Here’s two really cool iPhone (and other data phones) Apps that are going to be excellent for the travelers and expats in Bucharest… and everyone else too! The first one, our favorite, is called “Foodspotting” which is just perfect for the restaurants and cafes around Bucharest. The concept is simple (“why didn’t I think of this”). You basically go around to places and find particular “dishes” that people should try out for themselves! Simply snap a photo with your phone and upload it directly to their social networking site with a name of meal, restaurant, and its map location. This will be a great tool. You can browse by type, location, “what’s hot”, so on and so forth. Look for BucharestExpat on foodspotting. Right now there are only 3 posts in Bucharest, 2 are ours… let’s get this thing growing!

www.Foodspotting.com

Now once you’ve downloaded and installed this app on your iPhone, go ahead and check out it’s partner site, or rather an app that works well in conjuction with this, called Foursquare. It is another social media site, but most importantly allows you to post travel or destination tips and tricks. We’ll use this feature quite often to see which detinations we can “unlock” and earn status and gain friends for networking! Be sure to look for BucharestExpat.com on both foursquare and Foodspotting!

www.Foursquare.com

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Click Here To Be Taken To This Interactive Map

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… and this is it’s future location.

Here is a copy of a Press Release that was issued and is presently on the Colosseums website at http://www.thecolosseum.ro

The Colosseum: Construction of one of the largest Shopping Centers in Europe will start in Bucharest in Autumn 2009

PUZ for first class European style shopping center approved on August 1st – More than 70 percent of the first phase leased out – Anchor tenants: Carrefour, Flanco, LeroyMerlin

A spectacular shopping and entertainment center will be created in Bucharests Sector 1: The Colosseum Shopping Centre & Retail Park will comprise 140,000 square meters of covered retail space, with more than 480 shops and 8,500 parking spaces as well as 58,000 square meters of Retail Park. The construction works will start in autumn this year on the site of 620,000 sqm in Sos. Chitilei. Building contracts for the Retail Park have been signed with Bouygues, one of the largest international contractors, and work will commence in October 2009.

In the first phase of construction, a retail park will be built – with units ranging from 1,500 sqm to 19,500 sqm on a leasing area of 58,000 square meters. More than 70 % of the retail park is already leased out. Among the tenants are well-known brands such as Carrefour hypermarket, a Flanco store, Altex and a DIY-market of Leroy Merlin.

Upgrade of traffic infrastructure
The investment volume for the whole project will exceed 350 million Euro and is being placed by the company Nova Imobiliare, an English company. Currently Nova Imobiliare is in negotiations with major Romanian and international banks, who are interested in financing the project. The investor of The Colosseum will spend an additional amount of 30 million Euro to improve the surrounding roads and public transport. Upon completion of the Colosseum the upgraded infrastructure will be donated to the community so that all inhabitants will benefit from this development. A modern traffic solution will offer a cosy access to the shopping center. Additionally a bus station and a tram station will be located within the center. More than 2.03 million inhabitants live in the catchment area of 60 minutes.

Project partners
For the realisation of this unique project, the best European and US-American companies, of their class, were engaged to create a team of unrivalled expertise. The architectural planning is carried out by Leach Rhodes Walker architects, one of the leading architecture firms in UK and Romania. Interior design is created by Darrell Schmitt Design Associates from Los Angeles, California. Leasing and long-term center management of The Colosseum is carried out by ECE Projektmanagement, European market leader for inner city shopping centers. The extensive planning of the transportation and technical structure is conducted by the international engineering companies Waterman International and WSP Group.

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Let me start off by saying that I have lived quite a few places around the World, and Bucharest, although perceived at first as one of the more expensive cities, actually is not. Now a few things have changed since the US screwed the planet and the “crisis” hit, but this is going to be a “snapshot” of how Bucharest is (in my opinion) at exactly this moment in time.

First off is the apartment/lodging/hospitality category of expenses. Bucharest has it’s share of pricey hotels, no doubt. I would say that one would expect a “good deal” or reasonable price on a room for a night would be sub-100 euros with taxes included. Well, if you kick out the Radisson, Marriot, Howard Johnson, Intercontinental, and some other uber-nice hotels here, you can actually find many “boutique” hotels that offer excellent amenities around the 70-90 euro a night rate. They will probably have wi fi in the lobby only, furnishings won’t be to die for, but you should get a decent nights sleep in a quiet clean environment. I will look around for my recommendations on “budget” lodging shortly. Hotels are an inherently expensive way to travel anyway, so with that being said, even the more expensive hotels are still on par with the international average.

Apartments (both long term and short term rentals) actual rival what I’ve found in some of the “cheapest” places around. An example is Buenos Aires, Argentina. BA, notable for its low cost of living, is actually quite high compared to Bucharest, like other cities, because of what I’ll call the “hidden costs”. Buenos Aires typically requires upfront payment of all your rent for the term, 2 months commission and 3 months deposit (anyone who argues this about BA, you have yet to learn). In Bucharest, if done properly, is not this way. Expect a long term rental in a decent area to average 450-500 euros per month for a one bedroom, 650-800 per month for a two bedroom, and so on. The absolute nicest areas in Sect 1 and city center should be more. With the short term “turn key” rentals you’ll be on par with the rest of the large European cities at weekly prices starting at that. An interesting point to follow is the point of diminishing returns for investors on larger units. When I first moved here I was in a rooftop penthouse that was extremely large with a huge terrace. It was located in the center in Unirii. I was paying 1,200 euros per month. As an investor, you’ll reach a ceiling on the rental amount you can receive on your unit, so your buying solely for appreciation as opposed to ROI at that point. This works out great for us renters if we need a lot of space or are okay with roommates! Something to keep in the back of your mind. Apartment purchases should be around the 80,000.00 Euro price starting out. This is decent areas, but small size. I will create a separate post on purchasing. Let’s move on, I would love comments and discussion and opinions on all of this so far…

Food here can be had very inexpensively if you know where to go. The highly trafficed tourist areas will jack the prices up a bit, but here’s the average:

A large pizza – 8 Euros (35 Ron)

Coca Cola – 1-2 Euros (5-8 Ron)

Great Sandwich for Lunch with Chips – 5 Euros (22 Ron)

Nice Dinner at decent restaurant (per plate) – 8 Euros (34 Ron)

Cappuccino or Double Espresso – 1.5 Euros (8 Ron)

Tipping here is typically ten percent, and is dependent on quality of service. I found the most expensive place I’ve been to eat was Madrid or Paris, with prices easily 50 % higher than this, during the crisis. Buenos Aires still wins on the food prices, but all in all, for both lodging and dining, I would compare Bucharest to cities such as Atlanta, Seattle, Barcelona, basically the “almost biggest” cities in any given region. The New Yorks, Madrids, Londons, Tokyos, Paris’ and Moscows, still stand in a league of their own as “really expensive”.

Keep an eye out for my “off the beaten path” sections that will be coming up on here next week… you’ll get a kick out of the cheaper trendy places around here as well.

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