My Dubai Rent: Indian family pay Dh180,000 a year to live in their dream home in Jumeirah

Family used to drive in the area to admire the villas and hoped they could live there one day

Aakriti Thakur with her sister Prakrit at their home in Jumeirah 1. All photos: Antonie Robertson / The National

The kitchen in Ms Thakur's home.

The house is centrally located in Jumeirah 1 and is close to supermarkets, hospitals and the beach.

The living room. The property has four bedrooms.

There is a good-sized backyard, which is perfect for barbecues.

The backyard provides a leafy, green space for relaxing.

There is also a swimming pool, which is shared between the 10 villas in the community.

The entrance of the house

One of the bedrooms. The interiors are both rustic and contemporary, with many artworks from India on the walls.

A supermarket near Ms Thakur's house.

My Dubai Rent takes you inside a reader's home to have a look at what they pay each month, see who they live with and ask what they like and don't like

Indian Aakriti Thakur grew up in the Al Seef area of Dubai and used to go for drives in Jumeirah 1 with her family to admire the villas there.

Little did the youngster realise at the time she would one day call one of those villas home.

Now the 33-year-old, who works in the entertainment industry, lives with her family in a four-bedroom villa at that same address, which costs Dh180,000 across three cheques.

She invited The National into her home to see why it was so very special to her and her family.

What is the best part about where you live?

The best part is the house itself as it is so spacious. There are four bedrooms and we often have family and friends staying with us from all over the world.

There is a big backyard, which is perfect for barbecues. There are great views from the roof too, especially on New Year’s Eve when you can see the Burj Khalifa.

We have celebrated a lot of occasions up there.

We are very close to many places like supermarkets, hospitals and the beach.

There is also a swimming pool, which is shared between the 10 villas in the community.

What touches have you made to the property to make it your own?

Because it is a rented home we cannot change too much but we have tried to compensate with the decor in the house.

We are from Delhi and it is common for us Delhiites to prefer a beige, rustic, contemporary look mixed with vibrant colours.

There are many artworks from India on the wall, to make it feel like home to us.

It was important that we create a warm and cosy atmosphere in the property.

That is at the core of how we want it to look like.

Is there anything you would change about the property or area if you had the chance?

Honestly, there is nothing. That is one of the best things about living here.

Everything is so close by and I do not have to travel too far if I want to go to my office.

Unlike many other parts of Dubai, there is not a lot of heavy traffic so we do not spend much time stuck in traffic jams.

Everything is within walking distance and there are also plenty of cafes around the area where you can just sit outside and relax, so we are really happy with what we have here.

When did you move into the property and do you see yourself staying for much longer?

We moved in here seven years ago and we are well-settled.

There are no plans to go anywhere else. I remember when I was younger, driving along here at the weekends with my parents.

They used to always dream that one day we could live in one of these villas.

Seven years ago that is exactly what happened. Living here is my family’s dream fulfilled. Where else do you go after that?