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CARVOEIRO GETTING EXPENSIVE
I don't want to labour the point, but we have been booking independently
ever since we were old enough to know better - we prefer to choose exactly where and when we go on holiday, something that if you are looking for last minute package deals you can't usually do. Also we got so
furious at constantly having to pay for under-occupancy or putting up with the children or ourselves sleeping on sofabed's in the lounge. Its sometimes quite hard to research package holiday accomodation, whereas with excellent sites such as this, you can pinpoint exactly where to stay and usually talk to the owners for local knowledge etc.
I agree that flights in school holiday's can be expensive if not booked ahead, but surely its worth it to get to CVO!
ever since we were old enough to know better - we prefer to choose exactly where and when we go on holiday, something that if you are looking for last minute package deals you can't usually do. Also we got so
furious at constantly having to pay for under-occupancy or putting up with the children or ourselves sleeping on sofabed's in the lounge. Its sometimes quite hard to research package holiday accomodation, whereas with excellent sites such as this, you can pinpoint exactly where to stay and usually talk to the owners for local knowledge etc.
I agree that flights in school holiday's can be expensive if not booked ahead, but surely its worth it to get to CVO!
Everything that everybody is saying is generally spot on, Jojo quite right about comparing like for like. I raised the issue of whats available at what cost, late availability wise, mainly to increase awareness of what is getting in the way of attracting new business. I love Portugal and was taken there in the first instance (an unspecified number of years ago 
) by wealthy parents, now I do what I can to keep going back.
The point I think I was making last night was "is there anything that can be done to attract new business when other places are offering the sort of deals I quoted?"
Finally, I am guessing you won't be surprised to know that I am active member of a couple Greek travel forums and there are significant concerns on those about the costs to tourists once they arrive, drink and restaurant bills in particular and how much they have increased over the last two years (even after allowing for upto a 20% difference in the pound/euro exchange rates). Publicity about rising costs and Greece no longer being a 'cheap' destination has apparently caused a significant drop in bookings, hence they are all but giving away holidays to get people there and then spending their money in the local economy with the places that are doing best at the very top and bottom of the market.
Maddi
) by wealthy parents, now I do what I can to keep going back.The point I think I was making last night was "is there anything that can be done to attract new business when other places are offering the sort of deals I quoted?"
Finally, I am guessing you won't be surprised to know that I am active member of a couple Greek travel forums and there are significant concerns on those about the costs to tourists once they arrive, drink and restaurant bills in particular and how much they have increased over the last two years (even after allowing for upto a 20% difference in the pound/euro exchange rates). Publicity about rising costs and Greece no longer being a 'cheap' destination has apparently caused a significant drop in bookings, hence they are all but giving away holidays to get people there and then spending their money in the local economy with the places that are doing best at the very top and bottom of the market.
Maddi
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Guest
Carvoeiro Getting expensivei
We have just spent 10 days in CVO , booking it independently and saved over £150 per person.
We booked the flights in Feb so we got them for £101 with Monarch, had 2 apts for 10 days , plus miniibus hire as there was 7 of us...all in all with car hire included it cost us £300 per person..We stayed at Monte Dourado and to have the same holiday, flying charter through a tour operator would have cost us about £450!!!!
Obviously I think you need to book in advance but if you do your planning at the right time I definitely think indepently is a better option.
As for it being expensive to eat out, we last visited Portugal 10 years ago so expected an increase.However the most expensive meal we had including wine and beers cost us 40 Euros per couple ...Since I live in London ,£25 is not bad for a 2 course meal and drinks!!!
I do have to say tho that the low cost carriers have caught on , if you try and book easyjet on a Sunday or a Thursday there prices double!!!!
Leigh
We booked the flights in Feb so we got them for £101 with Monarch, had 2 apts for 10 days , plus miniibus hire as there was 7 of us...all in all with car hire included it cost us £300 per person..We stayed at Monte Dourado and to have the same holiday, flying charter through a tour operator would have cost us about £450!!!!
Obviously I think you need to book in advance but if you do your planning at the right time I definitely think indepently is a better option.
As for it being expensive to eat out, we last visited Portugal 10 years ago so expected an increase.However the most expensive meal we had including wine and beers cost us 40 Euros per couple ...Since I live in London ,£25 is not bad for a 2 course meal and drinks!!!
I do have to say tho that the low cost carriers have caught on , if you try and book easyjet on a Sunday or a Thursday there prices double!!!!
Leigh
. . . . which takes us back to something Kteee (and others) were saying much earlier under the Faro Airport topic about shifting the changeover dates for some properties . . . . but how?I do have to say tho that the low cost carriers have caught on , if you try and book easyjet on a Sunday or a Thursday there prices double!!!!
Maddi
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Guest
Something I have noticed from people talking about where they are going to for their holidays - long haul destinations, US fly drive, Florida, Australia, Far East.
Years ago these places were well out of the price range of most people but it now seems to be the Keeping up with the Jones' thing
that unless you go somewhere exotic you havent had a good holiday!!!
As for us, we will be coming back to Carvoeiro (the kids love it and couldnt bear long hours on a plane), we will eat out every day and night, visit places and it will still be cheaper than UK, & lovely people around us for 2 weeks.
The kids school summer hols start today and I can guarantee that I will spend more money just on the odd day trip out with nothing really gained from it (most probably stuck in a traffic jam) Places to visit here with children are the biggest rip off especially the disgusting food they serve up in their so called cafe's so I for one dont have any complaint with the mentioned price increases in Portugal.
Years ago these places were well out of the price range of most people but it now seems to be the Keeping up with the Jones' thing
that unless you go somewhere exotic you havent had a good holiday!!!As for us, we will be coming back to Carvoeiro (the kids love it and couldnt bear long hours on a plane), we will eat out every day and night, visit places and it will still be cheaper than UK, & lovely people around us for 2 weeks.
The kids school summer hols start today and I can guarantee that I will spend more money just on the odd day trip out with nothing really gained from it (most probably stuck in a traffic jam) Places to visit here with children are the biggest rip off especially the disgusting food they serve up in their so called cafe's so I for one dont have any complaint with the mentioned price increases in Portugal.
I am sorry about this but I really find little credibility in debates that are written by anonymous guests and only use being derogatory about other people and places as the main stem of their arguement.
Some facts and figures please, who are you and where are you? Then I have at least a chance of knowing if you are making sense. At the moment, I have only your post to form an opinion on and can only come up with an impression of a bitter, insular, unadventurous moaner which is undoubtedly incorrect
Maddi
Some facts and figures please, who are you and where are you? Then I have at least a chance of knowing if you are making sense. At the moment, I have only your post to form an opinion on and can only come up with an impression of a bitter, insular, unadventurous moaner which is undoubtedly incorrect
Maddi
Anyway a few hours have past and the above comment is still playing on my mind - gosh to have already seen Windsor, Longleat, Blenheim, to have been to Edinburgh, York, Bath, London, to have had fun at Alton Towers, Windsor Safari, Lego Land, to have walked on Dartmoor, Exmoor, The Yorkshire Moors, the Peaks, the Lakes, to have ridden on the dozen or so steam railways in this country, been to Paignton, Bristol and London Zoo's, to have already rock climbed, pot holed, kayaked, I could go on and on - have they really already done all this and got nothing from it?odd day trip out with nothing really gained from it
. . . . anyway to try and move on and let it go, I have looked for the humour . . . . I want to go to Macchu Picchu before I die, if you could let me know when the Jones' are going and how fit they are, need to make sure I will be able to keep upKeeping up with the Jones' thing that unless you go somewhere exotic you havent had a good holiday!!!
Maddi
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Guest
No offence was intended nor for any person in particular to take previous posting personally Maddi when mentioning that some not all people were going further afield. What was intended was maybe thats why Carvoeiro was quiet this year? I am only going on what my friends or acquaintances are doing and yes to some of them the Keeping up with the Jones' does apply - it wasnt intended to mean for everybody who uses this forum but they are quite free to go further afield as I have done for many years and their spending power will go to those countries and not Portugal where they have often holidayed. As for UK - it is my childrens preference to holiday in Portugal and I am happy to join them - more sun guaranteed in October.
As for remaining anonymous, some of us might be restricted for personal safety reasons???
Maybe my posting wasnt phrased to your liking but I was just stating my opinion and no I am not bitter about people travelling further afield - that is their preference and one I could do also and stay there for a long period of time not just for a holiday if we didnt have children in school.
As for remaining anonymous, some of us might be restricted for personal safety reasons???
Maybe my posting wasnt phrased to your liking but I was just stating my opinion and no I am not bitter about people travelling further afield - that is their preference and one I could do also and stay there for a long period of time not just for a holiday if we didnt have children in school.
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Mike,Chislehurst
- CVO Master
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 6:15 pm
- Location: Chislehurst, Kent
- Contact:
It was myself that promoted the idea and to a certain extent it died. For our villa next year we are already taking bookings but insisting that we have the right to revert to Wednesdays or even possibly Tuesdays. It's no problem providing apart from the rest of the daily flyers that Monarch join in. I've spoken to Monarch in the last week and no decesion has been taken as yet. They expect to announce well before the end of the year and compared with Easyjet who announce very late, will clean up. BA is available already as well as TAP.
Absolutely fine, both my husband and I work in jobs that have huge personal safety implications, but for example a profile that saysAs for remaining anonymous, some of us might be restricted for personal safety reasons???
"Sexylady (whatever), Birmingham, interests - travel, teenage kids" tells us a little bit about where you are coming from, in this case - a parent, based in the UK, a distance from sea based activities, close to Cannock Chase, good shops, reasonably priced restaurants - whatever. It doesn't give away that someone is a member of the Prison Service, Probation Service, Armed Forces, Traffic Warden, tax inspector, and even if you were to put your occupation, you couldn't be identified.
Anyway, I didn't take your post as a personal attack, I merely stated that your post only consisted of having a go at other people and your own country rather than reasoned, and evidenced arguement.
Maddi
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Jimbo - guest
Think Madi you have more than had a go at the guest who sed about some holidaymakers going further overseas? Think posting was suggesting that people were going there for a change instead of staying in Europe and was answering the question about why Carvoeiro was quiet this July? - thats how we understood it anyway.
We also agree with the guest that it is expensive to holiday in U.K. too and we choose to go abroad because we normally can rely on sunny warm weather, excellent accommodation,food and service in restaurants and more to the point the children are welcomed at any time of the day/night. We would find that impossible on a reasonable budget in UK.
As for Windsor Castle and such places. These supposedly belong to the Nation and are kept going by us taxpayers and then we are expected to pay exorbitant entry prices for the privilege??!! No way! We choose to holiday abroad everytime and that is NOT intended as an insult to people who choose to stay in U.K. for their holidays. We all have freedom of choice.
We also agree with the guest that it is expensive to holiday in U.K. too and we choose to go abroad because we normally can rely on sunny warm weather, excellent accommodation,food and service in restaurants and more to the point the children are welcomed at any time of the day/night. We would find that impossible on a reasonable budget in UK.
As for Windsor Castle and such places. These supposedly belong to the Nation and are kept going by us taxpayers and then we are expected to pay exorbitant entry prices for the privilege??!! No way! We choose to holiday abroad everytime and that is NOT intended as an insult to people who choose to stay in U.K. for their holidays. We all have freedom of choice.
Have you read anything I have posted on this topic at all, Jimbo?
I have engaged in this debate in constructive and reasoned way, providing facts and figures and views that I felt would be useful to the original poster - as someone who holidays abroad 5 or 6 times a year.
In response to an anonymous poster, I said was that I didn't think that posting derogatory comments was a helpful or useful way to contribute to the debate.
Maddi
I have engaged in this debate in constructive and reasoned way, providing facts and figures and views that I felt would be useful to the original poster - as someone who holidays abroad 5 or 6 times a year.
In response to an anonymous poster, I said was that I didn't think that posting derogatory comments was a helpful or useful way to contribute to the debate.
Maddi
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hwkins
Higher Costs
My wife and I have been travelling to the area for a number of years. Yes the prices have risen a little ... as they have in all other locales. However, the great hospitality and friendly reception we receive on our return is well worth any additional costs. We will definetly be back in the future. 
Let´s see, wednesday, hmmmm, middle of the week - still a bit shook up from the tremor - actually, I missed it - again - where do I write to to get a daytime tremor??
Anyway - my reason for butting in, is that I just had another conversation with a local restaurant owner last night - about this whole getting expensive thing. Is Carvoeiro getting more expensive? Yes, pretty much like the rest of €-land, yadda, yadda, bla, bla - what really interested me was to hear it from his perspective.
His costs to maintain a very reasonable level of quality have gone up more in the last 2 years than in the 5 years before that, "What does that have to do with the price of fish?", you may ask - funny enough, fish has gotten a lot more expensive. - However, as Maddi also mentioned before, this is something everybody is complaining about everywhere else too.
In his opinion, what has hit the local gastronomy hardest, is the fact that almost half the anual tourist market has broken away as there are hardly any germans coming to Carvoeiro. (Carvoeiro used to be overrun by the little critters
) To add insult to injury, the german ministers have shortened the overall school holiday period in Germany to little more than 6 weeks by moving hols in some provinces of germany back into August rather than early September or July.
Carvoeiro can accomodate, let´s say 50000 people at any given moment.
The average occupancy this year is down to 85% in peak season leaving a little over 40000 who are actually here and will consume.
Judging by the hive of activity that is Intermarche, I am willing to bet that your average non-hotel tourist will self-cater at least 4 nights per week - leaving about 17000 mouths to be fed on any given evening.
Now, there must be something in the region of 150 restaurants in the larger Carvoeiro area - quite a lot considering the resident population in that same area probably does not exceed 4000 people. On average, every restaurant will be looking to sell about 80 - 100 meals per night (we will neglet open for lunch for now) to make a decent turnover.
Take away those who already had a big lunch, who go out of town, etc. we are looking at 15000 meals that have to be served to break even and only just enough takers. - and we are only talking about six weeks of high season
I do not have any real statistical data to back this up and the numbers are rough, but it seems like a pretty realistic evaluation of the pile of poo the local gastronomy is in at the moment.
Now, at the beginning of this post I mentioned a reasonable level of quality - there are good price/quality relationships in Carvoeiro, I assure you. Take your time to look for them, you will not be dissapointed and you will also contribute to keeping the good/fair restaurants in buisness.
I love this town, its a diversified little microcosmos. I would hate to see it being shoved into the price leagues of some of the other "neon cities" along the cosatline.
G.
Anyway - my reason for butting in, is that I just had another conversation with a local restaurant owner last night - about this whole getting expensive thing. Is Carvoeiro getting more expensive? Yes, pretty much like the rest of €-land, yadda, yadda, bla, bla - what really interested me was to hear it from his perspective.
His costs to maintain a very reasonable level of quality have gone up more in the last 2 years than in the 5 years before that, "What does that have to do with the price of fish?", you may ask - funny enough, fish has gotten a lot more expensive. - However, as Maddi also mentioned before, this is something everybody is complaining about everywhere else too.
In his opinion, what has hit the local gastronomy hardest, is the fact that almost half the anual tourist market has broken away as there are hardly any germans coming to Carvoeiro. (Carvoeiro used to be overrun by the little critters
) To add insult to injury, the german ministers have shortened the overall school holiday period in Germany to little more than 6 weeks by moving hols in some provinces of germany back into August rather than early September or July.Carvoeiro can accomodate, let´s say 50000 people at any given moment.
The average occupancy this year is down to 85% in peak season leaving a little over 40000 who are actually here and will consume.
Judging by the hive of activity that is Intermarche, I am willing to bet that your average non-hotel tourist will self-cater at least 4 nights per week - leaving about 17000 mouths to be fed on any given evening.
Now, there must be something in the region of 150 restaurants in the larger Carvoeiro area - quite a lot considering the resident population in that same area probably does not exceed 4000 people. On average, every restaurant will be looking to sell about 80 - 100 meals per night (we will neglet open for lunch for now) to make a decent turnover.
Take away those who already had a big lunch, who go out of town, etc. we are looking at 15000 meals that have to be served to break even and only just enough takers. - and we are only talking about six weeks of high season
I do not have any real statistical data to back this up and the numbers are rough, but it seems like a pretty realistic evaluation of the pile of poo the local gastronomy is in at the moment.
Now, at the beginning of this post I mentioned a reasonable level of quality - there are good price/quality relationships in Carvoeiro, I assure you. Take your time to look for them, you will not be dissapointed and you will also contribute to keeping the good/fair restaurants in buisness.
I love this town, its a diversified little microcosmos. I would hate to see it being shoved into the price leagues of some of the other "neon cities" along the cosatline.
G.
we find 8 euro for a bottle of housewine very cheap. We live in Holland and when we go to a restaurant we have to pay at least 20 euro for a bottle of housewine. Since the euro came, everything is so much more expensive here, like for example: a big sweet fresh ananas used to cost 4,95 guilders, which is 2,25 in euro's. Now it still costs 4,95, only now it is in euro's! (which is 10,91 in guilders!) That's how it is in Holland, so we love to come to Carvoeiro! By the way, we drank a bica for 50 eurocents with a nice bolo for 60 eurocents. Where do you find that! Certainly not in Holland.