Going Back?
Now this is a tricky question. So you have been on holiday
and you loved it! But would you still love it quite so much if you went back
again? Maybe yes, and, quite often, no.
The British, as a nation are quite expert at ‘going back’. We
find a place we enjoy and almost inevitably assume it will be just as good if
we return. There is a certain reassurance that you know what to expect and
clearly a benefit in being able to find your way around. You know the things to
avoid and already have in mind your favourite beach/bar/restaurant/resort. What
could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately what we inevitably fail to identify is
that familiarity can sometime breed ‘contempt’…or at least boredom.
Feeling nostalgic (and bored) I looked back over the years to identify again where I had been and, where I
had visited more than once. Because of my career in the airline and travel
business I found I had travelled to 79% of the countries in the world, many
frequently, but I ignored most of those and focused instead on frequent holiday
visits. I came up with a much smaller varied group of destinations dotted
around the globe and wondered why I kept on going back and would I go again? My
feedback to you is blunt and may cause disagreement but please bear with me as
I start at the ‘worst’ and get better as I go along!
These holiday revisits were as follows: Mauritius, Maldives,
Dubai, Barbados, Bequia (in the Grenadines), Anguilla, Antigua Athens, New
York, Majorca and Kefalonia. Some verdicts were easy. For example I would never
want to go back to Mauritius. Why? Because I found the island touristically
over resourced and crowded, the people unfriendly with an undercurrent of
resentfulness, and a feeling the whole place had been exploited
I also very much doubt if I would go to the Maldives again
which really surprised me. I defy anyone to name anywhere as scenically
beautiful as most Maldivian islands. I would also commend the staff in these
resorts who work ceaselessly to give you a good experience. The problem I have
is price and again, exploitation. It seems that the resorts squeeze every last
pound/euro/yen/dollar they can from the tourists. Everything is charged at a
large premium which results in most visitors being either extremely rich, extravagant
or on honeymoon.
I thought Dubai was
over the top but although the Maldives is not so ‘naff’ it grossly overcharges.
You cannot take alcohol into the Maldives being a Moslem country yet they allow
you to directly connect with a seaplane taking you to a resort with a full
drink service. You will pay $50/$60 for a bottle of New Zealand wine which cost
$10 in a UK supermarket.
In the Maldives you get the sheer beauty of the place but
you are not getting good value and you are stuck on a small island with a
diverse and sometimes not so pleasant mixture of guests. And the staff? Most of
the workers are Maldivian, Sri Lankan or Indian and they live in tiny compounds
in the middle of the resort being paid a pittance in comparison with the resort
tariff. So many tourist go there for a one off ‘holiday of a lifetime’, brief
honeymoon or as part of a two centre holiday with Dubai or somewhere similar.
The last on my ‘never again’ list is Dubai. What on earth
have they done with the place. So much ‘in your face’ wealth and so little genuine
sophistication. It is not as though the locals like you. I am convinced they
don’t. Again you have the wealthy land/oil owners, a workforce from the Asian
subcontinent and imported management to run their businesses. I never fully
understood or used the expression O.T.T. (over the top) until I went there. The beaches are
not very nice either!
Phew! That got that
off my chest. That is my not again list. Mind you. In condemning these places I
would probably swallow my bile and go back to the Maldives….if I could afford
it!
I would not particularly want to go back to New York either.
In saying that I have no particular gripes with the place, it is more that I
hate shopping and that seems to be what most people do! I do however love the
surrounding area and New York City is as good a base as anywhere else.
Heading south from New York you eventually come to the
Caribbean and it is here I have had quite a few repeat visits, most of them
very successful. For example Barbados is interesting as it is two islands in
one. What I mean is you have the South Coast and the West Coast and they are
both very different to each other. There are always exceptions but the south is
where the action is. There are more activities, lower cost hotels and it is
adjacent to Bridgetown where the cruise ships go. It is the ‘party’ and ‘drink
cruise’ area. I had a great time there but I needed a holiday after this
holiday!
The West Coast is supposedly more ‘sophisticated’ with high
end hotels, restaurants and an obscenely expensive golf course. It is the home
of the Sandy Lane Hotel which rivals Dubai for ‘naffness’ and silly prices. It
is a great place to go if you like calm beaches and diverse but good service
hotels. You need a bigger wallet than the South but you do get good value. We
stayed 12 hours at the Sandy Lane (that was enough) before moving to the Colony
Club as well as the Sandpiper and Fairmont on other stays. If you are nice to
the Bajan people they are nice to you unlike the Mauritians and I will go again
as each experience is different to the last.
