Self catering? Is it worth the hassle for the saving?

[flimflaminurjams]

Thinking somewhere in Europe in summer school holidays. 2 adults, 1x 6 yr old DD. We mainly just want warmth, pools, stuff for DD.

I'd love AI because it just makes life easier and when we've done it in past (pre-DD years) and once with DD, in both Cyprus and Portugal the food was pretty good.

Budget just wont stretch to it this year. Self catering looks like the best option and the savings are £300 each. Surely there is no way we would spend £900 on food in a week? Would we?

Any recommendations on good self catering places? Especially Portugal, Cyprus, Greece (is there still a used toilet roll in a bin thing there?) or Malta. No to Turkey, Spain, North Africa or France.

Do places tend to be really kitted out now or is it 1 ring hob and a tiny fridge job?

Depends what you rent, surely, re the standard.

Are you looking for a house or a s/c apartment type place?

I love self catering because I enjoy shopping locally and planning meals. In Portugal recently visited supermarket and local fish, meat and grocery markets. People are always happy to help. Your DD would learn so much.

We’ve done quite a few Airbnb places abroad now. It can be a bit pot luck but check photos and reviews carefully and be wary of booking somewhere with no reviews. We love our food and easily spend £80-100 per day on two meals out for all 4 of us, but you have the option to cook simple meals in the evening to save money, and it’s vital for us with young kids and countries where restaurants don’t open until 8.30pm!

Half board in a hotel can sometimes be a lot less than AI though, especially if you buy half board when you get there as there are often deals.

Just reread your op and I think you mean self catering hotels? Tbh, it’s cheaper and you get more for your money to get an Airbnb. We need the space and won’t sleep all together :)

And ime of s/c hotels, it is tiny hob and fridge jobs so you can’t properly cook.

I’d always get an apartment or villa for self catering. I live in Carvoeiro and there are loads of really well equipped apartments with full kitchens, washing machines, dishwashers etc plus a wide selection of reasonably priced restaurants. Self catering doesn’t have to mean drudgery in the sun

Carvoeiro in the algarve!

Depends on the place. I can't help with recommendations but we do pay a lot for our s/c place mainly because I want comfort. So, I always have a dishwasher, washing machine, proper kitchen.

I like shopping for meals but we also eat out. Remember you don't have your kitchen staples like salt, spices, sugar and flour around so I tend to do meals with a minium amount of ingredients needed or buy a spice mix etc. I never really looked at the prices tbh, think also that you save your weekly food shop at home.

It’s worth it if you can find a decent apartment with a nice pool. We have done a mixture of both and have always felt more relaxed on the self catering holidays.
I know you have to do a bit of cooking and washing up, but it never feels like the same drudgery as it does at home. I love the freedom of not having to stick to meal times if we don’t want to and getting to buy a load of nice pastries and meats from the local shop and eat them on the balcony.
In a lot of the air bnb places we have been to people have left oil and herbs, spices etc so we have bought what we needed and left bits there too.

We only stay in hotels for 2 nights or less
We love the space that sc gives and shopping at local markets and supermarkets is part of the fun.
I rarely cook beyond a sandwich and we mostly eat out.

We usually do self catering and it suits us . Yes I do end up cooking but I’ve learned not to recreate meals from home but much simpler things . Also a washer means less packing .

Last 2 years we have been in hotels which is lovely to have someone making beds and picking up towels ( yes lazy family) but I’ve found myself washing in the bath and trying to make meals with a tiny fridge and kettle !

It depends on what you like and how it works for your family . For me if they are happy I’m relaxed and that works for me!

Well if you actually want to cook/ prepare all your own meals and not buy drinks snacks out then I guess it would be cheaper. When mine were little we did S/C but ate only breakfast in the villa/ apartment so it wasn't cheaper. I also used to make sure we had two bedrooms so that bumps up the cost.
Alvor in Portugal is nice. We stayed s/c at the Dunas Do Alvor. Big apartments with a pool and close to beach and town.
With a six year old though, I think AI is perfect.

We always self-cater and would spend far less than £900 in a fortnight so I think it's perfectly manageable for a week. We don't really eat out though, just have picnic lunches and buy easy food and cook it at the accommodation for dinner. We stay in French houses though which usually have an oven of some description so you can whack a pizza in.

You can eat out for most meals for far less than £900 a week so I wouldn't worry about what cooking equipment is included. AI is rarely the cheap option. You either do it on the cheap and the food is poor quality, or it is so expensive for 5 star a la carte, that self catering or B&B and then eating out for other meals, combined with a couple of supermarket runs for drinks and bread, cheese, snacks, ham, olives is much cheaper.

For Malta, I would go to Marsalforn on Gozo, possibly combined with 2/3 days in/around Valetta or around Lindos/Pefkos in Rhodes. Can I ask why not Spain?

There's lots of interesting cultural stuff around Granada, Malaga, Seville, Cadiz, Nerja etc on the south coast, or around Barcelona and Costa Brava, so if you haven't been to these places before, there's loads to do that's not restricted to pool/beach/drinking/Brits in the sun. Also lots of children's play parks. Lanzarote also good for stuff to do and DC activities.

We've been to Cascais where there are plenty of 2 bed apartments near the beach with pool access and walkable distance to lovely restaurants.

I prefer self catering, but the last few times we have holidayed in the Med it has been cheaper to go half board.

Having said that, our last holiday, in Sicily, was an aparthotel, so we got bed and breakfast, and it was one of the best holidays we have had.

This year we are going half board as the difference between bed and breakfast and half board for the week was £35 per person, and this is in an upmarket looking hotel. We decided to book the half board option and eat out in the evenings anyway if the food isn't very good.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm happy to do some cooking (and DH does his fair share too) and have a few nice meals out, trying local lunches & pastries etc. That sounds ideal Daphne and DD seems to be getting very adventurous with her food choices lately so I'm keen to encourage trying local produce etc.

When we've rented houses in the UK we've done s/c and cooking most days and its never felt like drudgery or being like home. We'd manage a few nice lunches out in town or 1 nice evening meal out with DH.

Barbara thanks for the Malta recommendations, will look into those. I've never really had a good experience of Spain to be honest. I've always come back ill.

Thanks FakeMews will look into the Alvor place. Must admit I have a soft spot for Portugal having been a couple of years ago.

We always do s/c, via homeaway or Airbnb or similar & have had lots of great holidays (including several in Andalusia, you should definitely give it a bit of thought )

(Greece does still do loo paper in the bin I’m afraid, but the bins are emptied very regularly - daily or alternate days)

Just one 6 year old I would definitely give self catering a go. We have 3 children and for us the best bit of our last all inclusive holiday was not having to think about what to cook, to either take 3 kids into shops or take it in turns to go, not having to cook or clean up. Not even having to think about where to go to eat. All the decision making taken away absolutely made the holiday.

Not having to say no to endless requests for drinks and ice cream or worry they were going to be dropped or spilt or that they weren't going to like the food they'd chosen.

However when our two older children were in holiday club we took youngest for a couple of meals out and it was lovely and relaxing. With two to one I think there won't be much stress involved with self catering.

I love sc. Lunch out and snack type food for tea. I usually go where there is a dishwasher

I don't find it a hassle and prefer it even with youngish DC.
We rent an apartment with a pool right by the beach. We buy in breakfast stuff, have lunch at the pool bar or make sandwiches to have at the beach. At dinner we go to the nearby street of tavernas/restaurants and the kids love ordering their own food.
We often go to Greek islands like Crete

i much prefer self catering, we do a lot of BBQ outdoor cooking anyway which is enjoyable and i love visiting foreign supermarkets and markets and seeing the different selections

Depends what you like to eat. In a hot country with a market nearby we’d live on bread cheese olives and other picnic bits with the occasional fish. Easy and cheap. We’d also enjoy button by local wine.
But that all relies on a decent local market.

We always go s/c in Greece for our main holiday with 2 hot plates and an underbunit fridge. We take a mini toaster machine with us which saves a fortune as the kids are happy to snack on them! Kids normally have cereal for breakfast, I get Greek yoghurt and fruit or something nice from the bakery! Where we were in Greece last few years a lovely lady made sausage rolls and fold them for 50c on the beach for charity so we had them most lunchtimes!! Or s gyros or souvlaki pitta for €2.50 each which filled you up and are amazing! We eat out almost every night and I take around £900- £1000 spending money for 3 of us, teens and adult and that includes trips, scuba diving etc so it's def doable and in my opinion much nicer than AI as you get to experience the local food and culture. Plus you have more freedom!