Yipee! .I'm the happiest man in the world

[atinabay]

Hi.. .Okay then, so why are you so happy? you may ask. . .Is it my birthday? . . Nope...( Wouldnt know anyway, I've had so many I've lost count)

Have I won the lottery?. . . Well yes, but the celebrations for my win in June are now over and the £57 did'nt go as far as we thought.
(I invested in stocks, namely, two bottles of Glen Morange and then  the rest was squandered.)

Am I getting married? . . .Nope, already am and could NEVER be as happy as that day. .(obligatory statement! Angie reads the posts)

So what on earth could possibly make a 57yr old, overworked, underpaid,grandad of four, so excitedly happy?

I'm willing to bet the entire remainder of my winnings, (about a quarter bottle of Malt) that some of you have guessed already as I'm sure that most of you have felt like this.

Yes! . . . I'm booked............ hurrah!

I've manage to snaffle 4 weeks from 21st Sept. . . This now second visit. . . Was there last month for a week. . We just wanted more.
We both loved it and 15yr old son Chris was never bored. . . Amazing to watch him with the local kids. He played with them every day, and language was no barrier at all. Its as if they were conversing telepathicaly..... The girls had a glad eye for him too, cause he's a cute little lad, just like his dad............... ( Yeh, well, I think so!... )

Interestingly.  .  .   (yes, I am going to post something of that nature)  . the whole booking process was quite stressfull.
 
As we deliberated between hotels and apartmenfs etc, each time we picked on one it was available, so we  made up a short list then tried to book it and they were fully booked.
I went between Holidays 4 You....Sunshine....Travel Rep... and A1 Travel...........a patern emerged........ What does anyone else think?
Afer two weeks of searching, trying and losing, we eventually got steered towards the Hotel Letoon.   . Seems a nice place, but not our first choice , or second, or third, or etc etc.   .   .Yes we are on a certain budget but at the start of the search there were in excess of 20 places that suited us............... Two wks later..theres only two???
 Choice between 4 companies was....... the Hotel Letoon or Anna Apart Hotel...........
Ok, choice now made thru Travel Rep...... So I decided to phone some of these places..... you know whats coming.

Most of them have rooms available.
 
I could really have just booked the flights and hotel seperately. Giving me a bigger choice.
As its only my second visit I just wanted to do everything thru the one agent, but next time I will definately look at the options......

So why am I getting told they're fully booked  when they're not.?
Have asked Travel Rep this and had a very evasive and gruff reply.
 
P.S......examples were......... Camelia apertments......Carreta Apartments.....Seastar Apartments.....Remer Hotel.......Pelin Hotel......ect.

[johntaylor49]

Aha, so a man after my own heart, I used to spend a lot of my income on good single malt, the rest I just frittered away  

What happens in the travel industry is that the Hotels provide a number of rooms to specific Holiday Companies at a fixed price, usually a very poor one for the Hotel, and, once that Company has sold those rooms they will say the Hotel is Full and try and steer you toward another Hotel where they have bought rooms at an equally low price! That is how they make a profit and for the vast majority of people how they can afford their Holidays.

So, the Hotel may well still have some rooms they kept for Direct booking, with which they will make more money, or, they simply were unable to sell them all to the Holiday companies.

A good guide to how good a Hotel is, is how quickly it gets fully booked, either by Tour Operators or direct --- try getting rooms at the Mutlu in June for September --- no chance!

So, that is why Travel Monarchy or Moonshine.com may tell you it is fully booked and point you elsewhere! Whn I booked this year, (Hotel only) the first operator I tried said it was full, two others had very different prices for the same room!

Why a lot of people prefer to use an operator such as Travel Republic, Sunshine or Sunmaster is that they are protected in the event of the Hotel or Tour operator going bust!

Its always a bit of a gamble!

By the way, you can always book your flight direct or with one operator and your Hotel with another, that is what I did last year, and this year booked direct with EasyJet and my Hotel through Sunshine. (www.sunshine.co.uk)
JT

[Liz 101]

Hotels in the UK work the same way, giving a tour operator an "allocation" of rooms for them to sell without having to contact the hotel. An operator may be given only a couple of rooms, so once they're sold, the operator has no more in their allocation at that specific hotel, but may have an allocation to sell elsewhere. As next year's allocations will be allotted according to the current year's sales, the operator won't want to lose the chance of next year's allocation.

[Spicy1979]

Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy..... 3 weeks until I go.

[johnboy1967]

so a hotel to consider for the future would be the Harman hotel... good location, friendly staff and nice buffet breakfast...

[sagirl]

Last year we tried to decide between Hotel Letoon and Anna Apart Hotel and opted for the Anna.   We had one of the better rooms but everyone in the hotel was complaining, most of the rooms were covered in mould.  All the sunbeds were broken and people kept falling through them.  The music was so loud and the traffic noise was so loud. we were overcharged so many times we decided to pay as we bought drinks etc.  However the worst for me was the very busy main road outside the hotel, in a space of 5 days three dogs got knocked over and their crying when it happened really ruined it for me. I could not sit by the pool and relax anymore as it backed onto the road.  Not the hotels fault ofcourse, but basiclly what I am saying is you have made the right decision with Hotel Letoon, we were sorry we made the wrong choice.  
This year we have opted for  Ovacik in a quiet area but will definitely be visiting Calis a few times.   Have a great holiday.

[laffa]

Now where were we.

[atinabay]

Ok,bit wiser now and I've been looking into it. . .   I can now make a more informed decision next time. . . . I plan to come back in Jan/Mar so I think booking seperately will give me more choice.

Incidently anyone know what its like then. . . . . Cold? . . wet? . . .snow? . . . .sunny?

[jan deli]

Shouldn't your son be back at school in Sept? I was over in Feb this year the weather was lovely cold at night and when it rains it rains !!!Only way over was from Stanstead-Istanbul-Dalaman with Pegasus very difficult to get a direct flight out of season.

[Julesp]

quote:Originally posted by atinabay

Ok,bit wiser now and I've been looking into it. . .   I can now make a more informed decision next time. . . . I plan to come back in Jan/Mar so I think booking seperately will give me more choice.

Incidently anyone know what its like then. . . . . Cold? . . wet? . . .snow? . . . .sunny?

Most of the above Not much in the way of snow though, can have lovely warm sunny days but the temperature drops by 10 degrees when the sun goes down. It can also be wet, windy and stormy somedays. But I think overall I would say sunny and warm in the sun Cooler in the shade Freezing at night when you will definately need heating of some kind
Also cooler in Ovacik etc as in the mountains Calis esp has the better weather, I often sit in my garden in the sun looking at the big rainclouds over the mountains and Fethiye way