If you have 90K to spend on housing you can get a large 1-bedroom or 1-bedroom + study in a fancy Marina apartment. The better ones tend to be the Emaar apartments - Al Majara, Promenade, Park Island etc. A 90K 1-bedroom will give you stunning views from a high floor, and these apartments will have upscale pool complexes, squash courts, gyms, even in-house coffee shops and screening theatres as at Al Majara. These same buildings often have smaller 1-bedrooms for as low as 70K if you want to save some $ from your housing allowance while still being in a choice building.
You can still get a pleasant 2-bedroom for 90K in a less upscale building. You can even find 2-bedroom apartments in JBR for 90K. JBR apartments are among the largest in the Marina and right on the beach but the actual quality isn't as good as the Emaar apartments or other buildings elsewhere in the Marina.
At the bottom end you have the basic apartments - the Marina Diamonds and the buildings at the south end of the Marina, which are unremarkable and only valued due to the location. A one bedroom in a lower end building probably ranges from 60-65K.
JLT apartments are significantly cheaper than the equivalent in the Marina and as a result people don't live there for the lifestyle but for budget reasons. The downside to JLT is that it's difficult to walk around the place or from building to building due to all the bloody podiums and there are still comparatively few shops and amenities compared to the Marina right across the highway.
Both JLT and the Marina have large resident populations of single western expats, but the Marina is "happening" while JLT is not. Still, you won't go wrong with either location, it's up to you to decide how much you want to spend on your housing.
You can still get a pleasant 2-bedroom for 90K in a less upscale building. You can even find 2-bedroom apartments in JBR for 90K. JBR apartments are among the largest in the Marina and right on the beach but the actual quality isn't as good as the Emaar apartments or other buildings elsewhere in the Marina.
At the bottom end you have the basic apartments - the Marina Diamonds and the buildings at the south end of the Marina, which are unremarkable and only valued due to the location. A one bedroom in a lower end building probably ranges from 60-65K.
JLT apartments are significantly cheaper than the equivalent in the Marina and as a result people don't live there for the lifestyle but for budget reasons. The downside to JLT is that it's difficult to walk around the place or from building to building due to all the bloody podiums and there are still comparatively few shops and amenities compared to the Marina right across the highway.
Both JLT and the Marina have large resident populations of single western expats, but the Marina is "happening" while JLT is not. Still, you won't go wrong with either location, it's up to you to decide how much you want to spend on your housing.
