Best Condo in the BGC? Two Serendra
I’ve checked out a few condos in the BGC (‘the Fort’) and Two Serendra is arguably the best because it has the most facilities:
- 4 Swimming pools & 5 gyms
- 2 Badminton courts
- 1 Basketball & Tennis court
- Pool table / Table tennis
Ping pong & Badminton
There are so many because the condo complex spans two areas, one part is for high rise condos (36 floors) and the other low rise (16 floors), and the facilities are shared between them.
One of the gyms
There’s a bridge that links the two, so you can walk between them without leaving the complex. You feel like you’re in a gated community it’s so huge. With gardens and water features everywhere.
Bridge
Two Serendra also has a ton of different entrances, one links directly to Bonifacio High Street, another to SM mall, another brings you out to opposite Market Market mall.
Private walkway
So for sheer size and community feel, it’s the best condo in the BGC. I went to check it out as a friend is currently living there, and take some pics.
Entrance between 2 restaurants
The rooms are about the same as any other BGC condo, around 30-35k pesos depending on furnishings and floor. But you can’t beat the facilities.
Links to Bonifacio High St
My friend who stays there pays 30k / month (~$600) because his room’s furniture is a bit old. On a 6 month contract, which are fairly common, there’s no need to sign a year lease if you shop around.
Opposite SM mall
His room is a studio but pretty big, 47sqm and the room curves around so you don’t see the bed as you walk in, making it feel more like a one bedroom. Big balcony too.
Balcony
It’s the best area of Manila to live if you want clean, safe and family-friendly, not so great if you a more gritty, ‘real’ experience like Makati offers.
Basketball / tennis court
The BGC is a bit plastic and boring. I’d live there if I had a long term Filipina girlfriend, or wanted to try and bag a hiso chick / test my day game skills on rich girls.
Balcony
He met his girl via online dating and never leaves the BGC now, just works out, builds online businesses and lives a quiet life in the Philippines 36 months at a time.
Chilling by the pool
Gyms
Step / cycle machines
Dumbbells
Machines
Kinesis machine
Rowing machine
Another gym, barbells, rack, kettlebells
Outside another gym
Jogging
Swimming Pools
Swimming pool
Sun loungers
Jacuzzis
Pinay by the pool
Lounge area
Another pool
Outdoor seating
Another lounge area
Kid’s Pool
Children’s pool
Kid’s play area
Kid’s boat
Kid’s slide
Sports
Two badminton courts
Basketball / tennis
Games room / chillout area
Pool table
Other Facilities
Conference room
Games room
Games room balcony
Gardens
Two Serendra cat
Ground floor room garden
Fish pond
Gardens
Lawn
More gardens
Cute pinays
Walkways
Palm trees
Pond
Leading to Market! Market! mall
Studio Room
My friend’s room isn’t really representative of Serendra, the furnishings are old but as a result he got it at a cheaper price (30k) and that rate on a 6 month contract.
Living room
Desk
Couch
TV
Bedroom
Balcony
Balcony
Kitchen
Bathroom
Food
The BGC has a lot of high end restaurants but for cheap eats there’s a food court by Market Market mall. Compared to Thai streetfood it’s pretty bad though.
Sisig & Rice, 65 pesos
BGC food court
Creeper pic
Siomai balls, 70 pesos
Large sisig, 150 pesos
Location
Car park
- Google Maps location
- Address – 1634 McKinley Parkway / 26th Street / 11th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Manila
Airbnb
Two Serendra are quite strict about not allowing daily / weekly rentals, there are signs up saying anything under six months rental isn’t allowed.
There are still Two Serendra units on Airbnb though for short term rental so I assume those owners meet you somewhere discreet and pass you the access card.
If you book on Airbnb just don’t announce it to the reception staff. Click here for $35 off your first booking then Google site:airbnb.com two serendra to find listings.
Thats a great deal for BGC. Usually you wont get more than a shoebox studio for BGC proper.
If you wanna save more and dont mind a 30min walk to bgc, you can decent accomodations for under 20k in the Vienna Piazza area of Taguig. Stamford residences etc.
Was planning on living there but company is moving again.
Your responsive design is wrecked in Firefox right now.
When I scroll down a bit this is what happens: http://i.imgur.com/uFAN0yL.png
Damn yeah saw that, waiting on hueman theme to update. Thx
Looks like a great life! Is there a Thai equivalent? Some sort of community place that one could live that has everything you need? I’m sure a lot of other Millennials like this “college campus” style life
dont have a precise answer but its eady as shit to find in bkk. in fact its not so important because everything in thailand is good value. its less necessary to list precise place, in factcr you can just stay month long at the hotel, as long asd its off season they ll give you good prices, it will cost less than an appartment in the phimippines.
, no need to sign mong leases and shit if you stay lrss than a year. and you cant stay more than three months. what are you gonna do, let all your stuff in a condo while ypu do a visacrun and are not even sure to be able to come back?
oh, and btw, millenials are gay. you te here to fuck local talent, not mingle with gay swpl. do that in NYC.
Rhythm Ratchada condo comes to mind, lots of people chilling by the rooftop pool when I checked it out, huge place, 32 floors, garden
Or Supalai park I lived at before has 3 towers, huge gym, tennis, squash, sauna, 5 restaurants downstairs, not much need to ever leave – https://www.nomadphilippines.com/cheap-condo-bangkok-dating
The Base On Nut has basketball / 5 a side football pitch, 7/11, big garden areas, huge pool/gym
Rhythm looks pretty nice too. And it’s only a 30 minute commute to Nana by metro. All condo websites take shit gym pictures though. Who wants to see pictures of treadmills. Every gym has a treadmill. Show me the weight rack playa. https://www.hipflat.co.th/en/bangkok/condo/rhythm-ratchada
Most nicer condos in BKK have a gym and a pool + some area to chill.
I like Eight Thonglor for example:
https://www.eightthonglor.com/
Full scale supermarket + multiple restaurants in the building + pool + outdoor area etc.
Basically a place you don’t need to necessarily leave if you’re a recluse.
Thats the site for the small mall inside the building: http://www.8thonglor.com/
It’s kinda pricey though. About 40k baht for a small 1BR.
The gym pictures are not very clear on the website. $1100 seems like a lot. I’ve stayed in Thong lo before. I’m not sure what the appeal is. The best thing about it is that a lot of expats live in the area, but besides that it just seems like a street to me haha. I only was there for a few days though so I don’t really know too much about the area.
Some nice bars and restaurants in the area. It’s where the rich thais have houses. That’s what you pay for serviced apartment type mall living in the area.
Ashton Morph is probably the nicest condo in the area though with duplex studios from 30k.
Nichada Thani is a gated community, it’s 30min from downtown BKK. It has a few condo buildings with large 4BR condos and mostly houses which start at about 50k a month, which is pretty ok for a house in BKK.
I’m a simple guy. The food matters far less than the company imo. Ashton does look nice though.
https://www.hipflat.co.th/en/for-rent-1-bed-condo-near-bts-thong-lo-bangkok-thailand/ls/th-aarebmhf
If you’re a simple guy and want to spend the least amount of money because of low savings or uncertain income, Ideo Mobi Rama 9 is decent value from about 12k.
Garden, pool, gym etc. with a coffeeshop and convenience store on site and a walk accross a shitty intersection away from a huge mall.
Some people can’t handle living in lower sukhumvit (I love it!) with the hookers, touts, ladyboys, africans selling drugs, arabs etc., Thonglor is close by (couple miles) but just far away that the ambience is totally different, like an upmarket expat vibe, cleaner, fancy sushi restaurants, wine bars, hipsters and professional expats. Better if you have a girlfriend, she could leave the house without getting hit on.
Noble Remix is where I’d stay if I lived there, has it’s own walkway to the BTS and 7/11 downstairs. Can get a 1 bed for $700. On Suk road so you can instantly get a taxi to lower Suk, skip the traffic on Soi Thonglor itself.
There is definitely a little bit of a stimuli overload down there haha. On the other hand you could probably avoid most of that by just using the rent savings to buy some exercise equipment and to order everything to you (so you don’t have to go outside as much). Nobel Remix seems nice as well. Really easy to get girls over since it is so close to the BTS. Then again I’m sure Thai girls are used to taking Baht bikes and won’t mind, especially if you pay. Not to turn this into a real estate posts (maybe Harvest the comments do that later, but what about Phrom and Asok. Why don’t more people live down there. It’s closer to the fun, but potentially far enough out to be less seedy?
https://www.hipflat.co.th/en/for-rent-1-bed-condo-near-bts-thong-lo-bangkok-thailand/ls/th-owxuzwba
I don’t like Asoke, worst smog from the intersection there that has constant traffic jams and cops that target foreigners for drug searches (I don’t do drugs but it makes me uncomfortable being targeted for “random” searches).
Phrom Phong and Thong Lo are close enough. The foreigners living there are mostly rich thais and japanese expats whose companies pay for those outrageous rents.
The one you linked is cheap because it has a shitty view. You can probably bargain it down by 20% if the owner is looking to rent it anytime soon, although rich thais often won’t budge so it depends on your luck.
Good units at Ashton Morph have unobstructed green views: http://imgur.com/2ybBdjD
Sukhumvit 24 is one of the most walkable streets in the area (proper sidewalks so you can actually walk instead of taking taxis or motos) and has some high quality but expensive condos.
The best value there is probably Lumpini 24, which is very affordable unlike other condos on the street. You can bargain the 30k units down to 25k.
https://www.hipflat.co.th/en/bangkok/condo/the-lumpini-24
Ya I’d prefer Phrom Phong, closer to the parks (Benjasiri and Benjakiti) and soi 24 has Addict massage, pro tip ask for the 45 mins 1700 baht rate that isn’t on the menu, and ask for Nadia. FS GFE
Near racquet club for gym