like any other resort magaluf has some cheap and some expensive places ,
just ask any 1 of the MILLIONS of touts that annoy you to go in their bars .

i would recomend you try BACO'S bar about 12 o clock , then over the road to the PLAZA . i always go in them (because they dont have touts)

but you will love magaluf if you like to party

Just back from Magaluf last tuesday, i thought it had got alot more expensive since the last time i went, we got through £1600 in a fortnight, that was me the wife and 2 kids aged 17 and 15. Also on the subject of touts, they really annoyed me and Magaluf is by far the worst place i`ve been for touts pestering you, i don`t think i`ll be going to Magaluf again while the touts are pestering you like they do now

I guess Jim, that by touts you mean the PRs that try to drag you in to the bars. I think we all agree they are a pain.

The problem for the smaller bars is that the bigger guys (you will have seen who I mean) flout / bend / use the rules and end up flooding the place with PRs. Then to get anyone in their bars in the competitive market the smaller bars have to employ increasingly pushy people.

The solution lots of people think would be to sharply limit the numbers of PRs that the big bars can put on the street (perhaps 10% of the current number) this would allow the smaller bars to rein back too. Incidently it also seems to fuel the drink excess mentality as the bars offer more and more 'free' drinks.

Visitors can be part of the solution by favouring the smaller less agressive bars, particularly those that don't employ more than one PR.

I go to Magalluf 2x per year once with the lads and once with the Family and a am always pleased that the prices still remain fairly low when compared to other Mainland Resorts.

Obviously on a Lads holiday my time is spent on the beach road and I would concur that over the last 4 years the number of touts has increased dramatically and it can be a real pain walking up the hill especially if your going somewhere like Mulligans which is right at the other end.
I can get pretty confrontational with the reps as I appreciate they have a job to do as annoying as it is , but when they start touching me or trying to drag me into their bars, that is when the line is crossed for me

When I am with the family they stay well clear, I take my wife up their on a Friday to show her how mad it is and she just cannot beleive it.

Always start at the bottom of the hill at Devils (1e) and you cannot go wrong.

The thread seems to have gone a little off topic, but the increase in "touts" and the cost of drinks in Magalluf is connected.

First of all let me declare my hand - I own a bar in Magalluf, and I employ 1 legal PR (tout if you prefer that word) who only stands outside my bar and wears the "bib" which is provided by the local authority, and which all PRs are obliged to wear.

When we first opened our bar, I completely agreed with all the negative comments which have been made regarding PRs and did not employ one. We had a terrible year.

In our second year we employed a PR and doubled our turnover. We issue strict guidelines to our PR as regards their behaviour, and the type of person they encourage to come in. They are never rude, crude and even despite some of the behaviour they have to endure from mainly groups of youths, they are always polite.

This year we were lucky enough to find a really good PR, and we doubled our turnover yet again. We put on shows, we have nights when we have drinks offers, and we run (and re run) big screen TV, Football and DVD's which many people are interested in. Our PR simply draws people's attention to these facts, and we have been much busier this year.

Personally I do not need a PR to advise me whats on in Magalluf, and most PRs know who I am anyway, but I am always polite and say no, and I have never had any problems. Frankly whether you like it or not, these people are commercially viable, and whilst ever that is the case, then bars will employ them.

However there are bars which employ illegal PRs ( at one time a bar near to us had 14 (yes fourteen) such PRs who were a real collection of rag tag and bobtails who were paid commission only to get peope in. They hung around on every street corner, outside every Hotel, and sometimes posed as customers in other peoples bars to get their punters and earn their money. These are real pests, and during the darker nights they often frighten people as they jump out of the shadows to ask you to go to their bar.

Everyone knows who they work for (the biggest culprits are two spanish bars who have British sounding names, and the Guardia Civil are regular customers of theirs. If I, or another similar British owned bar tried the same we'd be closed down within hours)

However coming back to the subject of this thread - the best offers we have made through the year is when our PR has come in, and asked me to do a deal for a group, or sometimes even a family. Free kids cocktails. jugs of cocktails for some of the stag or Hen groups, and two for one deals on bottles have all originated from customers bartering with the PR's and ending up with a good deal, because we were otherwise quiet, and wanted 20 or 30 more peope in our bar - remembering that people attract people.

Remember these lads and lasses are just doing their job, however you might dislike it (do you swear at every Parking meter attendent or Tax office employee you walk past?)

As regards the illegal ones - complain to the bar, or the police, or the Tourism office - and don't support those bars, but please don't take it out on the one's who are trying to do the job right, and make a living.

Cheers

Adam

i always walk down the beach to avoid the touts and cut thru were i want to be , but like i said if i get asked by a tout i just wont go in the place .

i was talking to a worker in a takeaway the other day who said that the council are trying to stop them next year ........... fingers crossed

maybe goodfellow will know some news on the subject

It won't happen Jim - these big bars are too powerful - the owner of BCM owns half the Island, and the biggest culprit that I referred to earlier is the Vice Chairman of th Bar Owners Association (although they are all a bunch of Jokers )

There are a lot of illegals anyway, and if they outlawed all PRs, it would just draw all the bars into employing illegal PRs. Their best bet is to keep them legal and try and regulate them - otherwise there would just be a free for all.

Although you don't like them Jim, we see night after night after night that a polite and respectful PR brings people into our bar, and clearly whilst ever that happens I will employ them.

Cheers

Adam

I think you cannot argue with how effective the Touts are when looking from a bar owners perspective, increased turnover etc. I think really the problem is as mentioned earlier the reluctance to enforce the non registered tout (bibless) as when I was there the other month the majority of the people who get you are bibless.

I think the worst culprit is the BCM touts they hammer you night and day , but based on your statement the owner, owns half the island what are you going to do. This also rings true when the only facility to display the England games outside was the BCM Square, it was muted though that this land is private and therefore they could not enforce the by law, whether this was just a ruse or not.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions, on that matter. But it is a perfect example of favouritism where we were banned from showing football on our terrace and BCM could do what they wanted.

All I'd like is a level playing field!

Adam

I agree BCM PRs are the worst, but I just keep the first flyer they give me and if another tries to give me a flyer then I just show the first one...

Most of the PRs are just Brit teens out there for the Summer having a good time, and we made good friends with a lot of them while we were out there, The Office I and Alex's Bar to name a few.... they are the most prominent on the strip though. They're just doing their job, and if you're polite and firm then they'll just move onto the next potential customer...

What Adam says is true though, PRs and Costs are connected... without PRs giving our group offers, we probably would have spent lots more money. As there were 4 of us, we got BOGOF, a free shot each and a jug of cocktail. We ended up spending just about 30E each a night, which is a CHEAP night out!!

On prices though in general, I don't think it's more expensive than anywhere else - You'll pay around (non-offers) 5E-6.50E for 2 bottles of WKD, 6.50E for a 'good' cocktail (e.g. Benny Hill's), 12E for a good steak (e.g. Tom Browns) and around 3-4E for a full English....

(do you swear at every Parking meter attendent or Tax office employee you walk past?)

I don`t walk past a parking warden or tax office employee every ten yards, i go on holiday to relax and enjoy myself, i shouldn`t have to be pestered every 20 seconds or so, i do see where you`re comming from on a bar owners point of view and i must add that the worst pr`s are the ones on the hill