Wednesday, June 28, 2006
06/2006: Ibiza .. ‘Clubs and how to find them (or avoid them)...’
If you’re coming to Ibiza for the clubs, make sure you know which ones you want to visit and on which side of the island they are. Check their admission prices – then take out a second mortgage…. The season starts at the beginning of June and runs through to mid-October with opening and closing parties, and lots of parties in-between. Buses run hourly from most resorts to the central clubs.
East Coast – Ibiza Town: Pascha Playa d’en Bossa: Space
Centre – Sant Rafel: Privilege (apparently the largest club in the world), Amnesia
West Coast – San Antonio: Eden, Es Paradis, Manumission
Accommodation – Don’t expect anything special, most hotels and apartments are pretty basic and were built around the late ‘70s and early ‘80s to cater for the cheap package tourism market. If you’re used to the Turkish and Caribbean-style all-inclusive extravaganzas, you won’t get anything like them here. The resorts are mostly fairly bland and purpose-built with little in the way of local flavour or food. Santa Eulalia is an attractive small town with a touch of character and has a couple of 5-star hotels (the small Palladium, and the large, soon to be opened Fenicia Privilege). Some hotels are geared to the hardcore young clubber market, if this is not you, it could spoil your holiday so carefully check where you are staying. Any property near a club will be a clubber’s domain. Anything in the centre of San Antonio will be basic and youth-orientated.
Driving – The island is easy to drive around with good main roads that are well signposted.
If you’re coming to Ibiza for the clubs, make sure you know which ones you want to visit and on which side of the island they are. Check their admission prices – then take out a second mortgage…. The season starts at the beginning of June and runs through to mid-October with opening and closing parties, and lots of parties in-between. Buses run hourly from most resorts to the central clubs.East Coast – Ibiza Town: Pascha Playa d’en Bossa: Space
Centre – Sant Rafel: Privilege (apparently the largest club in the world), Amnesia
West Coast – San Antonio: Eden, Es Paradis, Manumission
Accommodation – Don’t expect anything special, most hotels and apartments are pretty basic and were built around the late ‘70s and early ‘80s to cater for the cheap package tourism market. If you’re used to the Turkish and Caribbean-style all-inclusive extravaganzas, you won’t get anything like them here. The resorts are mostly fairly bland and purpose-built with little in the way of local flavour or food. Santa Eulalia is an attractive small town with a touch of character and has a couple of 5-star hotels (the small Palladium, and the large, soon to be opened Fenicia Privilege). Some hotels are geared to the hardcore young clubber market, if this is not you, it could spoil your holiday so carefully check where you are staying. Any property near a club will be a clubber’s domain. Anything in the centre of San Antonio will be basic and youth-orientated.
Driving – The island is easy to drive around with good main roads that are well signposted.
06/2006 Austria.. 'mistaken identity'
An amusing incident occurred whilst reviewing a hotel in an Austrian ski resort this winter. I had just arrived at the property and was standing on the opposite side of the street, by a line of cars, entering information into our new electronic input device. I heard some shouting from across the street which I ignored as I was in mid-sentence on the device. The shouting continued, so I looked up and saw that it was an old man and his wife walking towards me…. probably drunk or having a row, I thought! Then I realised that their shouting was directed at me!! The red-faced man was almost exploding with rage and ranting on in German. As if it wasn’t enough to be standing outside in the freezing cold and snow, I had someone shouting at me for no reason whatsoever! Suddenly the penny dropped and I realised the problem. I was standing next to his car and he thought I was a traffic warden giving him a ticket from my ‘machine ‘. Thankfully, his wife realised the truth and I narrowly avoided a walking stick round my head! Next time, I’ll issue an on-the-spot fine and pocket the money. If I do that at every hotel… I’ll be a millionaire by the end of the year!
An amusing incident occurred whilst reviewing a hotel in an Austrian ski resort this winter. I had just arrived at the property and was standing on the opposite side of the street, by a line of cars, entering information into our new electronic input device. I heard some shouting from across the street which I ignored as I was in mid-sentence on the device. The shouting continued, so I looked up and saw that it was an old man and his wife walking towards me…. probably drunk or having a row, I thought! Then I realised that their shouting was directed at me!! The red-faced man was almost exploding with rage and ranting on in German. As if it wasn’t enough to be standing outside in the freezing cold and snow, I had someone shouting at me for no reason whatsoever! Suddenly the penny dropped and I realised the problem. I was standing next to his car and he thought I was a traffic warden giving him a ticket from my ‘machine ‘. Thankfully, his wife realised the truth and I narrowly avoided a walking stick round my head! Next time, I’ll issue an on-the-spot fine and pocket the money. If I do that at every hotel… I’ll be a millionaire by the end of the year!
06/2006 Prague: 'transport around the city...'
There are various types of transport in Prague, including buses, trams and a very efficient metro system. Particularly cost-effective is the 7-day ticket costing only 280 Koruna (CZK) – just over £7! There are shorter-term tickets available, but they are not much cheaper and the 7-day tickets do not need to be ‘validated’. For we British unaccustomed to validating, you have to put your ticket in a machine on the platform or on the bus to be stamped. Apparently you get in trouble if you don’t validate… and it’s easy to forget! Beware of the taxis in Prague! I had heard stories of dreadful overcharging by taxis in the central area. They turned out to be quite true. A good friend of mine was charged 800 Koruna, (about £20) for a journey from Wenceslas Square to the Old Town Square and it’s only a 5-minute walk!! I felt quite sorry for him – when I finally stopped laughing. To avoid this rip-off, it’s possible to get phone numbers of local companies with English-speaking booking staff who will arrange for you to be picked up wherever you like.
There are various types of transport in Prague, including buses, trams and a very efficient metro system. Particularly cost-effective is the 7-day ticket costing only 280 Koruna (CZK) – just over £7! There are shorter-term tickets available, but they are not much cheaper and the 7-day tickets do not need to be ‘validated’. For we British unaccustomed to validating, you have to put your ticket in a machine on the platform or on the bus to be stamped. Apparently you get in trouble if you don’t validate… and it’s easy to forget! Beware of the taxis in Prague! I had heard stories of dreadful overcharging by taxis in the central area. They turned out to be quite true. A good friend of mine was charged 800 Koruna, (about £20) for a journey from Wenceslas Square to the Old Town Square and it’s only a 5-minute walk!! I felt quite sorry for him – when I finally stopped laughing. To avoid this rip-off, it’s possible to get phone numbers of local companies with English-speaking booking staff who will arrange for you to be picked up wherever you like.
