23 Marina and similar towers

You should check out The Greens and The Views too, they are very family friendly and can be a bit cheaper than in the Marina. A very easyt commute to internet city too.

If you have a 16 month old and your husband will be working in Media City, I'd recommend you give consideration to the Greens instead of the Marina. The Greens is VERY child friendly. Nearly all the buildings have playgrounds in the courtyards and there are lifeguards at the pools. Very nice community feel and much more family-oriented than the Marina. You will make mum friends very easily there. Everyone takes the babes for walks around the lake. Your LO is just getting to the age where they can really start to take advantage of the play time and equipment with the other kids. Living in a high rise without kid-friendly amenities and lots of young families nearby will probably get old quickly. My husband's coworker just moved his family out of the Marina as their son was about that age and they wanted to give him somewhere to play. It's just across SZR for your husband's work. There's a shopping center with a Choitrams, salon, restaurants, etc. It's a quick, easy taxi ride, metro ride or drive over to the Marina, too, if you want access to more restaurants and activities. We lived in the Marina in temporary housing when we arrived in Dubai and I didn't find it nearly as child-friendly. Ours were 2.5 and 5 months at the time. <em>edited by Meagle on 13/03/2013</em>

You also need to bear in the mind that with [u'>most[/u'> of the marina properties, you are allocated 1 car parking spot and you either have to rent another parking spot or try and find something outside.

My husband and I live in 23 Marina and we are very happy there. There are 3 pools, one of them is for penthouse residents only, one is for women only (and I assume children) and one is for anyone. The one that everyone can use has outdoor and indoor areas including a small kids pool, it does not get the sun after around 1pm though. There is a building going up right next door but I'm not sure if it is still under construction or has been paused, we don't hear noise from it. There are a couple of other buildings under construction nearby and we have recently heard a bit of banging at night but not for long and it hasn't been a problem. There is also a running track which goes around the building on the podium and there are gyms. There is an area next to the gym for an indoor kids play area but not sure whether that has been done yet or will be soon....I haven't been down to the gym for some time!! There are no squash courts. The only drawback I could see for kids is that it is not great nearby for pedestrians - there is a small pavement that goes down towards Marina Walk but it is only just wide enough for a pushchair - adults have to walk single file. Also when coming up from the car park you have to get out of the lift and into another one to go up to the apartments so that could be a pain with a child and groceries or whatever. We love our apartment, it is a very spacious 3 bed - it has 3 balconies but all are quite small. No windows that open though so for fresh air (or as fresh as it gets in Dubai) you have to open the balcony doors. Really nice kitchen, fairly large maids room and lots of wardrobes so storage is great. I think all apartments come with 2 parking spaces. Traffic is occasionally bad at the moment thanks to all of the tram construction - there is sometimes a large queue for the lights outside Tamani Hotel during rush hour but at other times it is fine. It is very easy to get a taxi outside. <em>edited by dibdab on 13/03/2013</em>

Yes, Park Island is really nice. We lived there for 2 years and had few complaints regarding the property. None even come to mind at the moment. You can have a nice 2 bedroom for 130-140, even less. some of the 2 bed units on the mezzanine level have a garden/terrace if you would prefer that to a balcony. There were several of these available in January, not sure now. It is right on the marina; if you go down to the B1 level, there is a hallway, then a ramp that leads to the entrance to the marina walk...so I guess I would call that pram-friendly? Small children's pool, a playroom on the ground floor, and a lawn out front of the complex. We were a little concerned about the mosque going up next door, but couldn't tell you when it will be finished. Seemed to be going up fast and not so much now. It is always easy to get a taxi out front, on the service road. (re: the mosque, we thought this might cause a traffic jam on the same feeder road). My DH had meetings in Media City often and it was easy access to get there, traffic was almost never a problem even with the tram construction which is currently underway. We looked at a 23 marina unit, at the 2 bedrooms, in January. At that time, all the 2 beds with good views were taken. We just couldn't stare at the shell and core of the Pentominium every day, especially not for 120,000/year! The flat was huge, but a lot of the space seemed almost unnecessary. The amenities at 23 were very nice, and the residents I spoke to said they were really happy with the facilities. I'll admit I didn't pay attention to amenities for little ones when we toured because I don't have any. I understand you are very interested in 23 Marina, but consider checking out a unit at Park Island, too. x

A friend of mine lives in Tower 23 and while she has amazing views over the palm and beach and a partial view of the Marina, the finishes inside are shocking. The kitchen looks amazing but the carcasses are finished with edging strips and started to peel off in week 1. The dishwasher wasn't fitted correctly and fell forwards when the door was opened and the loaded bottom tray pulled out. She has had no end of leaks from pipework. Having said that, they are a short walk from the Metro and the Marina facilities and I am sometimes a bit jealous!

Hello, Park Island is a good one for small families, directly on the Marina, it's an Emaar complex but cheaper than the original 6...it has squash courts, a lovely pool (infinity pool overlooking the marina). Probably not as modern as 23 Marina, which we did go to see and loved, but I found that due to the construction and the fact that it is not directly on the Marina, we decided against it, can't really walk with a pram around there because there wasn't a pavement when we went (well that was the case when we viewed it, but it may be more accessible now). Also, Park Island is directly on Jumeirah Road so easy access to Media City...I would say less than 10min drive. The marina walk itself has now started to develop a few play areas underneath the bridges which are great. HTH, good luck with your search and your move :-)

a lot of the towers in the marina dont have play areas so to speak. have you thought about JBR ?

mum2girls is right. 23 Marina is actually more towards Media City side. I havnt seen the apartments personally but the area around there is under construction. Im not 100% sure how to get to that tower as its behind the mag 218 but there is a lot of road works going on around there. Depending which side your apartment will be facing, you will either get a partial marina view with an emirates golf course view or a sea view with a sufoh road view. the Original 6 towers are lovely and im not sure what your budget is but a 2 bed starts from about 175k. Friend of mine lives in a 1 bed and she loves it so much they brought it.

Contact Kiran at Morya Real Estate. Her number is 050 6569472. She'll be very helpful as she does a lot of rentals in the Marina. I'm looking for a rental for friends in the Marina, JBR or Tecom. Have tried to visit the website of Morya Real Estate but they do not seem to have one at all and I do not find them listed as an approved agent on the RERA website, are you sure this is a bona fide company?

The thing about 23 Marina is that is is not directly on the Marina, it is on a very busy intersection and a block away from the Marina. The quality is top end and the higher apartments have beautiful views of the sea. If you want to be directly on the Marina, the better buildings are the Emaar original 6 apparently, they have easy access in and out without dealing with the traffic congestion of the Marina area. The building names are Al Yass, Anbar, Mesk, Murjan, Fairooz, Al Mass. The lobbies are like 5 star hotels and the few apartments which I have visited are stunning. Good Luck.