In October this year we decided for once to book a package holiday; the first I’ve been on in over 20 years! Normally when flying off somewhere we book all the elements separately ourselves trying to get the best possible deal which is a time-consuming and laborious job. As many of you ‘tradespersons’ know there’s the saying that goes like ” a plumber never manages to get his own pipes fixed.” Well that’s the same with us. Week in week out we tirelessly go in search of the “right hotel on the right dates and most important of all: at the right price” but doing all this for a living attracts a greater sense of urgency and motivation than doing it for ourselves. So imagine the guffaws we’ve had over the last dozen or so years when we’ve told friends we’re off in the car down to Bournemeouth for our holidays to our favourite hotel (The Carlton) with one call made to book it, bags to pack and a car to fill with kids….simple.
With our famous British summers being notoriously unreliable our need for some serious Vitamin D (…and a decent tan!) was desperate. I hadn’t sported a ‘tide mark’ since our fabulous honeymoon in South Africa (an amazing country to visit: hint hint), so with some gentle coercion from my wife Francine we booked a late summer break in early October whilst the rays were still hot enough to sunny Rhodes courtesy of Jet2 holidays. It’s the furthest south of the Greek Islands so we hoped that the late season weather would be warmest here. After a pleasant flight we quickly passed thru customs and immigration and within about 45 mins were on our way by transfer coach to our chosen hotel, the beautiful Princess Andriana (www.princessandriana.com) in the small resort of Kiotari about 20 mins drive from the beautiful village of Lindos.
The “all-inclusive” hotel is very modern with fabulous bedrooms and modern bathrooms, a varied kids program for both younger children and teenagers with a really good animation team. This gave me and “the missus” some much needed R & R on our own… I could read my book for once! They team were extremely talented and also put on hilarious and entertaining shows on 6 nights a week. You wouldn’t think that they’d been doing the same all season; their energy and enthusiasm was amazing. I couldn’t believe how many guests they managed to get in the main unheated pool to do aqua aerobics, including me on one day ! There was a large indoor heated pool too, a well-equipped gym and spa, but being off limits for kids and having gorgeous sunshine till 7pm with a max of about 28 degress each day, there was no contest. Other activities included archery, football, table tennis, tennis and crazy golf…or you could simply laze by the pool on comfy beds and cool slabs of specially made flooring that you couldn’t burn your feet on…bliss.
The food was both plentiful and varied, as well as of a high standard of presentation with enough choices to satisfy most diets. You could eat indoors, outdoors, by the pool or by the private beach. There was also an a la carte restaurant which included one free visit a week.
Being on an all-inclusive plan meant no worrying about the bill, trying out any cocktail we fancied and not bothering if we didn’t finish it, not having to be concerned with our children moaning “I don’t like it!” or worse crying if the ice cream falls on the floor!
Unfortunately we didn’t venture much out of the hotel with so much for the kids to do and the offer of total relaxation for us 2 hard-working travel agents. Apart from taking the local bus one afternoon to the nearby beautiful village of Lindos we didn’t manage to visit the main city of Rhodes; hopefully next time.
So if you want an off-season package holiday to a smart, classy 5 star hotel with or without kids we couldn’t recommend it highly enough. How much did it cost you might ask? A grand total of only £1900 for all 4 of us in a stunning junior suite with views over the pools and an amazing fountain light show each night. If only we could have stayed a few more days :'(
So what are you waiting for? Contact us now to book your next getaway!
