# Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Qatar?



## olsontowers (Jan 18, 2011)

My wife and I are planning to relocate to either Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Qatar. We both work in Financial Services, but while my wife spent some time in Dubai as a child we're unsure as to where would be best!

Please could you let me know your thoughts and preferences?!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Do you have a job in either of the places? JUst as a city my ranking would be Dubai first and then either AD or Doha. But then without a job its all hypothetical


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Are you a family or single? And what are you looking for in moving here. I would choose Abu Dhabi hands down over Dubai.


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

Jynxgirl said:


> I would choose Abu Dhabi hands down over Dubai.


Why?

Less to do. Traffic is crazier if moving, hours if gridlocked. No parking. More expensive. More "good business" being carried out.


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

I heard that you don't get pork in Doha, so it's definitely Dubai for me over the other two any day!


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Mr Rossi said:


> Why?
> 
> Less to do. Traffic is crazier if moving, hours if gridlocked. No parking. More expensive. More "good business" being carried out.


More greenage. More a city feel. Seems to be less labourers standing around staring. Less spread out. I have a much easier time finding things. Less western expats and more diversity that actually interact with each other. More fish/marine stores in a closer area  Less touristy. More big scale events. Parking is a bit of an issue if you are downtown areas but there have been some garages opened and it isnt as bad as it was. I dont seem to have a problem finding parking in most areas I go. There is actual wildlife there. Yas Island has thousands of birds and actual plants and trees. It is a fantastic place (if you like outdoorsy stuff). The beaches in Abu Dhabi are alot better then Dubai. You can actually find something besides sand. Dubai is great for a touristy place that lacks culture or an identity. The locals overall dislike the expats and it seems the expats dislike the locals. Once you get out of dubai, it isnt like that. Sharjah, rak, aj man, al quieme (spelling) and abu dhabi (to a point) still are interested in getting to know the expat population. But that is just my take on it. 

One other thing... as a western expat, the cost of living (accodmodations) isnt on them anyhow. They get it for free anyhow usually. The cost of eating out and those things are expensive but no more then dubai. You can go to the cheap places to eat, same as in dubai.


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

I lived in Qatar. More expensive that UAE, no tourists, expats love themselves a little too much, qataris love themselves waaay too much, boring, dull, ugly, hot. 

Nothing to do. Just malls.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Sonrisa said:


> I lived in Qatar. More expensive that UAE, no tourists, expats love themselves a little too much, qataris love themselves waaay too much, boring, dull, ugly, hot.
> 
> Nothing to do. Just malls.


Hello Ms Sonrisa  Glad to have you sneak over to the uae forum


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

Jynxgirl said:


> Seems to be less labourers standing around staring.


Without wishing to sound offensive, this is beginning to feel that this is more your issue than anyone elses. 



Jynxgirl said:


> More big scale events.


Granted, I'll give you that but there's never enough to merit a move through there. Anything of interest that's been on has been easy enough to get to.



Jynxgirl said:


> The beaches in Abu Dhabi are alot better then Dubai. You can actually find something besides sand.


You should try Mumzar beach park.



Jynxgirl said:


> Dubai is great for a touristy place that lacks culture or an identity.


I disagree, Satwa, Bur Dubai, Diera, Jumeriah, Al Qusais all have a identity to them. It may not always be nice but at the same time it's formed organically to a large extent.



Jynxgirl said:


> The locals overall dislike the expats and it seems the expats dislike the locals.


I'm the first to make a rubbish generalising joke but in reality I know it's not true. Sure there are grudges but these are usually fostered over faceless encounters eg the roads, pushing in shop queues and at civil service help desks. 



Jynxgirl said:


> Once you get out of dubai, it isnt like that.


I agree, love going up the coast toward RAK or across to Fujairah, only thing I go to AD for is work and generally its a pain going.



Jynxgirl said:


> One other thing... as a western expat, the cost of living (accodmodations) isnt on them anyhow. They get it for free anyhow usually


I dunno, apart from one person, everyone I know pays their own rent. It's only ever from posts here that I hear about housing allowance and such like.


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## olsontowers (Jan 18, 2011)

rsinner said:


> Do you have a job in either of the places? JUst as a city my ranking would be Dubai first and then either AD or Doha. But then without a job its all hypothetical


So far neither of us have a job to go to but we have started to research options in all three countries.


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## olsontowers (Jan 18, 2011)

Jynxgirl said:


> Are you a family or single? And what are you looking for in moving here. I would choose Abu Dhabi hands down over Dubai.


Clearly you're not a fan of Dubai!!!! In answer to your question, we're both looking for a better quality of life, tax free income and the opportunity to try something different.

We also have a 13 year old daughter to throw into the mix, so we need to make sure we find the right school for her!!


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## olsontowers (Jan 18, 2011)

rsinner said:


> Do you have a job in either of the places? JUst as a city my ranking would be Dubai first and then either AD or Doha. But then without a job its all hypothetical


Nothing as yet, but we need to try and get an idea of where is best before we apply for specific jobs.


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## emarati (Jan 28, 2010)

> The locals overall dislike the expats and it seems the expats dislike the locals. Once you get out of dubai, it isnt like that. Sharjah, rak, aj man, al quieme (spelling) and abu dhabi (to a point) still are interested in getting to know the expat population. But that is just my take on it.


interesting comments


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## Andrew James (Nov 6, 2010)

Hi,

I lived in Doha before moving across to Dubai. I must say that I miss the ease of life in Doha. I guess that's the double edged sword there - not a lot of places to go to, but life is easy. Dubai is definitely more exciting.

In reference to the comment about there not being any pork in Doha, that's more or less true but apparently the Qatari alcohol distribution centre is about to start selling pork...

Best,

Andrew


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## Ogri750 (Feb 14, 2008)

I am currently in Doha, seconded to a project here. I literally count down the days until I fly back to Dubai every second weekend.

I would choose Dubai firstly, then Abu Dhabi and Doha a distant 3rd.

As others have said, there isn't much to do in Doha and I certainly would not relocate to here with my two teenage daughters


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## Ogri750 (Feb 14, 2008)

As for pork. It isn't sold in Doha - period.

It is the first I have heard about QDC maybe selling pork. There is a Spinneys due to open here soon too but the opinion is that it won't be selling pork either.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

Have actually lived in AD and Dubai, I prefer Dubai for a lot of the reasons already stated.

In the past, I preferred AD for its quietness compared to Dubai, but that has changed dramatically.

Since you're without a job and pay for everything on your own, AD costs more on housing than Dubai and less choices to choose from. We didn't care when living there since we had housing allowance, but do budget $50-80k / year for a nice villa. Less for apartment...

Schools will be more limited than Dubai as well. Any savings from tax will more likely offset with the school cost for your kid. It could be $20k / year / kid depending on school.

Much less to do in AD, but improving with Yas island.

Doha is a dust bowl, traffic is horrible, less safe (i.e. security, bomb about 4 years back). I would never live there personally.

But youbhave to think which city will offer the most opportunity for your line of work which I believe access to the highest concentration of more-well-off expats, that would be Dubai. But I am the competition is quite strong here as well...

Good luck.


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## Andrew James (Nov 6, 2010)

Ogri750 said:


> As for pork. It isn't sold in Doha - period.
> 
> It is the first I have heard about QDC maybe selling pork. There is a Spinneys due to open here soon too but the opinion is that it won't be selling pork either.


Hi,

The QDC rumour's been doing the rounds for a bit but apparently it's now going to happen... Many people have pork in Doha, they just bring it in with them. I never did that (too scared!) but I've had my fair share of bacon sandwiches in Doha still.

Best,

Andrew


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## olsontowers (Jan 18, 2011)

Thank you all for your help!!

We visited Dubai recently and have decided that it's the place for us, and so have accepted positions with one of the more respected financial advisory firms in the UAE - not the ones that pester you with cold calls day in and day out!!!

As for schools for our daughter, Repton seems to have a great reputation so we're having a good look at that at the moment


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## Jumeirah Jim (Jan 24, 2011)

olsontowers said:


> so have accepted positions with one of the more respected financial advisory firms in the UAE - not the ones that pester you with cold calls day in and day out!!!


Phew...

We have plenty more of those cowboys than we need already thanks.


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## Ogri750 (Feb 14, 2008)

Repton great reputation? All depends on who you speak to I suppose.

One of our friends was far from happy with the standard of education compared to the ridiculous fees she was paying


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