Avarice

me and the missus are looking at getting a cheap apartement and our two options right now are DG and international City. DG is actually offering a months free rent but we need to be close to dubai mall and from what ive heard DG is a rancid shithole, not bothered at all about the people that live there i mean thats the reality of living in the middle east and the labourers generally are very nice humble people however i stilll would be concerned about her walking home alone at night as well i would be if we had moved to glasgow, in fact id be more worried there for obvious reasons. But (poster cant remember ure name ssorry) try checking out the spain and england clusters in international city. Theyre very affordable and i have a friend there who says they are actually very pleasant. Ill be most likely moving in to one of these apartements in int city early october so if u do decide to ditch DG and go there let me know and we can compare clusters!

typical

While I don't think DG is a rancid shithole, there have been times when International City has literally been one...

Ethos83

Most people would consider Disco Gardens a step up from International City.

It's true that some claim certain clusters at IC are nicer than others, but I've been in IC exactly once and won't comment.

Another cheap option for you to consider is Silicon Oasis. Some of the apartments are supposedly decent and overall the place has a higher tone than IC.

What is your budget for housing? If you and the missus can budget 40,000 for a one-bedroom (not inclusive of DEWA etc), you can probably swing a one-bedroom in Tecom or Al Barsha if you bargain hard. Don't automatically fall for the trap of the five thousand AED saving on rent when ponying up an extra 5,000 over 12 months puts you in a much more central location closer to most of the amenities (and saves you a fortune on taxi fare and petrol).

Roadking

Went to a mates apartment over the weekend; large 3 bedroom which, if I remember correctly (was after copious amounts of beer), he is paying 51'000.

Al Khail Gate and looks like a reasonable place to live. Lots of Emirates accommodation there too. No idea if that helps but thought I'd throw it into the mix anyway.

Spugsy

I have a mate in Silicon Oasis, nice, cheap and clean 0 small thouygh, and MILES away from anywhere.

Avarice

to be honest im not looking for anything spectaular at all, my criteria is cheapest and closest to dubai mall as thats where the missus will be working, discovery gardens would be better location wise for me but im not driving at the moment so cant pick her up on her late nights when the metro is closed and a taxi from DM to IC is a lot cheaper than it would be going from DM to DG. As soon as i get my license converted however (cant for the life of me think why i havent done it yet as ive been here for 12 years) id look more into DG... closer to uni for myself and dont mind the drive to DM and back at all... but yeah i have looked at the one bedroom places aswell, but well be on a tight budget at first and it just doesnt seem like we need an extra bedroom right now. we only plan to be there for a max of two years anyways and well be out of the apartement 80 percent of the time...

Hello.Kitty

well, the building opposite me in the Marina has studios and 1 beds up for 40k on Dubizzle... and it's about 200m from the metro stop (that'll be opening in [cough] October)

hoblos

From www.arabianbusiness.com

Thursday, 22 April 2010
Tenants in Nakheel’s Discovery Gardens have been promised its much-delayed swimming pools will be handed over “within weeks”, as the developer’s state-funded $8bn support package begins to trickle down to developments.

In a series of meetings with owner association representatives last week, Nakheel said work had resumed on the pools, which are more than a year behind schedule, and the first six are slated for handover within weeks.

The remaining seven pools will take at least another month to complete, homeowners were told.[/I]

Should be complete by now no?

hoblos

from the same source:


Tenants were also told that the main road dividing Discovery Gardens and The Gardens, another Nakheel project, is expected to be handed over to Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority “in the near future”.

This will allow the activation of traffic lights and potentially help tackle traffic congestion on the surrounding roads.

Spugsy

the one 30 feet from me IS finished.

But it's chained up and has no water in, for bollocks sake.

Spugsy

traffic lights won't help one bit, they shoudl put cameras in there as its no overtaking but everyone does, at breakneck speed - its carnage.

Purdey

Could you direct me to the Dubizzle listing for this?

Thanks.

Hello.Kitty

it's Zumurud tower

http://dubai.dubizzle.com/property-f...ice+to&x=0&y=0

Haven't been in it, but it's been open since April and they've been having real issues filling it. It's got a nice enough pool though, I guess "marina and partial sea views" and well... yeah. It's cheap!

Oh, adn I particularly like this listing: "Studio in the famed Zumurud Tower, with all amenities and more". Wow... more than "all amenities"?! Now, that's a sales pitch! lol

typical

Went to look around a few weeks ago - definitely one of the nicer towers in that end of town, the studios are going for 40k and 1 beds quite a bit more.

Studios are small, though.

Ethos83

I looked at one-beds in the Tower. The quality is actually much better than you would expect from the pink concrete exterior. Lots of wood trim inside that gives the place an art deco flavour.

But also very dark.

The one beds were priced in the 50s-60s but with very low occupancy rates they will tumble down quite a bit more, especially as Park Island and Marina Promenade have also come down substantially.

Still, I was tempted until I realised I didn't fancy being the only tenant on my floor.