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worrying times in pp

  • Thread starter Thread starter pollensafan
  • Start date Start date
Hi Sparky, Having re read my reply to you it should have said "why i started my original post" and not "where".:)
 
Well Well, It now seems that all the folk who post negatively are "Pessimists". So lets clear one thing up guys. There is no greater optimist on here than me. The only way i wont make it to pp is if i drop dead and even then i'll have my ashes scatterd on the beach so i hope that clears that up. Next time i'm there i'll be sure to let the restaurant owners know " you cant go broke cos i'm an optimist.
 
Please do not take offence at my wording.
I did say "our" pessimism in the general sense of us British, and attempted to clarify it by mentioniing the way the media made things worse than they were recently by just highlighting the worst. It is in no way a reflection of what has been posted by anyone. Indeed I for one am grateful that it has been highlighted so that we can avoid the traps, post about the good areas and and support those which are trying their best at this time.
I apologise if it came across in a way that may have been taken personally.
 
Hi Belladonna, No apoligies needed. The one thing i wanted to avoid when i started this thread was it being slowly turned around and before you know it your painted as some sort of monster and thats where i saw it going.Comments were made along the lines of not dwelling on the negative but making things better. Open question to the forum If you dont identify exactly whats wrong with the patient how do you make them better?.I posted my piece not to win plaudits but because i could see something taking place in what i can only describe as my spiritual home (not meant in a religious sense) and it disturbed me greatly. As some have said on here they don't see the problem well sorry guys but when folk i have come to know on a personal level who own restaurants tell me they are in deep do-do i believe them.I still stick by what i have said, folk have become to complacent and greedy. 100 yards from the stay restaurant i can by in another restaurant a bottle of macia battle 2006 (crianza) for 12eurs.To hell with the exchange rate thats a bargain at any level. Then you walk a few minutes and hey presto it's on offer for 26eurs.It's a disgrace and whatever folk may say there is no justification. Yes we can tell each other the pros and cons but that does nothing for pps finances. Do you know not one of the folks i spoke to, and in 3 weeks it was quiet a few even knew about this site and thats the trouble we are a small community compared to the people that frequent pp. I suppose we could all take to walking round pp when on holliday with sandwich boards strapped to us advertising this site although we may get taken off by the men in the white coats!!!:eek::) Anyway heres to you belladonna and long may we enjoy the delights of pp (all be it with a burger in our hand) lol:)
 
First and last visit to PP

Hi Folks, Sorry if this goes on a bit but there is no quick way of saying this. I'm just back from my 3 weeks in pp.I've been going twice a year at the same time for almost 20 years.(june being the other ) and i have never seen it so quiet. Places i have frequented for years that if you did not get in by a certain time you would not get a seat have been empty. A family run restaurant of 40 years fearing he wont get through the winter. 3 restaurants in one road closed since last september. I have read on hear people say it's about 20 - 40% down but having spoken to local people i fear that is way off. The guy who runs the parachute& bannana boat, born in pp as was his father says that in the restaurants he works in the evenings it's 60%. Another bar owner says 50% and i'd have to agree.Having spoken to other folk on holiday there the problem is simple. In their words " It's too expensive" And you know what, If we all stop and take our rose tinted specs off for a second and look at it from the perspective of someone that has no emotional ties to pp ( unlike us) you have to say they are right. I could go on giving example after example but to keep it simple lets stick to 2 basics. The good old sirloin steak and wine. Having a couple of cloudy days to fill i thought i would go round and try to look at what the majority of folk are confronted with . The sirlon ranged from 9.50 to 24eu. and before someone mentions quality i made a point over the 3 weeks of having a cheap one and a dear one and there was no difference. Then you have the wine and here's where i get very wound up. Lets stick with 2 staple wines that most will know, Campo Viejo and Vina sol. There is a restaurant in the middle of pp that sells both for 11.50eu.(great value at any exchange rate). i then went around and found it in lots of places from 15- 23eus. I'm told bar owners read posts on here so here's a question for you. At what point did you decide to start charging folk 15 - 20eus for plates of food and 15-23eus for wine that can be bought in gb for far less?. My guess is you all got complacent and said "The british will come no matter what ". Well sorry guys not only have the brits not come they have deserted in their droves.To those folk who are about to post well what about the menu of the day, that is not the answer. Two adults with a couple of kids don't want 4 md's with stuff the kids wont eat they want to be able to choose a single dish for the young folk and at the exorbitant prices being asked it's not on. Quote " My husband and i went in to a local place for 2 sandwiches and 2 soft drinks, the bill was 16eus" No thats not tourist's but 2 folk who have lived in pp since 1972. In her words they are ripping folk off.The thing i find alarming is that folk i spoke to found it still too expensive even if you allow for the bad rate.So can i offer a solution to bar owners. When you have your local festival on the 15 of jan, gather all your menus and use them to light the bonfires. Then get you old book of golden rules for tourism out and re read the parts that say value for money and making the holidaymaker feel like a king. Then make up new menus with prices that have not come from the "planet janet". Can i just leave you with something a restaurant owner of places both past and present known to most of you said to me in times gone by." I pay around 30p for my house wine and i can sell it at 11eus all day long" well i fear there needs to be a serious rethink my friends.As for me i will do what ever it takes to get there, as will you folk no doubt but we have to realise our total financial contributions compared to the 99.99% who go there are but a mere drop in the ocean. Worrying times in pp indeed.

We are just back from PP - my first and last visit as per my title.
First problem - we booked accommodation from a company in Kent who was supposed to have an office in PP. That was a porky. They used another agency along in Llenaire (I won't name it for fear of reprisals). We did not get the accommodation we had booked due to "communication breakdown" (their words not mine) We argued for ages then they "offered" us a "luxury" apartment at an additional cost as that was all they had, apparently. Having
just flown in to 30+ degrees, we wanted it sorted as soon as, so we agreed to pay extra for the new apartment which was luxurious (3 bed 2 bath) and really bigger than we wanted. It was also further from town than we wanted to be but we had no choice. We really did not want to trawl the agents. I was not impressed with this as a first impression.
Like you we found the restaurants pricey but not as pricey as Spar!!! Luckily we had a car and went to Eroski (which was marginally better). I was charged 40 cents for a small tomato in Spar. What a rip off!!! Even the fruit in Eroski wasn't up to Tesco's and Spain grows oranges etc... We have told all our friends NOT to go to PP if they don't want to be ripped off. It will have lost a good deal of potential tourists.
 
We have visited Pollensa since 1982 without missing a year we were unable to get a car hire for a last minute holiday in August and went to Italy instead. Meals out were roughly half the price we usually pay in Pollensa and we were able to hire a boat for the day for 100 euros when I looked at this in Pollensa the price for a very similar standard boat the price was 840 euros although the boat in Pollensa included a skipper (I could not see one without skipper) but even so 740 euros more expensive for one day. Accomodation cost have rocketed in Pollensa and its not only the exchange rate that has made a difference. We have many fantastic memories in Pollensa and feel like we know the staff at several of the restaurants we have visited regularly over the years, but we may only be visiting for short breaks in future and looking elsewhere for our main holiday.
 
First visit to PP

Agree with some but not all! There's a world-wide recession on, we've been told it's going to hurt for years to come! Well it's hurting! Holidays are not exempt!

Mallorquins are in denial, going from some of the posts on here some of us Brits are in the same cateogry, agree it's getting expensive, but can't help thinking most sites dedicated to holiday resorts will have a similar composition to this one.
 
Hi Mallorcaboy, Hope your doing okay. How right you are when you say the mallorcans are in denial. The feeling is among the bar owners it's all the fault of the euro and when it recovers they will all be back.

Pollensafan,

The Euro ain't ever gonna fall against Sterling ( well maybe marginally and short term) whilst the UK economy has borrowings at the level it has. Sterling ain't ever gonna recover against the Euro for many years to come. If Bar owners believe the opposite they are living in cloud cuckoo land !!!

As I've said before it's tough times ahead , it's much pain all round but the market will dictate value for money here.

If it's German or British money the market will rule.

Sorry to be so blunt, but it's a fact.

BonysLad :(:(
 
When was the last time you strolled along pine walk and had waiters poking menus in your face pleading with you to come in their restaurants ? and no i'm not talking about the chinese folk but the main show restaurants along the pine walk. Thats what i experienced the last 4 days of my holliday. Hastily drawn up blackboards offering free bottles of wine with a meal. The phrase Horse,Door and bolted comes to mind.

Hiya pollensafan.. can I just add to ur quote.. I visited PP at Easter, all of June then Aug/Sept and the prices/offers were noticably different on each occasion.... the most obvious being the last visit. Where at Easter... a bottle of wine between 2 was included to the MDD, it had changed to a glass. Where the MDD had been 9 euros it was 12, that sorta thing. I am going back end of Oct.. will be interesting to see what's what then.

Miriam
 
Wow this is a popular thread

Not been on for a couple of days and now find the post sI want to reply to are pages away.

Cheals - great post .......... we also sadly remember the cost of just a few really important things

Firstly Cafe con leche at the Illa d'Or ......... got to be one of the pleasures of PP for regulars; new folk and day trippers

Well its currently 2.50 Euros if I remember correctly ....... and I know for a fact that it was 1.70 10 years ago ( or whenever it was that the euro started ) ........... now for me that isn't too much of a price hike. The other price we always monitor is mdd in Tango or Trio ........... currently 16euros ............. was 12 euros about 8 years ago ......... again , not an unreasonable price hike.

And I just can't understand the comparisons with Turkey or C'an Picafort ............. I know I could get cheaper food; wine; accomodation in either of those places and a whole lot of other places as well ( tried it in Portugal this year ..... didn;t like it and won;t return despite prices being on average 30% cheaper ) ............. but I don't want to go there ............ so I go to PP and I eat some days / nights in the more expensive places ( as prevously said Stay at 32euros is absolutely fantastic value for money for a high end meal ) and the rest of the time we eat in Trio;Tango; C'an Ferra; Bar Coral etc ......... non of which are a rip off. Of course if I wanted to I could go to Magaluf and have chicken and chips for 5 euros or similar ( but as said previously I don't want to )

28 years ago I came to Majorca for my first holiday without parents ......... I stayed in Arenal .......... it was cheap but it was a hell hole . We came to PP for a day ........... the 2 things I remenber was it was lovelly but oh how expensive I thought it was ... for basic things like food ; drinks and coffee. 8 years later I returned to Majorca and tried Santa Ponsa ........ marginally better than Arenal - visited PP again; thought it was expensive again. But 16 years ago when we had grown up a little and had a young baby where did we choose to come to .......... PP of course despite the fact that we remembered it costing on average more than 50% more than in santa Ponsa for most things ......... why did we choose PP ....... because it was nice; because we liked the people there ; because it was the sort of place we wanted our child to holiday in .......... the rest is history ......... visited more than 30 times since and I for one will continue to do so ......... not because I have stacks of money and don't care about the cost of things ........ that's sadly just not the case ..... but because I enjoy visiting PP and I just refuse to be ripped off so don't visit rip off restaurants. I do shop at Eroski for convenience and yes it does feel more expensive than at home but again the cost of my shop when we arrive is generally just over 100 euros and it has been there or there abouts for the last few years ........ its just that 100 euros now costs me more due to the exchange rate. I buy cheese fruit and veg from the market and bread from the local shop

To be honest the only thing I have noticed a really big hike in price of is sun cream ...... always used to buy it in PP now I take it with me ..... but I think its the price in the UK that has reduced rather than the PP price increasing.

Ok think I'm rambling now so I'll stop
 
..and can I just add to 'its cd's' ramblings,

A fairly major reason we bought a place in PP is becos, frequently, I holiday alone.. and I am happy to do so. There are not so many places where a lone female, feels safe and relaxed. In all this doom n gloom a plus for PP that the euro and the restaurant prices doesnt affect.

Miriam :)
 
Agree with Its CD, yes PP might be more expensive but its the only place on the Island I want to stay with the kids. Don't mind paying bit more for piece of mind not many stag/hen or groups in PP. Kids love PP and feel safe, have made a lot of friends out there. It anoys me when you get ripped off but same happens in England we went for Pizza the other night Pino wine £8 went round corner to local bar ordered a bottle £15 trick is when on holiday don't go to the rip off bars. Think we have to get used to the fact that in general holiday eating/drinking isn't as cheap as the old days and bank on paying same as at home. I know I'd rather be in PP (4 weeks on Sunday and counting)
 
Oookay i too am going to throw my two pence into the ring...

I will start with costs and prices ... I work in travel and therefor am aware that PP is very costly to get to especially for apartments and villas. But I dont thing most of us mind this as we get what we pay for it keeps PP to the standard weve all become used to.

As for drinks etc well I really couldnt complain my tipple would be a glass of white wine and give or take a few cents this was generally around 2 euro im not sure about the UK but at home ( N. Ireland ) this can range from £3.50 - £6 so not bad at any exchange rate. My partners drink of choice would be Magners and this was slightly more expensive but to be honest i did expect this as it is imported ....

As for meals we varied this year between set menus and seperate dishes and didnt find the difference that drastic....

As for taxis well this I can relate too as for years we were charged between 70 -90 euro however this was usually the difference between a 7 seater and a standard car. Although the last few years we have used the Zarza's and one email to Alicia and she confirms prices and times therefor now nasty surprises when we get to PP ...

Although I do feel that PP has lost a little of its charm but I dont think this is anyones fault and just one those things ... This year after listening to me chat about PP for a few years my bf finally came with me and although he loved it he did comment that it was quite quiet ... so one night while sat at the daina this got me reminising ... I am in my 20s and have been holidaying in pp from i was little and always loved the stalls along the prom in the evening and the guy that appeared at the daina on a unicycle and drew in such a crowd ... now the only street entertainment is the sounds of the lovely mariano on his guitar drifting from a restaurant or the gazing the the sand sculptures ....

I dont think due to trading laws its possible but pppllleeease bring all this back ....
 
Agree with everything you say Rachel
 
I have read all the posts with interest. We have been visiting PP most years for about 18 years. For me it is a place of haven and I would never stop going even if the prices do seem steep. What's bothering us more is the degeneration of the peacefulness in the evenings. We stayed on Pine Walk in Aug but failed to get to sleep until 4to 5 am any night. This was due to drunken Brits shouting and screaming at regular intervals during the night, even trying to steal a pedalo chained up across the beach from us.
We are used to this behaviour in Bournemouth at the weekends but felt disappointed that this element had transferred to PP also. I know it's just another case of falling standards (making me sound like a grumpy old woman) but for the first time in visiting PP we weren't 100% happy with our holiday.
Having said that I'd be on the next plane out if work wasn't in the way!
 
I don't go back to PP until August 2010 with my husband and 5 boys. I think everyone is just trying to be smarter with their money. I like CD buy all sun cream in UK, in fact have already taken advantage of bargains and have 10 bottles put away. I also intend to take breakfast cereal for the kids, marmite, my own dish wash tabs etc. Was even thinking about taking a few tins of beans as mad as that is. All just to save money. I'd love to give my money into the PP economy but who wants to pay way over the top for essentials. And I've already got a notebook going with good value for money bars and shops written down so i don't forget, And that is thanks to all of you guys...
 
prices in PP

Great post Cd! Said all the things i'd have said, but never got round to typing! I know newcomers to PP cannot easily seek out some of the best value restaurants in the port, and i mean value AND quality! But most, if not all, display their prices outside, you know what you'll pay before you enter, if it's to expensive then simply dont enter. I'm not having a go at anyone complaining about prices, but if they take the time to come on to this site and type lengthy reports complaining about being "ripped-off", have they come on to the site and checked the advice of regulars who have been going for years BEFORE they visit. It's packed with great advice on which restaurants and bars are good for value AND quality.

Whem i return from PP people always comment on how healthy i look, OK the sunshine, fresh air, but more importantly it's down to the quality of food i eat when i'm there, no processed food in sight, read the restaurant reviews! That's something i don't put a price on!
 
Wrightstuff, brilliant! Thats exactly what I meant about taking note of the good and the bad and supporting those who are trying.
Not too sure about the beans and bits, but with you on the Marmite;)!
 
Bella, I always love your posts, nearer the time i will have to send you PM for all the bargains and inside info..
I do know what you mean on beans, I do feel a bit sad but last year after a day on the beach all they fancied was beans on toast in appt. It cost a small fortune for 4 tins of beans. 5 lads and 3 of those are teens. They can put away huge amounts of food as i'm sure you can imagine. Any other ideas would be gratefully recieved...
 

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