I agree with you Linzi_Lou, totally.

Imagine getting to your resort and not enjoying it!
Noooooooooooooo...........

Hi,

I won't go anywhere without consulting my bible first - HT of course.....

Deb.

it's good to sit and check i love it you always find something diffrent when you look plus it's nice to get excited about your holiday i even check for weeks even before i book my holiday to decide where to go and all the hotels and places .

I'm a researcher - but can research to much and then start to dither. It can sometimes only take one issue to put me off and then I start to worry if I've made the right decision.

oh, i love researching, where to go, what to do.....its one of the best bits for me......

i dont think i would ever just go somewhere, without checking it out first.......

No me neither K&R - couldn't afford to take that sort of risk either
(Imagine spending ALL that money on a place that is the pits! )

with the costs involved, I just wouldn't risk not researching. plus I get alot of enjoyment out of the research and comparing prices, amenities etc.

We'd never consider booking anywhere without checking out the accommodation and resort first.
Once we've booked, I like to know where good restaurants and bars are, plan what excursions we'll probably do, get a map of the resort etc etc.

If we're doing a city break or a multiple centre with limited days in each place, it's even more important as we like to 'hit the ground running'.
We recently had 4 days in Barcelona and we planned what we'd do on what days, taking into account opening times etc.

We have a tour of China planned for this October and it took me 2 weeks of intensive research to check out tour companies, compare itineries, & decide exactly what we wanted to see.
At the end, I had shortlisted 2 tours by different companies with virtually the same itineries, both within £15 in price.
Maybe some people would see that as a waste of time, but luckily I have plenty of that.

In the more than 50 holidays we've taken over the last 22 years, we've never been disappointed with our choices - because we do our research.

I always think it's best to research. Also, if you haven't given yourself a heads up and some ideas first then you run the risk of missing loads of places, especially if you are going to a big resort.

For example - I regularly do gulet holidays and they generally have an overnight in Marmaris. Those who I have travelled with on these gulets think Marmaris is just the harbour and Bar Street/Old town. Because that's all they ever see. Now I have holidayed in Marmaris so know that the old part and harbour is just a tiny part of Marmaris and also an expensive part. It can work a couple of ways - you could go there for a holiday based on what you saw on the gulet and be very disappointed in the rest of it if you'd imagained it as an bustling but compact and pretty old place. Or you could be happy that it's such a big and busy resort with lots of english style entertainment as well.

Being able to do internet research is such a bonus- we've had one holiday at least in the past that we would never had taken had we known more. So no it definately doesn't spoil it, we go prepared knowing what to do and the hotel and the resort are right for us and it makes it even more exciting. Nothing worse than worrying about what you have chosen.

Pam

I rarely stay in resorts, just the odd last minute, entertainment and bars don't really interest me but even with a last minute I would check out the resort, restaurants and hotel on the internet before booking. I do though take lots of multi center long haul trips and spend weeks sometimes months researching. I booked a trip to Laos last week for November and have been researching for at least six months, I've bought guide books and read trip reports. Even a short trip to New York that I took in March I spent lots of weeks on the net asking questions, downloading info and making out a loose itinerary. It all adds to the enjoyment of my holiday.

The one and only thing that I tend to seek out is what the accomodation is like, courtesy of HT I should say

For the rest we like to explore when we get there, all adds to the fun

I have only made the mistake of not researching our holiday once - when we stayed in 'the hotel from hell' in Malta. Shortly afterwards I discovered HT. Now I would never dream of booking a hotel/holiday in the UK or abroad, without getting the reviews and advice of all the helpful and knowlegable (sp) people here on HT. Thanks everyone!!
Denny

definately research carefully, before we had our daughter, we would have gone anywhere, regularily doing allocated on arrival as it was cheap and ended up in some right dives !
Its all part of my holiday now, even a year in advance, I do absolutely loads of research before I will commit to a holiday, it has to be the best 'family orientated' place I can find in that country and for the last few years since doing d.i.y, will spend hours trawling the net in search of the perfect private rental, believe me, you need a shed load of time on that score !!!
hubby thinks i'm mad, he would rather not be prepared and just go to somehere we know nothing about, but I think you would surely waste most of your holiday going to naff restraunts, bars and attractions without the reccomendation of you lovely lot on H.T !