Choosing where to live
We live in Kuwaitat which is on the east side of the town, behind the Hilton Hotel. We love where we live. We are also close to the Al Ain Mall, the largest Lulu Hypermarket and 10 minutes from the large Bawadi Mall.
Here’s what I recommend, if I may be so bold (and I hope it’s not too much to take in!). Get hold of a map of Al Ain and locate the 3 main hotels which have pools: the Hilton, the Intercontinental, and the Rotana. This way, if you get info on specific villas you can see how far you are away from what may be your frequent weekend activity.
Also locate the main malls: Bawadi Mall is the newest and biggest; Al Jimi Mall (I think!) is the next newest; Al Ain Mall is the oldest (and it’s a great mall) ; plus the enormous Lulu Hypermarket in Kuwaitat, and the smaller Lulu Supermarket in Sanaiya (opposite the Etisalat building which will most likely be on the map). Very recent is the Al Foah Mall in Al Foah, on the road heading out to Dubai.
These are the main places ex-pats in Al Ain shop as each mall has one big supermarket in it, as well as other shops. (There are other, smaller supermarkets like Choithrams, and the new Spinneys supermarket on the road out to Abu Dhabi.) Again you can then get a sense of how far you’ll need to travel to do your main weekly or twice weekly shop.
Al Ain isn’t that big a town (there are 400,000 people at the moment). So you should be able to get round fairly easily.
See other posts for info on specific malls, and photos.
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Hi, My family and I maybe moving to Al Ain in the next few months. We are unfamiliar with the area and not sure where to look for accomodations. What arease should we be looking at?
Thanks
Hi Raquel,
Thanks for your message. It depends on whether you want a home near the school your children are at; what your budget is for accommodation as certain areas are more expensive than others, etc. Personally I’d avoid the up and coming Al Foah area which is way north of Al Ain centre. It’s best to call one of the property agents here who I feature on this site. Someone like Calum from the UK will drive you round and show you several places to get a feel for what’s available.
Chris
Pleas let me know opening time of park for publics .
Hi Abdul,
9am to 9pm.
Chris
hi , i just want to ask about life in al ain, is it very expensive ,is 420000 dhs sallary adequate for a good life , i have 2 kids n schools.
Hi Darin,
Are you saying the salary is 420,000 aed a year? That’s £74,000. That seems very good. That’s double a good salary for an ex-pat doing teacher support.
(Accommodation and school fees for up to 2 children is on top of this.)
School fees, depending on age: 35,000 per child per year if in secondary.
Villa/apartment: 90,000 a year for a good one. Maximum 800 aed a month for electricity during the hot season and a half to a third of that when it’s cooler. Food is a bit cheaper than the Western world, I think, depending on what you eat.
Petrol/gas is a fraction of the price in the rest of the world.
I think you’ll be fine.
Chris