Hello !
Recently back from 2 weeks in Saidia. First and foremost a massive 'thank you' to Michael Gale - localhelp, without his help this trip would not have been nearly as successful as it turned out to be, thank you and good luck in 2008.
I advised Legalex 2 weeks prior to my arrival and 4 weeks after signing for the property, that I required the water and electricity on in my apartment ready for my arrival. Neither were on when I arrived, thus I spent 2 days hassling them and Fadesa to get it organised, which Legalex finally did, and it took all of 10 minutes for the water and maybe an hour or 2 for the electricity. If you're not using Conforta for water & electricity - at an inflated price no doubt (if the furniture packages are anything to go by),Fadesa do not seem to be bothered if you do not have the water & electricity up & running.
To be fair, all the staff at the on-site office are trying their best, and are very lovely, helpful people. However, most are students straight out of University, and this is their 1st or 2nd job, they do not have the life skills to take control and get things organised, in the way that most Europeans would expect. They're under the control of the Spanish Managers, who seem to be sporadic in their appearences at the office, plus it would seem that they do not all have a PC to use, thus some of them have to wait for a computer to become available before they can reply to e-mails ?? Having spent a good amount of time in the office waiting around for things to happen, it seems apparent to me they do not have much of the equipment to hand that would make their jobs easier and quicker. If you need to go to someone at the top - Farid or Jesus were there while I was.
Having to stay in the Atlal Hotel in Saidia was a disappointment this time around. I have stayed there on my previous 4 visits and it has been basic, but OK. This time it seemed there was a general lack of interest, the drains stank out the room, the noise from the Bar was terrible until 2/3am, plus the smokers in the Restaurant and Reception areas put us off eating there the 2nd night, and they charged us for breakfast even though I told them - in French - that we did not require breakfast, saying that the price included breakfast - it doesn't - as detailed in the tarrif posted in the Reception area ! If you are staying in Oujda, I can recommend the Ibis Hotel now. Ask for a quiet room (in French if you can - it helps). Their rooms have been completely renovated in April 2007, and are in my opinion far better and quieter than those at the Atlas Orient now - although the Reception area at the Atlas looks lovely, the rooms are basic. Atlas are now building a new Hotel directly opposite the Ibis, this looks amazing from the artists impressions (but so did the Fadesa site - remember that pool with the bridge shot ?!)
When I asked for the keys to my apartment - I was advised they had been sent to London !? This was very obvioulsy not true, as when I fussed a little more, they very quickly appeared - why tell me this? I have no idea ... but I was later advised that there are up to 5 keys per apartment - therefore I strongly suggest that you have the locks changed if you have anything put into your apartment in the way of furniture etc. As the weekend that I spent in Oujda, some lovely peson let themselves into my apartment, took the libertly of using the toilet, didn't flush, and left the front door open ! Fabulous .... the security is there, most of the time, but they can't see every entrance from where they sit most of the time. Just an observation. As to changing of the locks - if you can - go to one of the DIY stores in Oujda or Berkane - it is a simple process, and they cost approximately £5-10 depending on the quality.
When the water is switched on - all of the taps will possibly need the filters taken off to be cleaned as there is debris behind many of them - make sure you take some basic tools with you - spanner, plyers, multi screwdriver and grout scrapper should suffice for most people - I hope !? We spent 3 full days scrappin the grout off the tiles in the bathrooms, obviously this along with a whole range of other snags were on the snagging list, but I just decided that as I have a fully furnished apartment now, I do not want random people walking in & out, making a mess and possibly no supervision - therefore I am having them undertaken at a later stage by people of my choosing.
Furniture .... well, thankfully for me, Oujda has a new Hypermarket MARJANE. The first and only one in the region ! This was apparent by the sheer number of people ! However, it was a godsend for us, as it was almost a one stop shop (except we had to go back 3 times !). I managed to get the TV, satelite receiver, fridge, microwave, kettle, heater, hairdryer, and everything from sheets and blankets to knives, glasses and bins - whereas, prior to this being open, we might have spent days trying to find these things in Berkane or Oujda. They also deliver for free, which when you think it's a 50km distance is a pretty good deal.
Just a word of advise - if you need to buy electrical goods in MARJANE, you have to get one of the many sales staff to put all of your local contact details into the computer with the details of what you want to purchase (ref no) and delivery date requested (if required),then you go to the seperate paying area (just for electrical) to pay, then you have to go to the Information Point to get the receipt stamped to get the Guarentee for the item ! ! Haha ... as I said - it's new, hopefully they'll change some of their current practices - but just to assist - it's not easy if you don't speak the lingo ! Any questions re Marjane - let me know & I'll see if I can help !?
The beds, matresses, table and chairs and sofa were purchased between Mobilia and Kitea - two local furniture shops - both with limited stock to what most Europeans would be used to, therefore if you have the option and the funds and time, I would suggest possibly purchasing stuff in Melillia and bringing it across the border. I am not sure of the implications of that, but there is so much more choice and possibly better quality there, it might be worth looking into.
While I was on site there were no refuse facilities, and I'm afraid I didn't have time to find out from Fadesa where these were going to be located. I am assuming that they might have the Spanish style where there is a large communal one in the car park and you have to dispose of it there, with regular collections hopefully, as the cats are already beginning to move into the area ! This needs to be clarified, so if anyone is speaking to Fadesa in the near future, maybe you could ask ?
Monthly fees. I personally have not had the exact costs detailed as yet. I would be interested to know what these will atually include. Mainly due to the fact that while I was there I could already see in the public areas pavements cracking, paint peeling and general maintenance that if done correctly initially, would not be in the state that it is already so soon after 'completion' - the purchasers shouldn't really be made to pay for the shoddy work that is already very apparent in certain areas of AP6.
I will add some photos this week for your viewing pleasure !
In the meantime, if you're heading out to Saidia in the near future, please let me know if I can assist in anyway.
