Liverpudlian needing accommodation help

Hey Stephen,

I moved to Riyadh from London last year and I hope my advice is of some use. Although my company provided me with accomadation, I managed to.find my own

I think you'll be able to find decent accomodation in many places and it definitely doesn't have to be in a compound. Riyadh is a very safe place to live in, just obey the local customs and you'll be fine.

Your company should help you settle, but I'm guessing you are posting here because they're not exactly helping! In any case the best alternative I would therefore suggest is book in at a hotel for a few days and use this time to look for a furnished apartment (check out booking.com for good cheap hotels) There are plenty of these types of buildings available. They're usually called shiqah mafrooshah - Furnished apartments. There is a famous chain of these apartments called Boudl and I'm confident a taxi driver will be aware of this. If not, just ask for the Arabic term I mentioned and he'll promptly take you there.

In terms of price for these furnished aprtments, I remember paying around 1800 riyaals for a month but I'm not exactly sure.

Hope this helps!

Hello; and many thanks for your email.

The company are providing me with accommodation for th first 2-3 months until I find somewhere suitable but I'd rather get the ball rolling and find somewhere to call my own (evn if I'm sharing).

For what you said that you were paying it is well within my budget - I was looking at budgeting for much more on that but I guess that would depend on the building, location and how furnished.

Do you know if they have an email address or contact details and I can get the ball rolling?

In terms of life outside - do you find many expats in the same position as adventurous as yourself living with the locals and is there any position in Riyadh that most expats reside?

Hello there and welcome to the desert (almost). 

There are quite a few expats who live outside of a compound.  I think it is just a matter of choice really.  You can find a nice one bedroom outside of a compound for around SAR30K a year.

T_H's post about maybe staying at a hotel/furnished apartment before finding a more permanent place is a very good advice.  I live 7 blocks from my office in the center of the city.  Yes, it is a compound but I like the idea of just walking all over the place - makes things a lot easier for me since I do not have a car.

Just like anything else in a major city - it is all about the location.  A lot of times you just get lucky and happen upon a flat that is becoming available.  Other times you can wait for months before finding suitable accomodations.

Either way, best of luck on your move.  There are a lot of resources on this forum and certainly there are a lot of expats who are more than willing to assit you with your move.

Cheers for the help!

It's really starting to put my mind at ease - if I live outside the compounds do the majority of buildings have pool and gym facilities, internet and secure : also with the expat communities do they live in a particular part of Riyadh and where would you recommend to live?

I'm coming across as an area manager for a retail company so my stores will be scattered across Riyadh so I'm not looking for a particular location but wouldn't mind residing somewhere were I can meet a lot of Brits and watch a match from time to time