Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:

I love living here – Salford Quays and Media City is such a beautiful place. I love taking photos and videos and this area is perfect for it – it’s just so aesthetic. It’s a lovely area to walk around. With the beautiful modern city style and vibe along with the docks water – it’s like living in the city and at the seaside at the same time. There’s lovely wildlife round here too – swans, seagulls, geese and more. And theres a beautiful “the city never sleeps vibe here” because when you go for a night walk you’ll still be surrounded by bright lights, people walking around, bars open etc – it’s amazing. There’s so many nice restaurants, cafes, shops and bars to go to round here – so much choice! There’s places at Media City, at the Quayside mall (which is also home to a Vue cinema with reclining seats), round near the waterspouts centre etc. Talking of the watersports centre – it’s so cool having that too. Indoor climbing, wake boarding, sailing etc – so much you can do. Also there’s several hotels round here too – which are great for when family/friends want to come up and stay. Media City is also home to BBC and ITV. Imagine having those just a walk away – so awesome. Even Coronation Street is filmed here. And the beautiful Lowry theatre is also just a walk away too – how amazing. And there’s a tram right outside Duet that takes you into Manchester where you can find even more beautiful aesthetic places, places to shop, places to eat and drink, theatres, cinemas etc. Salford and Manchester is a truly beautiful place to live.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

I wish I’d known about how amazing Duet is sooner because then I would have moved earlier on.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

I’ve sometimes had problems in my apartment such as water leaks/water temperature problems and the staff are always there to help right away. I can always rely on them.

Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:

The tram station is a minute away which is a huge deal for me. Super easy to get around town because of that. We’re also in range of a lot of restaurants so deliveroo and Uber eats are awesome for us. So many choices. Overall we’re in a really great location.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

The only thing is the lack of parking. I wish I knew about how long I’d have to wait to get parking and how there is barely enough parking spaces for the residents.

If you had told me I would fall in love with a rental experience before coming here, I wouldn’t have believed you, and yet here we are.

I will go through the experience in chronological order for completeness.

Before I arrived I was in Europe so I didn’t get a chance to see the property in person. That didn’t matter very much because they offered Matterport virtual tours of the apartments and also video tours that give you are real sense of the property.

As an Australian without a rental history in the UK, I wasn’t sure how hard it would be to get a property. But the application was pretty straightforward. The team was communicative at each step.

On arrival, José let our rental car in and out of the car park multiple times and helped get us settled. This was just the first taste of how much the reception staff go above and beyond.

When we arrived there were still Covid protocols in place, so all the packages (Amazon, etc) were being hand delivered by the staff to the apartment doors. Despite the annoyance of running around the building delivering packages they always did it with a smile (it has now returned to using the parcel lockers in the Lobby).

Duet advertises itself as a pet-friendly building. We decided to get a beautiful Cocker Spaniel puppy (Miles), it’s been on the wishlist for a long time. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop with the puppy. Surely it was just a checkbox that they wanted to tick. But no, they really love the pets. Miles has been welcomed by not just the staff but also by the other residents.

The staff organize events, Friday night drinks, etc — another thing about Duet that’s outstanding. I’ve become friends with a bunch of the other tenants in the building. It’s really pleasant to interact with the other tenants. It surpasses my expectations in terms of community. There is a building forum, and it’s quite common for people to give items away when they no longer need them.

The apartment itself is very nice. It’s comfortable and well designed. One of the few negatives I can think of with this apartment is that there was really no option to only furnish one bedroom (we use the second bedroom as an office).

The apartment doesn’t have a balcony, and that would have been nice to have, but I understand that that would have come with tradeoffs as well (lower floorspace).

Oh, and how could I forget. The internet is blinding fast. I don’t think I’ve ever had faster internet in residential property (and I’m not even on the top tier).

The staff have continued to be amazing, not just the front-of-house, but the managers, cleaners and temps all seem to have an attitude of service, that feels closer to Hotel than a rental property.

I cannot recommend this building and team highly enough and will be sad when we eventually have to leave (we’re not permanent residents of the UK).

Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:

Salford Quays is a nice area. It has good public transport links to the city (the Metrolink tram stop is just across the road. MediaCityUK has a good selection of bars and restaurants. There is a Sainbury’s Local 2-3 minutes walk away for basic grocery needs, and larger supermarkets 25 mins walk away.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

Because we didn’t visit before moving in (we were in another country), it was difficult to get a sense of the layout of the building and position in the broader neighbourhood (the property itself has excellent tours). In hindsight, I probably would have picked a higher floor (we’re on 6 of 15).

This is a minor thing though, and an anomaly, because I’ve watched them give tours to other people looking at the building.

If there is one thing you would change about your flat or property what would it be:

More options in the setup of the furnished apartments. We didn’t really need the second bed, and having a bed/office option would have been awesome.

5

Facilities

5

Design

5

Location

5

Value

5

Management

The flats are designed with neutral simplicity that just suits everyone. Everything looks and feels high quality. If I was being super picky some blackout blinds would have been great, but I will live happily without.

The communal spaces are the same, they are maintained and looked after well evidently and I have absolutely loved being able to escape up to the roof top lounge. It’s a real treat to have in the building and honestly what tipped me over the edge to choose here.

The staff working in the building are fantastic, so friendly and will do everything in their means to help you out. I have never had enquiries dealt with so efficiently in any place I’ve rented before. And the little extras they do make you feel valued as a tentant, a little pot of gold (chocolate coins) really brightened up my St. Patrick’s Day.

I don’t regret a thing choosing Vox.

Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:

Placed literally next to Cornbrook tram stop (but don’t worry, you definitely can’t hear it!), Vox is in a perfect spot for getting around the whole city.

There’s not really restaurants or bars but a very short walk and you’ve got plenty of choice in Castlefield so I cannot complain about this.

A Co-op is opening literally attached to the building so will be able to get any essentials I need and a bigger supermarket and retail are only 15min on foot.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

That the mirrors in the bathroom were anti fog. This was probably the only thing I didn’t know! And it’s great!

What is the best feature of your home:

The lack of stress. I feel like I don’t have to worry about anything to do with my living at home. My parcels are stored. There’s staff on reception 24/7 to deal with any issue. The building is totally secure. And if I want to escape my flat for a bit I only have to take the lift up to the top floor, can even keep my slippers on.