My Own Home: Dubai resident says this Dh2.3m apartment is best for Abu Dhabi commute

Veena Menon loved the three-bedroom property she had been renting for two years and decided to buy it

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  Veena Menon bought a three-bedroom apartment in Midtown, Dubai Production City after renting the same property for two years. All photos: Ruel Pableo for The National

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  Ms Menon, her husband, her daughter and parents live in Afnan 6

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  The living room and dining room

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  Her interior design style is very homely

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  The kitchen

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  The master bedroom

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  The master bathroom

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  Her daughter's stuffed toy collection

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  The guest room

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  The guest bathroom

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  Travel photos decorate the walls

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  The balcony

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  The community

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  A children's playground nearby

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Veena Menon has called the UAE home since 1999. The Indian has spent most of her life here with her family. While she moved to India for higher education, she soon returned to Dubai, got married and started a family of her own.

Now she lives in a three-bedroom apartment in the Midtown community of Dubai Production City, with her husband, daughter and parents. They chose this location because it is easy to slip out onto the motorway and head to Abu Dhabi, where she works as a programme lead at Zayed International Airport’s air traffic control centre.

While they only bought the place in January, they had already been living in the property for two years. They loved it so much that they decided to make it their own.

The National takes a look around.

Please tell us about your home

Because I stay with my parents, my mum was very particular that we have a closed kitchen and not an open one. And this has a layout with a closed kitchen, and that works well for us. It's the style of our cooking, with a lot of oil and spices, flavours, fragrances and all that. It's better if it's closed so that everything is contained.

We have three bedrooms. We have a maid's room as well, which we've conveniently converted into a storeroom. I have a six-year-old, so she has her own room with her toys and her stuff.

Veena Menon's daughter has her own bedroom in the apartment. Ruel Pableo for The National

We also have a pretty big balcony, which looks over the community children's park. So, if my daughter goes out to play, I just have to go to the balcony and I can see her playing downstairs.

Everything in the community is on the first floor. On the ground floor is where the car park is, so we can easily leave the kids in the community and not worry about them going into the roads or anything.

When did you buy this property?

December 30 was when the registration was completed, so we technically bought it in January. We had been a tenant in the same apartment since 2023, so we thought we’d make it our own because we like the community.

We like where we are at, where we are staying, so we didn't want to move. We were very particular about getting this apartment.

How much did you buy it for?

We bought it for Dh2.3 million. We just bought it, so I haven't seen if that’s changed, but the area is so popular right now. I'm sure it's going to appreciate soon, once the new airport opens in Dubai World Central.

Why did you choose this neighbourhood?

I work at the Abu Dhabi airport, so I do the commute every day from here. Because of the location, it is an easy commute. It just takes me about 45 to 50 minutes to get to the airport and the same coming back.

The commute to Abu Dhabi was my number one priority. I wanted that to be easy. We were initially staying in Sports City, which isn't far from here as well, but then we found this community. My husband works in Dubai Industrial City, so for him, as well, this is an easy exit.

Veena Menon lives with her husband, daughter and parents in Midtown, Dubai Production City. Ruel Pableo for The National

I also love the community and how many friends there are for my daughter. There are a lot of different nationalities and people from all over and they all meet downstairs in the evening. About 4pm or 5pm, the community becomes really lively, with people walking. There's a jogging trail, there's a swimming pool, a gym, and all of that going on.

I come back from Abu Dhabi and I just go out for a run. I don't like to go to the gym, but there are easy jogging trails and all sorts of sports equipment out there in the community like rowing machines, scooters, bikes and things like that, so I make use of all of that.

For my daughter, it's easy because she goes down and I don't have to worry at all because she has friends. We know who her friends are. We all meet downstairs in the park. We know she'll come back home when it's time.

What renovations have you done?

When we moved in, it was in pretty good condition, so we haven't had to do any renovations. We were a tenant here, so there were minor maintenances here and there we had to organise, but no renovation was required.

Maybe after three or four years, we might consider doing some renovations, but at this moment, I don't see a need.

How would you describe your interior design style?

My style is more homely and very warm. We have a lot of photographs. We travel quite a bit, so there are photos all over the place. There are also little things that we collect from our travels. It’s very minimal, but very homely.

How long do you want to stay in this property?

We're not planning to move out any time soon. This is home. The UAE is home. My husband's got a business, so he has settled. My parents have retired, but they're staying back so they can support us. They keep travelling to India, but after spending maybe one month there, they want to come back.

Having experienced this community now, I can't think about moving out from here, even if I was working somewhere in Dubai. We're so settled here, especially with my daughter having a lot of friends from different nationalities, and I can see her enjoying all of that.

And there are so many festivals celebrated here, not just Indian, although there are a lot of those, but also Thanksgiving and Eid. We get a flavour of all of it.

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