Hi Dilettante, My advice, after having recently gone through the process is to come over, stay in a hotel for the first month and see the places for yourself. The most available options for a reasonable price range is shared accommodation in west bay, which you will find relatively easily. Expatblog and Justlanded both have good systems for notifying you of new posts by people etc. and this would be my first port of call to actually save money and stay in a decent area close to work.
Alternatively, find an apartment further afield, but still good areas, such as suggested above and in areas like Al Soudan, around Aspire, there's quite a few of them. Just a warning though...you will find it very difficult to find a western standard 1 bedroom apartment for less than 8k (And that's if you're lucky!). The apartments I looked at were rubbish and in remote areas where I would have eventually gone insane, so seriously consider shared for the standard you will be used to.
Walking to work can be done, but yes, in the heat of summer, not advised. You can find a private taxi (like the one I use and many others I know) who will pick you up for a reasonable price to and from work every day.
Hi Dilettante, My advice, after having recently gone through the process is to come over, stay in a hotel for the first month and see the places for yourself. The most available options for a reasonable price range is shared accommodation in west bay, which you will find relatively easily. Expatblog and Justlanded both have good systems for notifying you of new posts by people etc. and this would be my first port of call to actually save money and stay in a decent area close to work.
Alternatively, find an apartment further afield, but still good areas, such as suggested above and in areas like Al Soudan, around Aspire, there's quite a few of them. Just a warning though...you will find it very difficult to find a western standard 1 bedroom apartment for less than 8k (And that's if you're lucky!). The apartments I looked at were rubbish and in remote areas where I would have eventually gone insane, so seriously consider shared for the standard you will be used to.
Walking to work can be done, but yes, in the heat of summer, not advised. You can find a private taxi (like the one I use and many others I know) who will pick you up for a reasonable price to and from work every day.
Good luck mate!