Avoiding Winter - Mid Feb Holiday

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 12:54

Hi Guys,

The girlfriend and I are looking at going away mid February for a week to get away from this crap weather and find somewhere on the sunnier side!

We've got a budget of 3-3.5k, ideally all inclusive for that price and our only real criteria is somewhere warm, as close to 30degs or above! It doesn't have to be all inc. but that's our maximum budget including spending money on food etc.

So far we've been looking into the Caribbean and the Maldives, does anyone have any other recommendations?

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:19

Every holiday that we've been on together has been a sigh seeing / being generally busy holiday. For example, Vegas, New York, Amsterdam, Milan.

We fancy chilling out somewhere reasonably luxurious with a beach ideally. I'm not one for beach holidays at all, but we've both been working our balls off recently, so a week to relax is much needed.

Uvarvu - Cambodia & Vietnam look awesome, but a lot of sight seeing would need to be done to do it justice. I'd hate to go to a place like that and miss out on everything.

Any other suggestions with the above clarification in mind?

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:20

Teledude - Cancun looks pretty nice actually, definitely something worth considering. Is this somewhere you've been?

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:29

Justin said:
Maldives is great for relaxation and the best time of year to go is January/Feburary as it's the Northeast Monsoon (dry season). It's a long way to go for a week though.

£3.5k might get you something reasonably good for a week.

Thanks Justin,

We've been looking at places like this: http://www.chaayamaldives.com/ with water bungalows etc. Definitely appealing, but i'm a little worried about being on an all inclusive island, and if the food and entertainment is poor, not having any other choice at all.

Do you have any recommendations for the Maldives?

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:30

Teledude said:
Going to a Secrets resort this year - comes highly recommend

http://www.secretsresorts.com/maroma/ -3k for 10 nights all inc

I like it! Definitely running this past the Mrs

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:32

Rotty said:
we go here most years in Jan/Feb

3k will cover including premium flight upgrades,awesome place

http://www.excellence-resorts.com/caribbean-and-mexico-destinations/excellence-punta-cana

What do you think of the Dominican Republic Rotty?

Given that we'll be staying All inc. then to be honest, it doesn't entirely matter what the surrounding area is like, but I've heard from a few people that the other islands such as Antigua, St Kitts etc. are much nicer.

I have to say though, that does look pretty good for the budget.

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:34

Rotty said:
my brother has been a few times and your budget prob wont cover a decent AI, also AI in maldives tends to be restrictive, buffets and local drinks only

Yeah, I'm starting to learn that this is the case, it's a bit gutting to see that spending a 3.5k only gets you a 3 or borderline 4 star place.

Some of these other suggestions cropping up look cracking though.

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:36

On a side note, have any of you found it cheaper to book hotel and flights separately or go for a package?

There doesn't seem to be too much difference at the moment, and Virgin holidays comes out slightly cheaper.

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 14:16

Rotty said:
Package tends to be better,look at First Choice

as odd as it sounds for long haul the charter planes tend to be better than the likes of Virgin and BA

First Choice does seem to be doing quite well for me at the moment.

In what way would you say the charter planes are better? I've flown in economy through to first in the likes of BA and Virgin, but never been on a charter flight.

Bunka · 6 Jan 2011 at 14:25

Rotty said:
more legroom mainly, first choice, thomson, thomas cook etc have 33 inch pitch as opposed to 31 on Virgin and BA, doesn't sound a lot but it makes a difference

we usually use premium which is 36 on charters and 38 on scheduled but charters charge around £200 each and the scheduled about £400

most charter planes use 767s with 9 or 10 seats across ( 9 on a FC place , 10 Thomson and I think 10 on TC ) where BA use 9, most of the extra space seems to be from narrower ailses though, FC and Thomson planes are used on both FC and Thomson packages

Interesting, I'll bear that in mind, thanks.