RodosRon thank you for your comments. Perhaps I did not word it correctly, my son eats very healthly but in the past the snack areas only serves what i have already listed which he will eat no problem. But would prefer other things like pasta and fish , veg and meat. He does not like to go to the restaurant mid day thats all.
As for the sun beds we are a family of 6 but only normally take 3 beds and share as we feel that is only fair when there are so many people on holiday. We don't usually go into lunch so have no need to leave the beds. On the occasions we have taken the children elsewhere we always pack things up and take with us as in the past we have had things stolen, so learnt our lesson there.
We have a family swim up room and a studio so hopefully if the need arises we could carry our sunbeds from our apartment to the pool somewhere and bring back.

I was not referring to cancellations calamity, only to complaints about teething problems. I totally agree that if you book early you should not have your trip cancelled simply because the tour company figures out they have people willing to book later and pay more.

There are alternative answers to this issue. Price the product at a fair price regardless of how far in advance it is booked. Booking early will still get you a place while waiting to book late will mean you take the chance everything is full. I can think of no reason why booking early should be cheaper than booking late or vice versa. But that isn't what people want is it. They want a 'discount' for booking early and others want a 'discount' for booking last minute.

Another alternative is to not use a tour company who does this kind of thing and tell others. In marketing, there are 3 things you want a customer to do. Come back, buy more and tell others. What you don't want them to do is tell others not to buy. But as long as there are people who are willing to pay a tour company to arrange a hotel and flight for them you will have this kind of problem. It is only when people wake up and stop booking with them that they will have to clean up their act. All that is necessary for this to stop is for people to change their buying habits. Instead what we get is people saying the tour company should change their habits. Well guess what, it ain't gonna happen. The people have the power but they have to choose to exercise it and it seems most are unwilling to do that if it means they would have to book their own flight and hotel directly. That's laziness and as I wrote earlier, the people are getting what they are asking for. You give someone else the power over these decisions and then complain when they exercise their power. That's naivity at it's peak.

I'm glad to hear your son eats healthily beanies. That is not a problem in Greece. Whether it is a problem in a hotel catering to tourists is another question. I eat a MickeyD's burger maybe once in 3 or 4 months. I have no objection to eating comfort food in moderation. The problem of course arises when that is all someone eats. If a 5 star hotel only serves that kind of food at their snack bar it is because that is what the tourists are asking for. Tell your son to ask for a Greek salad whether it is on the menu or not. Or some dolmades or stiffado or a pita gyros or pita souvlaki. Or simply ask what mezedes they have to offer. When Greek people dine out they usually share a variety of mezedes, various different dishes which are rather appetizers than main dishes. However, when many of them are combined together, then they create a delicious meal. One or two as a 'snack' lunch should be easy enough. If a Greek hotel does not have Greek food there is a serious problem and it is the Tour company who is making them do it. Again, going AI is giving away your power to make decisions as to what kind of food to buy. You get what they offer. You wouldn't have that problem outside of an AI hotel.

I never understand why people go to a country and then want to eat the same food as they eat at home rather than experiencing the local cuisine. The ironic thing is that the number one take-away food in England is curry, an Indian dish. Also in the UK you have 'Donner kebab'. This is a man made compressed piece of 'meat' full of additives, etc. It is based on a similar food item found in several Mediterranean countries including Greece. The Greek version is called gyros (gee-rows) and is made from fresh lamb put on a skewer piece by piece to build up a tower of meat. But it won't keep, any left over has to be thrown out at day's end, unlike the ersazt donner kebab. So anyway, my point is that pita gyros is the real thing while donner kebab is a poor immitation. Imagine my thoughts when I heard a tourist saying, 'why don't they have any real donner kebab?'

RodosRon I am looking along the lines of going direct next year so maybe it can work out better I have gone direct before (a friend runs a restaurant in Elounda, Crete) and it worked perfectly well so I should not really have reverted to old. I did initially think that you were talking utter rubbish in previous posts but I do stand corrected, I guess you are talking sense afterall.

I'm trying to talk sense calamity but not everyone wants to hear the truth even if the name of this forum has the word 'truths' in it.

I lived and worked in the tourist industry on Rhodes for 7 years. Believe me I know what tour companies are all about. They beat the hotel down to the lowest number they can per room and charge as much as they can to the tourist. Before the Euro, smaller hotels were being offered 2000 drachmas per night for a double room. In December 2000 (just before the change to the Euro), the exchange rate was 369D/$. The pound was at roughly 500D/pound. The 2000 drachmas the hotel got was therefore around 4 pounds per night per room. Where can you get a room in the UK for that?

This kind of beating down of hotels to a level where they could not make a profit has gone on for decades now. Partly the Greeks themselves are to blame since they allow anyone who wants to, to to build a hotel and thus create a surplus of rooms. The Tour companies simply say to the hotel owner, 'take what we are offering or we will go to the hotel next door.' At one time Rhodes was an expensive and quite exclusive island to visit. Then came package tourism.

Back in 1994, I remember the first hotel on Rhodes that started charging for sunbeds by the pool. One enterprising soul who owned a hotel figured that if he couldn't make money on his rooms he had to make it someplace. Within a year just about every hotel was charging for the use of sunbeds. The tourists complained bitterly that the hotel was 'ripping them off'. But think about it, who in fact was creating the situation that forced the hotels to this action? The tour companies.

Tour companies have 'welcome meetings' and what do they do at those meetings? Welcome you, provide information on the island, etc.? No they want to sell you day trips. Tour Reps get fired if they don't sell enough day trips. Sure they first provide some information about the island but just how good is it? Well, I have sat in a bar/restaurant and heard them. First, if you arrive early in the season, it is likely that the Rep has not been on the island much longer than you have (there are exceptions when a Brit married to a Greek takes the job for a season) and so know little or nothing you don't know. I have heard reps spout nonsense of all kinds. Rhodes has artesian spring water, pure, safe and good for you. Yet reps will tell people to drink bottled water. Why, because the tourist who drinks too much alcohol then says it was the water and wants compensation when they get home. So the tour company tells you drink bottled water and they eliminate you having the excuse to come back on them. I've heard them say it is unsafe and taking your life in your hands to rent a scooter. Nonsense, it's safe if you ride responsibly. But there is more money for the tour company in getting you to rent cars. I could go on and on with examples.

Tour companies are parasites. In the past perhaps they served a useful purpose when it was difficult for people to arrange bookings for themselves. But now we have the internet and it's all easy to do. You don't have to know of a hotel or get a recommendation from a friend who has been somewhere. You can look at dozens anywhere in minutes.

Tourists think they decide where to go on vacation. Not true for most. Package tourists go only to places where tour companies sell packages. So who does the actual deciding? At least some of the people posting here about this HV never thought of going to Rhodes for a vacation until HV decided to offer them a package there. But they think they are deciding where to go. They only get to decide based on the choices the tour companies choose to offer.

On my last visit to Rhodes I flew with a cheap airline; took a taxi to a village I like (Haraki); walked in to a bar a friend of mine owns and said hello. After greetings were exchanged and news caught up on, I said I needed a room for 2 weeks. My friend's wife picked up the phone, called the lady down the street who owns a minimarket with 2 self-catering rooms up above and yes one was available and yes I could have it for 15 euros a night. The euro was then at around 1.40/pound so that was around 12 pounds a night for a double room. Anyone could have walked in to that bar or any other, bought a drink, relaxed and mentioned they needed a room and would have found something similar being offered to them. Beach front with a large balcony; fridge, cook top, sink and dishes for 12 pounds. Do you really want to know what I think of someone who pays 3-4-7,000 pounds for 2 weeks? Another 15 euros a day gets you a car and another 15 per person will feed you. Add it up.

Rodosron, I couldn't agree more, especially about the food. We once met some folks who were flying home a week early because they "didn't do proper burgers". This was pre McDonalds.People never cease to amaze me.

RodosRon sounds a good idea to walk into a bar and ask for a room, just like you say, when the children are older that is what we will possibly do. We did a similar thing in America years ago, before children, as we were travellilng for six months and didn't know where our bed would be each night but when you have little children it is more of a worry (for me anyway but others I am sure are a bit more carefree). Next year we will book directly but know where we are going, find out about the area and what the facilities will be like and what to roughly expect..... will not be looking for perfection...and not for a bargain.

When we used to take holidays , we booked flights & accomodation our selves
Found http://www.travelrepublic.co.uk were excellent

fantastic thanks tpebop.

I'm not a fan of third party airfare websites in general. Often they do not cover all airlines, especially the LCCs (low cost carriers) like Easyjet who now fly direct to several destinations in Greece including Rhodes. I just checked them for a flight mid-june returning end of june and found 131 pounds return per person. It pays to check both third party and individual airline websites.

I think if you're travelling independently it's just a case of shopping around, using price comparison sites, sites such as Travel Republic and the airline's own website.

As an example our Easyjet flight this October was cheaper through Travel Republic than booking direct through Easyjet, similarly I got accommodation sold via Olympic much cheaper through Alpharooms. For June it worked out better booking flights with Easyjet and organising my own accommodation.

Exactamundo marcus. It's taking the time to do the legwork that gets you the best deals. No one website consistently has the best offer on any given day.

oh my goodness!!! I am shocked, just been reading the reviews from people who have just got back from the Holiday Village Rhodes, it sounds an awful place!!! I am really shocked, this is meant to be a 5 sun star rating spa hotel full of luxury not some 3 star chav city hotel!!!!

Those words 'luxury' and '5 star' are subjective terms calamity. What one person considers luxury, another person can indeed consider cheap package holiday fare. Frankly, I don't think 'luxury' and 'package holiday' are terms that can ever be combined. I once visited (visited, not stayed at) a Club Med on the island of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos islands. While it offered more amenities than the average island hotel and the food was reasonably edible, I wouldn't have called it luxury. But then my expectations and those of their average guest were obviously not the same as Club Med has been very successful for many years. They provide what their guests expect.

In this case, a new hotel with new staff and teething problems cannot possibly provide what the guests expect. Not unless the guests are prepared to expect far less given the circumstances and let's face it, that's not how people are. As I said earlier, they expect everything to be as they want it and make little if any allowance for the circumstances. Reviews slating the place hardly surprise me.

To be fair to the hotel (not the tour company) I'm sure they are doing the best they can under the circumstances but they can't change the expectations of the tourists. As someone wrote earlier, it's attitude that makes a good vacation. What you read in reviews reflects the attitude and expectations of those writing the reviews. That's why reviews are a waste of time.

I actually do think you can have luxury in package holidays, we went to sensatori last year in Crete and it was sheer luxury...gorgeous massages, lovely food especially in one of the restaurants where we cooked our own meat at our table just to our liking, a jacuzzi bath in our very large room plus a swim up just outside the door, it was lovely but yes what some see as luxury others wouldn't and what is being described at the HV Rhodes, to me, is not luxury, it sounds very loud, very in your face and well, pretty much butlins abroad and just not my cup of tea at all! but everyone to their own.

Stayed at the HV in Rhodes 26th May for 1 week. Booked the deluxe accomodation. Here are my views:-
Arrived to champagne and a meal in the Clubhouse, so good start. Luggage took about 2 hours to arrive in the room! So we could not get unpacked until 11.00 Not bad for us, but what about if you arrive at 04.00 as some people were doing.
Kept awake all night by the generator. I though it was a coach with engine on outside the reception.

No where near enough sunbeds. More were delivered through out the week. They were not placed out, people just helped themselves from the delivery lorry! But even then still not enough. I did not get a sunbed once as not prepared to get up at 06.00 to reserve. Some people reserved the night before.

Resturants. We ate at the Clubhouse in the Royal area as we had paid to stay there. Loads of problems but they did get more staff as the week went on and the manager & waiters could not have been more helpful. They just did not have the training or direction. But this was a great option to have compared to the cramped 'canteen' over in the active area. Tables crammed together. Very small area where the food was. We ate there once when Clubhouse was closed. That was enough!! Love to see what happens when it rains as the roof outside is not exactly waterprof, and there are only a few tables in side.

Entertainment. Loads of activities for kids aged 5-10 during the day. And these seemed to be well organised. Not much for teenagers. Evening entertainmnet was boring and slow. Childrens entertainment went on for hours. Then there may be some audults entertainment but very poor and always involved some kids. Very tedious. We played cards most of the time! Given the billiant entertainers at Cyprus HV and Lazarote HV, this was a massive disapointment. For instance the daily quiz once took one hour to do, as the entertainer running it was so slow, and very boring. Plus there is a shortage of loo's near the entertainment area. There are only 2 ladies loos!

The rooms were actually very nice though. If you are in a deluxe room, take some games for the play station 3 as they do not have any to borrow/rent! No tolieteries in the rooms though. Remeber to take plug in's for the rooms as there are loads of mosquitoes. Plus spray yourself daily as they bite loads.

The overall complex is very small compared to other HV's so you did feel as though you were on top of each other. Especially in the 'canteen', and entertainment area. We were there at half term and it wsa packed.
There were loads of people complaining but I am sure that this will calm down as the staff get more used to the running of a complex.

We were lucky I think from reading other comments in that we did book early so did not pay what I would call 'over the top prices' But would I go again? No I would not. Would I go back to Cyprus or Lazarote? I would go tomorrow.
So if they cancel your holiday transfer to either of these. Much cleaner/beter/friendlier.

I have to respond to some of the comments by alipali1. No offense alipali but I find your comments indicative of some typical misconceptions.

There is NO reservation system for sunbeds. As I have already written, if a bed is empty it is available. Tell me exactly how people 'reserved the night before'? Does the hotel take bookings for sunbeds? A towel on a sunbed is not a reservation, it is simply an inconsiderate idiot who THINKS s/he can reserve a sunbed. Throw the towel on the ground and use the sunbed. There only needs to be as many sunbeds as there are people AT the pool, not as there are guests in the hotel.

Regarding restaurants, I thought this was supposed to be a '5 star resort'? What kind of 5 star resort has a 'canteen'? I expect table service at a 5 star resort and 5 star meals being served. This sounds like a typical AI cheap package holiday to me, not a 5 star anything.

Regarding rain, when I lived on the island I drove a 1975 MGB convertible. I put the top down at the beginning of May and put it up at the end of September when the evenings got too cool. I parked outside, top down, every night during that time without worrying about rain. It does not rain between May and September. It did ONCE in 7 years for about 10 minutes. Everyone was standing outside looking up at the sky in disbelief. So I wouldn't worry about tables being outside.

Forced entertainment a la Butlins is not indicative of a 5 star resort. Makes me think of the blue rinse crowd and bingo games at a dreary English beach town like Blackpool or Brighton. About as low class as it comes, both the places and the 'entertainment'. I shudder at the thought. Go into Rhodes Town and visit a real Bouzouki club. Ask staff where you can hear some real rembetika singers. You are visiting Greece, not Butlins.

Regarding mosquitoes, I can only say that on average I got perhaps 2 bites a season while living there. Rhodes has very few mosquitoes compared to many parts of the world. I do recognize that some people are more attractive to mosquitoes and more susceptible to their bite. I've seen tourists with big swollen bites. I have to tell you though that 'plug-ins' are not only next to useless they are a definite fire hazard. Better to spray a bit of Avon's Skin So Soft on your ankles and arms for the evenings.

Looking at the latest reviews it seems that Rhodes HV is getting better and better especially on the delux side, which is great to see.

Will you be returning anotherguru?

Not in the near future. Plenty of other places to try yet, though i would go back again but not in busy periods, we like the quiet times when you don't have to fight for sunbeds .