shiftdelete

in case you still need an answer....in order of -'s

-3 months in my case;
-you pay by the month in advance or (as I do) 3 months in advance;
yes- if rental says "inclusive"; no, if it does not;
yes, in some "inclusive" agreements or fully furnished rentals; but normally you apply for these in your name.

HTH

danielcfdz

Thank you shiftdelete !

Concern1

Adliya is a nice place. Cool cafes and pretty chilled out atmosphere. There is all you need there. Adliya is just south of the Diplomatic Quarter.
The transport system in Bahrain is not good, you need a car and the taxis are dreadful. They refuse to use the meter and if the quality is not as good as in Dubai. All in all, Bahrain is a wonderful little island, which will give you good memories.

bodziub

Thanks for the advice and your comments!
Is Adliya an expensive place comparing to other areas?

Concern1

It is more expensive than other places. I don't know much about the outer surburbs, places like Isa Town or Hamed Town that are in the far south. I presume they would be cheaper as it would spread out. But since Bahrain is so tiny and you would have a car, commute time would be no trouble. There is no traffic jam issues in the country like in Dubai.

I paid around 110BD for a one bedroom apartment which was unfurnished and which didn't even have air con in it. It was bare!. It was right in the heart of the centre about 5 mins walk from the Yateem Center. Which is about as central as you can get. It wasn't the best area, but it suited me fine. I got it by simply walking around the area where i wanted to settle and enquring into property firms. Which usually would be one man in a small shop. I got it very quickly.

I did consider places like Seef in the east of the city, but i didn't like it. It was soulless and full of office blocks.

I think for you, it would be in two places, where it would be more built up and developed, where more people are used to seeing westerners about.
Those two places would be Budaiya and Adliya. Both, in the southern surburbs.

camel jockey

In Adliya now you would not find anywhere, even if it was falling down for BD110/-. Average prices are around 200/- for low end-ish up to around 700/- for high end.

Seef has expanded a lot and doesn't face the traffic problems that Adliya does. Yesterday it took me nearly and hour & a half to get from Manama to Adliya, I could have flippin walked faster!! Traffic here is getting to Dubai levels.

Adliya is a good area as you can walk to most places which is always handy. Juffair is a nice area but a total building site everywhere (and getting in and out at peek hour is not so fun). Mahooz is next to Juffair but most expats don't really look there as they don't know where it is at first. Zinj is very nice also, it's next to Mahooz (it's more villas then flats though). Family wise Budaiya, Saar & Janabiya type areas (they are all located around each other) are the most popular for expats though..

AlishaA

Hi there

I am a single girl planning to move to Bahrain with work... is there a good nightlife there? Are there other young expats there and what is there to do in free time? Also, I heard that designer bags/clothes & makeup are more expensive there.. is this true..? Would appreciate if someone can help me... thank u!!

Alisha xx

MataHari

lol...

B.Geezer

1.Its ok, 2.yes, 3.quite a few.

It is a great place to live but can be a bit quiet compared to Dubai for young'ens.

Plenty of old geezers though so watch out !

AlishaA

ols geezers.... ouch ?!

t19hlr

Hi Bodziub, have you made the move to Bahrain yet? If so any advice would be good, Should be moving there next month.

macteepee

What advice are you looking for t19hlr? just moved here almost 4wks ago...

t19hlr

Hi Macteepee,

I'll be in Bahrain later this month to sign my contract and finalise my start date, which should be sometime in March. As I'm moving there alone just wanted to know if there are any good social clubs where I can meet other expats. Also, my employer is saying they will need to sort out my work permit once I am there, is this correct or do I need to fill out forms before I leave?

How have the 4 weeks been, any regrets?

Thanks,
T

macteepee

Depending what you're after, there's the British club in Adliya which is like sports club type thing with a small pub in there also. There's a few tennis courts and different social sports games going on - although we only went there once.
As far as the work permit goes, we didn't come here first before moving here - all that was organised, was a NOC (no objection certificate) relating to a work permit application, which we had a scanned copy of before we arrived and an original that was waiting at the airport in Bahrain. I'm only here at the moment on a tourist visa, while hubby's residence visa is being processed. The company just renews this I believe as one is only valid for a couple weeks (we're from Aus).
Hubby's company took our passports for all the residency paper processing, which takes anywhere from a few weeks to a couple months. It will be nice to get all the paper work done as the all important CPR seems to be required for everything.

No regrets as yet. Wish i'd brought one pair of my many slippers I left in storage as all the apartments here are tiled. Wish I hadn't gotten so concerned about the supposed conservative dress, as there are many ladies wearing less than i'm yet game to wear during the day and fashion is fairly normal. Apart from that - enjoy your shower while you can as the showers the only showers we've seen here are those hosey types - pretty small shower heads. Lucky it doesn't get cold enough to be longing for a soaking hot shower to defrost. Oh and I really miss the anti-smoking laws back home, as there's so much smoking everywhere here. Having to wash your clothes after one wear or wash your hair again after a freshly washing and blow-waving is very annoying.

HTH

t19hlr

Thanks for your reply.

Do they really take your passport away for that long? Although I'll be starting work in March I need to be back in the UK on 13th April, and will also be travelling within the Middle East. I guess I need to speak to the employer about that.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the NOC has to be completed before arrival, but my employer insists everything will be done once I am there!! Thanks for this info I'll chase it up with them.

I'm not looking forward to tiled flooring, I've already requested that my flat has carpets in it, but I doubt you get many carpeted apartments. As for smoking, I'm also not looking forward to the smoking environment, but not because I hate the smoke, but because I'm a smoker and I know I'll smoke a lot more once I'm out there!!

I've heard that expats tend to socialise amongst themselves and don't really mix with Bahrainis on a social level, is this correct?