That is the question. We’ve been staying at our current serviced apartment in Adelaide for slightly more than five months now, and it’s been generally very good. Recently, however, when C’s colleague and his family came to Adelaide, they stayed at a different serviced apartment, and after seeing their place, we’re now considering moving to that one instead.
Being the extremely indecisive person that I am, I thought I’d list out the pros and cons of moving to this new serviced apartment for the next two months, before we leave Adelaide for good, to help me with the decision-making process. Of course, whether we move or not is going to be mainly based on whether this new place is cheaper than our current one, as C’s company is paying for our stay here, and they are ultimately the ones who will decide.
Current Place (Let’s call it A. I know. I’m soooo creative and original, right?) vs New Place (B. Duh.)
Location: A is within walking distance of the main shopping area, Rundle Mall, which is where the City Library is located. Noah and I head there for story time once a week. A is also within walking distance of the Central Market, Chinatown, and Gouger Street, which has most of the restaurants we frequent. It is also near the indoor playground that we occasionally visit.
B is much nearer to C’s office, and will cut his walking time by half. We might even get to have more frequent lunches on weekdays with him! It is about the same distance away from the Central Market and Chinatown, as A. It is a teeny bit nearer to Gouger Street, which is on the opposite end of the Central Market. To get to Rundle Mall, we would most likely have to take a tram, which is free within the city, and the tram stop is quite near the serviced apartment. B is near the park which Noah loves most, out of the three that we frequent, because it has the most number of ducks, which means we can go there more often. However, it is quite a long walk away from the indoor playground.
Safety: A is more like a hotel, with a reception and lift lobby. Guests need a special token to take the lift up to the serviced apartments, and to enter the building after 8pm, but the reception is open till 11pm, so if we forget our token, the staff can still let us in. We have gotten to know the staff here really well, and they all keep a look out for Noah, especially when he’s running around in the lobby, in front of the reception. The staff also know not to disturb us in the mornings, as Noah wakes up quite late, and I can leave our trash outside our apartment door for housekeeping to pick up daily. We will be going back to Singapore for a week in April, and I know that we can trust them to ‘look after’ our belongings in our apartment while we are away.
B is part of a cluster of double-storey serviced apartments, and each unit has a main gate, front door, and garage of its own. It is also situated along a road, which means that if the front door and main gate somehow happen to be left open, Noah can run out onto the road directly. The entrance to the garage from the apartment is a sliding door, which Noah can also easily open. Reception is in a separate apartment at the end of the row, and the night duty manager is only available till 8pm. The stairs in the apartment will be a good place for Noah to practise going up and down the stairs, as they are carpeted. They will also install safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs for us, if we want. We obviously won’t be able to have the same level of rapport with the staff at B, because we would only be there for a month before we head to Singapore for a week, and I’m a little concerned about leaving our belongings behind.
Comfort: All three of us currently squeeze on a queen-sized bed, and this is one of the main push factors. There is only one toilet, with a very noisy flush and taps, right next to our bedroom. Noah has been woken up on more than one occasion by C, when he gets ready for work in the mornings. Our bedroom is also next to the main door, and along the common corridor, so we can sometimes hear the other guests returning late at night. The lift has also broken down a couple of times, and let me tell you, it is no fun lugging a baby and some shopping bags up four long flights of stairs. We’ve already child-proofed the entire apartment, and rearranged the furniture to suit our needs. To be honest, after being here for so long, it does feel like home to us. This is also the place where Noah took his first ever steps, and I still smile when I think of him stumbling into my arms in the kitchen that day.
B has a few apartments with a king-sized bed, and we have already viewed the apartment that best fits our criteria: king-sized bed, and facing the road. It has two toilets, one of which has a bathtub, and the bedrooms are a lot bigger than what we have in A. It even has a walk-in wardrobe in the master bedroom! The bedrooms and toilets are upstairs, while the dining room, kitchen, and living room, are downstairs. We can also have a television in the master bedroom if we want. The kitchen is not very well-equipped, but the lady we spoke to, assured us that they will buy whatever pots and pans we need, and put them in the apartment for us. The stove is a gas-stove, which I am not very familiar with, as we have an induction hob at home, and A has a hot-plate electric stove. The living room is also quite small, and we would probably have to rearrange the furniture slightly, to make room for Noah to play. Alternatively, he can play in the garage, and C is keen to teach him how to play hockey there. Both apartments will have a baby cot, high chair, and wifi, so there’s no difference in those aspects.
What do you think? Is it a good idea for us to pack everything up and move to the new place for two months? It’s quite a bit of work, but C thinks it will help us, because we can get organised earlier, in anticipation of our move back home to Singapore. Would you do it, if you were us?
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