VLC126

Hi,
Can anyone tell me what is like on the Arizona Golf compound? Is it majority western people? Is it a good place for families? Thanks

nottmbantam

Yes, it's nice, and it has - as the name suggests - a 9 hole golf course, and nice landscaped surrounds. With it's own deer. Good location with the British School not too far away. Nice amenities. Due to it being a decent size, it usually had a waiting list, but most compounds have vacancies these days. A three bed villa used to be around 300k - don't know the current prices.

As it always nearly always full, residents had the sense of exclusivity and hence this developed into quite tw@tish attitudes. Used to have a lot of 'Mericans. Enough reason to avoid it. But if you can put with their nonsense, could be a nice place. In answer to your questions, yes - predominantly western and yes, a good place for young families.

VLC126

Thanks for the response and sorry for the delay...life got in my way!

FriendlyExpat

I would also mention the following:
- villas are very tired. They are trying to refurbish, but mostly failing...stuff keeps breaking, burst water pipes flood villas regularly (and they sometimes charge the residents for damage...!), various electric shocks from bad wiring, rats running around the compound, etc)
- a new shop has just been installed which is much better than the old one.
- they charge a bit too much for services, e.g. US$10+/hour for cleaning, electricity & internet are in theory extra (but push for a bundled package) and the school is extremely expensive for 8am to around midday with long holidays
- restaurant food is horrible, mainly greasy stuff fried in burnt oil
- compound has lots of empty houses although they pretend (as do all compounds) that it's 99% full
- you can perhaps get a villa for 220k - 230k SAR / year (paid in 2 x 6 monthly installments) if you negotiate hard, maybe a bit (or lot?) less or more depending on your skills. Condos are a lot less than this.
- there are more families than there used to be, and slightly more events (although still a bit hit and miss and events often get cancelled).
- compound security has just been taken down (as with all compounds).
- compound facilities are really old & run down, e.g. the pool area, gym, etc are a bit gross.
- in summer you see a lot of scorpions at night, sometimes they even come in the villas (although fairly rare).
- one unique point of this compound is the golf course which you can walk on at night (not during the day when it's in use and it's a large green space). Major downside of this is mosquitoes are a problem.
- management apparently ignores complaints.

Overall, I would say avoid this compound if you can - I'd go for one of Al Nakhla, Al Bustan or Wadi Cortoba, which are larger, cheaper, more modern and much better events, facilities & restaurants although they also each have their own unique problems (do careful research...). There are a lot of other options (kingdom compound is cheaper and very good social life, Al Hamra also good, Seder Village is super cheap by comparison, etc etc).

VLC126

Thanks your views are really interesting. It doesn't sound like an ideal place to live.
The compounds you mention are so expensive though. We've been quoted SAR 550000 for a 4 bed place at Al Nakhla. I was hoping someone living there would be able to tell me that it's cheaper but no one has so far. Then with special discount 450000 which will still be too much. Al Buststan was slightly cheaper but only by a few thousand.

Have you been in Wadi? It looks nice but didn't seem as relaxed/western. Whilst I'm very happy to experience Saudi culture (after all I'm a guest in their country ) I want to be able to feel less restricted in my home environment. However, these are just my views from behind a computer screen...until I get out there I am totally reliant on Google and the good people of this site.

Has anyone else living in these compound got an opinion on a good place for a family to set up home?

Thanks

FriendlyExpat

I've visited all compounds mentioned above except Wadi Cortoba (but it's supposed to be really nice).

Al Nakhla has a small number of huge villas (4/5 bed) which are crazy expensive as they are as big as you can get inside a compound and therefore in demand for highly paid CEO types. Maybe 400k-500k SAR a year? But you can get a 3 bed villa in Al Nakhla for 220k - 270k SAR (depending on your negotiation skills) or an apartment for around half that. They also have 2 bed villas but I don't know the prices. Note that in the current climate, prices are likely to be dropping fast so negotiate VERY hard.

On the phone, quoted prices will be much higher so don't worry - they only drop when they see you are serious. The villas in Nakhla are like UK terraced houses, very squashed together and a bit cramped inside but modern design. You get a small private garden although watch out for random smells in some properties - possibly from leaking drains? Al Nakhla also has direct access by foot to a huuuuuuge (but expensive) supermarket which is a really great plus point.

nottmbantam

We lived on Seder for five years, my favourite compound of all the places I've lived on, just liked the people and the social life. I've visited Wadi Qurtoba and if I wanted to spend that sort of money, that's the place I'd live. We looked at a 2 bed apartment, which was around 150k.

VLC126

Thank you. I do keep hearing nice things about seder. Are there lots of activities for kids? Thanks

nonthaburi

Good social life but a bit campy. On a similar line have you looked at Ranco?

If I had to choose between the two I'd go Ranco.

VLC126

Thanks I'll have a look.

FriendlyExpat

Another option, Fal, is also a budget option and in the centre of the main compound districts (i.e. Grenada / Qortoba districts).

Seder's two main disadvantages are (i) it has weird bungalows (ok, but kind of basic) and (ii) it's a huuuuuuge distance from the centre of Riyadh so a lot of scary driving involved (driving is the worst thing about Saudi, although rapidly improving thanks to a proliferation of cameras).

They also try (as do many compounds) try to extort additional fees (don't pay anything like a "booking fee"!)

Other more expensive options include Yamama Compound and Najd Village, both nice but quite quiet. And the diplomatic quarter also not a bad option if the location works - very quiet and leafy and apparently quite cheap.

nottmbantam

Good shout on Ranco, visited there a few times and they used to have a really nice pub / bar, always busy at weekends. Had a few good Quiz Nights on Ranco too. I always found it a little out of the way though, right on the Khurais Road, which is always a busy road. Depends on where you work I guess.

Seder is a little odd, correct. The older type of bungalow are very basic construction, brick walls and tiled roofs, but the interior are very flimsy wooden walls, so there is little sound proofing. It was built as a temporary compound, that was around 40 years ago, but it's stayed in tact. The plus side is that the gardens are quite large. They have recently built a new series of villas, which look a lot smarter and a lot more modern. I worked not too far away, so for me, the location was pretty good. It's not too far away from the Granada hub which houses malls, other compounds and the British School.

Ranco and Seder are about the best for that budget price range. As Friendly mentioned previously, Kingdom is a nice place, usually busy, lots of activities, lots going on, but again ,like many compounds, showing signs of age - so the interior fittings and furniture might look a bit dated.

You have a good choice of places, and a good range of locations, so it all depends on whether you want be nearer the schools, or nearer the place of work. Budget of course will be a key factor. As also mentioned, it's better that you go see them in person, and negotiate face to face.

Good luck.