pie-eater 207 Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I have spend the best part of the last week or so planning a little Scotland tour in August. While for the most part I have enjoyed the experience, it really did take a lot of planning, emails and tel calls. I had a vague idea of where I wanted to go and the route, but finding decent places to stay, and places that were available on the days I wanted, took a fair bit of chopping and changing.... it was a bit like putting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together. One thing I did notice was how different b&bs/hotels deal with potential guests. I found some of them very off-putting and quickly decided not to stay with the ones who seemed to put little importance on my booking. The ones who were very helpful zoomed up to the top of the list very quickly too. Another thing I found quite funny was reading through all the reviews of accommodation online. The same place can get a "amazing place" as well as a "dirty grubby hole" kind of review, making it sometimes very difficult to know what to believe. Got to wonder how many of those kinds of reviews are written by "the competition". Rather large pinches of salt required I think. I was looking for one night in a rather posh hotel/castle type place and looking at a few different possibilities - all of them rather expensive. One place started telling me that it would cost an extra 10 quid to use the sauna and an extra 10 quid to do this and that and was soon stopped hearing from me. It came across as very stingy when you are paying so much just to stay a night to be asking for to pay extra to use the facilities in the place. Just some ramblings. Need a bit of a rest now! Looking forward to Scotland though. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Melville Castle in Edinburgh was They do a smashing crumbed haggis entree with redcurrent jus. I found the same when booking for Europe in Jan. We had the same criteria in each destination when booking and our accomodaton ranged from a tacky & tiny but clean almost backpacker style hotel in Munich, to a luxurious spread out over two suites with kitchenettes and hourly floor security patrols in Paris. Booking online is hard. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Ah I know what you mean pie-eater, it can be very time-consuming. I am the same - if someone doesn't reply quickly and in detail, they lose the chance of my custom. Link to post Share on other sites
kkk 7 Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Even more difficult in a country you don't speak the language - currently getting something tied up for France. Finding it rather difficult and walking in the dark. Places that are very helpful really stand out which seems weird to me.... you'd think everywhere would be go out of their way to get your business. That doesn't seem to be the case. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 We're off to bonnie Perth in a few weeks time. My brother lives in Aberdeen but is too busy to make it down to the Toon. So Perth it is. There's about nine of us, so we're staying in a posh rental house with real fires. Probably need em too! A couple of years ago, I booked a b&b that was highly rated at Keswick in the Lakes after glowing reviews on Trip Advisor. It was clean and the breakfast was hearty and nice, but the host visibly hated little kids. They also charged us a tenner extra a night for our 18-month old daughter but put no cot in the room and had no high chair in the dining room. Stuff you can buy for a tenner at Oxfam. We went with my folks and my mam thought the fella was a right bastard. I guess if you went there as a walker, you'd eat the breakfast and think the place was brilliant. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 We also did a driving holiday to Provance in offpeak (September) about five years ago and just made it up as we went along. In and out of Nice and then just rang places up in Arles, Avignon, Sorgue, Aix-en-Provance, etc. Many chambres-d'hote and gites won't be online. If its offpeak, you only need to book the first night or so till you get settled. It was a completely fab holiday. After Japan, its nice to go places like France where people look after things and try and make their towns attractive. Where there isn't loads of shite all the way along the road. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Reviews are so difficult. It will depend on the person, what they expect, what mood they were in and so many other things. Got to fade out the extremes perhaps though it is off-putting hearing something like that. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted July 6, 2009 Author Share Posted July 6, 2009 Definitely. Interesting question to Mr Wiggles - did you give that Keswick place a review? I have never done that myself, perhaps I should. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Originally Posted By: Mr Wiggles We're off to bonnie Perth in a few weeks time. My brother lives in Aberdeen but is too busy to make it down to the Toon. So Perth it is. What are you gonna be doing in Perth? Have you been there before? Not that much to do as a small town. Pie-Eater, what are your travel plans...if you don't mind me asking? Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Covered in other thread Skye + Cairngorms basically Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 We'll probably just drive out to nice spots around there. Castles, country houses, etc. My folks are in their seventies and we've got little kids, so nothing too deep or taxing (unfortunately). Me and the missus wanted to go to Ireland on RyanAir from the Toon, but my old man won't go. They feel the heat so they won't go to Spain etc. in midsummer either. Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I'm doing some Wales and some Cotswolds this year. Decided to plan it as we go. There's some pretty grim b&bs out there - stayed in one in Keswick myself a few years back. I always think that pretty much all accommodation seems overpriced, but I'm willing to spend a bit more to get somewhere decent. Link to post Share on other sites
yamayamayama 2 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I know someone who goes on and logs in to tripadvisor simply to post reviews of his place - ranging from great to overwhelmingly wonderful. Of 18 reviews of his place, 14 were written by him. Knowing this it has put me off taking them seriously. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 That sucks because the reliability of the whole system has been lost. It is not worth a jot. Public reviews are GREAT if they are real reviews. Link to post Share on other sites
lin 0 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Yikes. I am too trusting of people... that makes me sad. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Sometimes you can tell when something's "promo" but that does suck. I wonder how widespread it is? Suppose there's no way of knowing which brings down the reliability of the whole thing.. Link to post Share on other sites
cheeseman 1 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 We care currently planning our Cheese Tour 2009, sometimes it's hard to find cheese-related info. But when it comes off good, it's worth it. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Why's cheese become so expensive in Japan master? Link to post Share on other sites
charlotte 0 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Cheese Tour! I wonder what/where that is. I must admit to not really putting much faith in reviews like that. I read an article a while ago about how a lot of them are written by hotel owners and their competition. Sometimes blatantly and sometimes less so. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Originally Posted By: Mr Wiggles We'll probably just drive out to nice spots around there. Castles, country houses, etc. My folks are in their seventies and we've got little kids, so nothing too deep or taxing (unfortunately). Me and the missus wanted to go to Ireland on RyanAir from the Toon, but my old man won't go. They feel the heat so they won't go to Spain etc. in midsummer either. you should check out the Hermitage then its just out the other side of Perth, near to Dunkeld. Its a old forest with walking trails, waterfalls and its where an old man (a hermit) used to live. Nice days walking, nothing taxing. You can pop out alongside the river as well and walk back to the car park. Really nice part of the country Link to post Share on other sites
frannyo 2 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Yes I'd be interested to hear the details of the Cheese Tour. Link to post Share on other sites
pickled mushhead 0 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I love planning stuff. Like to get in early too, hate last minute rushing around. Don't listen to reviews written by the people themselves though, sends me the other way in fact. Currently planning January 2010. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 also Mr W, I've been thinking a bit. Kinnoul Hill is just outside Perth and has nice easy forest walks up to a ridge that has a really nice view down over Perth and the River Tay, if you time it for sunset (although at this time of year thats really late) you'll get some awesome views. The ridge has a number of old broken towers built along it, a few hundred years ago the owner was often a visit to Bavaria in Germany and thought that the Rhine valley looked like his native Perth/Tay valley, and there was all these towers built from ancient times (in the Rhine valley) along the ridges as lookout towers. So he started to build some on his land at Kinnoul hill but run out of money before he could realise his vision, so only 2 were built. They are still there. Also Glamis Castle is close by, thats a pretty cool castle and birthplace to the bionic Queen Mother. Scone Palace is also worth a visit, where Scottish Kings of old were crowned. The original home to the Stone of Destiny that Edward V pinched from us and took it down to Westminster. I don't know the dates, but Braemar isn't far off and they hold annual Highland Games if you're interested in seeing huge men lob giant timber around while wearing skirts! Kenmore and Loch Tay is very scenic as well. You have prob heard of most of these but Tayside is a pretty area. Link to post Share on other sites
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