Ninac | ExpatWoman.com
 

Ninac

Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 29 October 2015 - 02:00
The only ones I can suggest (but you've probably already tried them) are Ezdan Residences, Somerset West Bay and Adagio Aparthotel (if not, email them rather than relying on the prices on-line). These are the less expensive end of apartments but they are in West Bay rather than walking distance from work for your husband. I'd imagine a hotel stay for 2 or 3 weeks would be tough for the four of you with no kitchen facilities and eating out all the time. Have a look on the major accommodation booking websites and contact the apartments/hotels directly as they do sometimes give better deals, especially for longer stays. Good luck - I hope you find something reasonable. :) Great suggestions, thanks and yes we have found better prices directly :) Going to have a real push on accommodation over the weekend. HB definitely coming 27 Nov now so he has a couple of weeks to suss things out. We are all defo coming 16th all is sorted for that from this end. Tried air bnb but nothing.... Agree hotel will be ****. So annoying as don't know how long his RP will take and we will need anything from 1-3 weeks. Good news is we have school places at Sherborne! So pleased.... One thing ticked off :)
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 October 2015 - 13:35
Unfortunately not as it's my birthday and then Christmas and we will have already rented our house in the UK. I offered to spend Christmas etc on our own here in the UK but my Husband said no way and he can't leave the country as the are doing his RP. I did think we could just go out there for a week and a half and come back and then go out at a later date but if we do that we have to pay our own airfares which is £700pp (prcatically the cost of accommodation!) no matter which we I look at it I can't seem to find a solution :(
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 October 2015 - 00:17
Was speaking to some friends at the weekend who have just moved both of their children to Phoenix from another school, they are very pleased, say they are much happier, and have settled in well. Praised staff ('extremely professional') and the way homework is issued.. don't know if that's much help! I don't have little ones here, I just know both mum and dad were beaming because their children are so much happier since moving to Phoenix, their transition has gone very smoothly. No idea about fees, sorry. Well that's good news.... Am hearing similar from others too, I emailed them yesterday so will wait for their response re: the dreaded availability!,
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 October 2015 - 02:50
Hi romain That's what I think we will end up doing.... So far every school we have tried has said they are full. It seems like it will be easier if we are out there and can view them in person, I seem to be just hitting a brick wall at the moment and I'm loathe to keep handing money over to find out that we are nowhere near able to get a place. It's encouraging that you just went for it. I am thinking if We look for property in the Al Waab area it may centre us around a few school possibilities? Where are you living and what school did you end up getting into? I agree it's so disheartening for kids to take an exam and not get a place. I have twins and don't know what I would do if one got in and the other didn't? Best Nina
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 October 2015 - 23:25
Wow that's great to hear. We got out official contract a couple of days ago. We have applied to Park House and DESS. DESS say they have no spaces and recommend we don't come until we have been offered a place at school. It's not that easy though. We are all slated to be out there from 1st Dec. So I have to hope that one way or another we get a place somewhere!! I have been given details of an English real estate agent out there by a mutual friend. So will contact him and keep you posted re: Al Wabb. We need a 3 bed and it looks like we can get something for around 17.000riyals pcm :)
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 October 2015 - 23:17
I would strongly suggest the first thing you do is secure places for your children before deciding where to live. Places in good schools can be very difficult to secure (some people wait years for their preferred school) depending on the year needed. Once you have a confirmed school placement, then you can decide which commuter battle you wish to engage in. The school run or the one to your husband's employer. Commutes that would take 20 minutes on a Friday morning can easily become an hour or more during rush hour here. Traffic is dire and getting worse with all the construction going on and most of it is scheduled to last at least a year and probably longer (i.e. the airport is still not entirely complete, although open, and is now nearly 10 years behind the initial planned schedule). Depending on the PRO at the employer, you may be waiting for your and your children's residency permits to be processed for several weeks up to 2 months (they can't be processed until your husband's has been completed). The Supreme Education Council has ruled students cannot be enrolled until they have their RP in hand. Some schools may allow the student to enroll if the RP can be shown to be in the works. If you do a quick search on here, there are others who have direct experience in dealing with the schools. My advice, start calling now. Thanks marycatherine.... We are still waiting for my husbands official contract so have been loathe to hand over money for school applications in case it all goes belly up! We have had a couple of calls and emails. Park house and Sherbourne are looking like great schools for us, but Sherbourne much more expensive. I have a call planned with them next week so I can understand a bit more. As much as I would like school sorted before accommodation I can't see it happening.... Maybe we will just find a compound between the two! Thanks for your advice re the RPs. My husband is going to a government owned company and his boss believes it to be quicker but one thing I am learning is that what they say is not always what happens and when they say it will..... Just the culture I guess of mañana :)
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 October 2015 - 23:11
Hello Ninac, Congratulations on your move :-) Before you start looking for places to live, you should definitely secure a place in school for your girls. I would start contacting schools now and filling out applications. I don't know if you've read through the web site, but finding a good school and securing a spot is so, so difficult here. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might have to wait until next September to have them start - it might take that long, unfortunately. Although, if your husband works for a company that has reserved seats at a school or is a sponsor, you might find a place faster. Definitely have your husband ask his HR department about what his company does for school sponsorship. Also, getting your residency permits (for you and the kids) might take a bit of time. Usually it takes about 3 months from when your husband starts working (he'll need a Qatari bank account with at least 3 months of salary deposits) to when he can officially sponsor you to get your resident permits. And, unfortunately, schools will tell you that they need the kids' resident permits before they can start school. So, that's another potential delay you will need to be aware of before you arrive. It might make sense for your husband to come first, get settled, start the resident permit process - while you work on getting school places sorted out. And when your kids have a school spot (and a start date) and you have all the paperwork for your resident permits, then come here, get the RPs sorted out and then have your girls' start school. Finding a compound (close to school) after you have a school spot is a good strategy because the traffic here can be quite heavy. Good luck with everything! Thanks Tulip327.... It's all pretty overwhelming, especially when working still and trying to sort out the house we are in for rental! Part of me just thinks I will figure it out. We have spoken to a few schools and they give the impression that there are passes at the moment, but that does conflict with what I hear from parents so who knows?! We are really excited for this change though and think it's such a good opportunity for our family so keep our fingers crossed and hope to meet some of you guys in real life once we are there....
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 October 2015 - 23:07
Hi Nina we are in almost the same boat and moving from Berkshire. Husband already there and going through the process mentioned by Tulip. We were told we "may" get a school with a pending residents permit! No way? Are you there yet? We are planning to be there beginning Dec. met a great lady today who is back after six years and she gave me some fab advice about schools and housing. We are still waiting for my husbands official contract and until then are not handing in our notice here. I am hoping that they can join a school in January if people leave after Christmas! Who knows? It seems like a minefield and I think until we are there won't really know. We are hoping for Park House or Sherbourne. My husbands work have said our visas should be two weeks after his is done but frankly everything seems slowly slowly. I gather there are people that can home school for you privately kind of in between schooling. I would be rubbish!
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 October 2015 - 23:03
Hello, Im really not much help as I've only been here 2 months and have no children :) but so far I love Qatar, Doha. We went to Dubai last week for the first time which we loved but both agreed it was a little crazy compared to Dubai so we both prefer Doha to live especially if we had children. Its more calm here, very safe feeling. I love that their is so much to see for me everywhere i go thats completely different to my home Australia. I think most people with children live in Compounds, i believe the good ones have waiting lists so maybe look into this a little more now. We are living in a apartment in West Bay. I like it because i love to run so can go for a run down the Corniche ( basically a beautiful cemented path running some length of the Gulf/Water) with trees and grass :). Its also walking distance to a shopping centre as I'm without a car while my husbands at work. Hope this helps a little with insight I really like it here :) cheers Samantha Gehoff Thanks Samantha, I think we will do compound as having the two girls will be good to have lots of friends and the facilities close by. We like the West Bay Area and also I think will look around Al Waab it all depends on the schools! Nice to meet you and hopefully we will be there mid-December. Sorry for my slow reply.... Been a bit busy :)
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 August 2015 - 09:32
Hi Ladies I'm new to the site.... I'm from Buckinghamshire in the UK and it looks like we may relocate to Doha with my husbands job. I know zilch about the area other than my googling. I've been to Dubai but not sure how it compares. I need to find us somewhere to live. We have five year old twin girls and also a British school. We think the timing will be approx Nov. so all in all.... Some advice would be excellent and to meet some fellow expats for advice when we come for a reccie would be a bonus :) thanks in advance!
Ninac
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 August 2015 - 09:31
Hi Ladies I'm new to the site.... I'm from Buckinghamshire in the UK and it looks like we may relocate to Doha with my husbands job. I know zilch about the area other than my googling. I've been to Dubai but not sure how it compares. I need to find us somewhere to live. We have five year old twin girls and also a British school. We think the timing will be approx Nov. so all in all.... Some advice would be excellent and to meet some fellow expats for advice when we come for a reccie would be a bonus :) thanks in advance!
 
 
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