19 Apr 2012 3:55 PM:

I am an owner at HDA

This is all good news but " the premier golf resort in the whole of Murcia " might be pushing it a bit.

I came out for a week last Summer and the lack of facilities on the resort soon drove us away.

We ended up spending 3 nights in the Hotel at La Manga.

If you compare La Manga and HDA I think most people would agree that La Manga is the better resort, much more picturesque and fantastic facilities in comparison.

HDA might be similar in another 10-20 years

Community thread: New Bar in Spanish Village

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29 Aug 2011 12:00 AM:

I have just returned from a week at HDA. I had not visited since December 2010 and had not been during the summer for at least a couple of years. I visited with my girlfriend and four year old son and we stayed in a jointly owned townhouse on phase 3 that we have owned since June 2006. My parents used to have a detached villa on the resort but finally gave up due to lack of progress with the resort and sold up in August 2009.

We had pretty much mothballed the townhouse as there was hardly any holiday rental potential and the rents from long term rentals were so poor is was almost not worth renting the place out. We decided that this year we would use the house for a summer holiday as we are paying a considerable amount each year for the mortgage, service charge, water and electricity etc.

We were very disappointed with the resort in general. The whole place seems to be slowly decaying. The childrens' park near the Spaniard Inn had been vandalised and was strewn with rubbish and broken glass. All the fountains were either empty or not working. There were huge expanses of compacted dust in some parts of the resort and these are slowly being eroded by the wind and rain and forming huge gullies. Numerous pavements have been dug up and left unrepaired. About 2/3rds of the houses in our communal area looked derelict and are slowly being reclaimed by nature.

The communal swimming pool had numerous tiles missing and a dirty tide mark along the waterline. The pool floor was covered with dead wasps and flies. The resort seemed to be empty apart from a few Spanish families.

We eventually cracked and booked in to the hotel at La Manga for a few days. The contrast between both resorts is incredible.

I am well aware that the global recession has hit and HDA has suffered badly but we are paying about 1800 Euro per year in service charges and the resort seems to be going rapidly downhill.

Could I please encourage anyone with an interest in this resort to complain to the management about the standards that are not being maintained around the resort.

It is so sad to see a resort with such great potential and many millions spent on infrastructure such as the hotel and Spanish Village being left to decay. The new management of the resort must be made to realise that they have a responsibility to the owners who have invested in property here and not to leave the place to decay until the next property boom arrives ( if ever! ).

 

 

Community thread: Just back from HDA

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28 Jan 2009 12:00 AM:

I have read some of your recent comments about the resort and am glad someone is out there to moan to !

I agree that the resort has been well behind schedule and this has made holiday lettings almost impossible.

I am joint owner of a villa on phase 1 with my parents ( thankfully not mortgaged but we have pretty much written off the £300000 we paid for the place now ! ). I also half own a Coral on phase 3 ( mortgaged and very expensive ! ).

The costs of running these places just for the service charge and council tax / wealth tax is incredible and that doesn't take into account the awful exchange rate. The cost of pool maintenance and cleaning / gardening is also incredibly expensive not to mention water which is like liquid gold.

The signs are not good when we are entering a recession.

The resort is not an attractive place compared to La Manga. I am going there for my summer holidays but would prefer to go somewhere more pleasant. It is just that I can't afford to go somewhere nice any more. Vale de Lobo or Quinta de Lago are just a pipe dream now !

The clubhouse is beautiful and I am sure the hotel will be very nice but it is obvious Armilar ( do they still own the place or is it Caixa Catalunya now ? ) cannot afford to finish the dream. The landscaping is terrible with large barren patches of desert. There is no phone system to the resort. The motorway slip road is blocked with a pile of earth ( or it was when I last went ). The monthly magazine has been shelved.

No person in their right mind would come here on holiday when La Manga is just down the road.

I also have tales of woe of disappearing tenants and being ripped off by Sue Gardner so long term rentals are not the answer either.

I have just about given up on the place too now, I am going out in a few weeks just to sort out the ongoing maintenance problems with my properties.

The worst case scenario is that the resort will go bust ( I've heard the bank might already own it ), the golf course will shut and Melia will pull out of the hotel lease. Second golf course ?? Ever ?

Sorry to paint such a bleak picture . My only optimistic thought is that I am told that La Manga was just like this shortly after it opened and look at it now !

Armilar have been a shambles from start to finish and they might take all of us with them in the end.

Community thread: Things are bad hope they don't get worse

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17 Apr 2008 12:00 AM:

Lots of developments since I last went in November 2007. Spanish village is nearly complete and looks good. Clubhouse is open and quality of interior is superb . The terrace overlooking the course is a very pleasant spot for a drink. The hotel build is progressing fast. The Oasis apartments structure is also mostly built, there are a hell of a lot of them in a small area ! The Los Olivos apartments are complete but seem to be getting electricity from a generator.

The IT bar has reopened for the moment. The racetrack was quiet even at weekend, not sure if the new one has opened yet . The motorway has now opened, for some reason it does not have a direct sliproad on to the Murcia- Cartagena motorway but ends at a roundabout. The sliproad off the motorway to HDA has been blocked by an angry farmer wanting his money. There are now 2 large piles of earth blocking the road so you have to use another much longer route to the motorway ! This is Spain after all.

Irrigation water for gardens going off at weekends due to water shortages.

Grass football pitch looks good as does sports centre.

Anybody else got any news rather than plugging their own websites ?

Community thread: where to sell used furniture estepona?

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18 Nov 2007 11:53 AM:

Just got back from HDA yesterday. Weather was fantastic for November, sunny almost all week and in the mid 70s! Bit cold at night though but had a wood burning stove to keep us warm !

Resort is really progressing. The sports centre is almost finished and had a tennis lesson with David the new tennis coach. It is nice to be able to do something other than golf !

Played golf 1 day, the course landscaping is improving but still a lot of bare patches that need to be covered. The course is far too difficult for an occasional golfer like myself but I suppose that is what happens when you build a championship course ! Just hope the short course will be extended to 18 holes at some point !

Lots of planting in front of the ugly Los Olivos apartments now, even the sales advisor agreed these were a mistake. Why build something so high density when you have so much land to build on ? If you walk down between the back to back apartment blocks you get a feeling of being in an Eastern European housing estate. I did look inside an apartment though and the quality is superb. Racetrack still open though and far too near to these places for my liking!

Clubhouse just opened the day I left so did not get to look around. The opening had been put back about 3 times last week but looks very impressive from outside!

On the sales front I am told all the townhouses in phase 5 have been sold to one investor, they were officially priced from 390000 Euro but I assume they got a big discount on that!

The earth moving has started for the Oasis and the plans look very impressive. If I was an investor looking for rentals I would be very concerned about the cost of maintenance for the individual plunge pools.

I have instructed Resort Management to book holiday lettings for my phase 3 Coral, I previously had a long term tenant through another agency. The rent was ridiculously low and the tenant left without paying the last 3 months rent so it hardly made any money at all ! Resort Management seem to know what they are doing and there actually seems to be quite good rental demand.

The IT bar is apparently closing and the staff will move to the clubhouse bar/ restaurant. This means you will have to go to the clubhouse for a snack. I am told there will probably be a smart casual dress code and there are rumours about children not being allowed in. If this is going to be a family resort I do hope the rules are not going to be set by the golfing fraternity without regard to others using the resort.

Just about to pay my service charge for the Coral townhouse 1800 Euro per year seems a bit steep, plus also had to pay 500 Euro community charge to Fuente Alamo council. My parents have just been charged 1800 Euro back pay for their villa community charge, if you have not paid yours yet then try and pay it as there are penalties.

Not going back until probably May 2008 now so would welcome more news.

Community thread: Help...! Drains...!

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