thanks for the reply - I actually got a place in Vision 1 last week. With the management fee it equates to around 30,000 a month. I’m very happy with it as the one I got is a particularly nice design (the landlady got the sofa custom made etc.) and also it faces a side road rather than the main one, so it isn’t particularly noisy, but I did see some which were pretty poorly lit (even one with no natural daylight I think), with pretty hideous furniture and facing the main overpass which I imagine is terribly noisy.

I haven’t had the chance to use the various facilities yet, but they do look really great - also apparently the outdoor pool is heated in winter rather than closed, which I was nicely surprised by…

So, I I’d definitely recommend it if you can find a good apartment within it - Apparently there are more becoming available this month as leases expire, but they are probably larger than I needed and I just liked this one so much…

And a final point, one of the key features of most of the apartments is the amazingly large bathtub (not that I’m a keen bather), but some of the apartments only have a shower… so don’t be suckered in by those either… even though one such apartment I saw had a nice central view over the pool…

Alex

4

It’s kind of pricey if it’s the smallest size apt, but well if you really like it…
Anyway welcome to V1 then! We are now neighbours :sunglasses:

Oliver

5

hi i am moving into v1 soon. how are the facilities there? heard the pool isn’t clean n we need the coupon everytime we use the gym. is it true? any tips? thanks in advance!

6

Hey Gice,

The facilities are pretty good here, the pool and gym are clean enough I think - never stopped me before :slight_smile:

Every time you pay your 3 month maintenance fee you get given a few cards with blanks slots to be stamped - once for each person’s gym entry and twice for swimming pool entry, so far I’ve never run out of blank slots, but maybe that’s because I’m too lazy :wink:

How your apartment is really depends on the landlord/landlady - Mine is one of the smaller ones but pretty stylish in terms of design and furniture. I assume you’ve already bought your apartment? Mine faces the side road off Keelung road, so it’s not too noisy, although there’s a dog across the street that seems to bark a bit during the day sometimes.

Otherwise, it’s a pretty nice place to live and very convenient. I don’t think I’ll be renewing when my contract comes up in August as I’d like to find a slightly cheaper place so as to save up to buy.

Any other questions, let me know :slight_smile:

Alex

7

thanks, alex. that was very useful.

wonder why they implemented the card system- not like it’s super packed. doesn’t make much sense, eh?

look fwd to being ur naybor! :slight_smile:

8

I don’t think it’s about restricting people, it’s more about making sure they don’t over use it unfairly. For example, you can bring friends and family that don’t live in the building there, but they of course use up your stamps. I assume you can buy more cards should you run out, but not sure how much they cost.

Welcome to V1 :slight_smile:

Alex

9

living in v1 already! if anyone wants a late drink or late nite hbo movie, send me a msg! can chill together~~

10

What is the Chinese name of Vision 1?

Thanks.

11

世貿國際商旅

You can go on rent.591.com.tw/ and search for ‘v1’ or ‘vision,’ there are quite a few listings. I looked at a unit today, a studio with a raised bedroom. Bathrooms are nice, lobby and exercise facilities are very nice. I was told many hot girls and models live there. Based on walking around there, I agree.

The space is too small for me, and I don’t like the raised bedroom layout. If I get the chance, I would like to see a larger unit. I think it would still be too cramped, but maybe I could date a very thin model.

12

I’ve lived in Vision 1 for almost a year, here’s my pros and cons list:

Pros:

  • Awesomely convenient location with everything you could possibly need (including a Carrefour open til 2am) within short walking distance.
  • Outdoor swimming pool (closed for half the year though [winter] - it re-opens today - i.e. June)
  • Gym and steam rooms/saunas (these are open all year round)
  • Generally great bathrooms (a big reason why we chose it), but that square bathtub is actually pretty uncomfortable/sharp to sit down in - even if there is room for 3 people :wink: - It’s also so big that it takes ages to fill up with water.
  • There are quite a few local celebrities/singers/actors/models living there so you have some bragging rights, but don’t expect them to become friends with you :slight_smile: And if you’re foreign you probably won’t know who most of them are anyway…
  • Some of the apartments (including mine) are beautifully designed (but then others are kind of ugly), it’s dependent on the owner…

Cons:

  • Rent is inordinately high (starting at about 23,000-26,000 NT a month for the smallest units - primarily dependent on the quality of the design and the location of the unit.
  • There is an additional management fee you need to pay every 3 months which for me is about 3,000 NT, but may be more if you have a larger apartment.
  • The smallest apartments are VERY small, I wouldn’t want to really live there with my girlfriend, as it’s pretty cramped to live there with 2 people - not much closet space too. I’ve successfully had about 5 or 6 friends over though and there’s just about enough room to swing a wiimote around for 2 players, although someone did get hit in the head :smiley:
  • The units are not very well sound proofed. This hasn’t been a problem in general, but it means if someone runs a tap in a neighbouring apartment in the early hours of the morning, it’s possible to hear the powerful water pump (usually when I’m in bed someone seems to wash their hands a bit…).
  • Some of the apartments in the building seem to be under constant construction, so don’t be surprised if you hear drilling during weekday working hours - it can be pretty irritating.
  • If you’re taller than say 180cm/6 feet, the ceiling of the upstairs bedroom will be too low for you - I’m not, so it’s not really a problem, but I’ve still hit my head several times on the ceiling…
  • No proper kitchen beyond a single gas hob - but then I eat out every meal.

Overall:
It’s a nice, comfortable place to live, and I’m glad I did so for my first year living in Taipei (I’ve lived in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou previously), but now I know much more about the city and local market, I’m going to be looking for an unfurnished, older 2 or 3 bedroom place for about half the price a few stops down the metro (which is not impossible to find). It’s a pretty stress-free place to live if you can comfortably afford it, but I still think about what else I could be spending that money on :smiley:

13

Thanks for that discussion – very detailed and informative.

I looked at a larger unit today, one with a half-bathroom upstairs. I think this counts as the largest apartment size in the building. To me, this is about right for one person, and may be OK for a couple. But people’s expectations differ. I lived in NY and HK for a while and if I were coming straight from either of those places, the smaller apts would be fine and the larger ones would be quite comfortable.

Even in the larger unit, there aren’t any “bedrooms” with actual doors, and there really isn’t room to fit another bed in there. So it’s not very suitable for having guests sleep over, unless they are sleeping in your bed (which may be just as well).

I’m not nearly tall enough to hit my head on the ceiling, but even so, it still seems low enough to induce some claustrophobia. The nice thing about the large unit is that the raised bedroom goes around the living room, so the living room has a very high ceiling and feels quite spacious.

The smaller units are more in the $22-24k range now it seems (plus management fee of about $1000 a month). The large units are very expensive (to me) at $40k a month plus a $2000 management fee.