16 Apr 2007 11:33 AM:
I am off to HDA to stay at a nice villa with a pool in July - I am really looking forward to it. I have seen the slow pace of the development from the early days and it now appears to be coming together with the planned opening of the clubhouse and the commercial centre. I won't be expecting those places to be open by July!
It's still a cheap place to rent a villa compared to La Manga and I expect this to change as the resort starts to get established. The golf course is in good shape and it can only get better. The designers need to concentrate on planting something around the course as the entrance to the resort is poor - lots of ugly flats and some mud banks towering over the road. A bit of lavender and some grasses would make a huge difference and are water tolerant.
It amazes me that most of the villas don't have their gardens sorted out. The developer should have made sure that they could take over this responsibility - some of the places look like they have been abandoned. Some owners need to get their act in order - they can't just wait for everyone else.
I think it will be a great resort eventually - 5 years should make a big difference, but can they continue to sell the villas at such a rate? It doesn't sound like they can. Get the infrastructure sorted out and the sales will pick up, but carry on building without the infrastructure and the place will come to a grinding halt.
Community thread:
Los Olivos
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