Help me choose…First Choice Holiday Villages

[ilovebruuuceandbags]

So…been trying to make my mind up for about 2 weeks now and still can't blimmin decide….

We visited HV Rhodes in 2012 and LOVED the complex - room/food/pools/entertainment/kids clubs were first rate. We are looking to book for next year and are limited to a specific 2 weeks and flying from exeter. Our options are HV Majorca; HV Tunisia or HV Turkey (but maybe not so much Turkey).

Please….has anyone been to any of these 3 options? Help me decide, i'm driving my husband mad!

We visited HV Rhodes in 2011 and HV Turkey in 2013.

We loved Rhodes - which set our expectations somewhat high - and Turkey was a big disappointment in comparison. The food is really bland and really feels like mass-catering unlike Rhodes. The rooms are set along big echoey corridors (unless you book a suite) and don't have particularly decent sized balconies or good views. The complex feels absolutely massive, and people regularly set their alarms to reserve sunbeds from 5:30 am! That's not an exaggeration.

Overall, Turkey feels like a big, 'holiday camp' whereas Rhodes does not. Saying that, Turkey was MUCH cheaper than Rhodes and I liked the fact bottled water was available in fridges that you could help yourself to.

I have heard much better reports of Tunisia, although I've not been myself.

....and there were 5 days where pools were closed during our stay due to toddlers pooing in them.

.....sort of sums the place up really.

We have been to HV Tunisia twice (not consecutive years) and it was great both times. It is very clean and set in lovely gardens.

Were in HV Tenerife this year which was also nice but still dont think it was as good as Tunisia.

Just a tip - if you want a balcony do NOT get a themed family room as they do not have one (which was a pain the first year we went). The second time we had a double room or something similar instead.

Thank you, i'm now leaning towards tunisia but DH is now thinking pay the extra and go back to what we know (rhodes). I rather like the sound/look of the beach in tunisia, though we didn;t even want to leave the HV Rhodes so didn't worry that the beach wasn't the stuff dreams are made of. Decisions decisions (am acutely aware this is such a first world problem but we holiday once in every 3 years, go big when we do, and want to get it right)

the beach is really close in Tunisia too - easy walking distance
Have you looked at reviews on tripadvisor?

we're going to HV Tunisia in 3 weeks so can let you know!

I'm pretty sure my heart is set on Tunisia now. The trip advisor reviews look great. Rollergirl - that would be fab!! I'd one to hear how it was :)

Of your list e have been to Tunisia and Turkey and are off to Tunisia again in 3 weeks as well!

We wouldn't go back to turkey again. The food and drinks were poor and there is just too many people for the size of the grounds etc.

Tunisia is lovely, great beach, pools, lovely grounds and food. We would love to go to rhodes but the flight times are terrible where we live (i refuse to come home at 3am) plus for the price difference, we are going to Egypt HV for a week next year - that is also excellent (we have been there twice already). FYI Kos HV is very good also, but our older child loves the slides in Tunisia.

We only went to Tunisia this May half term so if you want to ask any questions, please go ahead.

We'll be going May half term next year plus the week that follows…how busy was it Hersetta? Did you feel like you had enough space around the pool on sunbeds etc? How hot was it? I'll be booking the family room (not the kids den one). Thanks for all the replies - this is really useful :)

May shouldnt be too bad as the Scottish school holidays wont have started yet. We normally go at the end of June just as the kids finish up school and it isnt too busy then (but is full of us Scots!). The prices are also a lot cheaper at that point too. We end up driving down to manchester for flights as that also saves us hundreds of £'s on the price.

Just booked Tunisia for end May 2015 :) Got there in the end!

When it was sunny it was around 26/27 degrees. We did have a fair bit of cloud and even some rain on a couple of occasions. There was lots of space. It wasn't like sone where the sunbeds are 2inches apart!

I'm not sure we would go at that time of year again as the weather wasn't predictable enough. We are going to Egypt Hv again next May half term.