Studio or above Costa Calida / Costa Blanca Max 100€ a week needed

Hi

Is there an option with the furniture. My wife went in to the builder who told her to go to the furniture place and select what furniture she wanted to go with. However, when she got there she was told there was no choice - well unless you wanted to pay an extra 1500 euros to upgrade.

I was sure there was a choice of furniture packages?

Joe

Hi Joe

I am afraid the furniture shop (Arca) is correct. You can only change the furniture package by paying for an upgrade. There are various choices in their catalogue , increasing in value.You do get extras with some of the packages i.e. pots, pans, cutlery, etc.  also free portable tv and patio set.

Nick & Linda 

Hi

We are buying at Brisas Del Mar. We have a furniture pack included, but don't know exactly what that does include. Does anyone know pleas?

Hi

I can only tell you our experience, which may not be typical.  When we met Nick & Linda and they told us of their experience, we visited Arca in Torrevieja (not easy to find) and they offered is about 1,500 euros against a better package,  We were not over impressed with the value for money they offered so we bought our major items (setees, dining suite etc ) in the UK and shipped them over, it was not cheap and I am sure that if we had more time in Spain to choose we could have got the same for less somewhere.  When we visited to take over our apartment we went to Arca and spent our 1,500 euros on a bed from their better packages, lights and accessories (we actually spent about 1,750 euros, but were happy with the deal as Arca fit everything).  Then sometime later we went back and bought some additional lights and curtains (expensive for what they were, but as I said it included fitting).  I am not sure how much we paid for the bed, but whatever it was, it wasn't worth it, it's cheap, nasty and uncomfortable and will get replaced as soon as we get a chance.  However, at least we were set up with reasonable furniture, but my guess is overall we didn't get much change out of 6,000 euros all in, so as they say, "you pay your money and makes your choice".  We are not unhappy with ours, except for the bed, but I guess we can allow ourselves one mistake.

I think that it all depends what you are going to do with your apartment, ours is simply for us, but if you are letting, the standard package is adequate.  Many seem to be taking the package with a view to upgrading later, a much simpler idea than our complex way of doing things.  I do think that these Brit oriented furniture package sellers see us coming.  They know we haven't got much time, don't know the system and think a package is a good deal, so they can pass off some shoddy stuff at premium prices, do take care!

Mike

We were not impressed with the furniture package, we swapped the awful sofa bed straightaway and bought a new one in a shop just up the road from the site as well as a nice patio set.  We then went into Torrevieja and found a furniture shop in one of the side streets.  We spent 780 euros (but they only charged 700 euros with free delivery and they put the furniture together for us) and we bought a free standing bathroom unit, two sets of drawers for the bedrooms and three small base units for the living room).  Its just having the time to shop around and find some bargains.  As mentioned before, there is an Ikea apparently not far away, and a little further afield in San Javier I saw signs for a DFS but did not have time to go.  There is also a furniture shop on the outskirts of Formentera on an industrial estate but we found them to be rather expensive.

Regards

Hi

We were told by the builders (as were others in this chain) that we could 'exchange' the value of the furniture package for stuff of our choice up to a value of 1500 euros. We carefully selected a few items (and we only got a few for our money) - a very good quality sofa bed, a double bed a couple of bedside tables and a double headboard. We also chose some lights. The lights will be replaced very soon as the glass in one fell out on to someone while they were sleeping - luckily it landed on the bedclothes and not their heads!

I did mention in another chain somewhere on this website that there is an exceptionally good furniture store quite close to Formentera and you can check them out on the web before you go. They are lovely people and they delivered our stuff the very same day we chose it.  www.furniture-zone.eu. There's a location map on their site.

One final word: we found that two single beds did not fit in to the second bedroom, despite the package including two singles and one double. We ended up with bunk beds, so measure carefully before you buy.

Good luck - it's really a great experience as long as you don't let yourself get stressed!

Irene & Alan