Saturday, July 08, 2006

Villa Life

The rental market in Dubai for accommodation can only be described as "totally nuts". The demand is high competition is fierce and the costs are spiralling out of control. In an effort to combat this many an expat ends up in a "Villa Share". As you can imagine this is an excellent cost saving idea should you wish to live with other people.

When I heard about how common place Villa Share was here in Dubai - my mind conjured up my days of living in a shared house as a student or a recent graduate. It was all a bit painful then - huge piles of washing up, laundry hanging everywhere, a less than desirable bathroom and walls so thin that everyone's nocturnal habits were known to the rest of the house.

However the Villas in Dubai that are shared by expats are a far cry from the 1920s terraces I lived in in Liverpool. They are very large houses - with each giant bedroom having its own en-suite. In fact the master bedroom might be better be termed a studio flat as it had its own living room. Add in cleaning a couple of times a week by a maid in the communal areas suddenly all the downsides from sharing a place with other people are gone. You get to have your own privacy and should you wish company just pop out and say hello - safe in the knowledge that you will not be risking e. coli from the kitchen.

Having said of all that I have enough furniture to fill half a villa on my own so will be back in the land of getting my own apartment to live in.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, nothing wrong with those 1920's terraces. Where else would you get to enjoy a midnight spice rack installation by your neighbours? Or 'limbo showers' due to zero water pressure in bathrooms so cold the shaving foam wasn't even foam?

Ménk said...

hey, could u tell me how to go about looking for sharing villas. i am new to dubai and would really look fwd to sharing villas. rents are storming thru the skies here. could u plz mail me on mayank10@gmail.com