best place to shop

Hello,  I have an apartment in al andaluss thalassa and i need to buy soft furinishings  i was told to go 2 ikea then some1 else said carrfour as i have never been over can some1 please reccomend  somewhere to buy these and will they be open on easter monday?

                                                                            THANKS ELAINE

There is a shopping centre in Aguilas, depends what sort of soft furnishings you want as Thalassa will have come with settees, etc. Eroski is in this centre which is quite good and similar to a Tesco Extra store. It is quite easy to find and Eroski is signposted once you enter the area. Don't know if they are open on Easter Monday though? I did also see somewhere that M & S now deliver to Spain, so maybe that could also be an option?

When you say you have never been over, how did you buy? Surely not off plan and blind to the area? As it happens, it is very nice there, the infrastructure is being upgraded but isn't causing problems or eyesores. Building has more or less stopped around the area (common to everywhere else).

Mark

 WE BOUGHT IT NEARLY 4 YEARS AGO  OFF THE PLANS BUT MY SISTER IN LAW WHO BOUGHT WITH ME WENT OVER TO VIEW  THE AREA AS I COULDN'T WE ARE ARRIVING ON SATURDAY 1TH FOR 1 WEEK BUT I'M ALSO GOING BACK IN AUGUST  4 2 WEEKS AND MY SISTER IN LAW WILL BE THERE IN JULY ALSO 4 2 WEEKS..

I HAVE NO IDEA OF THE AREA SO  WILL HAVE TO GET SOME MAPS WHEN I ARRIVE TO HELP ME FIND MY FEET. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE APARTMENT IS IN THE COMPLEX BUT WE HAVE BOOKED 2 APARTMENTS AS FAMILY ARE COMING OVER WITH US.

                       THANKS AGAIN... ELAINE

What soft furnishings are you looking for? If it is bedding and stuff, you may be better off buying it in the UK and taking it in your suitcase with you. There are plenty of places nearer to Vera than Carrefour and the like. For lights and stuff (they aren't supplied), there are some great little shops about 10 minutes drive away. If you look in the Community tab at the top and choose community forums, you can search for AA Thalassa and join that forum It is a bit empty now as Thalassa has its own community website, but some helpful people do pop in every now and again.

Mark

Hiya yeah its bedding towels kitchen wear everthing really  where flying with ryanair from dublin and their very  tight on baggae allowance we even have to buy a tv. we got the furniture package when we bought so we will have a look when we get there 2 c what we need 

 Hi Elaine, For buying bedding and stuff, we found that it was very reasonable at one of the local markets and you could get everything you need, blankets, sheets, towels, tea towels etc.  With regard to buying a tv keep an eye on Carrefour -they have really good deals - we got a 42" plasma with all bells and whistles earlier in the year for €299.00 so keep your eyes open there!!  We got over the Ryanair weight restrictions by bringing very little clothes in carry on cases and checked in cases to the max weight allowed! Good luck in your new apartment.

THATS GREAT THANKS JUST FOUND OUT MOST OF THE SHOPS WILL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY SO I'LL BE SHOPPING ALL MONDAY GOD HELP MY PURSE ITS GONNA HURT

I have to be honest, Carrefour and the like are really quite a trek from Vera, especially if you are only there for a week. If you are flying into Murcia, and arrive at a reasonable time, you may be able to visit the shops on the way to Vera, otherwise try the local area. As I mentioned earlier, Eroski in Aguilas (about 30km along the coast) has all of this stuff, but TV's are expensive in Spain. DVD players are about £14 in Asda and out of the box small enough to be able to pack in hand luggage. Don't make the mistake of buying non stick pots and pans if you are thinking of renting! Ours were scraped almost clean of teflon last year, so we replaced them with stainless. Pans, garden furniture and glasses can be bought reasonably priced in Lopez. As with everything, if paying by card, make sure they charge you in Euros and don't convert your payment to GBP for you!

You could also buy in the UK and ship to Spain. I bought a TV in Argos, shipped it to Spain and still saved money on it. You can ship up to about 50kgs for around £60 and it is a 5 day service, although this idea is probably a bit late for you now.

There are bedding shops in Mojacar, the Chinese shops down by the old MRI office have plenty of pillows and utensils and stuff. You will also find snippets of stuff at the Intermarche in Vera and the Consum a bit closer to Thalassa.

Mark

Sorry, Markfish, but can't really agree that TV is now expensive in Spain.  For example, a 32 inch LCD TV with built in TDT from Carrefour at €279 or a 19 inch with TDT at €149 competes with anything in UK. 

Even a Sony DVD recorder with built in TDT at €149 or a Phillips DVD recorder with hard disk (160Gb) at €189 seems pretty good and they have a selection of bog standard DVD players at Media Markt for around €20. 

All the above are good to put in a house you are renting.  Bedding, however, I do find expensive in Spain even on the markets (unless you go for that cheap, rough stuff --- then again, maybe some of you do like the cheap, rough stuff---but I digress).

We bought all our sheets (egyptian cotton) from the shopping channel in UK and stuck them in those bags you can shrink with a vacuum cleaner.   Likewise, the king size duvet at about a tenner from Asda.  They charge €30 to clean one of those in a laundry in Spain so cheaper to chuck it and buy a new one.  Same with towels (again, Egyptian cotton from the shopping channel) and it is worth even paying Ryanair or BMI or Easyjet to take the suitcase over.  Just put a pair of curtains (90 x 90 inches) in one of them bags and it fits in the hand luggage easily despite the fact that they are full lined (wish I could get the curtain rods in as well but you can't have everything, what with the dozen of so boxes of tea bags SWMBO has crammed in).

Blankets, however, are a lovely quality in Spain and quite cheap compared to UK.

The things I do find expensive are garden furniture, sun loungers etc.  Sun loungers from Argos at less than 20 quid are on sale in Spain for around €80 and have even seen them at around the €180 mark!!!.  We have stuck to the traditional plastic for the time being and will be shipping over garden furniture (from B&Q) sun loungers, outdoor tables etc when we ship over our main household stuff.  Till then, the plastic stuff will suffice.

Hi all if your near Ikea you can get bedding and just about everything else from them its cheap but ok for rental

HELLO ALL and thanks 4 all the help. a couple in our complex brought us 2 a great shop in mojacar on the beach front and we got great bargins we got a 20in telly 4 239euro    lights etc great shop has everything u need  if driving from garruiea? (spelling not right)  stay on the coast road all the way and its past the hotels in mojacar but there is a british bed linen shop on the beach and the shop is accross the road..

Sounds like Lopez to me!

Mark