Facilities update: Gym, Golf, Clubhouse, Tennis Courts

Samste

Since your last visit to Arenal Golf, some 16 months ago there has been quite a bit of movement on the golf course.  Whereas on your last visit the course was in its early stages of life it is now a fetus.  In fact if a bomb were to drop on the club house it would do a million euro's worth of improvements.  The illusion we all had of sipping drinks in the club house after a round of golf are an illusion.  Even if the course were every to get completed, which I very much doubt, you wouldn't want to be living there when the hackers are churning up the course.  There is little room for anything other than a perfect shot on most of the holes.  Any shanks or thins will result in a direct hit on the surrounding buildings.  The rendering will be off the whole place within a year and the buildings will resemble Sarajevo.  Plus, the illusion of 'free golf for life' will disappear and we'll all end up paying a subsidised rate for a round, not to mention an increase in community charges!  Is it worth it when there are real gems around like Torrequebrada, El Chaparral and La Cala (amongst others)?

I wouldn't be surprised if the frogs moved out of the place!

Oliverson,

Suggest you sell up and move close to a mature golf course in Eastbourne. You might just be happy then, (but I doubt it!)

We had the chance to buy on La Cala and have been down there again on our last visit and WE ARE STILL GLAD THAT WE BOUGHT ON ARENAL RATHER THEN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE ON LA CALA!!!!!!!!

We love our apartment and Arenal Golf and when everything is finished that will just be a bonus.

Oliverson - I FEEL SO SORRY FOR YOU THAT YOU  ARE UNHAPPY WITH THE APARTMENT YOU HAVE BOUGHT  - HOW SAD IS THAT!!!!!!!!!!

We had the choice of an apartment on Arenal or at La Cala and we are still pleased that we bought on Arenal rather in the middle of nowhere on La Cala. We love our apartment and Arenal Golf and when everything is finished eventually that will just be a bonus.

OLIVERSON - I FEEL SO SORRY FOR YOU THAT YOU HAVE BOUGHT AN APARTMENT AND NOW NO LONGER WANT IT.  I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHY YOU BOTHER TO KEEP COMING ONTO THE ARENAL SITES -WE JUST DON'T WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.

 Well said Jenken and Pamela

,Oliverson you are doing yourself or this forum no favours by your consistent moaning about Arenal Golf  if you are that unhappy why not sell up and move on nobody is forcing you to stay.

Ah , come on you guys.

What have the people of Eastbourne done to deserve THAT ?

This message was last edited by robert on 22/09/2009.

Dear Sirs,

I read all posts with great interest,as i have said before i have not had the chance to get out to arenal golf for some time now and so i can only go by what i read on this forum,i hear what Jen and Ken say ,but i also endorse what Oliverson has to say,the golf course and club house,plus all the ammenities promised were very much the reason i bought on Arenal Golf,i must have had my keys now for 3 years ,and when you see nothing is improving ( infact getting worse ) you do worry about your investment,i realise that each phase has its own community,would it not be the most logical solution for all phases to work as one on these major issues ,ie golf course ,club house ,ammenities,and have our individual community for the running of the blocks of appartments,i realise that there is a downturn in the property market ( globally ) but the majority of the owners do pay there community charges etc,religiously,therefore i do feel as owners we deserve a better deal from the developer ( now owners of Arenal Golf )i know its easy for me to say,i am not there,but i also understand why people are not paying there community fees,from all the postings that i have read over the years i have not heard anyone complain about the standard of the appartments,it is always about the golf and club house ,i dont know about the club house,but how difficult is it to grow grass in spain,surely the grass is a minor issue and should be sorted.... presidents of all blocks get together and make a constructive effort to sort.....

Adrian

I don't know where you get the impression I'm not happy with my purchase.  I'm completely happy with our Penthouse on Phase 1.  It's truly fantastic.

Along with Samste, I bought into the illusion of this fantastic golfing complex, albeit one that has not materialised and probably never will.  At the outset when the course was starting to take shape I really looked forward to its completion.  The holes behind the club house in particular looked fantastic.  The driving range was taking shape, complete with practice greens.  The holes between phases 3 and 4 had plenty of water and looked marvellous.  The lake and fairways on the far side of phase 4 looked awesome.  OK, it's little more than a glorified pitch and putt, not a real golf course, and for some owners it will be a nightmare, bordering on dangerous.  Good job they had the foresight to build a hospital nearby eh ;-)

However, this is all gone.  It's as if none of it ever existed before, ever!  I can't see them restoring it and the fact there are new owners will surely give them the right to avoid initial obligations (i.e. free golf for life).

The point of my post was that if you are a golfer, there are some cracking courses close by.  La Cala was mentioned as one of those courses, not a regret at not buying property there.  Who'd want a place in the middle of nowhere?

I feel the need to make this posting in defence of some of the points raised against Oliverson.  Surely when we purchased our investments on Arenal Golf we believed that we were buying into an 18 hole golf complex.  I find it incredible that Jen and Ken are satisfied and don't feel ripped off by the fact that they have not got what was promised and whether you like it or not this has had a negative effect on the valuation of your investment.  Some of you on phase 4 have paid 240 to 250 thousand for your apartments.  As someone who works in the real estate industry now you would anticipate getting well under 200 thousand.  Surely if the golf course and club house were finished and we got rid of Chernobal (Oliversons words) then your investments would rise.  Only a fool could be satisfied at being sold down the river as we all have been and maybe Oliverson has a valid point even though he is very critical.  We all want the opportunity to sit and have a beer in our Arenal Clubhouse together.  Ken and Jen it seems to me that you are sitting on your large terrace looking out over the golf course with rose tinted glasses.  If we had wanted a nature reserve we would have bought on Arenal Nature Reserve and not Arenal Golf.   It can only be stated as criminal how the golf course has been left, I have seen tidier gypsy sites. 

I TAKE REAL EXCEPTION TO BEING CALLED A FOOL!

I have sat on Jen and Ken's LARGE terrace and looked out over the lakes and it is beautiful I cannot begin to list the wildlife that you see there that you would NOT see if it was a working golf course, I and a lot more people beside didn't buy the apartment for the golf -  I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE GOLF OR HOW MUCH THE APARTMENT IS WORTH NOW AS I NEVER PLAN TO SELL!  I feel really sorry for you lot that are unhappy about your purchase but I can assure you there are many more people that are happy - I meet new ones each time we visit

If we are fools, then we're happy fools. 

Our glasses aren't rose tinted, they're pensioners specials from Specsavers through which we usually see life as a glass half full rather than one that's half empty.

Our apartment is a home, not an investment, and we expect to leave it in our respective boxes. It's  current or future value is not an issue for us.

This message was last edited by jenken on 16/11/2009.

Surely we all have a right to an opinion.

I am very happy with my purchase on Arenal phase 1, however this does not detract from the fact that I purchased an apartment on a golf course comprising of a club house and gym. The price paid was including all these facilities, which we have not received.

While some of you maybe happy looking out onto weeds and the unfinished club house, I for one feel that we have not been fairly treated.

As for the comment regarding the empty apartments, the promoter is responsible for paying community charges on all of these, approx 90% on phase 4.

Do you not think that if the promoter speculated to accumulate and finished the golf course and club house, then they would have a better chance of selling the balance of apartments?

While some of you are happy with the situation, I know that most owners want what they bought into.

The golf course was all but finished two years ago, and has since been left in this awful state. The reason given was that the grass used was of the wrong type, needing an excessive amount of water, why then are they wasting water and turning the sprinkler system on to water the weeds?

We should all be behind each other trying to resolve this unfortunate situation as even if you never want to sell your apartments in the future, it is only natural that we all want our investments to increase.

You are also entitled to Padel tennis on the spare ground on phase 3, when will we see these?

Ian

 With regard to the golf course and the promised facilities like the club house,gym,paddle courts etc it might need the communities and administrators of phases 1,2,3,4 to join together and chase after prienesur with legal action if needed.

Buyers like myself who bought the apartment on Arenal Golf to use are not too upset at the recent valuation on our apartment as everywhere seems to be in decline here in Ireland a lot of our property is at least 40% -50% down on their peak only a couple of years ago,and we have no intention of selling our apartment.If on the other hand you bought as an investment or need a steady rental income to help pay towards your apartment the lack of the promised facilities and appearance of the golf course or wildlife park would be more alarming to put it mildly.

The recent work on the tropical gardens,the clearing of phase 5 area is a positive step and the area for the paddle courts has been cleared beside phase 2 but nothing has been done on the clubhouse or golf course for quite a while.I would image the lack of sales on phase 4 has forced Prienesur  to adjust their schedule as well,they also seem to be holding off on releasing phases 6/7/8 but hopefully things will improve but it could be very slow to happen as some else has said if they want to sell the apartments the state of the golf course will not help at all..

We completed on our apartment on phase 4 last march and have enjoyed 4 holidays in Arenal Golf so far and we're very happy with the apartment and standard of build it would be nice to have the golf finished but I hope in time it will happen. 

Hi, I have read recent posts with great interest,Ian raises good points.I realy think all phases should get together to to sort out the Golf situation if nothing else,i am also very disapointed with the development,i bought , along with so many others the finished article which we have not got,and although property prices have dropted everywere,until our development is completed it will always look dreadfull,most of the expensive work on a golf course is the greens,why not just re-grass everywere as a temporary measure to make the development look finished ,and put the greens in at a later date when things pick up,i realy do think until all of the phases work together ( and i have raised similar posts before ) we will get no-where.how difficult can it be to re-grass,as Ian points out the sprinkler system seems to be working,i have had a property in block 1,phase 3,for several years now,and like most the apartment is fine,but the facilities are a disgrace,and lack of them will certainly devalue all of our properties,i have put all my finances into this property and i am fuming,we are paying monies monthly,and just letting the promoters walk all over us,forget Arenal ,its Prenasuir now,they took it on ,so they must finish it,Lets all get together and loby our individual presidents etc to get together,we are just being walked all over.On a final point i remember the course looking a picture and virtualy finished several years ago,i still cant my head around killing all of the grass off ( what a load of rubbish) the promoter should be ashamed.

Adrian

Hi, I have read recent posts with great interest,Ian raises good points.I realy think all phases should get together to to sort out the Golf situation if nothing else,i am also very disapointed with the development,i bought , along with so many others the finished article which we have not got,and although property prices have dropted everywere,until our development is completed it will always look dreadfull,most of the expensive work on a golf course is the greens,why not just re-grass everywere as a temporary measure to make the development look finished ,and put the greens in at a later date when things pick up,i realy do think until all of the phases work together ( and i have raised similar posts before ) we will get no-where.how difficult can it be to re-grass,as Ian points out the sprinkler system seems to be working,i have had a property in block 1,phase 3,for several years now,and like most the apartment is fine,but the facilities are a disgrace,and lack of them will certainly devalue all of our properties,i have put all my finances into this property and i am fuming,we are paying monies monthly,and just letting the promoters walk all over us,forget Arenal ,its Prenasuir now,they took it on ,so they must finish it,Lets all get together and loby our individual presidents etc to get together,we are just being walked all over.On a final point i remember the course looking a picture and virtualy finished several years ago,i still cant my head around killing all of the grass off ( what a load of rubbish) the promoter should be ashamed.

Adrian

 What's this 'tropical garden' that I've recently heard about?  Where is it located and is it situated where they were once going to build the pitch and putt course?

For those golfers amongst us, just go play the Torrequebrada down the road.  It's a proper course.  If you just want some pitch and putt, get across to Benalmadena golf across the road from phase 2.  If you want to watch weeds growing, get onto Arenal Golf.

Anybody remember the marketing stuff "Free golf for life"?  It's probably true but not in our lifetime :D

The Tropical Garden is where the builders portakabins were when Arenal was running the show - at the end of Phase two same side as the clubhouse.

You could say 'watch weeds grow' I prefer to say 'watch it return to nature and wild life'

I really don't think we are doing ourselves any favours - as I believe the best thing for ALL is for people to start buying on Arenal again and I have to say if I was thinking of looking at an apartment with a view to buying it I would search for anything on the website that gave me a clue of what it was like before I went to visit and if  WE (not me I hasten to add) keep bad mouthing it it will only put people off even coming and viewing the apartments (once you get inside of them I don't think you can beat them anywhere else in Benal for luxury) let alone buying one - DO YOU GET WHAT I AM SAYING -  that will definitely NOT help the prices begin to rise again!

Hi Pamela,

Good to read your post,just a couple of points.

1.I for one have never knocked the quality of the apartments,i like you think the apartment is fine,although the cement rendering/finish of the external walls is bad.

2.Most people bought off plan,and were sold a dream,the finished article,maybe you did not buy off,but for those of us who did,we have not got what we paid for,and i for one am very unhappy at the finished article,i wanted a golf course/pitch,club house ,etc,etc and not back to nature.Im sorry if you think various members are talking down the developement,but at the nd of the day all i and what others want is what we paid for.

Adrian