A day at home at Vinares

Vinares is a large development: 1,344 flats in ten blocks. Life there has the rhythm of a small neighbourhood inside a building. This is a day at home as the development's own description supports it. The desk has not yet spent a day there, and we have not filled the gaps with guesses.

Morning

The flat is finished for daily life. Living rooms and bedrooms are fully tiled, the bathrooms are tiled on walls and floors with fixtures fitted, and the kitchen has a complete set of cabinets. In the furnished three-bedroom Binga let on the first floor, that meant a brand-new home ready to move into, with three bathrooms, so a family's morning does not need a queue.

What you see from the window depends on the type of home: the yacht marina and cruise terminal from a Marina View flat, the city from an Outer View, the main roads from an Inner View, or the inside of the towers from a Standard View.

Getting out

The catalogue lists four elevators, parking space and CCTV monitoring. In a development this size, ask at viewing how many lifts serve your block and where your parking is, because a morning with a school run depends on both.

During the day

Vinares has two floors leased for commercial use, which the catalogue says include gyms, cafés and convenience stores, and it notes easy access to ATMs. The morning workout, a coffee and the small shop can happen without leaving the development.

Beyond it is Hulhumalé Phase 2, which the neighbourhood guide describes as the newer extension of the island: high-rise, still filling in, and good value for space. It is where many corporate placements end up. The neighbourhood is still being built around the buildings, so part of living here is watching it grow.

Who it suits

Households who want space for the rent and a finished, move-in-ready flat. Corporate tenants placed in Phase 2. Anyone who prefers a large, busy development to a small, quiet one. It suits less those who want a pool or a garden in the building; the catalogue lists neither.