We've been living at YVillage for several months now. Here are our impressions:
The club is fantastic so if that is your priority then by all means this compound is for you.
However, we now feel that we've been trapped into a contract for overpriced accommodation. The quality of the actual houses is rather poor:
Many of the floor tiles have empty spaces underneath and they creak whenever you step on them.
The kitchen cabinets look like they have been battered into place rather than installed.
No built in/walk in closets in the bedrooms.
Poor lighting in the upper floor bedroom.
We have found out from other residents that the tile skirting in around the wash basins in the bathrooms has shattered, crashing down onto the bathroom floor. Thankfully, it seems, no one was in the bathrooms at the time.
Water continuously seeps out from the master bedroom bath onto the floor.
Some of the bathroom fixtures are downright dangerous, shaped like metal rods. One slip and boy, you're in trouble.
The Lebanese management have started zumba classes for the ladies of the compound on Wednesdays. My wife tells me that, according to one of her friends who attends the class, that the management, probably seeing that the class is popular, raised the price from 40 to 45 riyals. Greed.
The halogen bulbs burn out all the time.
The air conditioning is central and shared among rooms, so living room and one bedroom share, 2 bedrooms share, etc. This means if you have a child who gets cold you cannot switch off their a/c without being inconvenienced yourself.
The installation of the conditioning ducts is all wrong. The return duct in some rooms are beneath the circulation duct! Poor engineering.
The circulation ducts in all rooms face the door (incl. the kitchen) which means cool air blows out of the rooms rather than stay in.
There are many gaps in the wooden floor skirting, bugs are making an appearance.
There's no back yard to speak of, apart from 2 small patches of grass no greenery.
A couple of villas in the compound are being modified into single bedroom accommodation, it seems management wants to make a buck by renting them out as rooms making more money that way. Who they will install is a mystery. Not sure if they even have government planning permission to do that.
The residents seem to be a nice bunch but with nearly 200 villas problems are bound to crop up once the place fills up.
Several weeks ago management invited their non-YVillage resident Lebanese friends to use the club. They came in on Harley Davidsons, in BMWs and whatnot and were a real nuisance, this after management had distributed a circular and made all residents sign receipt of it stating that no guests allowed in facilities (Gym, billiard room) and only one guest per tenant at the swimming pool. Some of the bikers were harassing a few of the female residents.
The area the compound is located in is horrible.
This is pretty long but we felt you ought to know what you're in for. Given the choice and knowing what we now know we would never repeat this. At best, the accommodation is worth no more than 13000-14000 riyals/month, not the 18000 and up they charge. But we hear some residents have managed to get significantly lower rents, closer to 14000.
We've been living at YVillage for several months now. Here are our impressions:
The club is fantastic so if that is your priority then by all means this compound is for you.
However, we now feel that we've been trapped into a contract for overpriced accommodation. The quality of the actual houses is rather poor:
Many of the floor tiles have empty spaces underneath and they creak whenever you step on them.
The kitchen cabinets look like they have been battered into place rather than installed.
No built in/walk in closets in the bedrooms.
Poor lighting in the upper floor bedroom.
We have found out from other residents that the tile skirting in around the wash basins in the bathrooms has shattered, crashing down onto the bathroom floor. Thankfully, it seems, no one was in the bathrooms at the time.
Water continuously seeps out from the master bedroom bath onto the floor.
Some of the bathroom fixtures are downright dangerous, shaped like metal rods. One slip and boy, you're in trouble.
The Lebanese management have started zumba classes for the ladies of the compound on Wednesdays. My wife tells me that, according to one of her friends who attends the class, that the management, probably seeing that the class is popular, raised the price from 40 to 45 riyals. Greed.
The halogen bulbs burn out all the time.
The air conditioning is central and shared among rooms, so living room and one bedroom share, 2 bedrooms share, etc. This means if you have a child who gets cold you cannot switch off their a/c without being inconvenienced yourself.
The installation of the conditioning ducts is all wrong. The return duct in some rooms are beneath the circulation duct! Poor engineering.
The circulation ducts in all rooms face the door (incl. the kitchen) which means cool air blows out of the rooms rather than stay in.
There are many gaps in the wooden floor skirting, bugs are making an appearance.
There's no back yard to speak of, apart from 2 small patches of grass no greenery.
A couple of villas in the compound are being modified into single bedroom accommodation, it seems management wants to make a buck by renting them out as rooms making more money that way. Who they will install is a mystery. Not sure if they even have government planning permission to do that.
The residents seem to be a nice bunch but with nearly 200 villas problems are bound to crop up once the place fills up.
Several weeks ago management invited their non-YVillage resident Lebanese friends to use the club. They came in on Harley Davidsons, in BMWs and whatnot and were a real nuisance, this after management had distributed a circular and made all residents sign receipt of it stating that no guests allowed in facilities (Gym, billiard room) and only one guest per tenant at the swimming pool. Some of the bikers were harassing a few of the female residents.
The area the compound is located in is horrible.
This is pretty long but we felt you ought to know what you're in for. Given the choice and knowing what we now know we would never repeat this. At best, the accommodation is worth no more than 13000-14000 riyals/month, not the 18000 and up they charge. But we hear some residents have managed to get significantly lower rents, closer to 14000.
An that's YVillage for ya!