On Holiday and hate it!

[Ilovemycatalot]

Was just after some moral support am on holiday with my daughter in a shit all inclusive in turkey horrible place and horrible hotel. We are here until Monday 😭honestly been in tears and just want to come home. Any words of wisdom to keep us going. They want £650 for an earlier flight home that I just can’t afford.

The OP isn't in Europe though.

OP, Turkey and all inclusive is quite the risk to take when it comes to package holidays. Indeed Turkish men can be really bothersome and lecherous - tell them to piss off and mean it! Odd that it's a tourist resort and nobody speaks English though.

All you can do is grin and bear it. Turkish food is often delicious, so unless you are being served gruel or simply the native cuisine repels you, stock up at supermarket/local mini market/even mcdonalds... and ride it out.

I’ve just come back from turkey - luckily our hotel was really good but we went out out on a few day trips. The coastline where we were was beautiful so we did a few boat trips to different places - is that an option for you ? I wasn’t near where you are so can’t recommend but some of the trips are really very reasonable prices and include food. What about the local town ? Is it nice just for a wander around, stop off for coffee/Ice cream? Beach day ? Local market ? Honestly my children are now older but of all the holidays we’ve done the bits they remember most is the trips out not the pool days.
hope your holiday picks up.

@DavidWirral you ever had to buy travel insurance for a disabled child? I am assuming not if you think you can go on a compare website.

Maybe we got lucky with Turkey, but we stayed at the Titanic Delux Belek in Antalya and it was amazing, best hotel I’ve ever stayed in. Food was delicious, felt very safe as a lesbian couple, definitely no pervy men and everyone spoke good English.

OP I would spend as little time at the hotel as possible, go to the beach and eat at local restaurants.

The only package holiday I ever went on was to Turkey about 20 years ago. The hotel was a bit grim but we went out and about on local buses and taxis, and explored some wonderful places, ancient ruins, forests, beaches, villages, boat cruises etc.

The biggest problem with the hotel and resort was British people complaining that they had to pay extra for a 'full English' as it wasn't part of the inclusive breakfast, or that the waiters didn't speak English, or being convinced that their blonde hair made them an exotic object of desire and fascination.

If you want to go to a place where most people speak English, go on holiday to an English-speaking country.

If you don't want to be surrounded by drunk holidaymakers, don't go to an all-inclusive package holiday resort.

I mean come on...

Have you spoken to any other guests? Do they agree it's not a good hotel?

Are you used to going away in your own with your daughter or is this the first time? I've traveled a lot along with my son, and like everything in life, sometimes it's good and others not so much. Try to find things to do outside, book excursions via the hotel etc.

Turkish food is delicious, so if your hotel is not great, what about restaurants outside?

Are the unpleasant guests Turkish?

Oh that’s such a shame. I have been to Antalya a few times and had a great time. Locals went out of their way to be helpful/friendly especially to my children. Sad to read this - I hope it gets better for you.
Do you have a ring on your wedding finger by any chance ? I’m sure I read years ago that Turkish men don’t bother women they think are married, might be rubbish but worth a try …..

Visit the Antalya Archeology museum. No drunks in there and they have a child's section. Or explore the old town, Aspendos or Termessos. The area is rich in history.

Because they are ABTA bonded and with Covid over the last few years, people don't want the risk of booking separately and not being able to get refunds on separate elements of the holiday.

We've done both. Package is the way we went in summer 22, booked summer 21.

Fuck, she isn't is she...?, I'm a right numpty 😂, Thank you!

I’ve been to Turkey twice, had to be dragged there as I’d heard mixed reviews but I absolutely loved it.

We stayed just outside Side in Antalya, the resort and food both times were fantastic, so I’m really sorry to hear you’ve had a bad experience.

Theres lots to do in Side, the ruins are lovely at night, we went to Manavgat in the day time for a wander - are there any trips you could do? Is eating out an option if the food is terrible?

I know you shouldn’t have to pay extra but if you only use the hotel for sleeping maybe it could be salvaged?

Definitely complain while you are there too, don’t wait until you’re home.

Some of Turkey is in Europe isn’t it?

You can't write off a whole country based on a few experiences.
You could say the UK is rubbish, full of poverty, crime litter, and there lots of places that are grim.
But equally there are lovely towns, seaside villages, mountain resorts and quaint country inns rugged coastlines and flash top class hotels,
All countries are like this.
I have visited Turkey several times, and yes there are grim hotels, I have also stayed at some wonderful 2 star family run all inclusive places.
OP if you really want to go home soon, look at other flights - not those connected to your tour operator- could you travel to another airport?
Hiring a car may make things easier, or find some accommodation nearby- Air B&B or an apartment, and move there until your flight home.

If it’s Xoria deluxe you have my sympathy (sounds similar to my holiday)

You can fly to Manchester on Wednesday for £284

Each? She'd be better off moving hotel

Yes.

She’s right. Moaning because their English isn’t great is ridiculous

Turkish and been to lots of hotels, If you are travelling to Turkey your safe bet is booking a 5 with 4.5 reviews as someone mentioned. That is if you want a nice hotel, in Turkey sometimes 5 or 4 does not necessarily mean they meet that criteria!!

And you have to be firm, if it is staff in the hotel acting inappropriately, they are not allowed to, so worth complaining to hotel management.

OP- are you in a seaside resort? If you are, look on trip advisor for a beach club nearby that gets good reviews. Many provide free sunbeds/umbrellas and will also pick you up from your hotel and drop you back again at the end of the day for free (you just need to call or whatsapp- details will be on tripadvisor/website/facebook). I've done this loads of times in many Turkish resorts. The expectation is obviously that you will buy food and drinks (you can't take your own food) but it's not expensive (earlier this year we paid the equivalent of £1 for soft drinks and about £5 each for a meal) and they usually have a shaded eating area with fans to keep you cool. If you find one you like you could easily spend your days there and just use the hotel to sleep.

I'm really sorry to hear you're having a shit experience but this is not standard for Turkey. Don't be afraid to venture out and find somewhere nicer to spend your time- prices for food/drink/excursions are much cheaper than in the UK so it shouldn't cost a fortune to have a few nice days out. Hope it gets better for you

Not sure if you were replying to me! £284 for both of them to fly back Wednesday, although she’s not stated DDs age so I put it as 10, it might be more if she’s older. Newcastle is £260 but I don’t know where she needs to fly back to.

If you would rather come back home than stay it might be worth it. It’s awful feeling trapped on holiday, regardless of what other people think of the holiday it is your feelings that matter OP.

Wednesday fly to Aalborg, arrive at 7pm.
book airport hotel.
10am Thursday fly to London Stanstead.

£111.

We went to Turkey stayed in the Ramada at a
Lara and it was amazing I couldn't fault it. What is the hotel called. There was loads that were fantastic.

@Wheresmymoneytree sorry yes, I thought that was each as I put it in sky scanner for tomorrow.

I assumed her DD was a toddler though and put 3 as otherwise she'd be in school.

I've looked on hotels.com and there are plenty of cheap options too.

We went to their sister hotel in Bodrum - loved it that much we went back the next year.
We go to Antalya in a couple of weeks as wanted to try somewhere else. From what I can tell via TripAdvisor it has good reviews and 5* (which will likely be a 4 as they tend to overegg it).
Hays Travel where fab when I had to cancel/move our new york trip due to covid.
Worst holiday we had was to Morocco - food was dire and room awful. Thankfully as it was my and DH, we just got pissed and lived off pizza.