Moving on from the SofG Act thread which drifted onto caravans and their ilk....is it just me?
Currently on my first 'all inclusive' holiday, flight booked after a few pints and a day of lashing rain 5/12. Sorted accommodation, direct with hotel on 7/12 and flew the following am.
There is a dress code, in writing, for the hotel restaurant at evening feeding time. Over knee trousers for men, but widely ignored. Evidence of wife beating vests, people in football shirts, youths in both football shirts & shorts, people with ears phones in wired for sound, flip flops in abundance, guests returning from feeding stations eating their food by hand whilst en route the 10 yards to their table, the odd screaming child running around, oblivious to their parents. Fortunately they pick up the vibes from my thousand yard stare and are halted in their tracks if they approach my table.
What is society coming to? These plebs should be taken out and shot at dawn. Apt really as most of them are Germans.
My last time AI.
You don't get this in a caravan.
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No, it is not just you. I hate it, and pay to avoid it. It depends which is more important to you, money or sanity.
The thing to do its research the cheapest rate available from each hotel and then book the hotel with the cheapest rate about 20% higher than the overall cheapest rate.
If you see what I mean.
Don't rely on the cost of the package tour; just because one tour charges more, does not mean every tour going to that hotel is expensive.
Or book a cheap villa [little terraced house with pool].
My wife always gets absolutely amazing deals on privately rented villas. Hardly mansions, but perfectly pleasant for a few days away. I will ask how she finds them.
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I'm staying at this place because friends got an amazing deal a few months ago. I decided to join them at 24 hours notice. For what they paid ( €260 each for a weeks AI) you can't complain, and it would have been churlish to stay elsewhere.
I paid considerably more, travelling solo, and I eat out alternate nights.
Interesting area though. Very different to Flagstaff, Scottsdale & Tahoe!
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>> people in football shirts, youths in both football shirts & shorts
Don't wear them myself (can't stand football), but never understood why people find this a problem. I pay zero attention to what most other people wear.
Last edited by: Fursty Ferret on Wed 16 Dec 15 at 14:11
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You see I'd have a different view FF. In your position I'd make it clear to people that they should go home and change if they were inappropriately dressed to get on my aeroplane.
;-)
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...a week's AI.
Artificial Insemination??
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I don't really like AI, I usually go half board and even then don't always use it. I did AI once but found it restricted me to the hotel too much as I wanted to make use of it.
I usually use Tripadvisor to decide on the hotel but work on the reviews. If it has 3 or 4 stars I am happy, if the price is very cheap I will settle on a 3 star rated (Trip Advisor) but I avoid anything with 2 star.
In general I find you can get an over all feel for the hotel by ignoring the "avoid this hotel at all costs" and "this is the best hotel ever" reviews.
Looking at Spain 2016 at the moment and it is looking very cheap but it is too early to book for May/June as anything can happen between now and then.
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Can we please distinguish between AI (ay ai) and Al (first two letters of my handle) - I thought the OP was talking about me to start with and the thought of Rattle doing me under any circumstances is deeply troubling.
Thanks.
Last edited by: Alanović on Wed 16 Dec 15 at 15:02
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Don't worry, Vić. He'd go very slowly and wouldn't get very far.
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>> ...a week's AI.
>>
>> Artificial Insemination??
I think its artificial intelligence.
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No, they say it on The Archers:
"I've been waiting for the AI man all morning and I can't hold this position much longer."
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Wed 16 Dec 15 at 16:48
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FF, I have no problems with people's attire. Having been born & bred as a 'wessie' ( West Yorkshire) my sartorial expectations are low. It's when directions are posted and ignored, by both customers & management, I get P***ed off.
Some evening diners make an effort. Others traipse in straight from the pool/ bar in their wife beating vests and footie shorts.
I now choose to eat out rather than suffer minors with their snot channels in full flow roaming aimlessly. Puts me right off my grilled fish.
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I have never been all inclusive. My thoughts were if they have your money upfront there is no incentive for them to give good product or service.
However I know a load of folk who all go AI and swear by it.
Back in Sept we went to Torremolinos for a week - bed and breakfast only though AI was an option.
very night we ate out somewhere different, sampled the nightlife and atmosphere of the town centre and loved it. However there were a hardened core of holidaymakers who were AI and, literally, did not cross over the threshold of the hotel the full week they were there!
Why??????
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>> Why??????
Yeah, a hotel with a pool is a hotel with a pool anywhere and everywhere. You need to get out and about and soak up the location, and eating and drinking out is the way to do it.
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>> Why??????
Because they're timid, scared of foreigners and don't think their requirements will be understood.
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TripAdvisor is the incentive :) The beer was great when I did it, and I did go to all the bars and eat out a lot too. For me though as I prefer to go out all inclusive isn't good enough value for me. I only did it last time because I was coming from Nice, and I was worried I would be skint by the time I got to Spain.
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FF, I have no problems with people's attire. Having been born & bred as a 'wessie' ( West Yorkshire) my sartorial expectations are low. It's when directions are posted and ignored, by both customers & management, I get P***ed off.
Can see where you're coming from there, but really management's job to turf out those who don't match the dress code.
Having said that, "you can't come in wearing those" seemed to be the bane of my life at uni.
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We stayed at an AI hotel in Cyprus a couple of years ago. Not for me I'm afraid. The food was actually ok. The beer was served in half pint plastic - and it was pretty dreadful.... I don't think it does the local economy any good either.
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I've never done all inclusive, but ISTR it was offered as an extra at a place we went to - presumably the eligible guests just had the drinks/coffees or whatever knocked off their bill.
When the whole hotel is AI then it might be easier for standards to fall lower.
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AI kind of works if you have young kids in tow. Especially if they are fussy eaters. It's always quite disappointing if you go to a restaurant and order some not inexpensive dish for a little one only to have them refuse to eat it. At least with buffet style food they can choose exactly what they want or go and find an alternative if the first choice proves unsatisfactory. That coupled with the not having to fork out for ice creams, water, fizzy drinks etc etc every 15 minutes has some minor benefits.
Wouldn't do it now though. Not a chance.
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That is the issue, so many bars struggle because of all inclusive, but if it wasn't for those bars a lot of people wouldn't go to the resorts so it is actually killing the resorts too. Some places such as Salou have managed to crack down on it.
I know of a story of two neighbours they both bumped into each on the street and started speaking about summer holidays. It transpired that both went to same resort (Calella) at the same time of year. One of the neighbours said "oh that is funny, we've never seen you there" the other neighbour replied "oh we go all inclusive so we never leave the hotel".
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I wonder what shape the second neighbour is.
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Yeah, to be fair though if you have kids etc it is a great way of managing the budget. Personally though I can think of nothing worse than being stuck in a soulless hotel every day!
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Myself and Mrs B are very different beasts when it comes to holidays. I like to soak up the atmosphere of wherever we are, see the local sights and eat at a different restaurant each night whereas Mrs B likes to sunbathe all day every day and eat in the hotel. She says that she can't be faffed with traipsing around looking for somewhere to eat every night. Our last three holidays have been cruises, which suit both of us down to the ground but we've both got a week booked off work next month and we're planning on booking a late availability to Fuerteventura, Lanzarote or similar. I desperately want to avoid the AI malarkey, but I strongly suspect that Mrs B will prevail.
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Half board is always a good compromise, eat in the hotel one night, the other eat out etc. I actually looking to find some where to eat, providing it is not Nice, although Nice was actually a lot cheaper than I thought it was just very hard to find snack places.
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>> I actually looking to find some where to eat, providing it is
>> not Nice
>>
You found the McDonalds then?
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AI is for those with too little gumption to book for themselves. Why are you surprised?
These days I'm a huge fan of Airbnb. Take a flat/house and it's all yours. You can drink your own English tea. You can cook the local things and you can eat out as you wish. And there will not be a single other person with whom you need to interact. That said I quite enjoy booking ski holidays as a package, but they're quite expensive so you generally get the quality of holidaymaker, and it's nice for it to be somebody else's problem to get you between snowed-up resort and snowed-up airport.
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>AI is for those with too little gumption to book for themselves. Why are you surprised?
You do talk some utter pfd now and again Mapmaker!
We got back yesterday after two weeks AI in Cuba. AI doesn't stop you getting out and about when you want. We will also be AI when we go back to Maldives early next year because getting out and about involves a long swim.
If you think that taking your own tea, making your own meals and not interacting with a single other person is your idea of holiday nirvana, Glub help you.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 18 Dec 15 at 01:40
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I avoided it like the plaque, although I do admit to using McDonalds abroad, in France it is too expensive compared to decent places.
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Good to know you keep your teeth clean, Rats.
Meanwhile, I'm curious about MM's view that people who can afford an expensive ski holiday can be relied on to behave well while they're there. I don't ski, but I do go to southwest France in the summer, where I vividly remember one such banker's-wife type proffering without embarrassment a 500€ note for 6€ of groceries in a tiny corner shop. (She had cornichons; I remember because I'd had to tell her how to ask for them.) She was dressed as befits, though, so perhaps that's all right.
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MM, I think European ski holidays are getting cheaper. Years ago I would book months in advance, now it's literally days. I Think there is a vast oversupply of accommodation, especially amongst smaller operators who have catered chalets. The larger operators will let the rooms back to the hotel, although they still have flight seats to sell.
At the moment I'm receiving at least four emails a day offering cheap deals from ski companies, both small operators and consolidators. Live web cams help immensely....at the moment it's pretty dire in the Alps. Last week I was offered Christmas week In a fully catered chalet ( bfast, afternoon tea, 3 course dinner with free wine all evening) for £399, inc flights and transfers. A 6 day Lift pass and ski hire in resort ( Trois Vallees area) was an extra £229. I would have had change from £750. Even cheaper if you self cater. Cheaper still if 4 of you drive out in a car.
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Used Maccys in France only for coffee or coke so as to access free wifi.
Somehow even big shopping centres over there manage to have seemingly independent cafes and restaurants. Lunch today was omelette jambon/fromage and a beer for under ten Euro in a cafe in the Cote D'Opal Auchan complex at Boulogne.
The places in Cite Europe are packed every lunchtime and have the same staff members year in and year out.
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Holiday rants - No FM2R
