yes i saw the pics from corfu aswell...as i was booked to go there i have now changed to the kos aqua. As the dig is still going on as we speak i very much doubt that corfu will be finished on time. so fingers crossed all of us that have chose kos have a bit more luck as as far as i know the work has started there. cant wait im trying not to get to excited but finding it hard. im sure we will all have a great time whatever happens xxx

10 months to and counting........

Hi, i checked out the website posted above, http://way.to/greekallinclusive
This is obviously run by someone with an axe to grind.

In the case of Acharavi, the people "with an axe to grind" are local people who fear the consequences of yet another all inclusive resort on their doorstep.

How many of these people have you spoken to?
How well do you know the area?
Do you know any of the people who attended the various council meetings held this year due to local concerns regarding tourism and the overall impact on the local villages?

The bias is in favour of "the independant traveller". If you want independant travel, dont book with a huge multi national tour operator.

In Corfu there is no-one else to book with, tour operators control all flights into the island.

They are also trying the guilt thing with mention of the economic and environmental impact.

You call it a "guilt thing" local people call it fact, they have seen the impact of previous developments first hand, have you? They know that building in that particular area causes flooding of adjacent land, it has every time. They know that when Blue Bay opened the tourism in local villages suffered significantly. They saw this year how another all-inclusive staffed their establishment with cheap Czech / Serbian labour rather than employing local labour.

People have for years been asking for this type of resort in Greece, yet the local businesses have done nothing to meet the demand.

Yes mainly because in the past the local people had been declined planning permission.

There are also a number of all-inclusives in the area, and the over proliferation of such resorts is causing concern, so much so that the local council is looking to ban all future all-inclusive developments as even they now realise that damage is being done.

Yes FC will make a lot of money out of this development but so will the greek economy.

How exactly?

Most money will be spent inside the complex, NOT in the local area, FC & their local partner will benefit, nobody else.

You will still be eating and drinking out there the only difference is the places you will get your food and drink from.

There is also the overall quality and type of food & drink on offer and the fact that if you want a named brand of drink you will still need to buy it as it will not be on the tariff. If you are happy with a choice of one beer and locally produced spirits then you will be fine.

As regards eating, if you are happy with a buffet / canteen style eating environment then this again will suit you.

I highly recommend that you make level headed decisions and dont listen to one sided polarised views.

Yes Absolutely.

It is all too easy to turn over on your sun lounger and not face the facts that local people are concerned with good reason as they see livelyhoods at risk. It is all too easy to take another sip from your tiny plastic glass of all inclusive beer (Lowenbrau) and deny that there is another view.

sorry you feel this way but I am still going on my well earnt and well deserved holiday! Local people do benefit in someway, I mean a local sold the land, locals will provide the fresh food most probably and people on all inclusives do go shopping and do buy other food and drinks not just the ones on the resort its self.
Thats my opinion anyway.

Unfortunately, not that many people spend much time (or money) in the local towns & villages as you yourself intend to do so. The proof of that is the significant reduction in tourism in the towns since the arrival of Blue Bay (in the case of Corfu) a few years ago.

Personally I view all-inclusives in Greece to be a short term fad, which is probably not sustainable long term, but when the tide changes, the damage will sadly already be done.

Yes there are some benefits to the increased tourist numbers but not the huge boost to the economy that many like to claim, as the number of all-inclusive resorts increases the decline in tourism in towns can be clearly seen year on year - related? I'll let you decide.

By all means please do visit local villages, have some nice meals and a drink or two in a bar, the local people will appreciate it and treat you well.

We also use the hotel as a base, and visit the local villages and markets, we dont see the point of visiting a new country and not having a good look around.
I am not really bothered about the booze the hotel offers as i dont really drink.

But from our point of view, it has excellant kids facillities ( or should have ) such as good pools and water slides.
We love going on public transport, just getting on a bus and seeing where it takes us.........
It should be a safe complex in which we can use as a base, i know my children will be happy, we can hop on a boat and visit Turkey, visit Kos town etc.
We are looking forward to seeing this lovely island- not just the hotel.

I've just checked out the prices for this holiday again and see that if I were to book my holiday now that it has gone up by £938.76! I've read that some of u have had letters informing u of the drop from 4 star to 3 star, I haven't heard anything yet. I booked at the end of July, should I have heard by now do you think? I for one am really looking forward to this holiday my children think I'm mad getting excited about it already!

Holiday has gone up £1450 since I booked mine back in May. So I think if everything is ready in time we have got a bargain.

grimbob, when you booked your holiday you should have been told that it was now a 3*plus hotel. As this changed some months ago now.

Thanx. No I wasn't told, although I was aware of it. I'm popping in to First Choice tomorrow and will see if I can find out anything new!

Hi Grimbob,

Will be appreciated if you tell us anything new that you find out, as after being at Pegasus tropical in Turkey this year, the first week it opened, forewarned is forearmed lol.

I had a chat with a member of staff at First Choice yesterday, who was very helpful. He told me that someone from their company has to go over to check any properties being built 7 months before they are due to open, in our case that should be next month, if it is due to open May 1st. Apparently they have to check that everything is being built as specified, ie: beachfront location etc. I also asked about the waterpark/ hotel being on the other side of the road, again he said anything like this will be reported back as there should be a good assessment of the progress being made. After the property has been visited any new information will then be published in the new brochure, due out in January!
I asked if it was worth inquiring before then and he said to leave it until around christmas so that all the new information should be accessible. He did say not to take much notice of negative reports on the net, as some of these could well be started by companies that have lost out on the purchase of the property or on the contracts for the build itself. basically someone with an axe to grind.
I know that this doesn't help with any immediate worries about it being ready on time, but we will just have to be patient! Hopefully, as someone else has said they will have learnt from their mistakes and go all out to make sure that they can meet their commitments!
Finally I asked that if in January I find out that there are changes to the holiday, that I am not happy about, would I be able to change my holiday, he said that if the changes were significant to the advertised holiday I had booked then Yes, there should be no problem.

hi all, after browsing through loads of holiday brochures for weeks on end i have finally booked the aqua beach for august 2nd 2006, i will be there with my hubby and two children aged 14 and 11.i have booked with eclipse direct via the internet, i found them the cheapest nearly 400 pound cheaper than fc. i do hope everything goes to plan for us all especially you lot going in may. has any one else booked for same time .

Hopefully they will be happy to provide these guarantees in writing, to avoid any potential "misunderstandings" should you wish to take them up in future.

Finally I asked that if in January I find out that there are changes to the holiday, that I am not happy about, would I be able to change my holiday, he said that if the changes were significant to the advertised holiday I had booked then Yes, there should be no problem.

Positive thoughts!!!!!

Hello, I've just discovered this site after booking to go to Kos 7th June, £2100 for my wife, 4 year old son and myself! I must say that reading on this site has made me a little nervous! Does anybody know of any other sites that may be informative?
Thanks.

hi, and welcome to HT.
No other site seems as informative as this one, i think its just a case of fingers crossed................

I still get amazed by all the different prices we are paying, im going June 14th (10 nights) me, other half, 13yr old daughter (adult price), 9 year old daughter (free child place) and baby (infant price) came to £1,819 booked back in April on the first edition brochure also booked direct with first choice instead of travel agent.

We go 19 july, fantastic day flights from manchester, upraded room to sea view and king size bed, 3 adults( including 13 yr old) and free place for my 10 yr old. total, £2500. 14 nights. and its the first 2 weeks of the school holidays so not to bad............