Tapestry Holidays

...ARE TAPESTRY?

Tapestry Holidays are a small specialist British based tour operator offering "off the beaten track" holidays to Greece and Turkey. As we opted for Turkey, I cannot vouch for the Greece experience, but I would imagine it to be fairly similar.

Founded eleven years ago, Tapestry's philosophy is to offer quality holidays to people who wish to get a bit of the beaten track, explore authentic regions, ...
...THEY OFFER?

Tapestry offer a range of 1 or 2 week holidays in various regions of Turkey and Greece. An excellent way to see the types of properties available is to look on the their website. It's easy to navigate, and has search options for specific locations, dates, or properties. For example, if you know you want to go to the Kalkan resort in Turkey, you can select this and the page will bring up all the properties on offer.
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After last year's very successful "independent" holiday, I wasn't convinced about going through a tour company again. But then, we'd had an exhausting year, with very little time to do the kind of research and planning of last summer. And then the Tapesty brochure landed on the mat.

WHO ARE TAPESTRY?

Tapestry Holidays are a small specialist British based tour operator offering "off the beaten track" holidays to Greece and Turkey. As we opted for Turkey, I cannot vouch for the Greece experience, but I would imagine it to be fairly similar.

Founded eleven years ago, Tapestry's philosophy is to offer quality holidays to people who wish to get a bit of the beaten track, explore authentic regions, and try something a little different. The emphasis is very much on avoidance of mass tourism.

Tapesrty recently won 3rd place in the Which? holiday awards, and have consistently achieved excellent customer ratings. They point this out frequently- apparently many guests return year after year, and are rewarded for it in a number of "customer loyalty" discounts. For example, returning guests can receive discounts on the price of car hire, holiday prices, and are eligible for 2 for 1 deals.

WHAT DO THEY OFFER?

Tapestry offer a range of 1 or 2 week holidays in various regions of Turkey and Greece. An excellent way to see the types of properties available is to look on the their website. It's easy to navigate, and has search options for specific locations, dates, or properties. For example, if you know you want to go to the Kalkan resort in Turkey, you can select this and the page will bring up all the properties on offer.

These range from basic self-catering apartments to luxurious villas and five star hotels. Some of the properties come with car hire (usually an open top jeep) included. One of the best features of their site is that you can view each of the rooms on the site beforehand. This includes a 360 degree panaoramic shots. It actually makes a huge difference in your booking your room. We had to choose between two locations of the equivalent price- one room looked at a brick wall, the other had 3 balconies and a sweeping view of the sea. The only trick is that you will not be able to tell from the site which rooms are available- you'll have to enquire when you phone up to book.

While you can't tell which specific rooms are available, you will be able to tell which properties are, depending on dates. Rather handily, you'll also be able to see how much each place costs per week depending on when you go. Travelling off peak or at short notice seems to be cheaper. It's also worth checking if there are any special deals on when you book- we saved £400 off the brochure price this way.

In terms of the price generally, you may pay a bit more than your Thomas Cook holiday. But in my opinion, it's worth it, considering that you get a high standard of carefully vetted accommodation- and in some case, you're not paying significantly more. we costed the trip on an "independent basis" ie getting out own flights and booking our own place- and there wasn't much in it at all. The do-it-yourself option also had the added risk that if the place was crap, we wouldn't really know til we got there.

In addition to the room photos on the site, there is a wealth of info about the accommodation itself- some have many amenities, others are more basic. Certain properties are "Child Free", something to take note of depending on your family circumstances. Others have special child pools and are more family orientated. Tapestry offer special child care services at some places as well- details of where, the range of services and the cost are all found in the Child Zone section of the website and is well worth taking a look at it if you have a family.

Lastly, if you're not keen on the idea of being stuck in one place, you have options- you can do a "two centre" stay, or have Tapestry tailor make your holiday to encompass a range of locations. Alternately, you can go for a one or two week gulet trip- sailing on the blue sea, sleeping under the stars or in private cabins, and stopping off at various ports for days on land. For those of you with the funds and the need for privacy, you can book the whole boat as a private charter- otherwise you might want to make sure you are the sort of person who doesn't mind sharing slightly cramped quarters with a bunch of strangers.

SIGN ME UP

Once you have decided either through the brochure or the website to book your holiday. This involves phoning- you can't book online. The only catch is that it's practically impossible to get through to them- the best thing to do is leave your contact details, and have them phone you back at a time convenient for you.

The staff are in the main helpful, friendly and efficient. Both the UK staff and the local reps were very easy to deal with. On arrival in Turkey, the rep met us at the airport and managed to efficiently get everyone transferred and organised with a minimum of fuss.

CULT-CHURE

Another nice feature is that all holidays come with a complimentary "Jaunt". This could range from a "Lazy day at Sea" on a Turkish gulet with lunch, wine and swimming, to a trip to the market and Turkish baths. The numbers on these trips is very restricted so you get a better experience. Tapestry require that you book these trips ahead- in addition to your free jaunt, you are welcome to book as many as you like. These are relatively good value for money, especially if you don't have car hire and want to get out and do something a bit different. For people keen on culture and history, there are many offerings which let you see more of the undiscovered Turkey.

We did three trips including river canoe down the Xanthos. We found the trips to be fun and interesting, with the right mix of activity and chill. The only thing to bear in mind is you have no control over who might be sharing your "jaunt"- on the day out at sea we shared the boat with some extremely obnoxious people. The days out also tend to be quite long and last from early morning to evening, so you might want to bear this in mind if you are keen to interperse your activities with lots of doing nothing.

TURKISH DELIGHT

We loved where we ended up, which was on the Kas peninsula. We loved our villa, which lived up to its description, and our room, which was just as pictured. We loved the little town of Kas, and spent many happy hours wandering the cobbled streets with the smell of jasmine in the air. The holiday was ultimately just about everything we had hoped for in terms of good weather, friendly people, a lovely setting, and a relaxing break. The staff at the villa were excellent, and we had a couple pleasant evenings with other guests. All in all, it was hassle free and a good mix between laziness and activity, with a minimum of planning and effort on our part.

WHAT THEY COULD DO BETTER OR DIFFERENTLY

Flights leave from Manchester or Gatwick. Woe to the northerly Scots who must trek many extra miles as we did, but that seems to be par for the course with a lot of package holidays, not just Tapestry. I would however suggest that it would be a great improvement to fly from Glasgow. Many pale and pasty folk would thank you for it, Tapestry.

They managed to get my name wrong on the tickets three times, and on all my Tapestry information packs. I'm not hung up on stuff like that, but an airline ticket does need to be issued correctly. It's not even like I have a particularly bizarre name or anything. So that was a minor blip.

Another thing to bear in mind is that some of the transfers are very long. We were aware of this from reading another review, but Tapestry could probably be a bit more explicit about it. We had a three hour bus ride from the airport, which made it a rather long day. I didn't mind so much because we were there for 2 weeks, but if I only had a week I think I'd want to stay someplace less remote. I will say the reps do give you Turkish delight and a bottle of water going out, the bus was comfortable and air conditioned, and there is a rest break at the half way point.

Lastly, we found our chosen villa, while delightful in almost every way, to be blasted with wind from early-mid afternoon to early-mid evening. Some days it was just too windy to sit by the pool or the balcony. It was usually calmer in town, but we didn't always want to go to town. I gathered from the local staff that it is a "seasonal thing". However, I do wish Tapestry had mentioned it. It didn't really spoil anything, but it was definitely a feature which really effected our schedule and our enjoyment of the place.

WOULD I GO BACK?

Yes, I definitely would. It was an extremely enjoyable holiday in almost every aspect. I would say however that I think we were lucky in that our chosen accommodation suited us and we had a nice group of people staying there.

I did hear some people from other properties commenting on the increasing development in the region, which makes me think Tapestry need to be careful about extolling the virtues of the "off the beaten track" holiday. It certainly was nowhere near as remote as the holiday we took last year in Spain. Not that I am complaining, but I do think that they should monitor changes of this kind, and select their resorts accordingly.

I would recommend Tapestry to anyone thinking of trying a trip to Turkey, as they represent good value for money and a good service. And Room 7 at the Aykan Villa is very nice indeed.
For more information visit www.tapestryholidays.com

 

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