Doha vs Dubai, Cost of Living
Discussion
Can't give any advice on Dubai but I've been in Doha a few years now.
Rent - Still crazy expensive but anecdotal accounts from friends /colleagues etc is that its leveling out now that the expat exodus is in full swing. A 1 bed apt on the Pearl is going to set you back QAR 11-12K (GBP 2,250- plus) month unfurnished plus all utilities. A compound villa somewhere outside West Bay is going to be QAR 15-18K (GBP 3- 3,500-) month in Al Waab or Al Sadd. General rule the further from West Bay / Pearl you are the better value you get. Flatshares in West Bay - Kempinski / Beverley Hills / Intercon etc are usually QAR 5-7k month (GBP 1-1,500-) and these are usually furnished / fully services apartments.
Schooling - Can't comment as my kids are at Uni in UK (which is expensive enough!) but again from friends / colleagues etc it is an arm and a leg. If it comes with the package from your employer take it.
Petrol - although they whacked the prices up 35% in January, its still only QAR 1.35/litres (circa 25p/litre)
Food - subjective depending upon your lifestyle but at places like Carrefour / Lulu its cheaper / comparable to the UK with Spinneys / Monoprix being the upper end. Not an issue I would suggest
Bars / Restaurants - hugely expensive in the Hotel chains where of course all of the bars are situated. No bars allowed outside of hotels. Happy hour rules big time. Restaurants outside of hotels etc are good value, again based upon how high or low you live. Plenty of good Turkish / Lebanese / Indian / Thai places at good value
Cars - Cheap! Qatari's buy new they move onto the new models. A declining expat population means a glut of 'decent' cars. Check out www.qatarsale.com to get an idea. Servicing however is not cheap. Its a small place and no real competition on pricing. Car insurance cheap although all cars over 6 years old can only get 3rd party cover. With 40,000 accidents a month (!!) even leaving the house is a risk....
Clothing / Consumer goods - all about the same as the UK, nothing is cheap cheap here
Mobiles / Internet etc - I have a decent vodafone deal of QAR250 (GBP50-) month that offers 12GB data, 2 free overseas numbers and unlimited local calls and texts. Data package only, you have to buy handsets separately - not cheap. My Ooredoo cable tv/internet package costs me QAR 460- (GBP90-) a month.
All in, Qatar is small. Doha is tiny. Not that many places to blow your cash outside of bars / shopping. If you are not a brunch junkie I suggest its a decent quiet(ish) backwater to work and live and save a few bob.
The major downsides are the kafala system, NOC's and the continuing struggle to get an exit visa from your employer to take a holiday....
Rent - Still crazy expensive but anecdotal accounts from friends /colleagues etc is that its leveling out now that the expat exodus is in full swing. A 1 bed apt on the Pearl is going to set you back QAR 11-12K (GBP 2,250- plus) month unfurnished plus all utilities. A compound villa somewhere outside West Bay is going to be QAR 15-18K (GBP 3- 3,500-) month in Al Waab or Al Sadd. General rule the further from West Bay / Pearl you are the better value you get. Flatshares in West Bay - Kempinski / Beverley Hills / Intercon etc are usually QAR 5-7k month (GBP 1-1,500-) and these are usually furnished / fully services apartments.
Schooling - Can't comment as my kids are at Uni in UK (which is expensive enough!) but again from friends / colleagues etc it is an arm and a leg. If it comes with the package from your employer take it.
Petrol - although they whacked the prices up 35% in January, its still only QAR 1.35/litres (circa 25p/litre)
Food - subjective depending upon your lifestyle but at places like Carrefour / Lulu its cheaper / comparable to the UK with Spinneys / Monoprix being the upper end. Not an issue I would suggest
Bars / Restaurants - hugely expensive in the Hotel chains where of course all of the bars are situated. No bars allowed outside of hotels. Happy hour rules big time. Restaurants outside of hotels etc are good value, again based upon how high or low you live. Plenty of good Turkish / Lebanese / Indian / Thai places at good value
Cars - Cheap! Qatari's buy new they move onto the new models. A declining expat population means a glut of 'decent' cars. Check out www.qatarsale.com to get an idea. Servicing however is not cheap. Its a small place and no real competition on pricing. Car insurance cheap although all cars over 6 years old can only get 3rd party cover. With 40,000 accidents a month (!!) even leaving the house is a risk....
Clothing / Consumer goods - all about the same as the UK, nothing is cheap cheap here
Mobiles / Internet etc - I have a decent vodafone deal of QAR250 (GBP50-) month that offers 12GB data, 2 free overseas numbers and unlimited local calls and texts. Data package only, you have to buy handsets separately - not cheap. My Ooredoo cable tv/internet package costs me QAR 460- (GBP90-) a month.
All in, Qatar is small. Doha is tiny. Not that many places to blow your cash outside of bars / shopping. If you are not a brunch junkie I suggest its a decent quiet(ish) backwater to work and live and save a few bob.
The major downsides are the kafala system, NOC's and the continuing struggle to get an exit visa from your employer to take a holiday....
This is old but still worth a gander I think
Infact in a very brief summary you can say there are ways that being in Qatar absolutely kicks the crap out of living in the UK, and in equal measure, there are ways that the UK kicks the crap out of living here...I guess it is about what matters most to you. Personally I've lived in Dubai and I much prefer Doha.
I'll try give you a bit of an overview on how I see Qatar.
GOOD THINGS
Quality of life?...well that depends on your quality of life in the UK. For me I was struggling to make ends meet as a Quantity Surveyor,I drove a Skoda Octavia VRS and could barely afford a flatshare in suburbia. Ontop of that, I would always take a train to work and got tired of the pissing rain and cold and standing on a platform in the dark at both ends of the day for 6 months of the year.
In Doha, as a comparison..I live in the centre of town (West Bay), on the 28th floor of my tower and this is my view when I wake up for all but about 5 days of the year
I have 90% of the bars and restaurant hotspots in Qatar within 1000m, I used to drive a supercar to work which I traded for a race car and a new Audi A5 3.0 coupe, I've got about 20 grand in watches (a weakness of mine) and have saved a significant chunk of money for my retirement.
So you could say that at 29 I'm doing ok for a QS from Leeds
I've got a great circle of friends and to me this is KEY to liking Qatar.
There is almost no crime, you can leave your car running while you pop into the shops and it will be there when you come back.
Its sunny all the year between September and May you can sit outside and its fantastic weather!
NO TAX
Petrol is 14p a liter (for optimax grade fuel)!
Of course there is a flip side to that coin, and for me that is the real clincher as to if you'll like it out here.
Bad things
The healthcare system isn't even close to the UK, of course, with your job you'll have something like BUPA cover and you'll be fully covered. For me I'd be really REALLY s
t scared if I had something like a car accident and needed a serious operation here as I just don't have faith in the Doctors after my limited experience with them...again thats a personal opinion and I've got at least 3 friends who've had babies here and the experience has been 5 star so maybe its just in my head that the healthcare isnt all that.
There is inequality everywhere. Being a Western Expat we don't get 90% of the crap that other nationals do but it can be pretty bad at times.
There is also injustice that can wind you up, I had 2 girls I knew who were in a car accident, 1 died the other had horrific injuries and lost a hand. Both were in their 20's. They were in a convertible 3 series with no seatbelts on and they'd all been drinking, (including the driver). The driver went to jail for about 3 months then got out and was partying and had a new Mercedes AMG to party in...all because he was "connected".
On the other hand the guy who stole my phone (the only example I can give of theft between me and my friends in the last 4 years) got 3 years in jail followed by deportation.
If you're trying to get anything done that needs government signoff like a driving license, registering a car or otherwise, be prepared to deal with numptys who will do anything to get out of helping you so they can go for a cigarette out back...infact in pretty much every part of life here you're going to come across gross incompetence, I'd say this is probably one of the hardest part of life here for me as it just gets you down!
There is no law against smoking in bars, its really grim for a none smoker in some bars.
As for the rules here, they're basically the same as the UK but if you cross the line you could get in alot more trouble.
Drinking wise, there are more 5 star restaurants than you can shake a stick at, and there are LOADS of bars too, both loud and quiet.
You're also only a few hours flight to all sorts of places that you'll be able to afford to visit!
Activities wise you can do anything here but you have to make an effort to go do them! I guarentee anyone who says Qatar is boring is a lazy git who can't be arsed to make a phone call and book an activity.
Golf
Shooting
Kayaking
Desert safaris
Scuba Diving on Ship wrecked oil tankers off shore
Race car driving/track days
Drag Racing
Boxing/Martial Arts classes
Photography groups
Painting
Jetskiing
...basically you name it, there's a group that do it here!
There's a load more I could talk about but I'm supposed to be working
I'd also say the people who work 6 day weeks last usually a year or 2 tops because the quality of their social life is not as good due to less free time to blow off steam.
I'd add to that make sure you have a multi exit visa in your contract, otherwise you wont be allowed to leave the country once you get residency without your employer processing some paperwork for you...(its not as bad as it sounds, but having a multi exit makes life MUCH easier).
PS: Not a chance would I come back to the UK! I go for Christmas for a week and that is it.
Inbox me if you decide to move over, I'll get you introduced to some local Petrolheads, most of us met at trackdays or race here.
GreatPretender said:
Some questions I have:
TIA.
I've never lived in London so I couldn't compare.- cost of living vs London?
- quality of life compared to UK?
- activities
- cultural variances
- would you come back to Blighty?
TIA.
Infact in a very brief summary you can say there are ways that being in Qatar absolutely kicks the crap out of living in the UK, and in equal measure, there are ways that the UK kicks the crap out of living here...I guess it is about what matters most to you. Personally I've lived in Dubai and I much prefer Doha.
I'll try give you a bit of an overview on how I see Qatar.
GOOD THINGS
Quality of life?...well that depends on your quality of life in the UK. For me I was struggling to make ends meet as a Quantity Surveyor,I drove a Skoda Octavia VRS and could barely afford a flatshare in suburbia. Ontop of that, I would always take a train to work and got tired of the pissing rain and cold and standing on a platform in the dark at both ends of the day for 6 months of the year.
In Doha, as a comparison..I live in the centre of town (West Bay), on the 28th floor of my tower and this is my view when I wake up for all but about 5 days of the year
I have 90% of the bars and restaurant hotspots in Qatar within 1000m, I used to drive a supercar to work which I traded for a race car and a new Audi A5 3.0 coupe, I've got about 20 grand in watches (a weakness of mine) and have saved a significant chunk of money for my retirement.
So you could say that at 29 I'm doing ok for a QS from Leeds
I've got a great circle of friends and to me this is KEY to liking Qatar.
There is almost no crime, you can leave your car running while you pop into the shops and it will be there when you come back.
Its sunny all the year between September and May you can sit outside and its fantastic weather!
NO TAX
Petrol is 14p a liter (for optimax grade fuel)!
Of course there is a flip side to that coin, and for me that is the real clincher as to if you'll like it out here.
Bad things
The healthcare system isn't even close to the UK, of course, with your job you'll have something like BUPA cover and you'll be fully covered. For me I'd be really REALLY s
t scared if I had something like a car accident and needed a serious operation here as I just don't have faith in the Doctors after my limited experience with them...again thats a personal opinion and I've got at least 3 friends who've had babies here and the experience has been 5 star so maybe its just in my head that the healthcare isnt all that.There is inequality everywhere. Being a Western Expat we don't get 90% of the crap that other nationals do but it can be pretty bad at times.
There is also injustice that can wind you up, I had 2 girls I knew who were in a car accident, 1 died the other had horrific injuries and lost a hand. Both were in their 20's. They were in a convertible 3 series with no seatbelts on and they'd all been drinking, (including the driver). The driver went to jail for about 3 months then got out and was partying and had a new Mercedes AMG to party in...all because he was "connected".
On the other hand the guy who stole my phone (the only example I can give of theft between me and my friends in the last 4 years) got 3 years in jail followed by deportation.
If you're trying to get anything done that needs government signoff like a driving license, registering a car or otherwise, be prepared to deal with numptys who will do anything to get out of helping you so they can go for a cigarette out back...infact in pretty much every part of life here you're going to come across gross incompetence, I'd say this is probably one of the hardest part of life here for me as it just gets you down!
There is no law against smoking in bars, its really grim for a none smoker in some bars.
As for the rules here, they're basically the same as the UK but if you cross the line you could get in alot more trouble.
Drinking wise, there are more 5 star restaurants than you can shake a stick at, and there are LOADS of bars too, both loud and quiet.
You're also only a few hours flight to all sorts of places that you'll be able to afford to visit!
Activities wise you can do anything here but you have to make an effort to go do them! I guarentee anyone who says Qatar is boring is a lazy git who can't be arsed to make a phone call and book an activity.
Golf
Shooting
Kayaking
Desert safaris
Scuba Diving on Ship wrecked oil tankers off shore
Race car driving/track days
Drag Racing
Boxing/Martial Arts classes
Photography groups
Painting
Jetskiing
...basically you name it, there's a group that do it here!
There's a load more I could talk about but I'm supposed to be working
I'd also say the people who work 6 day weeks last usually a year or 2 tops because the quality of their social life is not as good due to less free time to blow off steam.
I'd add to that make sure you have a multi exit visa in your contract, otherwise you wont be allowed to leave the country once you get residency without your employer processing some paperwork for you...(its not as bad as it sounds, but having a multi exit makes life MUCH easier).
PS: Not a chance would I come back to the UK! I go for Christmas for a week and that is it.
Inbox me if you decide to move over, I'll get you introduced to some local Petrolheads, most of us met at trackdays or race here.
Edited by TobyLaRohne on Thursday 14th August 06:56
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