Doha,accommodation costs comparison

[Ripley72]

Hy everybody,
I was searching for an updated post that could help me and my wife starting to think where to accommodate once established in Doha,IF my screening process for QR is positive.
I'll join ( :roll eyes:) as DEC,wife + 2 kids. Oriented to put them on waiting list at English School of doha,so looking for accommodation close to that school.
Any info about what will be best in terms of price vs quality vs close to school??

I had a look at y village website but either no prices nor availability map.
The Pearl? Nice place but seems quite expensive

Any suggestion appreciated...
Thanks Ripley

[airwjo]

hey ripley72

first of all good luck with the screening

regarding housing:

u made already a good step: do not live tooo far away from school as well as from the airport, traffic is crazy here and getting more and more every day

housing prizes: u can have a 3 bed room villa stand alone from 10000 semi or full furnished. compound villas from 10000 and up depends on the area

i live near the ap 3 bed room compound villa fully furnished including land line and www for 12500, u can have the same villa in abu hamour for 11500 and in ain khaled for 11000

what i suggest to u: look everyday in the News (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/) or
Gulf Times (http://www.gulf-times.com/) under classifieds, there u will find plenty real estate

hope this helps

cheers:ok:

[Ripley72]

Tks a lot,very helpful.
I'll start the "treasure hunting"..... :ok:

[Amiri01]

www.qatarliving.com (http://www.qatarliving.com) is a good website for classifieds, as well as for general info. Your missus may want to look at the Qatar section of www.expatwoman.com (http://www.expatwoman.com) for a (generally) female take on life in Qatar. For cars, check www.qatarsale.com (http://www.qatarsale.com).

[airwjo]

tks amiri01

forgot to mention those websites

good luck with searching ripley72

[Ripley72]

Yep...I really need that...... :D

[ODGUY]

Is anyone getting company accommodation? A colleague is joining tomorrow and they told him he's getting company accommodation. Does this change upon arrival?

[adambg55]

My experience is that an average 2 bedroom appt is around QR12k per month. You can get cheaper but the standard is quite low (furniture and fittings old and drab, insects). Villas around around QR13-15k per month.(Villas can be much more expensive depending on location, size and amenities) You may need to pay for your own utilities (water and electricity) around QR800-1000 per month. You generally need to pay for your own internet.

You usually have to pay one month deposit, one month rent in advance and if you are using a real estate agent you need to pay them half a month rent as commission. As an example, if you are looking at a 2 bed 12K appt you need to have QR30k available before you move in. You do not want your checks to bounce.

Places like the Pearl are much more expensive.

[Flytdeck]

Company housing is still available EXCEPT for newhire pilots. Depending on availability, it is either the Pink Villas (in a very desolate area), the Holiday Villas, or the Oryx Rotana Hotel. The latter is the best for new arrivals as it is close to the office and has a store and restaurants in walking distance. The Pink villas might be better if arriving with a family (they are quite large) but I suspect the spouse would be very discouraged by the area.

Company provided transportation stops after the first week. If you are out in the Pink Villas a car is almost a necessity. An option would be to take a month to month rental at some place like the Ezdan Hotel and Suites. Prices from 4500 QAR to 7,500 QAR for studios (the latter has a kitchen, dishwasher, and washer/dryer). It includes internet, local telephone, and twice weekly cleaning and linen change. Walking distance to city centre mall. Good place to park while looking for someplace permanent but probably NOT a good solution if arriving with children.

The people who are responsibly for the housing are aware of the stress they are placing on new arrivals by only providing the first couple of weeks accommodation. Not aware if there is a solution in sight. Best to come prepared with with an idea of some how you want to handle the transition and some exposure to the real estate market through the above websites.

[adambg55]

If you are going to study you are better off avoiding a studio if you are not on your own. You will need to be able to concentrate unless you are able to work with several people living in very close quarters.

With summer approaching sending the family outdoors may not be an option.

[thib017]

Hi Guy's,


Does someone have an idea of the total cost to furnished an apartment?

Is any shops like Ikea?

Many thanks

Cheers

[jibba_jabba]

ikea opening up soon in doha, thank God.
As with anything here, you pay for what you get. But, some things are cheap and some will be the average of what you will pay in your home country.
Everyone wants to know all the info before you get here....and thats cool, but it all cant be explained.... it really has to be seen..... trust me.
By the way, qatarliving is a crap website.... read it to find and realise your IQ dropped by 20% :ugh:

qatarcl.com
GULFTIMES classifieds

but still, just be patient until you get here. You wont be booted out on the street, there is plenty of construction happening so there is really no shortage of accomodation; just a shortage of understanding and panic ;).

believe me rents range from 5000QR to as expensive as you want. average is 12k and what it gets you depends on how picky you are; if there is a family/wife involved.......

DONT PANIC and rush into the Pearl or anything like that..... have a look around when you get here, You'll be fine!

[clintsta]

Well done on the job offer.
From someone who is a few months behind you (interview coming up), could you please give an indication of what the exam was like, the interview and the sim session? Would be much appreciated. I already have a book called 'Ace the technical pilot interview'. I was planning on looking at that again.
I see people talking about accommodation costs but doesn't the main carrier there provide pilot accommodation as part of the package?
Thanks
from the kiwi

[casablanca]

Dear Clinsta:
I did the interview recently.....check a couple of the other Qatar threads that are active, as some describe the interview process.
I would also recommend latestpilotjobs.com as they have a paid interview prep that is only about 20 Euro and gives you a very good idea on what to expect. They told us to expect the 777 or 330 sim but actually used the 787 which was cool I guess.
As far as housing, it is constantly changing but we were led to believe that they are having trouble accomodating all the housing and for the foreseeable future pilots would most likely be responsible for their own housing after the first week. They provide the 10,000 QR of course or 12 if you are Captain.