# Spending the winter at Polaris World Mar Menor, last minute advice please?



## destinedforspain (Feb 2, 2009)

After many months of planning, the arrangements are finally in place for myself and mother to spend the winter in Spain, in an attempt to escape the imminent harsh Scottish winter and try to get my health back on track. 

We are renting a villa on the Polaris World Mar Menor Golf Resort near Murcia, which should hopefully be nice and peaceful and secure and ideal for my rehabilitation.

All of the arrangements are pretty much in place, and we fly out there in 4 days time. But I would be grateful for any last minute advice any of you could give us on considerations that we may have overlooked?

Three things that are important to us are healthcare, mobility, and internet access. We have tried phoning Polaris World for clarification on the above, but have yet to manage to get to speak to a human being on the end of the line (it always seems to be an answering machine and they never call back!).

Healthcare:
We have been careful to purchase travel insurance that covers my existing medical conditions. We have also researched nearby hospitals, of which there are two (one in Murcia town and one in Los Alcazares). However we do not know about the procedure of registering with a local GP, or if this is even necessary? According to Polaris World there is a 'Medical Centre' on site at the resort, but we aren't sure if this is just a glorified pharmacy or actual access to a doctor. 

Mobility: 
We appreciate that a car is recommended on the resort in order to have access to off-site amenities. Ideally we'd like to rent a small car for the full duration of our 4 month stay, but so far the rental companies we have obtained quotes from have been prohibitively expensive. We are now considering renting a car for just two or three days per week, but are not sure how the logistics of this would work and if it would actually work out that much cheaper than having a car on hire all of the time? We would be grateful for any recommendations on competitively priced long-term car hire companies around the Murcia area.

Internet:
There appears to be a bit of confusion regarding internet access on the Mar Menor resort, with some saying it's possible to get a wired and/or wifi connection in the villas by purchasing a router and top-up cards, while others say you can only access the internet if you in the immediate vicinity of the hotel/bar. Can anyone shed any light on this for me please?

Many thanks .


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

A friend of mine's family owns a property on the resort. They love the resort but apparently the staff are not always helpful and they have never managed to get a call through in some years of trying. Internet access is sporadic and will depend on where the villa you have rented is located. As for car hire, rent a car for a couple of weeks as a lot of companies that will rent on a long term basis will be local and probably don't advertise on the internet. Two weeks should be long enough for you to find out what is available.

As for medical care, you can buy most drugs over the counter in Spain but if you are staying for 3 or more months you should register with the local clinic. For that you will need your EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) so make sure you have it and it is up to date. If not, apply by telephone and give them the address of where you will be living and they will sent it there.


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## Monkey Hangers (Jan 8, 2009)

*Car Hire*

Have you looked on carhire3000.com? 
We have used them quite a lot and you can get a small car from around £55 per week? They make money on charging for a full tank of gas at pretty high prices, so it's better to rent for long periods than for a few days at a time.


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## destinedforspain (Feb 2, 2009)

thrax said:


> A friend of mine's family owns a property on the resort. They love the resort but apparently the staff are not always helpful and they have never managed to get a call through in some years of trying. Internet access is sporadic and will depend on where the villa you have rented is located. As for car hire, rent a car for a couple of weeks as a lot of companies that will rent on a long term basis will be local and probably don't advertise on the internet. Two weeks should be long enough for you to find out what is available.
> 
> As for medical care, you can buy most drugs over the counter in Spain but if you are staying for 3 or more months you should register with the local clinic. For that you will need your EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) so make sure you have it and it is up to date. If not, apply by telephone and give them the address of where you will be living and they will sent it there.





Monkey Hangers said:


> Have you looked on carhire3000.com?
> We have used them quite a lot and you can get a small car from around £55 per week? They make money on charging for a full tank of gas at pretty high prices, so it's better to rent for long periods than for a few days at a time.


Thank you both for your advice.


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