lullabelle

Bonjour

seen two villas... can't decide...

One is a lovely 3m in Arabian Rances Al Reem. Would be great for the kids. I'm worried about the distance to school (umm sheif) and the suburban nature of the place. I did like it though... layout was great for us.

The other is in Al Bada'a (between Jumeirah 1 and Satwa). Older compound villa but it is in good nick, nice and light, great room sizes, and the compound is small but very green and lush.

Both places have gates straight out onto a park (AR) or the pool (AB).

I know nothing of the area around number 2 but it looks interesting, quite vibrant.

Anyone with any experience of the areas? Their tuppence worth?

both are similar prices...

Meow

I live in Umm Sequim so I am biased but would pick Jumeirah every time. Much of AR, same as Emirates Hills, just feels too housing estate to me. That said, I know many that are very happy in AR and I can see how it suits families, but it is further away from the 'action'. If you choose AB, you'll probably be able to walk to places in the cooler months too.

Hope things are working out for you.

Millhouse

If you can find a place in jumeirah for the price of a reem 3m then I would move to jumeirah every time. Ranches is fantastic but it's just not central enough for me.

Which reem? We could be neighbours...

Madam Medusa

i'm in jumeirah one, so al bada'a is very near to me and it's a great area to live...lots of emirates pilots live there, you've got a small park, and are 5 mins from the beach and a few smaller shopping malls and spinneys plu lots more...i would go for that over ranches every time...

MM, xx

lullabelle

Ooh unexpected...

Very grateful for the insider info too MM. I found mixed messages when I googled al bada'a. There wasn't much there and amongst what I found were some pilots moaning about breakins and the wrong type of people.

Millhouse I can't be your neighbour out of principle - where are the bloody fresh dates you promised?

Millhouse

Well - the break-ins are true. Then again, you get broken into in the Ranches too...

As for the dates - They are currently red, turning brown. No idea when you pick them but I guess in the next 2-3 weeks. You are welcome to some.

EDIT> Don't forget to have a walk around the lake at the ranches and feed the fish/rabbits/ducks - it's actually very nice.

Meow

Off topic, but can I have some of your dates? I'll swap you for home-made preserves.

1967tazz

Meow, never saw you as a domestic goddess!

Meow

You'd be surprised.

I have a side business (with a friend) making and selling a range of preserves (jams, jellies, marmalade & chutney) under the name of Well Preserved. (You can find us on facebook and we'll be selling at ARTE from September).

It's one of my creative outlets

Madam Medusa

interesting...a friend was thinking about starting something along the home-cooked lines, but what sort of licence and food hygiene certificates etc do you need to start a business like this...? i always imagined it would be really difficult here, but maybe not...

MM, xx

Meow

You don't need a licence if selling through ARTE as they have the relevant licences in conjunction with the shopping malls. Appears to be no formal food hygiene requirement, but hopefully people use common sense if preparing food to sell. We are scrupulous, but our product is easy to monitor.

The legal issue here is regarding running a business from home.

Madam Medusa

ok that's interesting, thanks, i'll let her know...

must say, it's the food hygiene thing that bothers me most...i don't ever buy any of those home made things (don't at school fairs either) as you really don't know how clean the makers are (clearly with the exception of you and your company, meow)...actually, it's not just how clean they are, but how the stuff has been kept etc...that said, after recent press reports, there are a lot of dodgy restaurants about too...!

anyway, thanks...

MM, xx

Meow

Totally understand what you are saying MM. I'm really quite fussy myself and will usually only buy off people I know. For us, it's hard not to be hygienic when you are dealing with boiling sugar though.

Ethos83

I used to work in that part of town when I first came to Dubai, and many of my office mates lived in Al Badaa, the younger ones in shared villas.

It is a very convenient part of Dubai, close to everything, a hop, jump and skip from the Dubai Mall, Lime Tree, the beaches, Mercato, Sheikh Zayed et. Plus there's Satwa with all its pros and cons right next to you. Some terrific cheap eats in Satwa, but word of warning, don't let anyone tell you otherwise but Filipino food is one of the shittiest food around. Compared to the Ranches, it is certainly more of a proper expat experience and while there's all stripes of people in every community in Dubai, people who choose Al Badaa are probably a bit more interesting.

Most of my friends, however, have moved onwards, usually into apartments of their own in New Dubai. It may be different for families though. The thing that would prevent me from moving there is the traffic. Al Wasl road was always chock full of cars at all times, Defence Roundabout a major pain, and lots of stop and go traffic. If you live too close to Satwa, there can be too many Filipinos around. They're decent, hardworking people but it drove my friends crazy that they have no qualms hurrying to cross the path of a car backing out of a garage.

New Dubai gets a lot of hate on here but its very orderly and quiet. My last two years in Dubai were very hectic from a work perspective and I came to appreciate coming home every night to a planned, orderly community. Of course it helped that my building in the Greens had the best pool in Dubai. I miss takeing post work swims, badly.

In short, Al Badaa could be a great experience as it will force you to get to know and experience Dubai in a way you really wouldn't in the Ranches, but on the other hand, the Ranches would be more serene and calm.

Mogs

The drive to and from school would be enough to persuade me to choose Al Bada'a. If there is some outside space for the kids to run about in Al Bada'a compound then there is no real reason to even consider AR in my opinion.

I spent 2 years in The Meadows which is similar (in a Stepford wives way) to AR although not as far away from everything and have spent the last 2 years in Jumeria area. Safa park and the beach are close by for the kids to play football, cycle