o everyone,
After getting much benefit from this forum prior to my departure, it's only fair for me to give back and share my experience after 1 month in the tower and in KSA. Sorry if I’m being incongruent, I just write whatever comes to mind
The weather
1 month after arrival, it's good to wake up for work with relatively cooler breeze in the morning. 1 month back, the morning temperature would be around 30C, and going to 40-43 at 11-12 noon. Now it's around 27C in the morning and maybe mid 30s by noon. So if you are arriving soon hopefully you will have more comfortable weather, especially for infants/young children
Bedrooms
I was given a 2 bedroom unit of 158 sq m. Back in our country, we were used to living in a condominium. So it's a step-up in terms of facilities and services given in the apartment. It’s a full service apartment. The cleaners come and clean up once a week. They don’t replace the bedsheets and covers though, and I don't expect them to do that anyway
Many are asking about the bed sizes. So, in the master bedroom there is 1 king size 200 cm x 200 cm and a comforter size 250 cm x 224 cm. In the kids’ room there are 2 twin beds of same sizes. The size is 200 cm x 120 cm. The comforter size is 225 x 175 cm. Yes! I actually measure everything! The apartment provides the fitted bedsheet, quilt cover and pillows for all rooms. They are all white. It’s very nice; I would say the material is similar to hotel quality with little embroidery of the apartment logo on every sheet and cover. Those measurements however, are very odd because I couldn’t find the sizes in IKEA and other shops. In the end I bought the closest sizes and the comforters end up a bit long for the covers. So they need to be folded a bit to fit in the covers. They also make up the bed, which I find it quite awkward – I rather make up the bed myself
There is also a dresser table with drawers and mirror in each room. There are 2 wardrobes on master bedroom (with full length mirror as its sliding doors). I hope I don't get my wardrobe hijacked by my wife once she's here. I dont get it why ladies need so many clothes? Oh, and there is 1 wardrobe in kids room, also with full length mirror
Toilets/bath
The apartment provides bath and face towels. I’d say the quality is good. They also come with the apartment logo embroidery. Very neat. They don’t replace your towels like the hotels. It’s yours to keep. The cleaners also cleans the toilets during the weekly cleaning.
There are also a hairdryer, disposable shavers, shaving cream, shower cream, soap bar, shampoo, baby oil, toothpaste and toilet rolls.
Washing room / maid room
There is 1 washer and 1 dryer. I think its the 6kg size. A bedsheet and quilt cover will fill up the washer pretty good already. There is also ironing board and the clothes hanger. The iron is the travel size and it's pretty small. I bought a better one later. They provided a small box of laundry powder as a starter.
Kitchen
When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was the basic foods were already there! It’s a very nice gesture, knowing people are tired and jetlagged after travelling long distance. I don’t know if the foods are provided by the apartment or by Aramco. If I can still recall, there were cereal, pasta, rice, peanut er, strawberry jam, cookies, tea, nescafe, sugar, black pepper and salt. In the fridge, there were bread, some apples, oranges, gfruits, milk, fruit juice, drinking water, eggs, er and cheese. They are good for you to get started for few days before your first groceries. They also provide basic utensils like a set of plates, cups, saucers, drinking glasses, a set of pots and pans, knives, spoons and forks. There is also an electrical water boiler
The electricity in the apartment runs on 220/240V with G-type plug. The kitchen appliances are oven with grilling function, 5 cooking hobs (all are run on LPG, not heating elements), a dishwasher and 2-door fridge. Lots of stoe spaces in the L-shaped kitchen cabinets. Microwave is not provided. I don’t think you need to bring it from your home country though. There are many choices in electrical shops here. I bought mine from SACO. If you're coming from 110v countries, it will be quite difficult to find such appliances anymore.
Living room
There is a 32” flatscreen brand WanBoo (hahaha!) mounted on the wall. You can always buy a better quality TV in town. But it’s good enough for me. It comes with 60+ free channels ranging from news, entertainment, lifestyle, sports, and movies. Channel 67 and 68 are for football (the ones you play with feet, not with hands
I think there are only 1 or 2 cartoon channels. It’s not HD though. If you want more channels and HD quality broadcast, you can subscribe for OSN and they will give you a decoder. I think you need to pay for the installation, but I’m not sure how much. There is also a DVD player which I never use it at all.
There is sofa of course,a coffee table, side tables, a cabinet and a round dining table for 4.
Internet
After 1 month, the apartment installed an additional access point (AP) in my living room’s ceiling so I can get wifi signal in the living room. Before this I can only get the signal in the master bedroom. I didn’t request for the additional AP but I think the apartment has some pre-determined locations where the wifi signal is poor in certain floors. The speed is so-so, but good enough for FaceTime with occasional poor signal. YouTube is definitely too slow.
You will need VPN if you want to stream Netflix, even so the buffering takes forever.
They say once they finished installing all the APs, they will increase the bandwidth. Let’s see
Common area facilities
the Aramco DT Resident Association shares Activites and announcements
There is 1 big swimming pool, it slopes from 1m to the deepest 1.85m. Then there is a gym with treadmills, elliptical, cycling, some weightlifting machines and dumb bells. There are 2 flatscreens in the gym. There is also a jacuzzi, wet and dry sauna, changing rooms and showers
In the game room, there is a snooker table, a foosball set and ping-pong table. 1 sofa and flatscreens
On the opposite side of the gym and game room, there is a common hall for functions and zumba / dancing classes for ladies. And there is a playroom for children
Buses
There are shuttle busses from the apartment and Aramco to the shopping malls. Only Aramco busses provide services to the camp. The schedules will be provided in your apartment. Now that the new access road is completed, it takes only around 15 minutes to work by Aramco bus
Now, all of these are included in your monthy rent. You don't pay extra for the sofa, oven, washer, dryer, TV, internet, facilities, cleaning and everything. Heck, you don't even have to pay for the lightbulb! The staff in the lobby may even help you out with your big groceries, and have it delivered to your unit. They won't ask for tip, but just give them some as appreciation for their help
Every compound has their own plus and minus. I choose to look at the pluses I get in the apartment. If you want to complaint, there will be endless of it too! The choice is yours
I think I stop for now. It’s getting too long!
