Gareth, that's good news. I sent you an e-mail as well.
We were out a few weeks ago as well. We spoke to a few people including some independent people. Altho way behind time, I still think Corvera will be brilliant. I don't have any doubts about the resort at all. People will always be concerned until it is finished but Calidona are not a fly by night organisation. And as I said in previous threads, I cannot believe the PGA would tie themselves to anyone other than the top people.
By all accounts, one of the Polaris resorts started a bit before the official go-ahead by the council, and they had to stop for a while, which meant they then were struggling to finish within the 18 month deadline. Calidona don't want to go down this route and are doing everything by the book.
The Murcian council are being particularly slow to issue the certs because they are afraid that if they rush into things, it will end uplike the Costa del Sol with half resorts being built everywhere and some needing to be taken down again. While this is a slow process, in the end it is the right decision.
Anyone who has visited/stayed in Roda, which we did last month, will appreciate how outstanding a resort it is, and how good the finish is, and even how good the golf course is. If Corvera is half as good it will be worth every penny. And by all accounts, it is reputed to be even better. Although not by the sea (an advantage Roda has), the location of Corvera is beautiful.
We also visited a few Polaris resorts, in particular La Torre. And while it is very nice, it is not in the same league as Roda.
I'd add that the De Vere hotel has amended its hotel plans from around 80 rooms to around 140. This is obviously a confident move by the hotel in how well they expect to do. And all the building works around the resort and in Corvera by other developers shows others expect the area to flourish. Finally the airport has to be a strong selling point.
The only slighlty down point I'd make is, realistically the golf course in Corvera will not be finished at exactly the same time as phase 1 and 2. And it is obvious why, as so long as building work is going on the fairways and greens around them cannot be finished. When I pushed for a time frame, I was told probably 3-6 months before the course is completely up and running (which means maybe even longer). This means that rentals will probably be poor for most of the 1st year. The advice we were given (by some independent property people) is that anyone expecting to make a quick buck on Corvera will probably not do so, whereas anyone there for a reasonably long haul will do very well.