Even basic holidays are becoming expensive.

Bretrick

Bretrick

SF VIP
Location
Perth Western Australia
1 week in Mandurah would set me back $1831 - $261.50 a night.
Might sound not so expensive on the world stage but I am never prepared to spend more than $160 - $180 a night for what is basically a bed.
Mandurah's poorer cousin Rockingham can be had for $1230 - $176 a night for 1 week.
I think I will stay where I am and look forward to my 3-week recce in Melbourne mid April.
 
Yes I've seen this here too... I was looking for a holiday just last week abroad ... but the prices are just so high, it doesn't make sense to me, because in reality like you I'm only looking for a comfortable bed... I don't need to pay for 5 star accomodations.. just a decent place.. and now they're charging 5 star prices for 3 star accomodation... I have no intentions of paying £2,000 for a week's self catering in any country in Europe... countries I've been to many times before for substantially less money... that's nuts !

..even in the B&B's in the pubs in the UK..prices are really high... I have an occasion coming up very soon, and as I have to travel about 150 miles I thought I may as well just stay at the local pub in the area overnight... but I was stunned at their prices.. for one single night... just ridiculous.

What's worse is that you get an even shorter time..for example.. you can't book in until 3 or 4pm... then they want you out by 10am the following morning.. . so in essence you have to pay these high prices for what amounts to 16 hours... ..not even a full 24 hours...
 
Bretrick said:
1 week in Mandurah would set me back $1831 - $261.50 a night.
Might sound not so expensive on the world stage but I am never prepared to spend more than $160 - $180 a night for what is basically a bed.
Mandurah's poorer cousin Rockingham can be had for $1230 - $176 a night for 1 week.
I think I will stay where I am and look forward to my 3-week recce in Melbourne mid April.
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In april? Wow. You can get a holiday house with 2 or 3 bedrooms for 5 days for 213 euro. It's only expensive in July and August.
 

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hollydolly said:
Yes I've seen this here too... I was looking for a holiday just last week abroad ... but the prices are just so high, it doesn't make sense to me, because in reality like you I'm only looking for a comfortable bed... I don't need to pay for 5 star accomodations.. just a decent place.. and now they're charging 5 star prices for 3 star accomodation... I have no intentions of paying £2,000 for a week's self catering in any country in Europe... countries I've been to many times before for substantially less money... that's nuts !

..even in the B&B's in the pubs in the UK..prices are really high... I have an occasion coming up very soon, and as I have to travel about 150 miles I thought I may as well just stay at the local pub in the area overnight... but I was stunned at their prices.. for one single night... just ridiculous.

What's worse is that you get an even shorter time..for example.. you can't book in until 3 or 4pm... then they want you out by 10am the following morning.. . so in essence you have to pay these high prices for what amounts to 16 hours... ..not even a full 24 hours...
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Out of control. So I will hold onto my money and not support these grubs.
 
When my wife and I travel, we like to be comfortable. Having breakfast brought to our room is always a nice compliment while on the road. We also eat at restaurants that are not franchises. We enjoy eating the local cuisine. If we are staying in a hotel for more than a few days, we try to get a suite. My wife usually stays up between 12-1 a.m. I enjoy going to bed at 10 p.m. Having a suite allows her to sit in the other room to watch TV while I sleep in the bedroom at around 10 p.m.
 
When I was working, I traveled a lot and for years after I retired, I could still use air miles and hotel loyalty points to reduce the cost of holidays. Now I am running out of points and like others, I am finding the cost of accommodation and travel a tad too expensive in some places.

As some of you may know, we have a campervan that we use for touring the UK. This used to be a cheap holiday, costing a few pounds per night. Now, there are few basic sites and many camp sites offer almost as much as a hotel. Prices can be around £30 a night and over twice that in high season. OK, that's a lot cheaper than a hotel, but campervans, RV's etc. have also shot up in price.
 
hollydolly said:
Yes I've seen this here too... I was looking for a holiday just last week abroad ... but the prices are just so high, it doesn't make sense to me, because in reality like you I'm only looking for a comfortable bed... I don't need to pay for 5 star accomodations.. just a decent place.. and now they're charging 5 star prices for 3 star accomodation... I have no intentions of paying £2,000 for a week's self catering in any country in Europe... countries I've been to many times before for substantially less money... that's nuts !

..even in the B&B's in the pubs in the UK..prices are really high... I have an occasion coming up very soon, and as I have to travel about 150 miles I thought I may as well just stay at the local pub in the area overnight... but I was stunned at their prices.. for one single night... just ridiculous.
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Our house move is likely to include staying in temporary accommodation in order to avoid the chain of buyers and sellers. There's a caravan site not far away that has a number of cabins that are really quite comfortable for a short stay. They have a a number of rooms and a decent bathroom, all rather pleasant actually. We were offered £52:00 per night, or £260:00 for a week and a little cheaper still for a month, that being £1,000. Good value I would say, I didn't check to see if those prices are held during the summer months, but I have often seen the "Full" sign when driving past the place during peak periods.
 
On Monday I need to call and have our timeshare put into my name. I think most beneficiaries use that as a time to get out of the timeshare. I want to keep it as it's been a great value for us. I hope they don't try any up sell or anything. I want it just as it is but they have tried for years to squeeze us out.
I have no desire to travel overseas or anywhere far. The timeshare lets me stay weeks fairly close to home and at driveable locations.
Wish me luck!
 
horseless carriage said:
Our house move is likely to include staying in temporary accommodation in order to avoid the chain of buyers and sellers. There's a caravan site not far away that has a number of cabins that are really quite comfortable for a short stay. They have a a number of rooms and a decent bathroom, all rather pleasant actually. We were offered £52:00 per night, or £260:00 for a week and a little cheaper still for a month, that being £1,000. Good value I would say, I didn't check to see if those prices are held during the summer months, but I have often seen the "Full" sign when driving past the place during peak periods.
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a couple of years ago if you remember I took a week's holiday down near you ... first time I've taken a holiday in the UK for over 30 years...usually it's 2 holidays abroad every year.

I enjoyed it in the caravan ( single wide holiday park ) up to a point... discovering nice places to visit in the area during the day .. but the park much as it looks very nice initially, and the cravan pleasantly comfortable is lacking in many things..one of the most important being Internet connection...so being on my own, I didnt venture out in the evening, and I was totally at a loss without Internet and something to do in the evening..
 
hollydolly said:
a couple of years ago if you remember I took a week's holiday down near you ... first time I've taken a holiday in the UK for over 30 years...usually it's 2 holidays abroad every year.

I enjoyed it in the caravan ( single wide holiday park ) up to a point... discovering nice places to visit in the area during the day .. but the park much as it looks very nice initially, and the cravan pleasantly comfortable is lacking in many things..one of the most important being Internet connection...so being on my own, I didnt venture out in the evening, and I was totally at a loss without Internet and something to do in the evening..
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Do you know, I never gave the internet a thought, but I agree with you, it can be absorbing and, as you said, when you are alone being on a forum like this gives you companionship. This link, will show you the cabins and their layout. As well as the cost of the accommodation we will have to pay for the storage of our chattels, we also have the cost of lodging a couple of cats. Expensive business this house move malarky, but the selling agent said that once our home is sold we will be cash buyers and will be able to negotiate a good buying price. In his opinion we should be able to more than recover our costs.
 
horseless carriage said:
Do you know, I never gave the internet a thought, but I agree with you, it can be absorbing and, as you said, when you are alone being on a forum like this gives you companionship. This link, will show you the cabins and their layout. As well as the cost of the accommodation we will have to pay for the storage of our chattels, we also have the cost of lodging a couple of cats. Expensive business this house move malarky, but the selling agent said that once our home is sold we will be cash buyers and will be able to negotiate a good buying price. In his opinion we should be able to more than recover our costs.
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My goodness that is cheap indeed for off season and looks comfortable .... If as they say they have internet... and I have to tell you the Holiday park at Poole said the same thing... what they failed to say that I was only available 1/2 a mile from the caravan at their reception office.. ...seriously.... then that's a good deal..



Without internet I couldn't not only have anything to do in the evenings I couldn't download my pictures from my phone either... so after 5pm when I returned back to the park.., my only company was terrestrial TV.. dear God lol
 
When we went camping at both Yellowstone and the grand Tetons, the only Internet was by the office. Once you got in the campgrounds you didn’t have any so since we were there a week between the two campgrounds I just bought a bunch of books to read at night.

It’s interesting that now I have plenty of money to travel, but I’ve actually gotten sick of it. I’ve been to Europe six times so really don’t want to go again although my kids invited me to go with them in October for her parents wedding anniversary party.

I used to love going on cruises, but I’ve been on six of them and haven’t been able to get enthused about that either. Lately I’ve been looking at things within my own country that I would still like to see.

I think part of the problem is that flying has become such a miserable experience and we are so short of air traffic controllers that I don’t have a lot of faith in the safety of it either any more like I used to. There was recently a bill, but it didn’t pass to make air travel safer by not allowing the military to turn off their responders so civilian planes would know where they are. That was the reason for the crash over a year ago that was going from Wichita, Kansas to DC and everyone was killed.

They have shrunk the seats so much that it’s ridiculous and if you upgrade even in economy to a little more seating area, you pay double or triple the price which I am not willing to pay.
 
Teacher Terry said:
When we went camping at both Yellowstone and the grand Tetons, the only Internet was by the office. Once you got in the campgrounds you didn’t have any so since we were there a week between the two campgrounds I just bought a bunch of books to read at night.

It’s interesting that now I have plenty of money to travel, but I’ve actually gotten sick of it. I’ve been to Europe six times so really don’t want to go again although my kids invited me to go with them in October for her parents wedding anniversary party.

I used to love going on cruises, but I’ve been on six of them and haven’t been able to get enthused about that either. Lately I’ve been looking at things within my own country that I would still like to see.

I think part of the problem is that flying has become such a miserable experience and we are so short of air traffic controllers that I don’t have a lot of faith in the safety of it either any more like I used to. There was recently a bill, but it didn’t pass to make air travel safer by not allowing the military to turn off their responders so civilian planes would know where they are. That was the reason for the crash over a year ago that was going from Wichita, Kansas to DC and everyone was killed.

They have shrunk the seats so much that it’s ridiculous and if you upgrade even in economy to a little more seating area, you pay double or triple the price which I am not willing to pay.
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precisely that in Bold ^^... As is said before... I haven't taken a holiday in the UK in well over 30 years always going abroad.. or to our own property in Spain... spending months there sometimes... but the airport ( nto tehflying) experience just et worse everytime I go.. just horrendous... not pleasant in any way.. and so by the time I get anywhere, I'm so stressed by it all it takes me a few days to get over it.. and then I'm back at the siport going through it all again to come home.. so when i get back, I don't feel lie I;ve had a holiday.

The problem tho; with taking a holiday in the UK is that.. if I'm looking for sun.. apart from where I actually live here in the south , the likelihood is I won't get it. If I'm just looking for a restful break that might be ok... except... the traffic on our roads to get to other parts of the UK is just beyond belief, ... it's horrible.. so once upon a time half the pleasure of taking a holiday in the Uk was the driving there..it;s now something to be dreaded..

I was thinking the other day I might take a city break..in Scotland.. which would men instead of driving I can take a train... 6 hours.. .. and then use public transport for the few days I;d be there...
 
hollydolly said:
precisely that in Bold ^^... As is said before... I haven't taken a holiday in the UK in well over 30 years always going abroad.. or to our own property in Spain... spending months there sometimes... but the airport ( nto tehflying) experience just et worse everytime I go.. just horrendous... not pleasant in any way.. and so by the time I get anywhere, I'm so stressed by it all it takes me a few days to get over it.. and then I'm back at the siport going through it all again to come home.. so when i get back, I don't feel lie I;ve had a holiday.

The problem tho; with taking a holiday in the UK is that.. if I'm looking for sun.. apart from where I actually live here in the south , the likelihood is I won't get it. If I'm just looking for a restful break that might be ok... except... the traffic on our roads to get to other parts of the UK is just beyond belief, ... it's horrible.. so once upon a time half the pleasure of taking a holiday in the Uk was the driving there..it;s now something to be dreaded..

I was thinking the other day I might take a city break..in Scotland.. which would men instead of driving I can take a train... 6 hours.. .. and then use public transport for the few days I;d be there...
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I actually like to ride a trains and I know Europe has a good train system so that would definitely be my choice. Our train system is not good and it takes forever to get anywhere on the West Coast using Amtrak. I think it’s better on the East Coast though.

The last few times I went to Europe I went for between 11- 14 days and I was up for 27 hours to arrive and felt trashed and then reversed it to come home. I was tired the whole trip.
 
Bretrick said:
Might sound not so expensive on the world stage but I am never prepared to spend more than $160 - $180 a night for what is basically a bed.
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Australian dollars? So, like $125 - $142 in US dollars?, that sounds very reasonable, have you looked on Booking.com, you might find something in your range, especially if any hotel is having a special.
 
hollydolly said:
Without internet I couldn't not only have anything to do in the evenings I couldn't download my pictures from my phone either.
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I plug a cable into my phone (like the charger cable) and plug the other (wider) end of the cable into the USB drive on the laptop. At that point, a notification appears on the phone that the phone is charging. I tap that notifcation and change it to "transfer files," then find the location of the phone in my laptop "file explorer", open the folder named DCIM, find the photos I want to save, and manually move each of them with the mouse cursor to my desktop. Once there, they can be saved in folders where I want them.

It sounds involved, but takes little time and does not require internet.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
I plug a cable into my phone (like the charger cable) and plug the other (wider) end of the cable into the USB drive on the laptop. At that point, a notification appears on the phone that the phone is charging. I tap that notifcation and change it to "transfer files," then find the location of the phone in my laptop "file explorer", open the folder named DCIM, find the photos I want to save, and manually move each of them with the mouse cursor to my desktop. Once there, they can be saved in folders where I want them.

It sounds involved, but takes little time and does not require internet.
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I have an iphone and a Mac.. so my pictures get transferred automatically from my phone to my Mac.. without any help from me.. when there's internet available..

However it wasn't just the lack of the ability to transfer the photos... it was that for the first time ever, I'd gone on holiday on my own, soon after my divorce knowing I wouldn't be going out in the evening.. by myself.. but happy in the knowledge I could enjoy going out and about during the day, and sitting conmofrtably in the evening with the company of you guys. and family and friends vi my laptop and or phone .

In their blurb the park states they have Internet and wi-fi.. what they don't tell you is that , it's not in the caravans.....anyone who wishes to use it can only use at reception while that's open and it closed at 5pm... or in the club bar.. which of course was absolutely chock-a-block every evening with people watching HUGE screen football ( soccer).... so I had to go up to reception every morning, just to reply to emails etc.. and really had very boring evenings.. I actually came home early I'd had enough after 3 days and nights..
 
I've been trying to arrange a trip out of state for the last weekend of May, when my son and his girlfriend will be in town. Everything is indeed expensive, but I'm still hoping to manage it. My car is too old to drive, say, down to Missouri, which is my ideal destination, but the car rental prices are so, so high.

I agree that flying has become absolutely miserable. I haven't flown in about 5 years and don't miss it at all, although I would like to travel overseas some day.

I read the other day that United (I think it was United) now has a policy that people must use headphones/earbuds when using video and audio devices onboard. I'm flabbergasted that this even has to be regulated, but maybe I shouldn't be surprised. A few years ago my friends and I were having lunch in a mid-price restaurant (Ruby Tuesday), and someone at a nearby table was having a conference call, out loud. I couldn't believe the restaurant staff never told them to knock it off.
 
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