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Pricing & General Information 2008• Your holiday price and what it includes Your holiday price and what it includesOur prices are (unless otherwise stated) in £ per person. For self-catering and hotel stays, our prices are based on the number of people sharing the accommodation or hotel room. For walking and fly-drive holidays, our prices are based on 2 people travelling together and sharing a double or twin room: '3rd+ person saving' on the price panel expresses a reduction to be applied to the overall holiday price for any third and subsequent persons travelling together in a party and sharing transfer or car hire costs. In most cases our prices include accommodation for the stated duration of the holiday, economy-class flights from London (we use both scheduled and charter flights depending on the destination), and either one economy-size hire car or return airport transfers. Exact details, including meal arrangements for the holiday, are given within the price panel on the holiday page. Your start date determines the price applicable to your holiday. Our hotel stays include breakfast only (except where stated), leaving you free to sample the various tavernas and restaurants in the local area in the evenings. Only at some hotels where the restaurant is especially good are dinners included. We state the included meal arrangements in each price panel. Our self-catering holidays do not include meals (unless stated), but at the majority of properties we do provide welcome hampers of basic supplies so that you do not have to worry about going shopping the moment you arrive. The exact contents will vary but will normally include bread, milk, fruit juice and, if possible, a local speciality. Extra week prices apply to the second or any subsequent weeks you spend at the hotel or property and, for holidays which include a hire car, include an extra week's rental. Single travellers are welcome, and prices for occupation of a single room are shown in the holiday price panels as the amount payable for the whole holiday. However, as all our prices are based on shared accommodation and travel costs (such as car hire), we make a further charge if you travel on your own, which we will tell you about at the time of booking. Children's reductions of £25 per child, per week from the adult price apply on self-catering and hotel stay holidays to children aged between 2 and 15 years inclusive on the date of return travel. Additional charges are payable locally for child and infant seats in hire cars, which should be requested at the time of booking. Some proprietors also make a charge for supplying cots. Several of our hotels, for example the Istron Bay Hotel and Spilia Village Hotel on Crete, offer free child places and other generous reductions at certain times of year: please contact us for a quotation or to request our dedicated brochure for families. Our walking and fly-drive holidays are not recommended for children. Infants (babies aged up to 2 years old) pay £45 on all our holidays. If you are travelling in a large group, we will be happy to make travel arrangements for you. Several of our properties are perfectly suited to this and our arrangemetns are fully flexible, so that flights and car hire can be arranged only for those members of the group who need them. Please contact us for more details.
Booking your holidayYou can book online using our secure form, but we recommend that you call us on 01653 617755 to discuss your plans so that we can help find the holiday that is right for you. (Please note that some calls may be recorded for training and quality control purposes.) However you book, we ask you to pay a deposit of £120 per person to confirm the reservation, along with your travel insurance premiums (if required) and any additional deposits which may be required to secure particular flight fares. It is assumed that you have accepted our Booking Conditions. Please have the following to hand when making your booking: • Full passport names and dates of birth of all party members If you are arranging your own insurance, we also require: • Name of your insurer Once we have made the requested reservations, we will send you a Booking Confirmation and Invoice. We ask that you pay the balance no less than 8 weeks before departure. We will normally send you your documentation 2-3 weeks in advance of your holiday. We will consult you if we cannot make any of the arrangements (unless it is a minor detail) and will refund your deposit in full if we are unable to arrange the holiday requested or offer an acceptable alternative. You can choose to pay by a variety of methods: bank or building society cheque (made payable to Inntravel Ltd), online transfer direct into Inntravel's bank account (details are available on request), debit card (Maestro or Visa Debit) or credit card (MasterCard or Visa). We are currently unable to accept American Express cards. Because we are charged for credit card payments, we levy a credit card fee of 1.25% of the holiday price if you choose to pay by MasterCard or Visa. We do not levy charges for any other type of payment. Last-minute bookings are often possible, for which we may have to make an extra charge for secure ticket delivery. We recommend that you book as early as possible to get the holiday you want. Your accommodationThe style of self-catering accommodation in our programme ranges from modest studios and apartments to luxurious houses. We have tried to give a good idea of the style of each, but standards can vary. Price is often a good guide to the quality of the accommodation. By 'studio' we usually mean a small, open-plan living space in which the bed(s) and kitchenette are all within one room, with just the bathroom separate. In 'apartments', both the bedrooms and the bathrooms are usually separate to the living-cum-dining room, though the bathroom may be located directly off the living area. In our descriptions of larger properties, we tend to use the word 'house' for a property where you would have exclusive use or at least more privacy. 'Villa' is more likely to refer to a house divided into two or more units of accommodation. Owners or caretakers may live on site. Our hotels have been described with the official Greek classification. These are based principally on size rather than quality or facilities, so while it is often true that larger hotels have better facilities, C-class hotels can sometimes be as good as - if not better - than B-class hotels. Facilities may differ from what you would expect in Britain, but in general terms, a C-class hotel equates to a British high-quality 2-star hotel, a B-class to a 3-star, and an A-class or deluxe to a 4-star hotel. The vast majority of our featured hotels have private facilities. Bedroom type is usually specified (twin, with two single beds, or double, with a double bed). Where we have made no mention of the sleeping accommodation, this is usually because there is a mix of twins and doubles at the hotel or property. In some cases, a double bed may be two single beds pushed together. Bathrooms normally contain a shower rather than a bath - we use 'shower room' to mean a room with WC, sink and shower, and 'bathroom' a room with WC, sink and bath. Kitchen facilities vary according to the overall standard of the accommodation. In more modest apartments and studios, there may be just the essentials (a couple of pans and basic utensils, plus one set of crockery and cutlery per person) - enough to rustle up a simple lunch or supper, but not to cook a meal of several courses. We have tried to outline the cooking facilities (and, in particular, to specify whether there is a full cooker with hob, grill and oven, or just a hob) but these are a guide only - in a villa of several apartments and studios, facilities can vary from one property to the other. Kettles are not very common, though coffee-makers are available in most self-catering properties. If you have any queries relating to facilities or access (a few properties are reached by driving down an unmade track, while at others you may have a short walk between the car park and the property), please contact us. Your health and safety while on holiday is a priority. We work with the property owners to ensure that a high level of safety is maintained. Many properties are buildings of character and, while they meet Greek safety requirements, such regulations may not be the same as those in Britain. On arrival please familiarise yourself with the accommodation, especially if you are travelling with children, as some properties have unguarded water or stone or irregular steps, for example. Swimming pools, where available at a property, are unguarded, and some unfenced, so children must be supervised at all times. Check-in is normally available from the early afternoon, whether you are staying in a hotel or a self-catering property. On the day of your departure, please vacate your room or property by late morning. We ask that smokers only smoke outside the property. We work with experienced local agents in all regions, rather than employing holiday representatives. Most offer a 24-hour emergency helpline and you will also be given details of whom to contact (usually during office hours) for more routine issues. If you have a problem, please discuss it with your local agent or property manager rather than waiting to bring any issues that cause you concern to our attention once you return to Britain. Most problems can be rectified very easily, leaving you free to enjoy the rest of your holiday. Final cleaning is included at all properties, but you still have the responsibility to leave the property as you found it. If you are staying for two weeks or more, cleaning is provided at all properties at the end of each week. If you are not staying at a property which is cleaned mid-week, you can usually arrange for additional cleaning and a change of linen, though a small charge may be payable. Some property owners ask for a refundable cash deposit on arrival to cover any breakages or damage. Bed linen and towels are provided at all properties. Electricity, heating and air-conditioning (where applicable) are included in our prices. Our holiday descriptions state the distance of accommodation from nearby facilities or local places of interest. These distances, which are often expressed as a time, are approximate and for guidance purposes only.
Other informationSome property owners require holidays to run for 7 nights from a specific day of the week, e.g from Tuesday to Tuesday, although others have no preference (please see individual price panels for details). Some properties may also be available for shorter stays - please contact us to discuss. Facilities and services may not all be open during the low season, although this can be the most rewarding time to travel because places are much quieter. Tavernas and leisure facilities (eg water sports centres) may only open in high season and at weekends, and the swimming pool at your hotel or property may only be available during the hottest months. Similarly, facilities (including pools) may sometimes be closed for cleaning and maintenance, or during inclement weather. If you feel a particular facility is vital to your holiday, please ask us to check if it will be available when you wish to travel. We supply full documentation to help you get the most from your holiday, including a road map and information on the region. As your documentation pack is often quite large, especially our walking and fly-drive packs which contain extensive and detailed route notes, we charge customers living outside Britain (including those in the Republic of Ireland) £20 per pack to cover the additional postage costs. Greek time is two hours ahead of British time. Ferries and small aircraft are the only means of travelling to many of the smaller islands. Generally reliable, occasional bad weather or breakdown at any time can cause delays and disruption to timetables.
Passports, visas, health requirements & insuranceBritish citizens must have a full British passport to visit Greece, but no visas are required. Please check the expiry date of your passport in good time before travelling in case it needs to be renewed - at present it takes approximately 4 weeks for a British passport to be issued (see the United Kingdom Passport Service's website, ips.gov.uk). If you or any member of your party is 16 or over and do not yet have a passport, our recommendation is that you should apply for one at least 6 weeks before your holiday. The UK Passport Service has to confirm your identity before issuing your first passport and will ask you to attend an interview in order to do this. Entry requirements may change and you must check the up-to-date position in good time before departure. If you or any member of your party is not a British citizen or holds a non British passport, you must check passport and visa requirements with the Greek Embassy. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office produces up-to-date travel information to help British travellers make informed decisions about travelling abroad. For further information please visit fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo or telephone 0870 606 0290. Alternatively, contact ABTA's Travel Information Line on 0901 201 5050 (calls charged at 50 pence per minute). Information on health is given on the Department of Health website dh.gov.uk and in the booklet T7 (Health Advice for Travellers) available from your local Department of Health office and most Post Offices. You should obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) prior to departure as this may entitle you to free or reduced-cost medical treatment while abroad (this card replaced the now defunct E111). You can apply for your EHIC online by visiting dh.gov.uk, by telephone on 0845 606 2030, or by post with a form available from most Post Offices. Telephone and postal applications can take up to 21 days. Please note that, although the EHIC is valid in Greece, it should not be relied upon as a substitute for comprehensive travel insurance. We offer a personal holiday insurance policy specifically tailored to our type of holiday by Voyager Insurance, whose cover is among the most comprehensive available. As personal insurance is so important, it is a requirement of our Booking Conditions that you take out adequate cover. We will therefore require you to take out our policy and pay the appropriate premium at the time of booking unless you provide us with details of equivalent cover you have already arranged. It is your responsibility to ensure that your policy offers adequate cover which is at least as comprehensive as the cover we offer. We do not check alternative policies.
Flexible travel arrangementsOur holidays include return flights from London on direct services or flights via Athens, both scheduled and charter. However, as with all aspects of our holidays, we aim to be as flexible as possible. If you would prefer to fly from a different part of the UK, rather than from London, or to fly with a different airline or on a different route, please ask us about the options available for your chosen holiday. Our committment is to find the best flight arrangements for you, in terms of routes, prices, conditions and times. It is important to note that capacity is at times limited, and many carriers, including the larger national airlines, have several booking prices within economy class, with a variable number of seats available per price band. Our prices include the tariff bands offering best value and available space, so the earlier you book, the better your chance of obtaining these seats upon which our inclusive prices are based. If these are not available, we may be able to offer you economy seats on the same flights at a different price. In order to secure particular flight fares, we may require a higher deposit than normal, which we will advise you of at the time of booking. When you book your inclusive travel with Inntravel, all aspects of your holiday are covered by our Booking Conditions, including our obligation to get you to and from your holiday in the event of the failure of an airline or other disruption to travel services. If you are arranging your own flights, please bear in mind the need to have adequate insurance to cover such eventualities. Car HirePrices for holidays with a hire car include (unless otherwise stated) hire of an economy-size, 2-door car with manual transmission and air-conditioning for the period stated in each holiday price panel. We highly recommend upgrading the car if there are more than two people in your party - please contact us to discuss your needs and we will be happy to provide a quotation. The car hire company we use will depend on the region you are visiting - we use reputable local suppliers recommended to us by our agents in Greece. Our car hire arrangements are charged per 24-hour period, so if your flight arrangements mean that you have the car for longer than the period included in the normal holiday arrangements, there will be an extra day’s hire to pay. We will state this when we confirm your booking. If you are planning to privately extend your Inntravel holiday, perhaps by visiting a friend for a few days, we are happy to extend your car hire. Please contact us for a quotation. Our rental arrangements include unlimited mileage, local taxes, airport charges, third party liability, one driver, Vehicle Damage Cover (insurance against accidental damage to the vehicle - see below) and Theft Waiver (TW - vehicle theft insurance - see below). Not included are excess charges# for Vehicle Damage Cover and TW; damage to tyres, the windscreen and the underside of the car or damage incurred while travelling on ferries (elements which are never covered by insurance in Greece); fuel and refuelling charges; personal insurance; additional driver fees; charges for special equipment such as child seats; night delivery and one-way drop-off charges where applicable. # as insurance excess charges can be very high (currently (autumn 2007) a minimum of €450 of any claim for a category C hire car in Greece) we recommend that you pay the additional top-up charge on collection of your hire car so that no excesses are payable in the event of an accident or theft. The cost of this top-up charge will be around €7 per day (please contact us for more information on current rates). Other rental conditions require that drivers should be aged over 25 and have held a full driving licence for at least one year. On collection of the vehicle, you will be asked to provide a major credit card as a means of deposit so that extra payments such as fuel and vehicle registration fees can be billed to you. We have indicated the driving time from the airport for each hotel or property. These are approximate and assume you are taking the most direct route.
When to travelThere is a strong case for travelling out of high season, when the temperatures are more moderate, and the roads, villages, places of interest and beaches are much quieter. This way, you can see Greece at its best, as even the out-of-the-way places we favour can become busy and noisy between mid-July and mid-August (and also at Easter). Many people think that Greece is hot all year round but the temperatures are only really high at the height of summer, and it can rain - even in July and August! February & March - Changeable but some nice spring days, sometimes even warm enough to sit outside in March - orange blossom, wisteria, iris narcissus and wildflowers such as orchids. April & May - Often sunny and warm, even hot in late May, but can be changeable with cool evenings. Wildflowers are at their best - great time for walking. June & early July - One of the best periods for warm, even hot, weather without the crowds. Late July & Early August - Often very busy and very hot. The meltemi (the north-westerly wind that blows in summer in the eastern Mediterranean) offers some respite from the heat but can be strong, sometimes making it too windy to sit out in some exposed parts and often making the sea choppy. September & October - From around 20 August villages and beaches quieten down quickly and the temperatures become less excessive. Grapes and other fruit are harvested and after the first autumn rains the landscapes turn green once more. November - Along with October, this is perhaps our favourite month, sometimes like an Indian summer, with landscapes pleasantly green.  |
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