Living in Doha .....life in general

[akuafresh]

Hi fellow mums, my husband has recently been offered a job in Doha and he's (we) are considering whether to accept it.... we have two children, aged 3.5 years, boy and 11 months, girl.
Few questions to ask please....if anyone can help, thank you!!
What is family life like in Doha? What areas are the best places to live? what are rents like for a 3 bed room house/ flat/ compound and which is best? My son is currently in nursery..... which are the best nurseries out there out and where are they? Is driving a nightmare out there?
I'll be a stay at home mum.... what's that like?

Thank you!! Benedicta

Doha's traffic can be heavy and there is scant public transport . Taxis aren't plentiful like Dubai so it's a real pain getting about.
I have four children and there were days when the school, nursery, shopping + after school activities meant I was in the car for hours and hours and never getting any work done.

Hello ladies, I've not been in touch as things changed slightly ....but we are still moving to Doha, hopefully by October! Are you both still out there? My husband and I want to come over for a week (sometime in September) to do a reci of Doha i.e. places to stay, get a feel for the place, etc as we have no idea what is best to do.
Can you shed any ideas of where the best places to live are? I'd just like somewhere with a community, somewhere with accessible outdoor space (if the weather is good!), etc. He will be based in West Bay (the office) and I'll be a stay at home mum! Thank you!!

People commute from almost all over Doha into West Bay. What's your budget and what are you doing about schools in the end? Those are the crucial factors really.

Hi, we're looking at all the Schools suggested above and I guess I can't contact them until they resume in September? I didn't think we can apply until all has been confirmed jobwise anyway. My favourite school is British School of Doha as I believe its a Montessori School.....but I imagine the waiting list is massive....
Accommodation budget is ideally 16000....up to 20000 for accommodation. Places that have drawn my attention are Al Waab, Abu Hamour, Al Duhail and West Bay....

It's not a Montessori school I'm afraid. Have you identified what you're going to do whilst on the waiting lists? Theres an active homeschooling group in Qatar. You could easily be looking at a year on a wait list for a specific school - longer for some and shorter for others.

Thats an ok budget - most areas are probably open to you except some of the prime west bay compounds. That's assuming the top end. I'd honestly wait until you know more about the schooling before even thinking about areas.

A lot of the schools will have office staff working over the summer. Its worth calling around anyway.

Hi ladies, I'll be visiting 12- 16 September and staying with some friends in West Bay. Are you around for a coffee? Would be great to put a face to the name (s) :)

Happy to over the weekend at some point. Btw theres a lot of reshuffling going on with the school places here at the moment. Things might not be as horrific as I thought!

How old are your kids again?

Pm me

I will be around then. I live in one of the areas you mentioned and will be happy to meet for a coffee if you have time.

16-20k should get you a nice place. We pay 18k and our house is lovely.

Great ladies!

Why not email me at: [email protected].... and we can discuss finer details.

Kids are: Boy, 4 in November and Girl was 12 months in July. I am going round to all the schools I possibly can when I'm over there.

B

Living....not sure how to PM.... hence I said contact me. Hope you don't mind....

There is another lovely MNer there with a 4 yo boy - I'll see if I can drag her along too.

There is a fantastic authentic new Montessori Kindergarton in West Bay which I would jump straight into while you wait for Pre-School / Reception places at Sherbourne/DBS/DESS/ DC . It made me wish we'd not got a place for my eldest . It is lovely and not expensive. Called Montessori Way.

So, ladies, not long now till I come over...I'm excited to see this country I've spoken about for so long! Thanks 4x4 for the Montessori details - I'll get right on to it. Do you happen to have a number? Google is not throwing it up!

Ladies, drop me an email with your contact details if you wish to join Living and I for a coffee possibly at the weekend? I'm quite flexible :)

Also, I'll now be bringing my daughter - 14months old as childcare hasn't worked out for both kids! Anyone got a spare car seat I can use for the week??
See you soon!!

Good luck on your visit!

DohaMums have a supply of baby items like carseats that they lend/hire out to visitors - not sure if you have to know member. Would offer to organise it, but I have actually left Doha now, and am back in the UK. You should be able to contact someone through the website though.

If I were you I would try to make a DohaMums meeting and then you can join (you have to attend an event like a coffee morning in order to join). Once you have joined you will get access to the private DohaMums forum, which is full of helpful people.

Have a good trip.

Thank you Riversong. I have emailed Doha Mums TWICE now to try and find out details but no response.... any other suggestions? I filled out their online enquiry form but no one has got back to me :(
UK enjoying some nice warm weather at the moment... off to Cornwall this weekend (Eden project) but its going to be wet..... I'm looking forward to digesting lots of greenery before Doha (hehehehe).

As I am still a member, I will put something on the private forum for you, may be quicker that way. Trouble is being summer, many of the people that voluntarily run DohaMums are still away. I will also look at the calendar and see what's on for you. Can you PM me your real name so they know who to look out for.

Funnily enough I am going to Cornwall this weekend too, also to near the Eden Project! Not a holiday though, my parents live there and visiting them is never relaxing!!

There is a "New Arrivals" coffee morning on Tues 10th Sept 9.30-11.30am at Starbucks in Landmark shopping mall. That's probably the best one to aim to go to, as they will be geared up to the newbies!

BTW if you want a bit of greenery in Doha, try to get a look at Al Messilah compound (near Sports roundabout). It's one of the oldest compounds on Doha, a bit dated, but very very green. We lived there for 3 years and loved it.

They have responded on the forum. Please contact Roxanne (founder of Doha Mums) directly by email [email protected]

Hey I have a spare car seat and also live in Al Messilah- so if you want to collect it and look around it would kill two birds so to speak.

Ladies you've all been fabulous....my email address again is [email protected]. Please drop me a line and we can speak :)

Thank you so much for Doha mum contact (Roxanne) and car seat offer from MrsDH!

I'm Ben (Benedicta) by the way :)

Cornwall was fab - we popped to Eden, my first time there! Loved it ;)

I'm Here :) Made it and I quite like it (so far) !!

Hey! You still there? How's it going? xx