December 2010

Hi Folks

For those that are still interested we were in Arcos between 9 and 13 December - the complex appears not to have changed at all since our visit last April.

On saying that we collected the keys for our apartment without difficulty having arranged a snagging list via Paul at (Spanish Solutions / Ole Solutions) found Romanber have done a very good job of correcting any faults and in fact their cleaner was finishing off when we arrived. Over all we are very happy with the build quality and finish of the apartment.

We have decided to use Villegas for the kitchen and found the sales staff very patient, although I would recommend having a fluent Spanish speaker present.

Likewise we opened a Spanish bank account and again (although they were reasonably helpful) no English was spoken by any staff in the Arcos branches we tried.

We suspect that when the complex is formally finished (and the swimming pool open) that Romanber will have to pay council tax on the unsold properties; therefore they may try to delay completion.

It has been a long time in coming but we finally have the keys in our possession.

Finally, I am not sure if it was exceptional but the weather got to a very pleasant 23 degrees and was sunny each day. We are already looking forward to our return visit.

Regd

Nigel & Diane

Thanks for posting the update Nigel & Diane. Good to hear you managed to make progress with the kitchen, bank etc. Did you have any joy getting your water/elec connected? We are hoping ours will be done shortly but we've had to jump through a number of hoops already.

We are using the services of Paul (Ole Solutions) to arrange utility connection for us as we are limited to the number of times we can get out at the moment. He tells us there should be no problem with water and electric connection as Romanber have the paperwork in place. Apparently there could be a problem with the gas connection (and therefore hot water) because because the contracts are not in place (whatever that means).

So apart from that we are none the wiser. If and when we hear more will keep you posted.

Adam, good luck and have a safe journey.

Regds

Nigel

Our bank branch was closed and moved to Jerez so if we have to pay a bill we use Banco de Andalucia at the Plaza Espana by the underground car park. The staff there was the most helpful and had good english. The best I could say about the other banks is that they are open.

The likelyhood is that you have to pay your first service bill for rubbish collection and your first tax to the ayuntamiento directly before  direct debit can be arranged, at least that is what we had to do. Banco de Andalucia was the only place that did not tax our sanity.

Good luck and all the best to everyone

Enjoy your place in Arcos

Peter