worrying times in pp
 

Hi Folks, Sorry if this goes on a bit but there is no quick way of saying this. I'm just back from my 3 weeks in pp.I've been going twice a year at the same time for almost 20 years.(june being the other ) and i have never seen it so quiet. Places i have frequented for years that if you did not get in by a certain time you would not get a seat have been empty. A family run restaurant of 40 years fearing he wont get through the winter. 3 restaurants in one road closed since last september. I have read on hear people say it's about 20 - 40% down but having spoken to local people i fear that is way off. The guy who runs the parachute& bannana boat, born in pp as was his father says that in the restaurants he works in the evenings it's 60%. Another bar owner says 50% and i'd have to agree.Having spoken to other folk on holiday there the problem is simple. In their words " It's too expensive" And you know what, If we all stop and take our rose tinted specs off for a second and look at it from the perspective of someone that has no emotional ties to pp ( unlike us) you have to say they are right. I could go on giving example after example but to keep it simple lets stick to 2 basics. The good old sirloin steak and wine. Having a couple of cloudy days to fill i thought i would go round and try to look at what the majority of folk are confronted with . The sirlon ranged from 9.50 to 24eu. and before someone mentions quality i made a point over the 3 weeks of having a cheap one and a dear one and there was no difference. Then you have the wine and here's where i get very wound up. Lets stick with 2 staple wines that most will know, Campo Viejo and Vina sol. There is a restaurant in the middle of pp that sells both for 11.50eu.(great value at any exchange rate). i then went around and found it in lots of places from 15- 23eus. I'm told bar owners read posts on here so here's a question for you. At what point did you decide to start charging folk 15 - 20eus for plates of food and 15-23eus for wine that can be bought in gb for far less?. My guess is you all got complacent and said "The british will come no matter what ". Well sorry guys not only have the brits not come they have deserted in their droves.To those folk who are about to post well what about the menu of the day, that is not the answer. Two adults with a couple of kids don't want 4 md's with stuff the kids wont eat they want to be able to choose a single dish for the young folk and at the exorbitant prices being asked it's not on. Quote " My husband and i went in to a local place for 2 sandwiches and 2 soft drinks, the bill was 16eus" No thats not tourist's but 2 folk who have lived in pp since 1972. In her words they are ripping folk off.The thing i find alarming is that folk i spoke to found it still too expensive even if you allow for the bad rate.So can i offer a solution to bar owners. When you have your local festival on the 15 of jan, gather all your menus and use them to light the bonfires. Then get you old book of golden rules for tourism out and re read the parts that say value for money and making the holidaymaker feel like a king. Then make up new menus with prices that have not come from the "planet janet". Can i just leave you with something a restaurant owner of places both past and present known to most of you said to me in times gone by." I pay around 30p for my house wine and i can sell it at 11eus all day long" well i fear there needs to be a serious rethink my friends.As for me i will do what ever it takes to get there, as will you folk no doubt but we have to realise our total financial contributions compared to the 99.99% who go there are but a mere drop in the ocean. Worrying times in pp indeed.

I'm not sure it's just the cost of food - I think perhaps the car hire situation and the general all-round malaise had a lot to do with it. Friends of mine who were out in the summer were eating at the villa not because the restaurants were so much more expensive than last year but because the price of the overall holiday had soared. But I agree: in the space of only a couple of years restaurants seem to have far outstripped the UK in terms of cost. To be honest we've found that food in supermarkets has also increased significantly in price during that time - so I guess restaurants are also having to pass price rises on to the consumer... I think we also all have a mindset, dating back to the 70s, that Mallorca is a cheap destination - of course it can't be any more, nowhere is nor will be again. But certainly some restaurants need to take a reality check. Naming no names - you know who you are!

I have found these posts very interesting. I think Pollensafan, that you have stated what many are thinking and I tend to agree with you.
We too have been going to Pollensa for many years and have been owners for the past 14. Having bought an apartment and more recently a villa which we did intend to move to permanently. This has been put on hold and as such we rent out our villa to help with the very high costs. What we have found is the expense of having anything done to do with the villa. It does seem that as soon as it is known we are English then prices rise greatly. The cost of our cleaning, as an example is 16 euros an hour. The change of washing a set of bedding is 20 euros. It would be cheaper for us to supply our guests with a brand new set of bedding from Asda and tell them to put into the bin at the end of their stay! I'm not sure the hourly rate of a cleaner is here in the UK as I don't have one but I would assume it is much less then £15.
Everything seems to be more expensive not just restaurants - Difficult one - a shame for all but as has been said, if restaurants become greedy then word will ensure that their tables are left empty.

Speaking as one who has holidayed in PP on and off since 1996, I have to admit that we were spending around 30 euros less on our evening meal in France than in PP last year.

Typical spend on a meal for four of us last year was around 100 euros, sometimes more, depending on where we ate. This year we rarely went higher than 70 euros and that was a meal with wine.

We found wine significantly cheaper - we were paying around 12 euros for a good local wine but last year we were paying anything between 15 and 20 euros for a Mallorcan wine.

In PP's defence, the choice of restaurants was nowhere near as good in France, but with savings like that (and we did eat well) it certainly made us think.

Pollensafan,

First of all , an absolutely brilliant post and it highlights the pain that both the local business providers and equally the consumers ( the Brits here in the Port) are going through at the moment. Fraid to say , it ain't gonna change short term.

We are all going through a period of major economic upheaval . It is very unlikely that Sterling , given the state of the UK economy, will ever reach the dizzy heights in relation to the Euro that it did a couple of years ago. Fact, the days of 1.50 Euros to the pound sterling are over ( well at least til the Govt borrowing is reduced , probably many years from now !!!).

Let's turn to the providers. Easy to say that they have exploited folk for many years but the reality is that , as good business folk, have , as you and I would, played the market. The tourist pound will be fought over for a few years yet to come.

It's going to be very painful for all , certainly our expectations as tourists looking for relatively cheap living but equally painful for the providers who will have to conform to the market conditions.

I'm afraid we have to bite the bullet, pain all round for all. However the " Market " will rule as long as we live in social democratic conditions. So " value for money" will be the key. The place or the tourist industry won't die. We , both , the consumers and providers have a lot of pain to go through yet.

Fraid to be so depressing, but there ain't any quick fix or easy solution.

Please keep coming, you can still enjoy the sunshine on a pittance , if you need to.

BonysLad :(

Kate1, You say restaurants need to pass on costs, if a restaurant can sell wines at half the price of the others why cant they reduce their prices. I assume the cheaper one is also making money on them and we all know their duty and tax is a fraction of ours.i only gave two examples because i was trying to keep the post as short as possible. However the list is endless eg- 15-22eus for a plate of lamb chops, they have to be having a laugh and if they think it's going to get better when the euro picks up they are going to be in for a massive shock because in the meantime all the folk who have deserted will have found other places where it's a hell of a lot cheaper. Turkey to name but one. Not my cup of tea but as i said these folk have no emotional pull to pp whatsoever. A friend of mine has been going to pp for 7 years. This year he went to turkey and could not believe how cheap it was. £10 a head for drinks,wine and a meal. £3 for a taxi for a 10 mile trip to his villa.As i said i have a unhealthy obsession with pp but most don't and there is the problem.

Really enjoyed reading this, BonysLad. I think you are so right. Pollensa has a wonderful reputation with many people so I hope that many continue to visit. Agree too that you can have a wonderful time without spending the earth. Lots of wonderful supermarkets to buy really good food to bbq at home etc. Don't need to over spend on car hire as Hoppa excellent as is local public transport. A holiday in England wouldn't necessarily be cheaper. I heard from a friend who has recently returned, that there were many more German and even the occasional Russian accent in PP? If that is the case then perhaps the market is changing from being mostly British?

I suppose the real point is that no one likes to be ripped off, and now we cant be sure when we are in order to avoid these places without spending the time researching before we spend our money!
It is a worrying time still and we all need to pull our belts in a bit, and would like to do so with the help of discerning business outlets of all types.
We find ourselves eating at better value restaurants rather than special ones more often, which makes eating at the special ones even more special!!
Lets hope we can all scratch each others backs during this time.

Thank you, Eleanor.

Interesting observation because there are certainly a lot more German visitors around this year ( where they find it still quite good value being strong members of the Eurozone ) and having spent more time at the airport yesterday, considerably more East Europeans as their economies grow. Appreciate that PP has been seen as a typical British enclave but multi ethnicity and culture is no bad thing either ( despite my "tongue in cheek " xenophobic rantings on here sometimes ). The greatest cities on earth share this belief and value it accordingly a la London and New York. It's the submersion of any culture by others I get so heated about , particularly when the indigineous culture gets swamped.

BonysLad :)

p.s. If Starbucks move in , I'm off like a shot :D:D

8 of us heading out 3rd October for 2 weeks.

We booked 12 months ago when the rate was significantly better. We really pushed the boat out and booked one of the best villas we could find and fully intend to enjoy our stay.

However, having been in PP twice yearly for the past 5 years the plans have changed from when we booked. We now fully intend to make full use of the villa's BBQ much more often than we would have normally. Short of a couple of places I want to visit I can see us dining in most nights.

The rate is similar to our last visit in April this year and this shone through majorly in the prices in the Eroski. 4.50 Euro's for a brown wholemeal loaf:eek: 13 Euros for the cheapest bottle of whisky. It was getting pretty silly. Lidl in Inca will be providing the basics a couple of times per week for this visit. Not ideal but needs must (and more money that should be spent in PP going elsewhere)

First visit to Mulligans in April.... 1 Pint lager plus 1 diet Pepsi.. 7 Euro's:eek: As a canny Scotsman you will only take so much of that. JK's provided much better value.

The talk of people deserting in droves is unsurprising. We have booked already for next year. Unfortunately for PP it's back to the Canaries for 2 weeks June / July all inclusive in a new hotel (rated 4 out of 5 based 75 reviews on trip advisor). Add to that Ryanair flights we have change out of £1000 for a family of three. To bring this into context we will be double that for 3 of us in PP in October. I would have been at least £3K for the same 2 weeks June / July in PP next year. OK the food wont be of the same standard and the surroundings maybe not as plush. But £2k plus of a saving made it the easiest decision I have made all year.

Lets hope this is not our last visit, we have grown to love the place but as the original poster says loyalty only goes so far. Time will tell.. it's up to the business's of the town to not only keep the current visitors but also attract more. To date I have seen nothing at all to tempt me back.

Interesting stuff. I posted on here about this time last year regarding increasing prices in PP,yet I shall be back over there next week to give it another go.
I suspect that many visiting PP knowing that it is a bit more expensive than other resorts on the island, and are happy with that knowing it is a "cut above" many of those resorts.
However, there may become a time when it really does get too expensive and
people will stop coming.
I must admit that I was shocked at some of the prices last September - a mixture of lousy exchange rate and plain profiteering in my opinion - and we said that we would be giving it a miss this year (we always come late Sep/Oct) but our middle aged conservatism got the better of us so we are back again.
But,like any market,there is a tipping point.PP is very close to it now.

Interesting

Firstly prices .... we went to Portugal for a week this year ............ we stayed outside Lisbon - a portugese holiday resort frequented by a few foreigners but mainly portugese holiday makers ............. Prices were MUCH cheaper than PP both in the restaurants and in the shops ........ had good meals every night ( not great but above average ) .... 2 courses and a bottle of wine between 2 worked out at about 30euros ( yes - for 2 ) and that included lovelly sea bream or fillet steak most evenings. Generally food in the supermarkets was 30% cheaper.

BUT ........... it wasn't PP .......... it just wasn't the same ... the key thing I noticed was that the people were much poorer; there were many beggars and a LOT of aggressive buskers ....... so we won;t return ..... good cheap food and wine isn't everything

Now on to the numbers being down .......... thats bad for the local businesses and more worrying is what will replace any that close ..... you can only think in this climate it will be lower end pilem in and serve them rubbish establishments ........

HOWEVER ............ lets all remember about 3 years ago when times were booming; lots of new property was springing up in Boquer ............ " PP's getting too crowded " we all said ........... and it was ....... I will never forget July 2006 ( I think ) ......... PP was crowded beyond belief and there was a heat wave; getting a seat in any of the restaurants was impossible ......... getting a coffee on Market day was a nightmare ........ we had conversations along the lines of us not wanting to come in the summer anymore because we didn't like it being so full ....... 2007 and 2008 were less crowded and more pleasant ......

So looking on the bright side ....... we just need the prices to level off and the restaurants to be operated by people who want to serve good food at reasonable prices and then we want to find ways to extend the season which will help these establishments be profitable ......... lets get more people there in spring and autumn but not go back to the mahem of overful July's ...... or am I dreaming ?

Del,Stephen

Fear not, they'll have to or they will not be here !!!!

BonysLad :)

I am certain they will respond and hopefully the rate will improve. As with many on here we are happy to pay for that little bit more quality and that feeling of the resort being a little more exclusive.

Unfortunately the resort feels more deserted than exclusive from recent reports. I fear it's a long and difficult road to attract frustrated visitors back again. From personal experience in all walks of life I very rarely afford a second chance and return to anywhere I feel I did not get value for money.

Interesting post cd. You are so right Pollensa is Pollensa and it is special. It would be nice if the season was longer as each year it does seem to open later and close earlier. I know this suits some but for business it is a very short season. Especially so when that season has to carry them through the winter. There are so many reasons to visit during the autumn and winter months especially in January. Some holiday makers would prefer to go elsewhere during these months, where perhaps they may feel there is more life. It is of course a circle - the people are needed to make opening worthwhile whilst people won't go if places are closed.

I propose a round of applause to Pollensafan! You've quadrupled the daily forum usage with one post. You've also stated an opinion which I share in relation to prices but was reluctant to post.
I took issue with the dual pricing operated in some bars this year also. If prices were deemed to be fair, then it shouldn't be necessary for some of the bars to charge lower prices to locals. It is also the case that the some of the restaurants are being charged monstrous rents by the PP property mafia which they have to pass on in the form of higher prices. A small number of people were raking in a huge amount of money...until it went too far this year.

Menu del dia price increases
 

Been out to PP at various times this year and I'm astonished that some places have dramatically increased the prices of the menu del dia as the season has progressed for exactly the same offerings.

We normally like to try new eating places on our visits but in the current economic climate we keep returning to the bars and restaurants that offer the best value for money ( quality/atmosphere versus price.)

If a restaurant or bar increases their prices by a very small amount to cover rising costs and still offers the same value we will still continue to return however out of principal we don't go near the ones that have dramatically increased prices.

One restaurant owner ( not in a prime location ) laughed at me earlier in the year when I said I wouldn't be returning as they charged €4 for a pint of the local draught lager.I was trying to do the guy a favour by telling him people had less money to spend this year.I Wonder why this restaurant is always empty whenever we pass ?

For so long we have all enjoyed such a good currency rate making the holiday so very reasonable. The actual prices haven't gone up THAT much, but it costs us so much more now. Also, think about it.. we were in the dark ages in the UK... it is only a relatively recent event where u could rent a room that had an en suite....and not too many holiday house rentals in the UK come with a pool.... so we felt we were getting so much more on holiday.
Porto, prices quoted for the sirlion are comparable with the UK now ( I should know, married to dedicated Steak Man:) ) But can I just add that last October, on holiday on the island of Arran, Scotland, a bar/restaurant we have used for years was wanting £25 for a ribeye steak ( we up sticks and left ! ) ....and have u priced a holiday in the UK recently? We have given up on hotels & B & B's.. we just get a group together and rent a house ! ( and a sunbed ! lol)
I spent June this year in PP, and when I got back to the UK and did my first weekly shop, couldnt beleive the price hike in just a month.
Yes, local PP businesses have to do a rethink over the wine, but then that is no different from the soft drinks ripoff, here in the UK, we are just noticing it more now, cos of the exchange rate.
We were in the fortunate position of being able to sell our family business 2 years ago and I so feel for the businesses struggling in PP now. This year we have seen a number of the old established family businesses close.

Scary bit is... do they just lie empty or what moves in to replace them ?

I for one am gonna be back out in Oct and supporting the local businesses and keeping my fingers crossed for them :)

Miriam

Don't entirely agree with the fact the prices have not gone up that much. I think the cost in the supermarkets have increased significantly and that is before you take into account the poor exchange rate.

As a resort geared very much towards the British it is nothing short of commercial suicide to ignore the value of your customers Euro. The reality is that a small increase (say 10%) added to the current rate (20% lower than 2008) equates to a serious hike in prices all round.

Someone made a great point regards loungers on the beach. 2 beds plus parasol in 2008 were 9 Euros (Approx £6.80 @ ex rate of 1.32). 2009 saw it rise to 10 Euros (Approx £9.50 @ ex rate 1.05) Net price rise just short of 40% based on a 1 euro increase in local prices.

A half empty restaraunt or pub charging fair prices will make far more money than an empty one charging silly prices. 2010 is going to be a very very big year for both the resort and it's business's. Lessons need to be learned and fast (ideally before the 1st weekend in October;))

Great thread.

I think eating out/drinking in PP can be like any other holiday resort. The difference between Pascalinos and stay in terms of quality and price is staggering but both seem to be doing a roaring trade anytime I go by.

The thing that amazes me and one that would also affect the locals is the price of everyday household items be that bread, milk, cheese, biscuits, sweets, crisps etc. and I always wonder how the locals manage to afford it. Is their standard of living so high that they can afford these prices regularly or is there some sort of "locals" secret supermarket where you can get a pint of milf for less than 1.56 euros and a loaf of bread for less than 2?

I think the prices in the supermarkets in the Port are higher. I was told that the locals tend to shop in Mercadona (not sure of spelling, sorry!) in Alcudia. A friend who has lived in the Port for many many years said that she wouldn't think of doing a weekly shop in the Port and would only go to Mercadona or Lidl in Inca where prices are very much lower.

You're right Eleanor - also locals don't eat in the touristy restaurants. Locals we know in PP will go for a MDD lunch at maybe 9 or 10 euros - such as that at El Posito - and in the evening tend to have a very simple meal at home. They buy fresh produce at local markets etc rather than in the PP supermarkets. Which is what we do now whenever we come to PP.

I also agree with the poster who said that 25euros for a main course was becoming almost standard in the UK - can confirm that during our summer hols on the Suffolk coast we visited a couple of pubs (pubs, mind you, not restaurants) where virtually every main course was more than 20 euros. And frankly they were nothing special - nothing like as good as most places in PP - in fact in one of them the service was so atrocious that we walked out, which I have never had to do in PP... It's human instinct the world over to want to make as much money as possible out of tourists.

With many restaurants closing down it doesn't sound as though they are exploiting the situation. I suspect that their costs have also increased significantly. Don't forget that rates went up about 30% at the end of last year and different places will have different rateable values. Food in the supermarkets has increased and so has wine. It is a sign of the times I am afraid

I have been to Mercadona before and didnt notice a great deal in difference in prices. Certainly not for the holiday essentials such as bread, milk etc. How can Spaniards afford to pay so much for the basics?

I've only skimmed over some of the posts on here but they all seem to be similar. As Bonnyslad said you can still get by reasonably cheaply in PP if you do your homework. Lesson No1, the days of a bucket of wine and 200 fags for a fiver are long gone!

I spent a total of 5 weeks in PP over the summer, ate in what i reckon are the best restaurants in PP, ate out every night and never spent more than 5o/55 E for 2 including wine and all drinks. It can be done cheaper but i refuse to lower my standards on MY holiday just to save a few bob. Considering the quality i received that is not a lot of money. I dread to think what a similar standard of meal in the UK would cost:eek:

As i've stated previously i achieve this by shopping locally for breakfast items (no need to spend 3 e on a loaf, when superior local bread is .45E) and very little money during the day. As BL said the sunshines free!

Apologies, i have no wish to offend any families or people on a budget, i too am on a budget, but it's not all doom and gloom, a wee bit of homework and simply don't frequent those you feel are ripping-off!

Just to comment re prices in Mercadona. 1 litre of fresh milk is 83cents and it lasts until the sell by date. I suspect if you buy long life prices don't vary much. I live her and always shop her unless emergency. I agree that prices seem higher but we are all affected by the exchange rate and it pays to look around . I know of one restaurant on the front who is being charged €7000 per month all year round.

Rab - regarding the question of how do the locals afford the cost of living, I think the answer therre is their style of living. They will use the markets and of course buy products that are not familiar to us at much more resonable prices. They do also invariably travel out to Mercadona Inca and the likes of Al Campo, which many of the visitors to PP can not, or do not want to.

In general, every resort will have it's front line expensive restaurants many of which are not good, some are, then you have the second, third and fourth lines where prices generally tend to get lower.

I do not think that PP is any different in it's pricing to any other top Mediterreanean resort. Having been to Barcelona in February the prices were no different to PP, which is supposed to be the Jewel in the Med, and I am sure the situation is just the same in places like Nice and Rimini, etc.

PP has been getting expensive for years now (having been coming since the late 60's) and the exchange rate has just compounded the effect.

It will not stop me coming back but I will adjust my cloth accordingly.

GG

Smiddy, Your post makes one of my main points. It's all well and good for us veteran pper's to say you can get a better deal here and a cheaper meal there but your average family going to pp are not going to spend their holiday doing an impersonation of sherlock holmes. They are going to form an opinion on what they are confronted with in the main arena. Also i forgot to mention in my first post the comment made by Jason moore of the Majorca Bulletin. He say's it's the british peoples fault that majorca is suffering because and i quote, "If they had joined the euro along with the other countries then the prices in gb would have gone up and majorca would not seem so expensive" So there you have it, the ramblings of someone obviously destined for the "Home for the terminally stupid".

Mercadona is much cheaper than other supermarkets and even cheaper than Alcampo. We live here and compare prices regularly. Eroski is expensive by comparison, especially for wine. I know one well known PP restaurant owner who seems to buy his wine there.

The only issue with Mercadona in Alcudia is the very tight car underground park, but if you go during the siesta hours it is much better. However they are digging up the road from Port DÁlcudia and the road is closed coming from that direction which seems to have reduced the number shopping there.

Having just returned from a week in PP, my 2nd visit, I for one will definitely not be returning any time soon.

We found the cost of virtually everything from drinks to meals to lunches to cab fares absolutely extortionate. And not once we did we have a meal that we felt was value for money. One lunch time my husband ordered tuna salad and I ordered prawn and avocado salad. He had a table spoon of tuna on a plate full of lettuce and I had 5 small prawns and 3 thin slices of avocado on a pile of lettuce. With a beer and a coke and 2 x not nice cheesecake the bill came to €37-unbelievable. Toasted sandwiches were dry and unappetising to say the least, undercooked chips to go with them at ridiculous prices. Most places were charging 3.10€ for a cheap draught beer-not on!

A downpour of rain one night caught us out 2 streets away from our hotel-a cab charged us 7€ for the journey back-total rip off. Car from the airport was 73€ each way yet others in the hotel got a cab from airport and were charged 90€!!! In the Canaries where we usually go the same journey would be €35.

I do not wish to offend any PP lovers but from our point of view the place is not that special that tourists are going to suffer these sort of rip off prices-they will take their money elsewhere.

Question for you Jackie, We are all regularly on this forum because of the love we have for the place (warts and all) what confuses is me is why would you be on a forum about a place you hated so much...

Personally I wouldn't have the time or inclination..

Jackie this is so awful! Another report whereby the word rip off comes to mind. There have been many posts referring to the exchange rate being the cause of high prices, rents, leases etc etc. Yes many are suffering BUT that doesn't give any business the permission to believe that they can just rip off people. The ingredients as quoted by Jackie are not expensive especially if bought in the market and not the tourist supermarket. These people are just having a laugh here. The British will put up with it and so they will continue to rip off. Many posts refer to high prices v low quality both of which are destroying PP. It is a worry that there have been so many people feeling that they have received bad value for money and saying they will not return - this is a great worry for PP. If it was quiet this year then next year we should be very concerned. It is such a shame as Pollensa is a lovely place to be and not all restaurants and businesses do rip off. That is why this forum is so good as it does give the opportunity to exchange knowledge and thereby gaining an insight of places to visit or more importantly, places to think twice about. Feedback is important. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to make feelings known at the time to the appropriate people if unhappy.
To conclude, I would like to say to anyone thinking of visiting for the first time to please do so. The majority of people fall in love with the place and return time after time - just read up and take on board the feedback on this site of peoples experiences of places to eat - you will see there are many that don't rip you off.
Eleanor

Hi Jackie, i am sorry you hate PP so much but could i ask you to help others who don't know the place as well as i and many of us do, to please tell us the names of the places where you had such awful experiences. It sounds like they need to be named and shamed.:eek:

Hi Sparky, When i started this thread my intention was to get over to folk what the average holidaymaker thought of pp. Well jackies post is typical of the point i was trying to make and she got it over perfectly. I could have reeled off reams of names of good and bad eatery's but i avoided this because i did not want it to turn in to a "plug your favourite restaurant thread." To me it does not matter where her experinces took place and nor should it to the rest of us. The thing we should all take on board is that her experience is the lasting memory she has taken away with her about pp and that my friends makes me more sad than i can tell you and to the post by wrightstuff i can only say i hope the bar owners dont have that attitude or they will all be joining the spanish equivalent of the "Job Centre".

hi Pollensa fan,
My post was not meant to offend if it was read correctly it said we all have a love for PP (warts and all)... This forum helps us all to avoid the bad places and hopefully the bar owners will have to up their game and the shop owners lower their prices to avoid the job centre Q

Having read Pollensafan's and Jackies post again. I can see what they mean and they are so right. It is the impression left which is so sad. That impression will probably never fade. The truth of the matter too is that if we were to take off our rose tinted glasses it is easy to agree that what has been said is so very true. It is easy for us to stick up for the place we love but the bottom line is that the negative is stronger than the positive and the fact that Jackie and some others have found they have been ripped off or overcharged will stay with them in memory much longer than the beautiful mountains or how lovely the beach was in the wonderful sunshine. Such a shame.
Eleanor

I agree with the comments made by Del RFC earlier in this posting. It isnt just the cost of eating in/out, it is the total cost of holidaying in PP.
Look at Turkey - a two bedroom apartment with two en-suite bathrooms and a glorious sea view £350 per week - is it any wonder people are tempted. You just can't compare that to the cost of renting in PP - I appreciate as Eleanor says prices are high for maintenance and cleaning, but it is still only a small percentage of the rental price charged.
I stand by my previous postings that the only way to survive a recession is to cut prices to the bare bones, and to give even better value than you have ever done before.

Well Wrightstuff and Sparky-I never said anywhere that I hated PP. And WS I took the time to respond as other 1st time visitors have the right to get as many opinions of PP as they can.The regular PP visitors that love the place warts and all are fine, but you won't keep the resort alive on your own. With new visitors looking at the place differently and not liking what they see it will soon be like a ghost town. Last year was my first visit and I thought the port was very nice with beautiful views-hence the 2nd visit this year to see more of it. Despite some awful weather I still think PP itself is very pretty but simply do not feel it warrants the cost of another visit there.

Normally we would rent an apartment or a villa and eat out virtually every evening. I did some research over the past months and the cost of either is in my mind far too expensive by the time you include flights and transfers. So we booked an hotel, the Pollensa Park, as a base but still intended to get out regularly for lunch and evening meals.

I agree with Pollensafan that it doesn't really matter what restaurants I used as it is enough that I left with a bad opinion of the resort and will not return. Probably couldn't name more than one anyway as not familiar with any of them. Sitting in the hotel at times and chatting with other guests it was obvious that many people feel the same as we did and some had been going for between 10 and 20 years and vowed not to return.

We all know the exchange rate is bad at the moment but that does not mean the local bars and restaurants have to increase prices and lower standards to make up for the fact head count is low. I got the impression they were milking the short season for all it's worth while they could but think they have only shot themselves in the foot by doing so.

An example is the afternoon we decided to go to the beach for a couple of hours, arriving at exactly 3.20pm with another couple. There was row upon row of empty sunbeds and we all sat on one each with 2 umbrellas. The guy was over like a rocket demanding 11€ per couple. When I suggested at that time of day it should be half price he wouldn't budge-so we did and he took nothing. Have none of them heard of small profit big turnover-seems to me it would work there.

The walk from the hotel to the port passes many cheap and tacky shops selling nothing but tat, as does the market. Where are all the nice leather shoe,coat or handbag shops? I always carry enough spending money to treat myself to something nice while on holiday but came home empty handed from this trip-there simply was nothing for sale that I couldn't get better and cheaper in the UK.

A 2 hour flight from the UK is a huge advantage and goes a long way to attract us. We have done all the long haul flights over the years and don't want much from a holiday except some sun and nice food now and were potential regular visitors but will pass on PP in future.

PS-Well done Eleanor for taking a second look at the posts and being honest enough to admit newbies can see what regulars often overlook as they are enamoured with the place.

Hi elanor, Thanks for that, you have hit the nail on the head and what folk need to realise is jackies thoughts are not in the minority believe me i'm a nosy so and so and i'll talk to anyone to get their opinion on pp. Some folk feel it's owners passing on rising costs. Well how about this. On one cloudy day i took a bus round to can picafort to see a restaurant owner i had not seen for 13 years. Well never mind being in another resort i thought i'd gone to another island. There were people everwhere. So i asked the owner how things were and he said his trade was up on last year. Having looked around the place i'm not suprised. Beer at 2eurs, snacks3-4eurs. This resort over the last few years has been mostly german but this year he said the brits were back on mass. So near yet so far as it were. Before anyone states the obvious, no i'm not saying can picafort holds a candle to pp but no one is going to convince me they source things like beer etc- from different companys to make that sort of price difference.

Hi Jackie, That says it all and thats my real fear for the future and if that keeps happening ( sorry to use a pun ) It will still be pp jim but not as we know it.