Reflections at Keppel Bay - Any Comments?

[uscate]

Our agent has suggested Reflections at Keppel Bay as an interesting place to check out. We have no kids, my SO is working near the Eunos MRT stop, and we're looking for walkable to hawker centers, wet markets. We've been focused on the East Coast and think this might be too far out since we won't have a car.

And I had previously posted with questions about Aalto, so we're looking for something similar to that complex.

Any thoughts about Reflections at Keppel Bay and also whether there's actually interesting walkable places nearby??

Thank you for all of your help....

[poodlek]

Our agent has suggested Reflections at Keppel Bay as an interesting place to check out. We have no kids, my SO is working near the Eunos MRT stop, and we're looking for walkable to hawker centers, wet markets. We've been focused on the East Coast and think this might be too far out since we won't have a car.

And I had previously posted with questions about Aalto, so we're looking for something similar to that complex.

Any thoughts about Reflections at Keppel Bay and also whether there's actually interesting walkable places nearby??

Thank you for all of your help....

I live next door, I've been watching this place go up for the past two years; it looks pretty nice! They've recently completed a boardwalk along the coast running from the bridge at the Keppel Marina all the way to Labrador Park, and up the creek there to LP MRT. It's a lovely walk. There are a couple hawker centres nearby, at Seah Im near Harbourfront MRT and in the Telok Blangah estate, which also has a wet market and a 24 hr. Fair Price. The closest shopping centres would be Harbourfront Centre and VivoCity.

I have no idea what Aalto is like so I cannot compare it.

[zzm9980]

That would be a pretty crappy commute. Bus + MRT or, two indirect MRT rides. The fastest on gothere is about 45 minutes.

How far is he from Eunos MRT? There aren't a lot of big offices right next to it... meaning, does he plan to hike a bit from the MRT? Or does he also need another bus after getting off the MRT? Or is he in one of the big office complexes on Eunos Rd that are right next to Paya Lebar MRT?

[mummy mantras]

Reflections @ Keppel Bay is nice (though their signature 'bent' towers remind me irresistibly of french fries stuck in the ground! ) though the place is huge! Really huge!

One of my husband's relatives wanted to check out a unit there that was up for sale and, when we all went together to check the place out, it took us forever to find the right place! The grounds are sprawling and the carpark is immense. I'd hate to live in one of the towers or villas near the sea and have to take public transport to work. You'll need to set aside 15 minutes (at least) to walk to the main road from your apartment!

On the plus side though, they have really, really cool designer furniture in the tower lobbies! The chairs are so comfy that you could fall asleep in them! Most other condos would be lucky to feature some dusty plants, a bicycle rack, and maybe an odd assortment of worn benches.

[uscate]

First of all, thank you all for the quick and highly informative responses!!

From what I've read of the area, it does seem really nice (we looked at a place in Sentosa, and this location seems to offer a bit of an easier commute with the benefits of openness, parks and sea views). But, I do agree that via gothere.sg it looks like the commute could be a bear....My SO works in the Kaki Bukit Road area, which I just found out is north of the Eunos MRT, so the commute would be even lengthier....

My SO will be looking at properties the beginning of March - any further info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all again for all of your help!!

[zzm9980]

That's definitely not walking distance (at least in Singapore weather). That's another 10-15 mins bus ride. (Not counting the waiting time).


What about the Keppel Bay area attacts you to it? It's definitely nice, but it's very inconvenient for your husband.

[uscate]

Good question, zzm....After visiting Sentosa we had ruled this area out precisely because of the distance (even though we really liked the look and feel of the location)....However, our real estate agent just emailed us yesterday with some purple prose about Keppel Bay and we thought we should at least explore....

My SO will just have to check it out when he's in Singapore next, and report back....

All of the comments I've seen to date really do mirror our concerns, though....

[thismyvoice]

If you want walkable to hawker center, I don't think Reflections meet your criteria. It is a rather long walk (maybe 10 min from Reflections, not sheltered). If your unit is at the other end of the estate, the walk will be longer.

You may want to consider harbour view tower instead. Near hawker centre and wet market. Like Reflections, it is also in the south.

Aalto is in the East. I am not that familiar with the area but I don't think it is near any hawker center either.

It would be good if you let us know your budget and whether you are renting or buying.

[BigSis]

If it was me, and I didn't have a car, I'd check out what buses stopped right outside his new place of work and take it from there.

Kaki Bukit Rd - the 15 goes up near there and goes down to the East Coast - I think somewhere like that makes more sense than the Harbourfront area. Pretty sure it goes up to Pasir Ris too, so that's another opportunity - Pasir Ris is a bit out of town but it's quite nice up there (condos are cheaper too in many cases).

You can go to the sbstransit.com.sg website and look at bus routes and google maps have bus stops on for Singapore. It should be fairly easy to narrow it down.

[Addadude]

Reflections at Keppel Bay is undoubtedly a very nice condo and brand new. In fact it looks really, really empty there at the moment - which could be why your agent is pushing it. The location is great too - if your SO was working in the central business district.

At this point I would question the motives of your agent. If you have specified somewhere reasonably close to, or with convenient public transport links to Ubi Avenue or Kaki Bukit, then Keppel Bay - and certainly Sentosa Cove - are not remotely in the right ball park. It sounds to me like your agent has their own agenda - and it doesn't coincide with yours.

Instead I would be looking at East Coast as other others have suggested. The Upper Serangoon Road, Serangoon Gardens and Lorong Chuan areas would also be very close by and offer really nice accommodation possibilities too. There should be very easy bus connections from these places.

[aster]

It is a bit out of the way if someone needs to get to Eunos.

If there's nothing interesting along the "green" MRT line then I'd look at something close to the "red" line as it's a very easy switch at City Hall station (same level, just walk a handful of steps to the other side of the platform).

[zzm9980]

For the hell of it, look at the condos around Kembagan MRT and Telok Kurau. Quite a few options there, it's a quieter residential area of some condos and houses, and there are a LOT of nice food options. I go there for lunch often. You also have a park connector (bike trail) that gives you a 10 minute bike ride to the beach, and a few really nice parks It's also rather close to your husband's office. One MRT stop east of Eunos.

Not sure if it meets your idea of a neighborhood with character, but I personally like it. If you need a building to look at, there is a really nice one right next to it called "The Trumps". It's a few years old (4?), and the units aren't shoeboxes.

[uscate]

Wow! Thank you all for the great insights and ideas! I'm off to . to check out the other suggested areas. Looks like we have some more homework to do...And for the poster upthread, we're looking at the $6k - $7k price range (I can barely type that figure - it is just so incredibly unreal to me that any housing would cost that much - let alone a 1500 sf condo)!!

I had wondered why our agent was so keen for Keppel Bay - he knows we're looking for something new-ish, so that may have influenced his decision, but since it sounds like it is pretty empty, that may have had an impact on his decision to present it as an option.

You all are such a terrific resource - thank you again for all of your help!!

I'm sure I'll be back with more questions....

[zzm9980]

Wow! Thank you all for the great insights and ideas! I'm off to . to check out the other suggested areas. Looks like we have some more homework to do...And for the poster upthread, we're looking at the $6k - $7k price range (I can barely type that figure - it is just so incredibly unreal to me that any housing would cost that much - let alone a 1500 sf condo)!!

I had wondered why our agent was so keen for Keppel Bay - he knows we're looking for something new-ish, so that may have influenced his decision, but since it sounds like it is pretty empty, that may have had an impact on his decision to present it as an option.

You all are such a terrific resource - thank you again for all of your help!!

I'm sure I'll be back with more questions....

So "newish" to me (not sure to you), and a lot of people I know in the states, means something built in the past ~5-10 years. In Singapore, because there are so many condos always being built, I believe they would interpret that as "never occupied" or even "still under construction".

[uscate]

Interesting you should make that comment zzm - our house here in the Boston area was built in 1954, which makes it "kind of oldish, but not really old in the coolest sense of the word." But it is all fairly newly remodeled inside.

I think what is skewing our perspective toward "newish," (meaning just built or recently built) condos here in Singapore is that fact that we're looking for amenities like a well-stocked, fully air-conditioned gym (really important), as well as updated kitchen and bathrooms, and these didn't necessarily seem to be part and parcel of some of the older places we saw.

Plus, we have the advantage of my SO's work giving him what we consider a really nice housing stipend, so we're able to look at a different kind of place than we would if we were paying our own rent (and also paying for 2 mortgages back home!).

Soooooo....we are looking at newer for those reasons. But then again, we also really like the feel of older neighborhoods, and enjoy trying out of the way restaurants and food stalls - a bit of a contradiction, but what we'd really like is a brand spankin' new condo in the middle of a funky older neighborhood like Siglap....or, something walking distance to the water.

I just looked at the Pasir Ris area - saw The Trumps which you mentioned. That area looks great, as we visited the Siglap area and really enjoy it. My concern is that I thought I read somewhere that the Singapore Air Force parks its planes in that area? Doesn't that make the whole Pasir Ris area something of a flight path nightmare??

Anyway, it is late here and I'm rambling, so thank you again zzm and all of you kind responders for all of your great suggestions! Can't wait to make this a reality!!