CDA versus other PW Resorts

All,

I have just received the latest newsletter from www.theresorts.co.uk and I have to say I am particularly impressed with the way in which the PW resorts are marketed. The quality of the facilities at La Torree and other PW resorts look superb and I hope and pray that 1 day we have the same level of facilities available to us. The set up at La Torre looks great over looking the lake and gives off the impression to me anyway of very high quality with stunning settings.

Phil - you clearly have a better insight than me into the inner workings of PW and their longer term strategy once cash flow starts to improve, can you see CDA having the same level of facilities and if so I wonder where because surely the sole focus can't be just around Al Kasar that provides no views.

This newsletter as above is great and its a real shame that PW don't promote or at the very least communicate progress on developments, etc, because thistype of approach would surely get people more bought into their concept as opposed to creating this tem and us type attitude that is no-good for any of us.

I agree Mark it's great but it's just pr and marketing...... I visited La Torre and preferred Condado - I thought La Torre was tired and it was full of closed up apartments with for sale signs on.  the hotel there was lovely but I wasn't overly impressed with the restaurants there.  It's amazing what a good photographer can do!

I personally think there is no comparisan between La Torre and Condado.

La Torre is much much better. Their town centre looks lovely set on a lake with bars and restaurants, ours is an oversized sandcastle with very little inside.

La Torre is finished and there are no bits of scrubland, the golf course and surrounding areas are green and pretty.

The hotel is really nice and the Spa is out of this world. Add all this to the fact that you are closer to the beaches and other resorts and Polaris will shuttle you to their other resorts.

I dont see how you can compare a finished resort with 5 or 6 places to eat and drink, a clubhouse, Shops, Pretty Town Centre, 5 Star Hotel, Spa etc, with what we have.

We have a half finished resort, surrounded by scrubland, in the middle of nowhere, with 1 bar, 1 restaurant and 1 shop.

La Torre is better!

And before you ask, the reason I didnt buy at La Torre is because back in 2005 when I reserved, prices at La Torre where far higher than Condado.... I will admit La Torre has more for Sale Signs, but I could live with that., when there is so much more to do there.

I agree La Torre looks the finished article, the little touches make all the difference and is what we are missing.

Nice entrance, water features, landscaped gardens everywhere. You can tell Polaris were running out of money when work on Condado started

La Torre was out of our price range when we bought and from what we hear from friends who own a townhouse there, the community fees are becoming unaffordable for many which might explain the number of For Sale signs. 

That said, we love our place on Condado, prefer the surrounding countryside and views and still hope that in terms of facilities (club house, bars, restaurants), that these will come if we remain patient

I own on both ltgr and cda, give me ltgr all day long.

There is a local estate agent  who has offices very near to us who has a property on  La torre ,

He was very keen for us to buy there, however we could not afford the prices though we were very impressed with what we saw

Since then he has tried to sell his apartment to no avail. As he says there are to many property`s for sale there at the moment

He went over in January of this year & has chosen to rent out  his property but hasnt not "got a nibble" yet as again there are to many apartments to available for rent there.

He has since purchased an apartment  in one of the jardins, as he says the prices are ideal @ the moment & once the world financial crisis comes to an end he believes that if the new owners of  CDA  follow the Polaris ideas it will be by far the best in the area.

Unfortunatly he is not a  clairvoyant so is unsure how long we will have to wait but in the end believes we did the right thing.

We agree as we love CDA.

Jan & Ham

He must be asking to much, lots if properties on la torre have sold this year 2 townhouse's facing me have sold in the last 6/7 week have sold.Right price property will sell---apt 95k ish, townhouse 130ish, 2 bed villa (sabina) 150k ish.

The difference  between Torre [ finished] and CDA [ not finished] in the current market is reflected in the asking prices -

2 bed at Torre from circa 95.000 € and at CDA from circa 75.000 €

These are new not re sales

On both we can arrange with the Banks involved , subject to status. 100% mortgages

So it is really a matter of personal choice but if you want a Resort property these are worth looking at for a holiday home and may well prove an excellent buy when the economies of the EU get going again

 Al Kazar?  More Al Katraz I think.  Even if the units were full, the design and external aspect leaves much to be desired.  The Oasis will probably be on the back burner forever, so there's really no comparison to make between the 2 resorts.

keeve

Al Katraz......lol funniest thing I have seen on this forum!.... Although I have been to real Alcatraz and its got windows unlike Al Katraz!

I was out at La Torre last September and you're right it does look impressive.

Then it started to rain:-

• The areas all around the Intercontinental were flooded to a depth of 18 inches.
• Many Ground floor apartments where flooded,.
• The pools were overflowing with sludge .
• Multiple underground car parks were filled with water to a depth that completely covered all the cars.

You know what, then I thought, I'm so pleased I've bought on CDA.

I agree that CDA is lacking facilities.  It is not near La Torre in that regard.

I understand the argument that La Torre is a 5* complex with the hotel and all its facilities. And I think if what you want is easy access to a pint/coffee and dinner go to La Torre.  If you want a pretty golfcourse and a complete resort again go to La Torre.  If you want to access the other Polaris resorts La Torreis again your best bet.

There is no comparison at the moment and I for one love it.  I can sit outside my apartment and have a BBQ and a few glasses of wine (cheaply) in relative peace and quiet.  I'm not being viewed by dozens of other apartments or having to speak over the multitude of noise.  I'm playing on a proper golf course which might not look much from the outside but is soooo much better than La Torre no golfer in his right mind would play La Torre over CDA.  If my kids want to run around the grass I can watch from my chair in the sun from my apartment garden...if they want to swim we just walk the 25m to the pool (no lifts/no stairs) and then amble back afterwards. I can have one child sleeping while still watching the other play outside. I have spanish neighbours to the sides, irish above, and english and irish opposite.  I'm getting a new (I'll share) Golf clubhouse so I will be able to cut my ties with the Clover, and while playing golf on this fantastic course I'm meeting great people from England, Scotland and Norway to name a few places.  Towns like Alhama and Totona with their markets are brilliant and the beach down by mazarron is in my view a cut above the Mar Menor in that you don't have to wade a 1km out to get waist deep. 

For me it CDA is great and its only going to get better. 

Shane

The floods did bring big problems this was a year ago,your talking like the place is still flooded. alot of things have been put in place to help the water get away in case it  floods again, the sane problen came on the mmgr about 4 years ago, they also fixed t.he problem Dose it not rain on cda. ??? Please dont tell me cda has not flooded, la torre had not flooded untill did.

SMV - I wholeheartedly agree!

Darren, let me know when your next out there as I want to make sure I avoid the same dates.

Martin & Hannah, after that nasty comment I will be sure to inform you of my travel plans. I also hope you dont manage to encounter anybody else who doesnt share your opinion.

I guess you get what you pay for, Condado apartments are 75K euro and La Torre are 95K. I should have spend a little more back in the day when I reserved. That way I would be at La Torre while Martin & Hannah would be in their own little world(CDA)... where everything is rosey!... Ahhhhh..

Before it all deteriates into a personal thing (like so many threads before us) lets just remember a lot of people like CDA as it stands but others are still very unhappy at what they have got.

I don't think its being in your own little world or alternatively being overly pessimistic.  People bought for very different reasons.

People who wanted space for the family and a pool and golf course like myself are happy.

Those who bought as an investment and/or saw the Oasis as a key and vital selling point can be rightly p*ssed off.

Then there are those in the middle who are happy with whats there but still want some more progress.

It's all down to what your priorities and needs are.

Hi shane

Until I  saw your post I was feeling quite negative. But then I assessed the pluses/minuses of each resort and came up with the following view.

There are so many things I like about La Torre

Choice of restaurants

Views around above

All close together

Great hotel

Resort is finished

Vegetation around resort and course is mature

High quality apartments

Proximity to mar menor, shops, civilisation

Nice golf course

However, despite all that after nearly 2 years living at Condado I would not swap. Looking from the penthouses we look over the best golf course in southern Spain and beyond that beautiful mountain ranges. The beaches of Mazarron and Bol Neuvo are fantastic, 20 mins away and untouched by tourism. We are as close to Murcia and Cartagena as La Torre.

Fantastic sunrises and sunsets over the course and we have that for a much lower price than La Torre which have no views. Even front line they look across at other apartments.

Admittedly I am ignoring the problems we have at the moment but see a future here.

I  have loved it from when I was the only one in the penthouses or naranjos, along with the bulldozers and had no facilities at all. 

Yes I complain about the lack of what we were promised but eventually we will have a great resort albeit in a different form to what we were promised.

Every extra facility is a bonus and I am sure in years to come we will have a fantastic resort  under the banks and Olagolf. I don't think those at a Polaris resort will be as confident of progress.

When we have our own clubhouse in a couple of months people will probably be more positive.

I may have different view to others but with my involvement with the golf society I have seen a community develop and can see other societies helping neighbours to integrate and build friendships

Barry & Sue

Hear hear Barry, and if we hadn't have bought we wouldn't have met you and Sue

Mandy and Mark

Condado De Alhama - its simply ace - end of!

Sat here in the UK- in August and its chucking it down - can't wait to get back to CDA in September.

Jon Faulkner