Symi Holidays – Alternative Holiday Searches
A look at some holiday search ideas with a few choice typos left in for you. Yesterday morning I was a bit ruched (rushed), but today I have a little more time to think about summer holidays, which is something of a developing theme this week, it seems. I did a simple internet search for ‘Symi Holiday’ to see what might come up and see if I could give folk some ideas for a break in Greece, namely on Symi.
Obviously, advertised sites come up first, including the big names like Booking.com, and the result you might get from doing the same search will be different; apparently it depends on where you are, what server your engine is on and all things wonderfully technical like that. But, for me, the top results were: Monarch, Olympic (which we looked at the other day), and then some search and compare sites (as opposed to being company sites). I then wandered in more familiar territory with Travel A La Carte and Kalodoukas, Symi Visitor and, oh, and then Symi Dream, which isn’t actually a travel site. I don’t want to start talking too much about local companies as I may give too much info on one and not enough on another and cause ructions, so for that kind of info and links, head to www.symibest.gr and the Accommodation area. But, to give you an idea of prices (from the UK), here’s what I found on other sites.
I had a look at Monarch.co.uk first as I’d not checked them out before. Their page was a bit slow to change its calendar, but it got there in the end and I looked for seven days in the first two weeks of July. The thinking here is that that time is coming into high season, so the more popular months for British visitors (May, June, September, October) should be cheaper, in theory. I was also looking at Gatwick flights and one person traveling. Monarch could get me into the Nireus in Yialos for £436 for the week, and Pedi Beach Hotel for £459, both bed and breakfast. You can up-grade to half board at the Pedi Beach. That was all Monarch had.
I had ‘Sunvil’ on my list of Symi holidays but when I checked their site it turns out they don’t actually travel to Symi, so don’t bother using that site. It must have got its key wording or meta data wrong or something.
Thompson came next though their destination box for their search was not very detailed and I had to search for Greece rather than more specifically Symi. Needless to say they found 1,000 destinations and I wasn’t going to hang around searching through them for Symi; I saw no filters either. I checked their Destinations page and, glossy and swish though it looked, could not be buttered (bothered) to search through the type of holiday, I just wanted ‘Destination Symi.’ Quite frankly, I got bored. I’d go to a travel agent if you are considering a Thompson holiday, I didn’t find their site search functions very user-friendly. You can though, after a search, whittle down the 1,000 Greek offers to 147 South Aegean ones, but no further. [See: Job 38:11 “Hittherto shall thou come and no further.” Impressed, eh?]
And finally, another one I’d not head (heard) of, Home Away, which was offering apartments and villas on Symi, with a much more manageable 11 to search through, found after a simple and effective search. There were several villas here that I recognised, a few that I’d never heard of and one whose view appeared to be that from my living room window, which was a bit disconcerting. These (very nice and sometimes plush but hopefully not mine) properties were showing prices per night and were not your package deals, or your basic accommodation. £72.00 per night was the starting price for an apartment in Horio looking towards Pedi; the same price for a very nice property I know down at Petalo where the new jetty is being built. At the top of the scale came £225 per night (this is still in high season and you could probably cram eight people in and share the cost (and outside loo)) plus a few properties which rather worryingly showed no price, like the very poshest of posh jewellery shops in Bond Street. If you have to ask you can’t afford it.
That might give you an alternative idea of places to look and places to stay if you’re planning a Symi holiday. One thing I would advise though, especially for those posher sites, is that you shouldn’t be taken in by the photos of detail. I was just checking out something at over £200 per night and all the images showed me were architectural features, napkins on tables with out of focus somethings behind, and the occasional Indian bedspread. Very nice, but what’s the view? Remember, these were also non-Symi based sites and companies. If you want to get the real deal then check out the local tour operators and accommodation offices. Again, see www.symibest.gr for a listing.
