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Holidays!

Discussion in 'TalkCeltic Pub' started by Div, Jun 25, 2014.

Discuss Holidays! in the TalkCeltic Pub area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Onefootwonder

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    My point was that people seem to enjoy stuff like this abroad, but wouldn't tolerate it at home.

    In general the standard of premises, food and drink is lower in all these resorts than it is at home.

    Many of the resorts are still backwards on basic hygiene and sanitation.

    However people keep going on how great things were, when at home, they'd complain that things were awful. On holiday they manage to ignore even major flaws.

    People spend thousands on the family holiday and text back "it's 35° and scorching here. It's brilliant. How's Glasgow?"

    The truth is at 35° they are sweating their balls off and uncomfortable. They'll not admit that though. :smiley-laughing002:

    My point is many people can make the best of something not so good on holiday. However why keep going back to the same type of place to do it all over again?

    Surely two weeks of prize bingo, or guess that tune puts people near shooting themselves? :smiley-laughing002:
     
  2. Sonny7

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    Just because you enjoyed doesn't means everyone else will.

    different strokes for different folks:87:
     
  3. Dylan1996 Gold Member Brigade Gold Member

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    back from florida a couple of weeks ago, was brilliant, so * weird though
     
  4. faw cough Gold Member Gold Member

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    Need something badly
     
  5. Buster

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    New York in March for 8 nights
     
  6. Keane7

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    No long back from benidorm. Love the place, the old town is stunning the new town is good for entertainment etc.. A lot of people who look down on it and I don't know why. Yes ok you get stags and Brits but most are at the square where the clubs are.
     
  7. Spring Time Gold Member Gold Member

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    No, some people just like to moan even when everything is good.:rolleyes:
     
  8. Boom Stick

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    In Dorset in England now,weather is fantastic,you get no rest with 2 young kids though,go go go,lost me fekin phone though in legoland:31:
     
  9. packybhoy Administrator Administrator Gold Member

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    Mate I've been all over,and always return to Portugal. I love the people, the food and the atmosphere. Different strokes for different folks. But your right about new town, wouldn't go near it, disco bars, gift shops, same *. Old town is excellent. As for the food,always give a body swerve where the tourist traps are. When you go off the back streets there are a few places that mainly serve the locals. I love my food and they do some of the best seafood in the world. Also other parts of the Algarve are great like Potamau. Been to Tenerife, was ok. Hated Puerto Rico one main flat packed cardboard square all you can eat frays and English roast beefs, * that. Don't mind Lanzarote in some places. Best place for holiday would be Prague or Palma city in Majorca, love the history and buildings and restaraunts are excellent!:celt_2:
     
  10. Idioteque I’ll laugh until my head comes off

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    Norway in January, heading thru the loften Islands in The artic circle, booked to swim with wild orca too. Can't wait
     
  11. The Celtic Way

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    ibiza on friday
     
  12. belfastcelt Gold Member Gold Member

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    going to Portugal albuferira in jut over 3 weeks time. going with the wife and 2 kids. never been before but looking forward to it.
     
  13. Barry Robson

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    Not booked anything yet, looking at going to Barcelona and Madrid if not them then Germany for a few days
     
  14. DJ CJ

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    Going to Milan on Wednesday and then driving down to Rimini. We're stopping in maranello as well to have a tour of the Ferrari factory, buzzing for that.
     
  15. packybhoy Administrator Administrator Gold Member

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    Thank * I don't go to any places you've been to. Bingo and party games. * food and unhygienic restaraunts. As you say people spend a load of money on these jaunts. I certainly wouldn't settle for any *. You must just go with the flow if that's your experiences. Next time you go away try hard not to be dragged into bars or diners by load mouth reps. Look past your nose mate!:50::50:
     
  16. Onefootwonder

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    You go to the worst place I've been, Albuferia. We detested that place and really couldn't enjoy it at all.

    We were at Salou last week and it's alright. It's got enough to do for a family holiday. It's not quite as tacky as many of the other resorts. It wasn't so long ago that they replaced their open sewers that used to make the place smell putrid. Still people tolerated that. It's fine now though.

    I pick places to stay before I go based on reviews and recommendations. When I'm there I'll pick the best I can see and still use Tripadvisor.

    You can make the best of Albuferia, so we obviously look for different things. There's loads of places I want to go, so it's not that often I return to the same place again. It depends on if I'm going as a part time dad, or with my other half on our type of holiday.

    Some people can spend two weeks by the pool getting sunburn and think that's a great holiday. I've no issue with that at all. I can see why people might want two weeks of doing nothing but chilling. That's not the type of holiday I like.

    Many of the common resorts, including Albuferia, All day English breakfasts everywhere, happy hours, constant harrasment to come into their pub or restaurant, toilet facilities that are dreadful (often dirty and can't flush toilet paper if you're lucky enough to find any) looky looky men, fake goods and so on.

    Most of the pubs and restaurants and ramshackle concrete huts, even in the Old Town. As soon as you come down the escalator you're instantly hit with folk trying to sell fake T-Shirts. Then all the harrasment to eat and drink in places, then as soon as you get to the square, it's just full of awful buskers and people trying to sell cheap kiddie light toys.

    Most of the places had the same menus selling the same food. How many places have peppered steak or piri-piri chicken as their specials every night?

    I begin to see why people don't actually leave their hotel.

    We did find a couple of decent bands playing in Albuferia. They'd either be playing in Wild&Co or acoustically in another open plan place up the road that I forget their name. Both places were a rip off though.

    There was a lot of Elvis and Michael Jackson tribute acts still. :smiley-laughing002:

    The entertainment in the Old Town was rank as well. Caught one reasonable band at the Bank.

    The people that were enjoying Albuferia were all the young ones. Getting smashed on €5 bottles of Vodka and 89.9% Absinthe before going out.

    We all done stuff like that when we were young and thought it was great. In my mid 30s I'm too old for all that *.

    One of the funniest things about Albuferia was when the football was on. They've got the English premier league on all day, every day.

    Watching a game was murder as all the pubs were streaming the games and they were all at different bits of the game. You'd hear a cheer half way down the street and it'd slowly move up and down depending where your stream was.

    Some people love it though. I read their accounts on websites and Tripadviso, but just can't work out how they've formed the opinion they have. I guess it's back to those cheap bottle of Vodka and Absinthe.
     
  17. Cmcgregor90

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    Why would anybody pick a holiday hotel apartment etc based on reviews :97: if anything reviews seem to put people off and 90 percent to the time it's the lightbulb didn't work or they didn't like the toilet seat fs:56: worst holiday ever these type of things come under.

    Went to salou as a kid in 2001 maybe not much has changed the water park and theme park where there back then and I loved it wasn't like your benidorms etc most places you go are going to have bingo and * elvis impersonators.

    My grudge about going away is all inclusive think that was my second time last year and hated it limited to some amount of * that will appear every second day and add the odd thing to make it look like it changes. Not saying some of it wasn't nice but I got bored of it after a week dread to think what it would have been like for 2 weeks! All INC is only good for one thing and it's the cheap * booze drink it if it's * or not.

    The 2 times I went the first hotel limited you to two drinks person so if you wanted two drinks and your misses wanted one they wouldn't give you it! Think it's because there was some self catering but you could literally point to your misses and they would still refuse
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 21, 2015
  18. Onefootwonder

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    How else do you pick them?

    Going back years before the internet was as widespread as it is now, it was common for people to end up going to rotten hotels abroad. They had little way of knowing. It did used to be pot luck.

    Every holiday brochure had great pictures of 4/5 star hotels. Rarely did they turn out to be like that. Holiday * programs were common and BBC'S Watchdog was all too often about bad hotels.

    I agree that Tripadvisor and the likes can end up with irrelevant reviews. However it's not that common, and with loads of users now, irrelevant reviews are often reported and removed.

    More people are fairer on Tripadvisor these days, but still can't grasp the rating system too well. You have got the issue where people think that everything good should get 5 stars and everything bad gets 1. 5 stars is really for something exceptional that you very rarely get. 1 should be really poor. People think giving an average 3 is negative. Average covers the majority of things.

    If I'm flying half way round the world and spending thousands of pounds, I want to be confident that I'm going somewhere good.

    Just by reading some of the reviews you can soon filter out what you want to see. I'm looking for people who review regularly on Tripadvisor and appear to be fair. I don't often read the ones that sign up to moan about something, or the folk that give one rave review about something. Rarely does anyone take time to join an Internet site to praise something, so I often assume they might be fake.

    The power of the review sites is very strong. They force restaurants and hotels to improve on a regular basis. I guess you've seen just how many display a good Tripadvisor rating for all to see. It does mean a lot and does draw custom.

    I'm not saying some fudging of the reviews and figures doesn't goes on, but if you're going to a popular resort there is going to be a lot of reviews to hopefully end up with a balanced opinion.

    Very rarely has my opinion been different than the majority on Tripadvisor. Certainly not on hotels anyway.

    A few restaurants and shows have been a massive dissapontment to me, but the Indians are especially bad for fake reviews.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 21, 2015
  19. faw cough Gold Member Gold Member

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    Is the Nou Camp worth visiting ?
     
  20. rickythescot Gold Member

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    Booked Cancun for 2 weeks in December, staying at the Sun Palace. Reviews and pics look good. Any tips on excursions etc from anyone be helpful :50:

    Possibly Houston Texas to visit brother and his wife feb/march of next year too, not sure i can handle the whooping and hawlering, gun toting average american though :fear: