Insider Info

tightwallet2

Hello, I'm new to the boards (I used to be tightwallet but my e-mail address has changed & I've lost my password) & am looking for help to the following. The High Street agents are quoting me silly prices-over £3000.

I want the Sovereign Beach or the Family Village in Kos, 2 adults & my kids are both 11 (1 room wanted). We want day flights & transfers included & flight meals (I am not bothered but my children like them!). It has to ne the 27th July for 2 weeks from Gatwick only.

I notice some of you can give prices, can you contact me with a total cost with no extras to pay? I have read some articles on here & other boards & if the company is not a Tour Company like Thomas Cook or Airtours my partner insists it is an atoll package (do not quite understand this) & will not entertain the quote if we do not have the licence number.

We have our own insurance by the way.

Thank you-I hope this is the place to put this.

Nathalie

TRAVELMAN_2

Nathalie,

Sure we can help. We actually hold an allocation of rooms at both Hotels which we'll shortly be releasing to our staff from February onwards. As we've committed to the rooms I'm sure we'll work you out a good price. Will be in touch after 5pm today when I've got a firm price in euros (& a rate!) to convert.

I was in Kos mid-September & have seen both Hotels-in my opinion Sov. beach has a very slight edge (although just a tad pricer, but not by much) over the family village-why not try the Summer Palace (an official 5* BUT i'd say 4 1/4star by Spanish standards as a comparison) which is just above the family Village-much quieter & easy access to the beach via a little monorail thing.

By the way-this is an ATOL booking, Co-Op travel have a licence & this deal would be under that licence. I won't bore you but check out some of my other posts for the advantages of this. This might have been where your partner got the atol bit from.


Chris

TRAVELMAN_2

Tightwallet,

Have sent you prices. Well under £3000 & we include a private taxi transfer. Let me know what you think. The Summer palace is £25 pp more BUT in the family suites (separate bedroom) you get stunning views of the sea....peace & quiet but all the entertainement for the kids is only a short distance away!

Chris

tightwallet2

Thanks Travelman,

Did try to call but you are engaged-hope you get this. Please hold the rooms & flights as we need to transfer the deposit from one account to our Debit card.

The prices are great & the private taxi will please my other 1/2! Will ring you tomorrow morning when you start to pay the deposits. Thank you for the free insurance-I was happy with the £30 but my partner is a true money-saver!

When is the balance due?

We thought the Summer Palace was worth it for the extra £25 per person, thank you for the scanned picture from your break-can't beleive you are 38 (angling for a bigger discount)-sounds good as it's peacefull but the Norida Beach (which sounds good for the kids but some web reviews say although its very good it is a bit noisy) is only 10 minutes walk downhill-the walk back up I am sure will burn off the calories!

If you see this before you go off at 8 please call me-if i do not hear before 8 I'll call tomorrow morning for the deposit. Thank you again.

Nathalie

TRAVELMAN_2

Had a PM from an MSE'R today & have given him the following. The brief was......2adults, 1 x 13, 1 x 4yr old, 1 x 6 year old. 25/28 feb 1 week London Airports, Canaries preferably.

Well-Canaries out (flights on their own about £160 pp!)-so suggested Costa Brava/Dorada-explained not as hot BUT lots to see nearby, Andorra, barcelona.....anyway-to cut a long story short, 2 rooms, 4*, Lloret De Mar (Ok...not exactly swinging in Feb but does the job!), all-inclusive-£998 inc car for the week-£200 pp!!! Again, by making canny use of the low-cost airlines this is possible.....& ....even cheaper...Half-Board, 3*, Salou, Costa Dorada including car for week-£780!!!

We've just had the green-light to put (most)low-cost airlines under our ATOL (i'd guess other Agents will follow suit) , meaning it's no longer a 'split contract' but a total package with full protection.

WHAT A BARGAIN!

TRAVELMAN_2

Hi-just a quicky as its midnight (!),

Ok-state of play for Feb Half-term-Canaries-in to £300's pp minimum for a party of 2ad+2ch (in good accom) s/c, into the £400 high range for all-inclusive.

Egypt-way into the late £400's..p/person-Caribbean-£800 pp + roughly.

Easter-a bit better for the above destinations but GOING UP.

Whitsun-look at GREECE all-inclusive-many 4/5 star Hotels do rooms for 4 pax.

August/late July-SIMPLE! Go Costa brava/Dorada self-catering or all-inclusive-using economy flights, Croatia (use trieste in Italy-Ryanair), Canaries self-catering. These at the moment are giving best prices.

TWO last tipS-all-inclusives in majorca-families of 5 (KIDS 14 MAX)-THERE is only ONE property that's got kids clubs, etc...the CLUB CALA ROMANI in calas de Mallorca-one bedroom apartments. I don't know of any other property in Majorca that SLEEPS 5 (2ad+3ch-kids 14 max)in a 1 bedroom-ed apt.on all-inclusive providing kids clubs, etc....

TIP 2-Half-Term feb-if you live Birmingham northwards DRIVE TO GLASGOW!! Ok-pain in the butt but a 4 1/2 hour drive may bag you £100 pp or more discount per person. If you book a Hotel the night before (takes the edge off the driving)-you often get FREE car parking.....to coin a collegues phrase 'look outside the box' (!!)

Happy hunting!

peejay67

Definitely not as warm, especially if they have snow like theyre having in mallorca at the moment!

TRAVELMAN_2

Yeah-freaky weather at the moment-I think it's the 2nd lot of snow for the high ground in majorca-my geeky 'weather' friends tell me it's an 'anticyclonic block' (??!).

I have friends in Crete from my repping days who say the snow line this year has been as low as 600 metres-now usually in Crete the 2 mountain ranges have snow above about 5000-5500 feet January to March/early April (mountains go to 8500 feet-in fact they ski on one of them!) but 600 metres brings high areas such as the ormalos plateau within commuting distance-apparently coachloads of kids have gone up there to play in the snow-which was nearly a foot deep!!!

Reminds me of a trip i guided to the Samaria Gorge-10 years ago (!)-start of the walk is 5500 foot up-we told our customers to take warm clothes for the start of the walk-did they listen-NO!-loads of t-shirts & shorts! 1st 2 miles down it was 2 degrees & snowy!!!!!

Roll on summer!

peejay67

Travelman,

I dont understand your comment about the Club Cala Romani being the only aparthotel offering kids clubs and all inclusive?

What about the Aparthotel Iberostar Club Cala Barca Village in Cala Barca?
Or the Hotel Saturno & Jupiter in Alcudia?
Or the Hotel Marina Barracuda in Magaluf?
Or the Hotel Samoa in Calas de Mallorca?
Or the Insotel Club Cala Mandia in Porto Cristo?
Or the Holiday Village Viva in C'an Picafort?

There's loads in Majorca????

TRAVELMAN_2

pee-jay-sorry, you misunderstand me. Have edited above (it was late!!).

I was just saying that the CLUB CALA ROMANI is the ONLY Hotel I know of that has good pools, kids clubs, entertainement, all-inclusive , etc where the rooms (1 bedroom apts) will accomodate 2ad+3ch (kids 14 max).

This is the reason it seems to sell very quickly-ulness you know of any others?

Sure you'll agree-for Ibiza/Majorca/Menorca & indeed a lot of the Spanish mainland this is a HUGE gap in the marketplace. Families want to be in one unit-especially if young kids are involved.

Rooms that take 5 seem far more available in Turkey/Greece & in the Canaries (apartment units BUT sold on all-inclusive).

Obviously from a budget/cost point of view its much cheaper overall to accomodate a family in one unit. The dreaded (!!!) truth boards give this Hotel a mostly 'thumbs-up' for families.

Chris