# Springs, Meadows or Lakes



## Ukrainka (Nov 2, 2010)

Hello, everybody!

Our family is going to move to Dubai over summer and I have been looking at some villas in Springs, Meadows, Lakes... All villas look pretty amazing as well as the facilities of all the communities in question.
So here is the question I would like to ask you, please: if anybody has got any experience with living in these communities? 
I am very interested in their maintenance: quality of work, services, in terms of how fast they would respond to the leakage of the roof, AC problems, electrical troubles if any... I heard various stories from our previous experience in the UAE about how bad some companies are in responding to the problems of the tenants... (We lived on Sh.Zayed road earlier and the building was maintained by Al Tayer group, it was the best experience of our life! Any problems were sorted so quickly and promptly.)

How good is the swimming pool maintenance, gardening, plumbing, general cleanliness of the public areas, and also the safety of living in these communities...
And what is the traffic situation to get in or out of these areas in the business hours? How is the road infrastructure in and around Springs, Meadows, Lakes, getting to Sh.Zayed Road, Al Khail Road...

Any comments related to the above mentioned communities will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance.


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## Johnmason (Mar 31, 2014)

I have over 7 years of experience in those areas and I can tell you this:

Those areas are not the same you can't compare them 

Springs is the lowest category with townhouses only starting from 130k for 2 BR up to 250k for 3 BR

Lakes comes next with so many different areas inside with different layout townhouses and detached villas, a part of it is very similar to those in Springs but little bigger, better quality and better layout starting from 150k for 2 BR up to 275k for 3BR which is around 10% more

Some other parts in Lakes are identical to Meadows called Deema with 4 BR villas going for around 325k

Another part called Hattan go from 550 to 600k for 6 BR

Meadows have only detached villas no townhouses at all. Starting from 240k up to 500k

I know its a bit confusing but I just wanted to let you know the difference

The maintenance issues, maybe 1% of the landlords will sign a maintenance contract with a company they usually leave it to you unless its something really big like water leakage or AC compressor needs replacement then they will pay for it but you will really suffer to get them paying and you have to pay it first then chase them to collect your money.

So don't expect that when you have an issue with the water or electricity you will find instant action from landlord, you have to take care of the problem all by yourself then pay the bill and collect it later.

Even if the landlord have a maintenance contract with a big company like MPLUS believe me you will suffer to get them take action to come and save you in emergency.

So be prepared to take care of maintenance issues all by your self, from my experience its better to ask your neighbors they usually deal with a free lancer plumber or electrician and keep their number in case you need them they will respond much faster than companies do. 

For the public areas I would say its good in all of them its always clean and all very safe to live in.

Traffic wise be prepared for heavy traffic in the morning around 7 and when you come back around 5pm its also depends where you live exactly its bad in some parts and good in other parts.

Finally all three areas are nice to live in depends on your budget and if you have children or not but all of them have children play areas, pools, lakes, tennis and basketball courts, bbq areas, community and shopping centers.


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## Ukrainka (Nov 2, 2010)

*Thanks!*

Hello, Johnmason.

Thank you very much for the response. 
It is so detailed that I could not even hope for more explanation!
Now we'll just have to see what will be the better option.


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## Vesper007 (Mar 31, 2014)

Hi!

My parents own a villa in the Meadows and I grew up there. First of all, they are all incredibly close to each other and what Johnmason said is pretty much spot on.

They are all very safe. I had friends in all of the complexes and NONE of our parents worried about us wandering around as young teenagers, even after dark. There are plenty of good schools nearby, from Emirates International to Dubai American Academy, both of those have the IB system which helps a lot if your children want to go to Europe/North America/Australia for further studies. 

As for general maintenance... Lakes is the best maintained by far. I've NEVER heard of pools being closed and the like due to maintenance issues. And the community sense is stronger there than the others. No doubt. 

With the meadows, it depends which meadows. Some have no parks, no trees, no pools, no nothing just houses. Others, like Meadows 1 and 2 have loads of parks, ponds, pools and it's quite lovely. The same logic applies to the springs. And while living by the golf course sounds nice in theory, in practice... those lights are BRIGHT all night long and having one of those blaring into your bedroom is not fun. So just be wary.

I guess my point is... don't settle until you've seen it for yourself. It's a fantastic area in terms of convenience, safety, and life (from schools to gyms to supermarkets) but not all streets in the complex are created equal.

As for roads... it changes every other month. Not even joking. Construction and replanning are the name of the game. I still marvel at how pretty it was in 2004 with fountains by the roads and whatnot, now it's just highways and roads and traffic jams. But leave 10 mins before the rest of the crowd and you'll be fine. My brother used to joke about school that he was either 40 mins early or got late marks. Because we played the leave 10 mins early game and it was well worth it.


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## Ukrainka (Nov 2, 2010)

Thank you, your comments put my mind at ease now. I have a young daughter, thus the question about security...


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## Vesper007 (Mar 31, 2014)

Happy to help! 

If you have any further questions about kids and growing up there, don't be afraid to ask.


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## Johnmason (Mar 31, 2014)

Ukrainka said:


> Hello, Johnmason.
> 
> Thank you very much for the response.
> It is so detailed that I could not even hope for more explanation!
> Now we'll just have to see what will be the better option.



No problem at all Ukrainka and if you need any further assistant just let me know.


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