Should guests pay for pool access at Tiara?

Residents at Tiara Residence on the Palm Jumeirah are complaining — they say that Zabeel Properties, which manages the community, has recently introduced a fee of Dh200 for guests of the tenants, every time they access the pool. A resident of this community, who did not wish to be named, says she is planning to move out of the community when her contract expires next year.

"I socialise a lot and I have quite a few friends in Dubai who visit on weekends as they love the apartment I am staying in currently," she says.

According to her, while rumours about charges had been doing the rounds for quite some time, the system was implemented only recently.

"I think they have probably done it to ease the congestion in the pool area during the weekends as a lot of residents invite their friends over to enjoy the resort-like ambience in the community, causing inconvenience to residents," she says. However, since the fee is so high, she feels embarrassed to invite her friends to the community.

The measure, taken by the management firm to curb the flow of guests, is not limited to the pool alone. The parking area, which the guests could access for free earlier, has now become a paid parking zone, with only three hours free.

Another resident, a real-estate agent by profession who also wishes to remain anonymous, says guests are charged Dh20 per hour for parking after the first three hours, which, she feels, is a "rip-off and an obvious ploy to keep guests away from the community".

We feel the measures taken by the developer are aimed at increasing the living standard and comfort level of the residents as they deserve better than a crowded pool over the weekends. However, we do agree the fee of Dh200 per person to access the pool is on the high side and it should be brought down to about Dh50, which should help to prevent crowding. Similarly, parking charges should be reasonable enough to keep unwanted guests away, but not to the point of isolating residents.

Property made several attempts to contact the developer of this community, Zabeel Properties, which is currently managing the building as well, but did not receive any response prior to going to print.

However, we spoke to a property consultant working with a leading real-estate firm in Dubai who rented many apartments in the community to his clients.

He says he was a resident of Tiara for a while and moved out just when the rumours of these charges arose.

"What I heard from people living there is they are going to utilise this extra income for the maintenance and betterment of the community in the future. Also, the pool area used to be crowded during the weekends as there was no cap on the number of guests residents could bring. Now, I think there will be less rush. But I feel that the fee is on the high side," he says.

These two charges — for access to the pool and parking area — are clearly aimed at controlling the number of guests visiting the community. Obviously, residents could feel forced to organise weekend get-togethers and parties elsewhere, especially as guests will be charged for parking too. For those who frequently host guests, it will be a difficult situation to deal with. However, residents who don't entertain much will have something to cheer about — a peaceful atmosphere. But the general consensus is the move to curtail the number of guests is bound to have an adverse impact on the community as a luxury residential destination.

The real-estate-agent in residence we spoke to says she will find it difficult to convince her clients to move to a community with such restrictions in place.