Long haul destination similar to Mexico?!

redmalc

Lea,i do not know what the budget is,but i would definitely suggest you look at the Iberostar Rose Hall Suites if the budget is bigger the iberostar Grand Rose Hall is superb we have been the last two years,the only UK operator is First Choice,any questions P M me
Regards

redmalc

Lea i forgot to mention the resort is in Montego Bay Jamaica

budgetflyer

Thats not technically true redmalc, expedia and travelrepublic both sell rose hall beach and travel republic sell the suites.
You can also book the Grand via Iberostar.com

Whether this is more cost effective, i dont know, but plenty airlines fly to Jamaica so it may be worth looking at, or even if one wanted an odd duration.

redmalc

Budgetflyer,i have looked at various ways and companies to book the Grand but First Choice are allways the cheapest,last year the manager gave me a discounted room tariff because we are regulars and FC was still £650!cheaper.

Pollycat

budgetflyer wrote: »

Cuba is probably 1 of the few places places i havent enjoyed. Varadero, was completely soul less. Although we were AI, its not really my thing, so we ate out every 2nd night and to be honest, the food was so bland and the service completely indifferent.

What about one of the other coasts of Mexico ?

I thought exactly the same.

It was the holiday we least enjoyed of all the ones we've had.

Loved our visit to Havana but, yes - the food was bland.
We went to Guardalavaca back in 1997 and unfortunately for us, there wasn't anywhere to eat outside the hotel so we were stuck with bland, uninspiring food.

Maybe it's changed but we still leave it out of the equation when discussing our next destination.

But AI is not our style either.

lea

Thanks everyone for all your replies. Will look into them all now and try and make a decision!

Thanks once again

Lea

Pollycat

Lea
you asked a few days ago if anyone had been to Bali.

We have - 4 times - and loved it but don't think it's the same as jumping on a non-stop charter to Mexico or Dom Rep.
It's only about a 2.5 hour flight from the north coast of Australia :eek: so you're looking at flying in to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore etc (depending on your carrier) and then another few hours onwards to Bali.
We prefer going East than West, so tend to look at Indian Ocean or Far East rather than Mexico, Cuba, Dom Rep, especially as most of the hotels there seem to be AI which we really don't like.
One of our favourite holidays was to Cancun back in 1991 when it was very new in the UK brochures.
We were Room Only in a small hotel on the hotel zone and used the local buses to downtown Cancun every night to eat.
We went back in 2006 to an AI hotel, about a year after Hurricane Wilma and all the little restaurants we'd visited were flattened.

Once you narrow your search down maybe check out the relevant Tripadvisor forum, I always find them helpful regardless of where I'm going.

MrsE_2

netballdi wrote: »

We have just returned from the Dominican Republic and having been 4 times to Mexico would say this was on a parr in many respects.
We stayed at the Grand Bahia Principe Esmeralda. The food was excellant and the hotel and facilities were very good. The only difference with Mexico is there is not much outside the resort, although there are trips you can go on. No shopping like in Playa del Carmen.
We would return to Domincan Republic as we felt it was great value for money.

Im going there this year - the Esmerelda.
Be grateful for a nuggets of info.

benjus

Pollycat wrote: »

We prefer going East than West, so tend to look at Indian Ocean or Far East rather than Mexico, Cuba, Dom Rep, especially as most of the hotels there seem to be AI which we really don't like.

It seems rather unfair to treat "West" as all being the same. There's a lot more to the Americas than the tourist hotspots. South America, for instance, has a huge amount to offer and is relatively free of the excesses of mass tourism. It is expensive to get to, though...

Pollycat

benjus wrote: »

It seems rather unfair to treat "West" as all being the same. There's a lot more to the Americas than the tourist hotspots. South America, for instance, has a huge amount to offer and is relatively free of the excesses of mass tourism. It is expensive to get to, though...

It's actually entirely my prerogative to be 'unfair' in my holiday destination choice if I so wish.

I do take your point about some South American countries, I would love to visit Machu Pichu or do the Mayan Trail through Mexico, Honduras & Guatamala or visit Mexico City for the Aztec ruins or go to Easter Island but as you say yourself, it's expensive.
I know that, I've done my research.

So I know I can get a good holiday with great food and lots of interesting places to see at a more reasonable price if I choose to go East rather than West.