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Compounds - "what's the REAL experience?"

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gowiththeflowUK

OK, it is time to go there:

- With so many posts from people thinking of coming into the Kingdom and desparate to get information on compounds,
- With people already here but can't get onto a compound,
- With people here and living on a compound but having a negative experience;
- With people here, on a compound and having the time of their lives

Sites like this, ExpatBlog can only exist and thrive if people make the effort and share useful, relevant and valuable experiences about their knowledge, experience or expectations.  There are so many great posts here saying how great the site is, well that is great, but we also need people taking the time to share information instead of the few constantly being contacted away from the site due to lack of confidence that the 'site' can address the questions!  Sorry for the directness of this, but it has to be done.  So, to set this off, here is my summary on the first compound experience I have had:

Eid Compound:
First impressions - great facilities (5 pools, skate park, restaurant, cafe, squash court, games room, library, children's play areas, big villas, friendly people, free compound buses twice a day, reasonable cost limo service, free maintenance, fully functioning gym and fitness studio with personal trainer on-site, sauna & steam room, beauty salon, dry cleaner, shop, tailor, good private function facilities but the best of all is the recent STC fibre optics upgrade on the internet connectivity super speed for additional payment to residents - the list is long.
Living there for over a year the facilities are good facilities although some now in need of a good clean and an upgrade.
Rent has seen year-on-year a SR 30,000 increase, which is by no means reasonable, especially as the main facilities remain the same although one could argue that the STC fibre optics in itself gives a huge value for money (but SR 60,000 within 24 months)!
Decreasing compound activities with a bias away from westerners
The Wave Cafe was probably the facility (aside from the gym) that we used the most, the menu is not comprehensive, but is OK to go and I just loved the Baskin Robins ice cream selection and the minty lemonades.
Villa sizes are great, lots of room, high ceilings, lots of light, great storage.  Very small garden areas (not private) and some none at all, but with the pool choices, there is good provision to go and relax and mingle with other residents.
A great social life if you take the time to get out, introduce yourself to others and get active on the compound.  Some active camping groups on Eid as well, which was a great extension from the 'concrete' living during the off summer months.

Conclusion:  very expensive, especially as Eid is not in the 'top' compound grouping; so that significantly taints whether it is value for money.  We have a blast on Eid and met some fabulous people and our stay there was brilliant.  We left due to an employer change, the rent increase and some resistence to change from the compound management (but the latter is pretty much the norm with most compounds).
Would I recommend Eid to others, of course, YES, everyone will have a different opinion, expectation and approach.  Some will love it, some will hate it.

Over to you on your compound experience - I hope you will find this post useful.

1967tazz

What a great idea for a post, well done gowiththeflowUK ;)

gowiththeflowUK

Thank you 1967tazz, :cheers:   I truly hope others will follow but as we all know, actions speak louder than words :whistle:

gowiththeflowUK

Beezer and/or Nina01, tell us something about your compound

gowiththeflowUK

CAF, tell us something

gowiththeflowUK

Maserman, tell us something about Granada when you lived there

MaserMan

gowiththeflowUK wrote:

Maserman, tell us something about Granada when you lived there


Granada - Pish with hijabs!
Eid and every other western compound I have visited -  I am a party whore :D:D:D

Of course a compound is what you make of it, but the basics have to be there in the first place.

gowiththeflowUK

@Maserman, why did I expect anything other than that :rolleyes: It's a classic case of "be careful what you ask for" :dumbom:

beezer

Danya Village.
For the price, you can't complain too much (95,000/yr). The furniture is good, and if you are lucky to get a villa that has tiles you will greatly appreciate it.

There is a shopping bus that goes out once from 9AM - 11AM. There is no x amount of ladies limit. Just one is enough to get it moving which is great.

Facilities
Gym. Exists, but really shouldn't.
Pool. Large, but no shallow end.
Tennis court. OK when kids aren't ruining the net.
Basketball court. Backboard is made of plastic, not really useable.

The villas are extremely spacious but insulation is horrible. The windows are not fitted properly so sand always gets in, as well as the cold air from your A/C, so it's always ON.

Entrance is ridiculous, the gate staff refuse to sit at the gate, even though they've been given a new room right beside it. They instead sit on a sofa inside and after waiting in your car for a minute they walk on over and open it for you. Attempting to open it yourself will just cause a headache. It's pathetic, and at the end of a work day, all you wanna do is drive right to your house without pausing for a guy to crawl over.

In terms of social life, the majority of residents are Indian, Pakistani, and Turkish. If you aren't any of these 3, then don't move here. And if you aren't religious and don't like gossiping, then it's not for you.

Other things to take into consideration. This is totally a family place, it's riddled with kids. And because of that you can't have a nice car here. My car has been WRITTEN on when I went on vacation, it's been scratched god knows how many times, and also there is a large abundance of cats. Like 20 cats who crap everywhere and stink up that place, it's embarassing when guests come over.

I believe all religions have one common ground and it's
"love thy neighbor"

It seems to skip a few people unfortunately.

GuestPoster35014

Strange question. Halloween is coming up? Is there somewhere I can go to party?

Alliecat

sham1990 wrote:

Strange question. Halloween is coming up? Is there somewhere I can go to party?


Why would you put this on  a 2 year old thread about compounds? :huh:

tonguetwister

Because it's funny :P

Alliecat

tonguetwister wrote:

Because it's funny :P


No.. you're funny http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/35.gif

tonguetwister

I get that a lot, I don't know why.... though I think "You're annoying" gets said more often than "You're funny" haha

youngthegiant

Alliecat wrote:

Why would you put this on  a 2 year old thread about compounds? :huh:


She might need a new place to recycle her costume?

assi-uk

Lol that is funny, but im glad sham1990 posted on that thread as the original thread was just what I needed to read!

harryKSA

sham1990 wrote:

Strange question. Halloween is coming up? Is there somewhere I can go to party?


Maybe it's a coincidence, but Eid, the compound in the original thread, is having a Haloween party. Might even be tonight.

Commenting on the original post, Eid hasn't changed - it still has five pools.

alialhozami

can any nationality live there like, even if im saudi ??

deshill

hi guys,

I promise to feedback once arrive and experience - but does anyone have info on Sara Compound - what am I likely to expect?

AS part of a package offered a 2-bed apartment in a block of 4 - in - Sara compound, Damman - any issues I need to consider?

Des

Christine

@Des > this is an old inactive thread since 2012. You might start your own topic on the forum. Good luck.

deshill

Oh dear, I thought I did - ... where does one do this

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