One man’s tale of a week on points at a luxury resort whilst spending no money

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• Qwerty Bertie says:

  13 Feb13 February 10:03

  There is another side to this, namely avoiding eating in a resort not just because of the cost but also the quality and range of the food.

  When we stayed in a Seychelles resort, we ate in the only restaurant the first evening. Choice for me as a vegetarian (normal, not vegan fad) was limited, but there were two or three standard options, plus several that could be cobbled together by combining sides. I tried a pizza which was okay and a Greek salas which was the worst I have ever had. My wife saw people helping themselves to a buffet and wasn’t hungry so just took from there a small bowl of chicken curry. Nobody warned us, even though the waiter who knew it was our first night from the small talk had heard her say she wasn’t hungry & would eat something light, that her food would be priced at a standard “full buffet” fare that converted to about £45! Total bill was £75. She said the curry was “alright, but I could have done better”.

  The next nine evenings we jumped in the hire car we had anyway, even though we had a 2 year old with us, and tried a different restaurant each time. Most of the time we’d drive half an hour or so. They too mostly seemed overpriced for somewhat basic food, but they were actually cheaper than the hotel, and were more interesting, and the food was a little better than the hotel’s. One restaurant stood head and shoulders above the others, run by a French woman in the grounds of the rum distillery.

  • e.thomas says:

    13 Feb13 February 23:13

    Which was name of the restaurant please – and the island? Any other SEZ food recommendations gratefully received. Thanks

    • Qwerty Bertie says:

      13 Feb13 February 23:51

      Can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but it is the only restaurant that is within the grounds of Takamaka, which is the only rum distillery on Mahe.

• Adam says:

  13 Feb13 February 10:14

  I get both sides of the argument here. For me it comes down to what you prioritise.

  If it is a place you’d love to visit but could otherwise never afford to do it, it comes down to the choice of not going at all or cooking your own meals…. everyone will have their own thoughts on which to go with.

  Personally, eating local foods in local restaurants is a big part of my holidays so this wouldn’t be for me. However, I know people who view food as nothing more than fuel and couldn’t care less whether they were eating gourmet or a tin of beans. In such cases, the visiting the country/region would be way more important than the food.

  Each to their own – YMWV.

  • Rob says:

    13 Feb13 February 11:36

    There is a difference between cooking your own meals and actually taking your own cooker, saucepans etc …

    • Adam says:

      13 Feb13 February 12:44

      Haha.

      Good point – well presented.

    • GeorgeJ says:

      13 Feb13 February 13:50

      This is true Rob but i do have a sneaking admiration for someone who has actually done it!

      In our case we actually like to have a kitchen facility when travelling, particularly for breakfast and lunch. Most of the time we would eat out in the evening but still enjoy the odd night in self cooking with a bottle of wine and the iplayer. Its not necessarily cost driven, its just enjoyable. We have a big trip to the States coming up and we will have accommodation with a kitchen most of the time.

      I think there is an easy alternative to lugging your own stuff around and paying baggage fees. Just buy local or get Amazon to deliver to your hotel or local depot and leave it to a local charity when you leave. We do this for all sorts of stuff when we travel.

      • Michael Jennings says:

        13 Feb13 February 17:26

        I’ve taken portable cookers, saucepans etc when travelling, but only when camping. Somehow that makes it seem reasonable.

      • Mikeact says:

        13 Feb13 February 20:33

        Recommend you sign up with VPN360 while over there.

• guesswho2000 says:

  13 Feb13 February 10:38

  My OH will tolerate extreme routings, or even changing hotels seventy three times in a week, in the name of points and miles, but I doubt I’d get away with this!

  Not that I’d want to tbh, I’m happy to find interesting ways to get somewhere at a greater level of luxury, but once I get somewhere I want to enjoy it!

  • guesswho2000 says:

    13 Feb13 February 10:40

    That said, the Hilton Fiji resort apartment we stayed in has BBQs on the deck, and a couple of days we did purchase meat from the market to have on that, but a BBQ and beers on the deck is a bit different!

    • paul says:

      13 Feb13 February 11:01

      not sure how that is different? you are providing your own food and alcohol and cooking yourself…

      • paul says:

        13 Feb13 February 11:03

        btw i’m not knocking it because i love a good bbq and beers 🙂 just saying its pretty much the same thing

      • Grant says:

        13 Feb13 February 11:39

        Presumably he didn’t buy the barbeque before the trip and then pay excess baggae to take it with him.

      • guesswho2000 says:

        14 Feb14 February 13:14

        Indeed, didn’t haul the barbecue with me from home, and the market was on site (Hilton Fiji sells meat packs so people can do this in their apartments, so I still got fleeced on the price!).

• TripRep says:

  13 Feb13 February 11:53

  Joking aside, you might want to take some wee treats to isolated resorts.

  Good Chocolate, favourite savoury snacks, etc all all rather nice to have with a drink after spending a lot of time in the sea and then lounging on the deck of your water villa…

  • Jonah says:

    13 Feb13 February 12:43

    That’s got very little to do with taking a cooking stove on holiday. Everybody buys chocolate and biscuits -even if you are in the Ritz Carlton..

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:

      13 Feb13 February 13:11

      Honestly, they dont. But that doesnt make them wrong and you right. Or vice versa.

      • Jonah says:

        13 Feb13 February 16:38

        Wilfully missing the point about the stove.

    • TripRep says:

      13 Feb13 February 13:42

      Jonah, a little added context, here’s our typical day at Rangali.

      Coffee + cereal bar.
      Morning snorkel
      Generous Rangali brunch with a glass of fizzy.
      Snooze,
      Afternoon snorkeling, then enjoy your own afternoon snacks
      Free happy hour at Vilu with provided appetizers.
      1/2 price happy hour at Quiet Zone with more complimentary snacks

      Before you know it, it’s 8:30pm, bit boozy and the sun has set and your ready for bed and to do it all over again.

      We only dined out about 1/3 of the evenings.

      • mike says:

        13 Feb13 February 14:04

        trip rep/anon, have you ever been to rangali? just wanted to clarify.

      • TripRep says:

        13 Feb13 February 14:15

        Mike, why yes, thanks for asking.

        btw – my comment was on topic.

        Feel free to contribute positively.

      • mike says:

        13 Feb13 February 15:33

        tks for clarifying.

        if I see you mention your visit/s there once more in the comments I am going to cancel my subscription and ask raffles for a pro-rata refund……

      • Jonah says:

        13 Feb13 February 16:40

        That all sounds very nice and relaxing – and not a cooking stove in sight!

• Morgan says:

  13 Feb13 February 12:21

  OT: New to HHonors but am Gold due to Amex Platinum. I currently have zero points. When I search for availability using points at several Hilton hotels I see nothing available – is this because Hilton are searching based off my actual points balance rather than true availability?

  I’m considering buying points in the current sale for my partner and I but would like to know that I stand a pretty reasonable chance of booking a great location such as the above or the Maldives property.

  • Rob says:

    13 Feb13 February 12:29

    Yes. Search when logged out, you then see availability. Weird system I admit.

    • Morgan says:

      13 Feb13 February 12:50

      Thanks Rob – that worked a treat!

• Leo says:

  13 Feb13 February 12:47

  Each to his/her own obviously. 100 years ago as a student some pals and I took dried/tinned food to Spain – just pasta and stuff. We didn’t really eat it. But then we didn’t eat a lot in those days just drank. I do think French Polynesia s a long way to travel to essentially go camping though.

• luckyjim says:

  13 Feb13 February 13:47

  We all like to save money but there are rules.

  Chilling your own beers in the minibar = good.
  Drinking all the whiskey miniatures and refilling them with cold tea = bad.

  Grabbing a fresh coffee as you leave the breakfast buffet = good.
  Filling your bag with bread rolls and cold meats for family lunch = bad.

  Stealing mini bottles of shampoo and soap = good (but why?)
  Stealing hotel bathrobe = bad.

  Any others?

  • Mr Dee says:

    13 Feb13 February 13:58

    Getting comped breakfast = good
    Sneaking in without paying = bad

  • SimonW says:

    13 Feb13 February 13:58

    Bringing a plate of fruit back to the table from the breakfast buffet, having eaten 3 sausages on the walk round, to approving looks from your wife on being so healthy = good but bad.

    • Mr Dee says:

      13 Feb13 February 14:40

      Sorry nothing wrong with sausages,

    • Alex W says:

      13 Feb13 February 17:45

      Haha just lol’d at this. Love it!

  • Michael Jennings says:

    13 Feb13 February 17:28

    The golden rule is “Don’t take the piss”, I think.

• Liz says:

  13 Feb13 February 14:08

  When we do our month long USA road trips we take travel cutlery and disposable plates. I love American food but it can get too much day in day out so some days we just go to Walmart or the local supermarket and buy some chicken and salad and hubby has some beer after driving during the day. The Staybridge Suites are great as they have great kitchenettes. The bulk of our spend ends up being on food and drink so it also helps to keep the cost down so we can travel even more!

  • Mr Dee says:

    13 Feb13 February 14:46

    Yes its not all about cost, many restaurants don’t cater well for everyones needs

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    13 Feb13 February 18:50

    Love Hamptons over there for same reason

    Though good luck finding anything remotely tempting on the salad front from Walmart!

    • Liz says:

      13 Feb13 February 22:54

      I buy their pack of salad and a giant tomato and advocado and fruit!

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