For Gemmastar

Hi, a group of us aged between 43 and 9 are going to Faliraki next year, this year we were in Pefkos. We are hoping that it is not as bad as the press reports and i just wondered if you could put our minds at rest. We will be staying in the Luca Hotel, all inclusive, so if you have any info. for us it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

beachcomber

You seem to be missing the point. Faliraki in recent years has become a place for brain dead people, large packs of young people roaming around shouting and swearing in the evening and through the night almost all under the influence of various substances. Many greek islands have streets with plenty of bars, but people are much better behaved. I have stayed in Faliraki many years ago when, yes it was a pleasant lively resort but unfortunately it has changed. This in the main is due to a number of well known package companies.

There is no "greek" Faliraki and never was. I sincerely hope your right that some tour companies will be repulsed and also hope you travel around the many other islands where people have been going for many decades.

When I refer to "Greek Faliraki" I mean Greek Restaurants and tavernas and Greek Music. That is available to guests who want that. The resort is not for braindead people, but if people want to go out and party and become braindead afterhours that's there choice. Everyone chooses the kind of fun and entertainment they want. The young and lively will choose the club scene, but if others want something else they can in Faliraki. It's a family, couples and singles resort. It's close enough to Rhodes town and day trips to Lindos and around the island are available.
The resort did change overtime to accommodate the majority of it's clients which were from the UK and the major tour companies did all they could to enable this. But, ...........people who visit Faliraki do have a choice. I do live in the resort and was saddened how things turned out in the last couple of years. The press blew everything up as usual. Some of our guests have been coming to Faliraki for years. We have guests in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and I can't help but mention Sid&Marie who are 75 and 80. The resort can accommodate everyone. Once you arrive the choice and pace of your holiday is yours.
There are cruises down to Lindos that leave Faliraki as well as walking holidays(discover various villages) and biking holidays. The views are captivating and to die for.
I understand that not everyone will choose Faliraki or even Rhodes. There are many beautiful Greek Islands worth seeing. They are truly magical! But the choice should be there's and not the media's or the travel agent's. Friends in the UK have informed all of us here that sometimes when they go to book a holiday to Faliraki they are told the resort is either full (which is a lie) or that the resort is "dead" and should choose Cyprus. That's where it seems like the tourist market is geared toward certain destinations. I know that the major tour companies are out to make money and will send people to the place where they can profit from the most. Major tour companies used to take guests on a pubcrawl (after making them pay extra) everyone would drink, and then be left on their own to get home. There slogans were The party is here and now! They allowed people especially the younger market to think that Faliraki was an "anything goes place." As a local, that went against our perspective. But tour companies were satisfied because their profits were soaring. Things are changing in Faliraki and they don't seem to be too happy about that.
The party can be here and now! But, guests should choose for themselves how they want to party. Locals that live here have families as well. They want their kids to be safe and they want the kids who come on holiday to be safe as well.
Hope I was able to clarify to Ouzo exactly what I meant.

Will be happy to try to answer any other questions about Faliraki or any other resort in Rhodes.

Hear, hear Gemmstar. I love Rhodes and have been saddened by the reputation Faliraki gained over the last few years. I have friends with a bar in Orfanidou St (Bar st.) in Rhodes town and we watch these groups being led up the street on tour operators excursions, youngsters drinking themselves silly, courtesy of the "pub crawl" night out. Several times some of these youngsters end up in hospital, where are the tour operators then? One street does not make a resort and there are plenty of quieter, nicer places to eat and drink.I shall never stop coming to the island while I'm fit enough to travel.

It's nice to know that you've judged the resort for yourself and not formed an opinion just by listening to the media. Last season was the quietest that I've seen since I moved here and that was 8 years ago. Most locals panic and agree to any terms the tour operator sets. Meaning prices for accommodations have dropped extremely low. Some locals, my family included, just said no. No to be taken advantage of by the tour companies. We now operate on our own and friends that have stayed with us always send others.
Thanks for your reply.

My wife, 11 year old son and myself stopped at the Rodos Palladium in Kalithea, just up the road from Falaraki during this summer. After a couple of quiet nights in the Hotel we tentatively ventured into Falaraki, not sure what to expect.

We need not have worried. For the remainder of the holiday we could not keep away. The bairn loved the fairground, the wife loved the jewellery shops and we all loved the family orientated bars / kareoke bars.

While in Falaraki we met young lads and lasses, young and older couples and families like ourselves who were loving every minute of being in the resort.

We would definitely return as a family or even as a couple, if we can find a baby sitter.

i stayed in the rodos palladium hotel, outskirts of faliraki last week of july
it was only 5 mins and 6 euros in taxi so we thought we'd sample faliraki-
was completely suprised as it is nothing like they make out on tv!
considering we were their peak time, there were families there and it was fairly clean. i never thought id enjoy it as we usually book quiet resorts but i would return there

We are back to Rhodes again this June, our 8th time. We first started going to Rhodes way back in the 70ies until recently we always stopped in Rhodes town, as we liked it there in an evening and a hire car took us where ever we wanted to go during the day. Now days we stop at Kalithia, The Rodos Royal, and often venture into Faliraki. Simple ...if you don't like Bar Street, don't go down it. There are plenty of other great places there.

gemmastar - good to see u defending somewhere u feel so strongly about!
Personally i think the faliraki thing is completely out of hand. I've holidayed, lived and worked on the island and it's a real shame what bad press and tour operators can do to ruin a perfectly good resort.

I lived n worked in Kremasti for a while - a village that had grown to a resort through DEMAND. A bit of bad press about aircraft noise on watchdog and the next year the biggest tour operator in the village dropped every property! I resigned from my job as i could see my friends were struggling to make a living for themselves let alone pay me. Fortunately this was several years ago n things have picked up again there now as i'm sure they will in Faliraki.

Faliraki isn't my favourite place on the island but i enjoy a night out there n the waterpark's great. People shouldn't believe the hype, there's not one resort on Rhodes that ACTUALLY IS the hedonistic, hell that they showed Faliraki to be. There's people older than my parents that go back year after year n i don't imagine they're getting wasted every nt, having sex in the streets, etc.!!!

Good to hear all your comments Marcus. I have many friends in Faliraki and it was also sad for me to watch them struggling this past summer. Like you said bad press and tour operators really did a number on the resort. It's simple---bar street is there and if you want that scene every night then go for it, but if you don't there are so many other options for you. A lot of couples and older people always go twice a year and stay at the same accommodation. They've gotten to know the owners and they are really friendly.
Now my friends don't even want to hear of tour operators. They just operate independently. Hopefully with a little bit of patience, things will improve for Faliraki.
And there are so many other things to do in Rhodes and places to visit. I'm sure we all have open-minds and won't judge a place we've never visited just because of the blown out of proportion---resort they showed us on telly. It makes it seem like the entire resort is like that when bar street is just that--one street!