March 9, 2009

And we’re going to: Lykia World in Olu Deniz

Well, I’ve finally booked this year’s holiday - it’ll only be our second overseas holiday abroad ever, and in as many years, but Olu Deniz won out - mainly because of Lykia World.

The selection process was as follows:

1. We went to Egypt on our first overseas holiday last year, so it had to be another country (even though I like the Red Sea),

2. It has to be reasonably short-haul,

3. The kids absolutely loved the pool in Luxor, and when I gave them a choice of a great beach or great pool, they choose pool!

4. We need something culturally interesting for the grown-ups

5. We wanted somewhere with countryside and nature.

While I did like the look of Rhodes, especially Lindos, I wasn’t convinced it offered as much as I wanted in terms of beaches or pools in the hotels.

Majorca also looked good, especially Alcudia and Puerto Pollensa, but again, didn’t quite have the right mix - this time.

Will definitely consider both Rhodes and Majorca in future, but for the time being, we wanted to make this more of a holiday for the kids.

Lykia World

lykia-world-2

Lykia World is essentially one big holiday village close to Olu Deniz - and has no less than 19 swimming pools, with 9 specifically for children, including water slides. This is precisely what they would want.

It’s also surrounded by turquoise sea and beautiful wooded mountains.

There are Lycian Tombs at Fethiye, as well as other historical features closer by, not least the deserted Greek village at Kayakoy.

The only box it doesn’t really tick is the beach one - I have low expectations, as it’s basically a pebble beach and dips steeply into the sea. However, the kids have already decided on pools first, and the blue lagoon may yet prove good for us.

Booking Lykia World at Olu Deniz

I had originally thought I’d book through Thomson - I’ve used their website a lot during my research, because it’s so very easily to use, and the application of images and integrated reviews makes it a brilliant user friendly site - especially when you compare it to Thomas Cook’s, which is a joke.

However, here are the quotes that came in for a family of 5 - 2 adults and 3 children under 14 years booking for early July in 2009 at full board:

Thomson: £5013 for 10 nights
Thomas Cook: £4588 for 10 nights
Cosmo (Monarch): £3307 for 7 nights
Sky: £3066 for 7 nights

I quickly realised that booking 10 nights was proving too expensive, but was seriously disappointed with Thomson’s pricing.

The ironic thing is that Sky are just reselling Cosmo holidays as an affiliate, and yet they were able to quote a cheaper price!

So I’ve booked with Sky, and now we’re getting ready to enjoy our holiday later this year.