Moving Out of the Hilton - housing on Guam

The Hilton Hotel quickly wore thin on us.  Because of Chinese New Year's, Guam was packed with Asian tourists and the hotel was full.  My wife's company had booked a block of rooms for its many temporary residents, supposedly on the Executive Floor, but the hotel put us in a tiny room overlooking ventilation ducts.  There was no desk space to work, just a huge television filling the space.  The tiny closet couldn't contain our array of suitcases, which spilled out to cover all of the available floor space.

My wife used her magic, and we were moved to a larger room in the newer tower of the hotel.  The room, a huge improvement, still bore the scars of too many years with no upgrades.  The carpet was irregular, stained and moldy, and the room smelled of stale beer upon entry.  The last time I had lived with an equivalent carpet was in college in one of the many Ann Arbor student ghetto apartments and houses we lived in back then.  But this was a Hilton Hotel, not a low rent college apartment.  And who puts carpeting down in a tropical climate?  Hard surfaces hold coolness and stand up to humidity and moisture; carpets become mildew factories.

We discovered that housekeeping would only vacuum the room upon request, not as part of their daily cleaning routine.  But like all of the staff at the Hilton, they were polite and quick to respond positively to any request, it was just a matter of communication.  The two or three dollars left every day for the staff, combined with a brief note on our needs, was enough to ensure we were well taken care of.

The Hilton is located on the far south end of Tumon Bay, the gorgeous horseshoe shaped bay where all of the major tourist hotels sit.  The bay, a protected natural area, is protected by a long coral reef and provides safe swimming, snorkeling, and non-motorized water sports.  But watch out for the Trigger Fish: in my many years of snorkeling, from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, to Negril Bay in Jamaica, to the barrier reef in Belize, snorkeling with rays, sharks, and barracuda, I'd never had any problem.  Until the Trigger Fish that took several small bites out of my arm as I returned to the Hilton.  I found out from the man at the snorkel desk that Trigger Fish are very aggressive defending their nests, cone shaped sand castles on the bottom.  I had inadvertently invaded her space.  It was definitely time to leave the Hilton.

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"Did you hear that?"

I could hear the concern in Silvia's voice.

"Yes, I did; it sounded like screams."

"I know; is someone being mugged?"

"No, I don't think so, because...wait, there it is again...like someone from a moving car, you know, Doppler effect."

"But it sounds like it's right outside our window!"

And, it was.  The Guam Slingshot, that is, right outside the balcony of our apartment that we'd just moved into in the Pia Condo Resort.  Our fifth floor view commanded Tumon Bay and provided nightly sunset shows over Ypao Point and the ocean.  But right down the hill was The Slingshot, "Zero to a One Hundred Miles an Hour in One Second!"  Well, probably, not, but, nonetheless, the device does throw two patrons in an open steel roll cage, straight into the air on bungee-type steel cables.  Open from noon to midnight every day, we quickly let the screams blend in our heads with the usual background wind, rain, and jets approaching Anderson Air Force Base at the end of their sometimes daily maneuvers.

We investigated a variety of apartment options, ranging from luxurious resorts in the countryside (Leo Palace Resort, with golf, 50 meter swimming pools, and baseball stadiums), to closer in condo developments (Ypao Gardens, on a semi-busy street between the main transportation route, Marine Corps Drive and the main tourist street, Pale San Vitores Road.)  We settled on Pia Resort because of the spacious apartment (with compact washer and dryer), lovely pool, spectacular views, and walking distance to the main tourist area with its many shops and restaurants.  In Michigan, where we live, it is a half mile walk just to our mailbox, and, although we are only a little under four miles from town, Silvia very much wanted to return to our urban roots and be somewhere where a car wasn't necessary to go everywhere.

Sidebar:  probably the best of the rest -

·      Verona Resort and Spa - hotel rooms, but mainly studio, one-bedroom, and two bedroom housekeeping units in a great location, also right on Tumon Bay.  Not on the water, but with excellent views and a two or three minute walk to the beach.

·      Ocean View Hotel and Residences - similar to Verona, on the north end of the tourist strip, but not quite as nice as Verona.

·      Holiday Resort and Spa - right on the beach; we didn't see the units, but it is supposed to be quite nice.

·      Oka Towers Condominiums - on the next bay over, Agana Bay, and in a beautiful, quiet spot.  The units are supposed to be quite nice, but not often available for rent.

·      Alupang Beach Towers - on Agana Bay, but wedged right next to the very busy Marine Corps Drive; these units are also supposed to be quite nice.

·      Ladera Tower - out in the countryside, about 20 minutes from the main commercial areas of the island, Ladera used to be a hotel and now has many furnished 2 bedroom units available.  The units have commanding views of the east side ocean views and the building has a nice pool, fitness center, 24-hour security, and covered parking.  But if you're going to be out in the countryside, Leo Palace Resort is in better shape with many more amenities.

·      Perlas Court Condos - next to a large open area that used to be a dog track, in a residential area near the public hospital, the units are nice and many well furnished; a larger complex than Ypao Gardens and not quite as conveniently situated or as private.

Pia Marine Resort (and its sister, Pia Marine Condos, off of busy Marine Corps Drive), are cast-in-place concrete, curved monoliths with balconies lining one side and the outside hallway on the other.  Like most Guam construction, it is solid and simple, built to withstand typhoons, tropical storms, earthquakes, and tsunamis.  Building codes are strict, although many older houses don't conform, and wood frame construction is almost non-existent.  All of the more recent construction has typhoon shutters and most have back-up generators.  Our building's generator powers only the refrigerator and one outlet in the kitchen, but also the water supply, so power outages of a day or two aren't dire.  And, especially during the summer storm season, such power outages aren't unusual.  As with much of Guam's infrastructure, work is constant on the island's electrical grid, and daily planned power outages in various parts of the island are noted in the daily newspaper, the Guam Pacific Daily News, a small tabloid that costs a dollar and usually leads with a crime story or a political controversy, of which there are many.  (More on Guam politics later.)

Our fifth floor, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment is stark white, with polished white marble tile floors.  The kitchen is somewhat ancient (dating pretty much from the building's likely construction in the 1970s), but adequate, and nicely open to the spacious living/dining area.  Furnishings are sparse but adequate, with a king bed (really two twins next to each other as is common in this part of the world) and dresser in the master bedroom, a small desk and chair and nothing else in the second bedroom, and a third, prison cell sized bedroom with a single bed, no light, and no closet.  We use that room for our luggage storage area.  The living room has floor to ceiling bookcases, a white vinyl coach set, modern, flat screen TV, and a dining room table with four chairs that could seat six.  Both bathrooms are well appointed with copious hot water and excellent water pressure.  The air conditioners are through-the-wall units, very noisy, but efficient.  And, soon after moving in, we caught a break in that the living room unit kept leaking water on the floor, and the building management finally replaced it with a silent, split unit, providing even more efficiency.  The street noise from below can be loud, so running the bedroom unit at night drowns out the Sling Shot screams and the open-air Lizard Lounge nightclub.

The Resort still also functions as a hotel catering to Japanese clientele, with both rooms and housekeeping apartments, although our rental is from a private condo owner.  The maintenance staff is excellent and responsive and the downstairs desk is manned for two hours every morning to respond to any concerns.  The pool is a beautiful 20-yard lap pool, with a small children's area separate from the larger pool.  Comfortable lounging furniture surrounds the pool and fills the open air lobby that also has free Wi-Fi for visitors and serves as an outside smoking area for the excellent little Japanese restaurant, Doraku, which sits off the lobby and is very popular with the Japanese tour bus drivers from the company offices just down the hill from us.

Most of the residents of the building are long term and are a mix of mainland transplants, Japanese transplants, and military.  We've met a few of our neighbors already, a wonderful woman who lives two doors down (the aforementioned Lisa) who is a security consultant, speaks fluent Japanese, and lived in Japan for four years.  (She has been an invaluable informant for our upcoming trip to Kyoto.)  We also recently met another outgoing gentleman who is the island's "Culligan Man", having arrived by sailboat on Guam 25 years ago on an adventure.  Originally from Minnesota, he had run out of money, so he decided to stay and started the island's first water-conditioner company.

Long term rental housing on Guam is problematic.  Most of the Air Force military personnel attached to Anderson Air Force Base live off base and are given a fairly generous housing allowance (depending upon rank.)  Apartment and condo buildings must be inspected and approved by the military to qualify for rental, thus, qualifying buildings command top rent.  Military personnel also can buy furnishings, and if they wish, have them shipped by the military back to the states when they leave at minimal or no cost.  Thus, furnished rentals are difficult to find, even though the condo market for sale is definitely a buyer's market, and many owners are willing to rent.  There are multiple developments that cater to both the rental and resort market; some that were originally built as hotel properties and then converted to rental/condo, and some that target the short-term "housekeeping" market that come furnished.  But those units fill quickly and when we arrived in January, none of the housekeeping buildings had units available until March or April at the earliest.

Houses on Guam are also easily rented, again mainly because of the relatively weak house sale market.  But these are rarely furnished and the ones that don't qualify for military rental are generally in poor condition or fairly rundown rural areas.  The tropical climate is very harsh on houses with moisture and water seepage constant potential problems, so diligent upkeep is important.  Neighborhoods, except for the gated communities, can have a wide mix of housing with well-maintained, large, beautiful residences mixed in with near dilapidated houses.  If you are buying on Guam, your choices are wide-ranging and reasonably price; but keep in mind that water and electricity are very expensive, so efficient systems are a must.

A word about water: Guam is tropical with copious rainfall and an extensive public water system.  You will find an ongoing debate about the quality of the water: many people insist on buying bottled water (usually in five gallon containers at the store or through one of the many "water stores", or home delivery); others don't hesitate to drink it - it certainly tastes and smells just fine.  The water is soft and because of the volcanic soil and rock that acts as a natural filter, it seems clean and safe.  I don't hesitate to drink it, although we do have a Britta water filter pitcher that Silvia insists on using for her drinking water and making coffee and tea.

Our new home, Pia Marine Resort, as seen from the Hilton.

Our new living room.

Looking back at the kitchen/dining area.

The view from the living room/balcony.

The open air lobby at Pia; there's always a nice breeze.

The pool - fresh water and not over-chlorinated.  It does get a little hot on sunny days by afternoon.  You don't need to heat your pool on Guam - the climate keeps it quite nice.

The entrance to Doraku, our little Japanese restaurant.  It is nice to just be able to take a quick elevator ride on nights when we're too lazy to cook or go out.

The Sling Shot in action.