just completed my 6th trip in 10 years to cyprus/ paphos and it will be the last.
the problem..... the locals and the imagrant workers in general need to try break a smile, even the famous mr d. turpin wore a mask.
the place was dead for this time of year in comparison with a couple of years ago, and no wonder. i was ripped off several times and fed up of being short changed or having worthless greek coins passed on to me. Paphos needs a clean up and a shake up if it is to recover and thrive or survive the euro con. £30 for a poxy 16km airport taxi ride. your having a laugh.Never again sorry.
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What a pity you have had such a bad experience. I can only imagine that the feeling of being %26quot;ripped off%26quot; is going to get worse when the Euro is introduced.
I have been enjoying holidays in Paphos for 11 years and have noticed that it has become more and more expensive with each visit. When we started going it used to be expensive to get there but cheap when you got there. That has switched now. Meals and drinks are no cheaper than they are in the UK and basic items in the supermarkets seem to be on a par too. OK, there are still bargains to be had and I have no doubt that people will post with examples of bargain meals and drinks etc. (I too can quote examples of cheapies) but on the whole there is very little difference. We seem to spend more and more on each holiday each year.
Has anyone else noticed this?
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No pleasing some people!
Im sorry you had a bad experience but i think thats the worst review i%26#39;ve ever read about cyprus!!!
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Ive been to paphos several times including twice last year.It%26#39;s not as expensive as the U.K. at all. It may not be dirt cheap but i have just paid £60 GBP for a meal for two at a restaurant in Cardiff. There is no way I will have to pay anywhere near that for 3 of us when I go to Paphos next week. I can be certain of this as there are several menus available for restaurants online with prices there for all to see. i also tend to go to restaurants that are off the beaten track a bit and you get much better value then. If you go to somewhere like Napoleons which was awful then it is expensive and not worth it but the vast majority are far cheaper. How much do you think a taxi costs from heathrow into London then? Do you honestly believe its £30!! Add into the mix the weather and the vast majority of wonderful Cypriot people then I know where Id rather be and Im glad to say that come sunday 24th June I will be returning to Cyprus and getting away from rip off Britain for a week! (where of course there are no immigrant workers, where the food in restaurants is so cheap and where crime is so low and you can feel so safe walking the streets - NOT!)
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I think as holiday makers we have only ourselves to blame, how many times have you heard people say stupid things %26#39;nothing to eat only foreign muck%26#39; or %26#39;not a bit like home%26#39;!! When the locals try to give us that we complain that its too like home! Can we really blame some of these small islands for trying to make their living circumstances a bit better, after all a lot of europeans are also on the make there. There are sufficent Irish and English pubs etc and I%26#39;m damned sure they are not giving things away. The best thing to do is stay somewhere nice close to town and hire a car to get away during the lovely days to see the %26#39;real%26#39; island or maybe stay in one of the traditional villages which hasnt changed too much.
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I read this review last night and thought the same as Linzi: %26quot;No pleasing some people!%26quot;
I nearly replied, but then thought better of it because I%26#39;d just returned from visiting my seriously ill mother-in-law and thought my emotions were clouding my view. Today, we%26#39;ve had to cancel our fourth trip to Paphos on 19th June. No refund, too late to change the name on the tickets. Do I feel short changed, you bet. I can%26#39;t break a smile either right now. But life goes on.
I too am sorry you had a bad experience, and I%26#39;m sorry if I%26#39;ve gone on a bit, but it was a miserable trip review.
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you bet it was a miserable report.its a miserable place in my view only. As i said ive watched the place go down the pan over the last 10 years, ive actually travelled to far and wide places in the world (around 10 trips per year)and realy dont mind being taken for a ride,even paying more than uk prices- but a simple smile or honest conversation goes a long way.
Another example of rip off paphos- strole down the harbour /marina -very pleasent, sit in an open air cafe bar- 1 beer 1 coffee 6.5cy£ around £8uk -waiter only spoke russian - no smile and beer came in a warm can and a hot glass.did not recieve change. so actually 7£cyp.(i do normally tip generously).
I do agree that the uk has a high propprtion of imagrant workers, i actually employ several who are highly trained , highly motivated and well paid for the job they do.perhaps some paphos buisneses could send their employees on a costomer relations training day.
airport taxis- they are a visitors first impressionof a city or town-
they should be road worthy and clean and driven with some points of safety in mind. £30cyp i would not expect a 20 year old merc that looked 40 years old.(by the way he quoted 25 but changed this as he got lost maybe 5 extra min)
and another thing...... all the decent shops have gone away and been replaced with hundreds of property shops,every other shop is an estate agent? lovely place paphos.
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I don%26#39;t know why I%26#39;m responding, but here goes: a negative trip report, if factual and qualiative (which this was not) can only enrich this forum. I called it miserable because, in my opinion, it came over as arogant and unsolicitated. It wasn%26#39;t a constructive review, but a personal rant and trolling.
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think ive stated enough facts about my trip to paphos- Iam sure pleanty of people have a great time there- ive just placed the negitives on this forum- see my hotel report for the plus side.(roman)
its my opinion that unless your in one of the big 5* hotels with private man made beach etc(municiple beach has a lot to be desired)- the rest of the place has just lost its old charm and its value for money, again in my opinion.....as you are entitled to love the place no matter what.
i do hope you and yours have a great time over there.
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My first (and most important) comment is Saintscully, I%26#39;m so sorry you%26#39;ve had to cancel your holiday - you and I are like-minded about Paphos and the Athena Royal, and I know how devastated you must feel. I hope you%26#39;re able to go later on in the year. (Don%26#39;t suppose you could %26#39;sell%26#39; the holiday to someone else??)
There are more good than bad reviews on Paphos - nowhere is absolutely everyone%26#39;s cup of tea. I love the place to bits - but I wouldn%26#39;t go near the harbour for eats/drinks as of course they%26#39;re going to rip people off! Doesn%26#39;t anywhere that has a prime location? This country included - I%26#39;m not far from the Lake District, and I%26#39;ve never been as ripped off as we were the last day out we had there.
I think if you visit Cyprus as the typical tourist (no offence to anyone) and do the package thing, stick to the tourist areas, and not venture into the real Cyprus then maybe you are a little more exposed to the things described in Mortysgang%26#39;s review. There%26#39;s a lot more to Paphos than the harbour, if you make the time and effort to branch out, you may find things to be a bit different - and you don%26#39;t have to go too far from Paphos to find it.
We don%26#39;t do package holidays now - we book direct with the Hotel (Saintscully, what do you do?), book our own flights, and book a Cab or Car with recommendations from a Paphos based Website which is used by Expats and Cyprus-loving people - you can get all the information you could possibly want from these people, and you can save a fortune, as well as get sound recommendations from people who know what they are talking about.
I don%26#39;t quite believe everyone was walking round with a frown on their face (bit of an exaggeration me thinks!)
Wherever Mortysgang decides to have future holidays, I really hope you enjoy them. I%26#39;m sorry Cyprus hasn%26#39;t worked out for you.
It%26#39;s still OK for me!!
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i agree with most of what hornplayers says- ours was an independently booked trip via british airways and the internet. it was a short trip (5 days)as a guest to the wedding of an ex pat we met their a few years ago so our time was limited to do the things such as explore the inner cypruslike you rightly suggest, which we have done in the past ,another point is when iam ripped off i like it done with style and a smile on their faces.
the whole point iam trying to make is that as a tourist destination my opinion is that the paphos/cyprus of 5-10 years agothe high standards have gone down the pan. and yes the locals and the workers in most -not all places we visited had frowns on their faces.I rather think that some of those who stay in the lovely 5* hotels may have their heads burried in the imported private sand.
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