Wolfgang, can we sticky this thread for a few days please? Thanks. What are peoples thoughts on quality vs price for this event? My personal thoughts are that I should be looking at high quality venues without assuming that money is no object. This is a long haul trip for many people and the costs involved will be fairly significant, so by adding a proportionately low amount extra, the quality of the trip will be enhanced all round. Basically, I am getting busy contacting venues for the rallye, and at this stage I am not sure what level of accomodation I should be looking for. As we are going peak Summer season, we need to book sooner rather than later. The plans are coming together for a 2 leg event, the first being based around the Edinburgh area (close to the fabulous Edinburgh city centre, close to the ferry port and Ferrari dealership at Rosyth, close to St Andrews, some great local roads) and the second being based in the Inverness area (right up in the highlands, close to Nessie and the lochs, close to Fort William, wonderful local roads, close to a famous Whiskey trail). I have found a venue for the second leg which looks amazing - truly Scottish in every sense, stunning accomodation, perfect location, ample parking, quite expensive. Below is an image and a link to their website. This is what the manager said on a recent email to me: 'Culloden House is definitely a traditional Scottish House. We have a lone piper play outside the house each evening. All the staff are Scottish. Last month we were voted Best Country House Hotel in Scotland by SIGTOA. We were voted Best Breakfast in Scotland by HotelReview Scotland and voted as one of the top 60 UK restaurants by an independent survey with the Guardian newspaper.' www.cullodenhouse.co.uk I have negotiated a group discount and currently they have availability. The cost - per head - for this quality of venue will be (very) approximately £150+ a night, which would include a four course dinner in our own private dining area, full Scottish breakfast, security for the cars. Costs are VERY approximate as it truly depends on how large the group ends up being, and are based on double occupancy so single supplements may apply, but should not make a huge difference. I expect we would stay there 2 nights. The place is steeped in history http://www.cullodenhouse.co.uk/home/history_six.htm and would provide I think a perfect base for leg 2 of the rallye. Would similar cost of venue in Edinburgh be acceptable. If so we would be looking at £600ish for accomodation per person, including breakfast and dinner. Petrol, ferries, drinks, lunch (if you still need it after the breakfast!) and other bits and pieces (green fees, etc) would be extra of course. Is this too expensive? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
READ THIS BEFORE VOTING PLEASE To clarify: Budget accomodation - Basic lodgings, Premier Lodge/Travel lodge style, (prob wouldnt cater for us, cost maybe £35 per head, room only so dinner and breakfast outside the hotel and obviously at extra cost) Reasonable quality hotel, 3-4*, (May not accomodate all of us, parking would probably be offsite, cost maybe £75-100 per head, inc food) Top quality venue such as Culloden House - costing maybe £150 per head including dinner and breakfast, parking on site and the right location. Expensive but ticks all the boxes.
Thanks and I will be in touch/have tried to incorporate your ideas in to the plan - outlined above is just the skeleton of what I have in mind.
(From Culloden House) We have hosted many vintage car rallies in the past, Rolls Royce enthusiasts from Switzerland, Aston Martin USA to name but a few and have never had a problem.
this is hefty! wow, the scotch know how to get it the ferry for 2 persons with a cabin for two (the trip is 17.5 hours), departure in zeebrügge is 18:00, arrival in rosyth is next morning 10:30, is 841 (see www.superfast.com). so your top quality accomodation will account for the major part of the whole budget. that said, i see no way for me personally for the top quality accomodation, as i have to pay for manuella too, as this is in no relationship to her income.
Marc, thanks a lot for your research, recommendations and all the infos we have been waiting for. The Culloden House looks BREATHTAKING!!!!!! Think thats the one we would like & love to see & stay. The prices: Yes, it is very expensieve!!!!!!! But, I have never been there, I dont know if I will be ever there a second time with my Ferrari and the difference to a cheaper house isn`t such a big in the price. Yes, I would love to have to stay there even if tis a a bit more expensive than the other places. Yes, the whole trip is getting quite expensive for us: All prices in Euro! 840,- for the ferry 218,- each night for the Culldon House (converted GBP to Euro) XXX fuel for the cars XXXXXX drinks for the drivers .....at least ca. 2.500,- Euro for the whole trip (more or less) Anyway, I`m looking forward to hit Scotland! I have voted: top quality/Culldon House but whatever and wherever the crowd is going/voting I will be happy to drive and stay with you.
I thought you might say something like that! Wherever we end up staying it will be just as much fun. If the general consensus is to go for a lower priced venue, then I will research one(s) which meet as much of the criteria as possible. At the end of the day it's about the people and the cars. But Culloden does look bloody gorgeous!
Thanks for all your eforts - you really have been busy. Before voting I am wondering as the trip is likely to be that much more expensive for you guys from Europe - if us Brits ought to abstain from voting and go with the concensus from Europe. What do you think? Cheers Kevan
I think if everyone who has committed to the trip votes (not fair to influence it if you have not), and then maybe makes a comment stating where they are from, we can assess better. I want to try and make it value for money - it was never going to be cheap (fuel prices + Ferrari fuel consumption dictate that!) - but I also don't to overprice it so that people who otherwise would have joined us decide against it. So your comments are welcome. I won't be offended which ever way you vote - it's a group rallye and as such broad decisions should be made in a democratic way.
Of course we could always find cheaper accomodation for the first bit and then stay somewhere posher for leg2? Just a thought. btw the trip will be planned so that people who cannot make the whole thing can join us on the Friday night in Inverness for leg2 in the Highlands.
Very magnanamous of you Mr 400Spyder sir. Culloden looks fantastic and I can defo see us there for a couple of days. But I am hoping that is the expensive part of the trip and perhaps the rest would be in some scottish version of an agri-tourismo. However, if you're planning on the 1st leg being around Edinburgh I can see that also being pricey.
Marc, I voted for the full package (cars, drinks and women). The price will definitely be high for a lot of people (that have to come a long way). It is a difficult decision. I do not know what is best. But I agree with Wolfgang that we should see this as a unique visit. If we could get some media attention and take that back to the hotel we might even get a better price! Ton
It is a good poll! It will also give an idea of how many people are really thinking one step further in this event.
First of all: Respect for all of your efforts to anticipate the preferences of the participants and all the research work I´m aware that food and accomodation in the UK are more expensive (good I didn´t say: have a worse cost/benefit ratio ) than in other parts of Europe. I will not participate in the poll as I don´t know, yet, whether my wife comes with me: If we find a way to "sell" our kids for a couple of days I think the investment in top accomodation would be worthwhile. If I´m coming alone I would prefer something with a bit more Rock´n´Roll-feeling, e.g. a place, where you are not that isolated from the locals.
Not many so far! Come on guys, 24 people registered interest on the participants list, it would be nice to hear form all of you. And hands up - who voted for the first non-option?! Actually it might be a useful addition to the poll to use this option if you are not bothered which style of accomodation and are just happy to go with the flow. As I said I don't want to exclude anybody because it becomes too expensive, so here's your chance to have your say. The list stood at: Belgium - Ton - F 550 - 1 Person Belgium - Bart - F 430 - 2 persons Germany - Wolfgang - Testarossa - 1 or 2 Persons Germany - Uli - Mondial/Diablo - 1 or 2 persons Germany - Thorsten - Mondial T - 1 or 2 persons Germany - Uwe - 328 GTS - 1 or 2 persons Germany - Patrick - 355 GTS - 1 person Germany - Matthias - 360 Modena - 1 or 2 persons Italy - Eugenio & Maura - F 328 GTS - 2 Persons Switzerland - Trevi - Mondial - 2 persons Switzerland - Simon - 328 GTB - 2 persons Switzerland - Andrea - 355 GTB - 2 persons Switzerland - Andy- 360CS- 2 persons Switzerland - Christophe - 355 GTB - 1 0r 2 persons Isle of Man - David - 308 GTS - 1 or 2 persons UK - Steve - 512M - 1 or 2 persons UK - Rod - 328/348 or 355 - 1 or 2 persons UK - Stevep - 360 Mod - 1 or 2 persons UK - Lee - 328 GTS - 2 persons UK - Marc - 328 GTS - 2 persons UK - Mark C - F550 - 1 or 2 persons UK - Mark G - 328 GTS - 2 persons UK - Geoff - 328GTS - 1 or 2 persons UK - Adnaan - Mondial T - 1 or 2 persons There were also some lambo owners and a Scottish 288 GTO owner who were threatening to join us. If any of the Scottish contingent know of any venues that could accomodate us in either of the areas mentioned I would be interested to hear about them. Thanks, Marc.
Marc Am I too late to register an interest? 456GT - 2 persons I could probably help with finding a similar venue to Culloden in south Scotland. The one that springs to mind is Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond, which means it is just outside Glasgow; http://www.devereonline.co.uk/ This is about 70 miless from Edinburgh, 1.5 hours drive. Cheers Kevan
let me make some calculations. fuel: (1600 km from home to zeebrügge, belgium and back, 1000 km in scotland) makes about 550 . ferry: 840 total without drinks (who needs food ;-) ) and accomodation: 1400 . accomodation for 2 persons 4 nights in scotland first class: 1800 . for me that doesn't balance too well. that's for the accountancy part. on the other hand, i remember some discussions we had last year. these discussions made me think a lot about the purpose and objectives of fchat-meetings not only in andermatt, but in general. my conclusions stemming from these discussions led me to a "concept" of fchat rallies, which i tried to realize in andermatt. these rallies should focus on: - driving in beautiful sceneries, typical for the host country - having much fun and party together - get in touch with local food and culture in a creative and easy way outside of mass tourism (as for example the party with a famous, but very special and funky carneval band, which brings party sound AND represents a typical swiss (lucerne) carneval culture). - get in touch with local people and have fun with them too. these rallies should not focus on luxury and staying in luxury (ghettoish) resorts maybe to far away from the next drinking hole frequented by the locals, which many of us would prefer to get drunk. ferrari rallies with such luxury accomodation sounds to me like any ordinary FOC meeting and i ask myself, if we would loose the special fchat style we could start to create and just get lost in the regular FOC / other luxury car club style. i think we have the chance to create something really different, a new tradition. heck, i could even imagine to go to a camping ground , that also could be the hell a lot of fun, maybe not in scotland. i dont know, if i made myself understandable, but that's the way i would like. there's a reason why i'm not an FOC member. and car parking is never a problem, you can always hire a security company to take care of our horses during the night. that's just my 2 rapps without any disrespect for any other ideas or efforts already made.
Trevi, I think that you have a point. The accomodation in Andermatt was good but very standard. Most effort was put in the organisation of driving and social elements. Nobody complained and it was very easy to go out and meet the local people of Andermatt. I liked that! The problem if we stay in these very luxury houses is that we pay a lot of money but don't spend a lot of time on this awesome location. We will probably leave in the morning and return late at night. It would be an ideal solution if we stay in a middle class hotels, have good parking facilities and visit all the exquisit places that Scotland has to offer. Maybe we will atraact a larger group to the meeting if we do it this way. In the end I will sleep just as well in a three star hotel as in a five star hotel (especially after a couple of whiskeys). Ton
Like I said, I don't mind one or 2 nights in a luxury hotel, but a similar deal as in Montalcino would be better. A farm house or two able to put up 10-20 people. I'm guessing by the time this all comes together the original list of participants will have at least halved
Trevi & Ton, indeed a very good point and we should talk about it. Yes, it is expensive! Yes, we will only be there(in the Hotel) for a short time (I know almost drunken) to sleep. BUT, at least the difference between the 3*-4* hotel and the Culloden isn`t the big part of the cake/event! The whole travell incl. everything is for us, coming from europe: Culloden = Euro: 2.500,- 3*-4* = Euro: 2.100,- The ferry: 840,- The fuel: 500,- / 600,- Eating: 100,- Drinks: pfffff....do we realy wanna know? Anyway, I would love to drive with the whole gang over there!!!! I`m also fine with a headed garage for me & my beast
I think you make a very eloquent point. This is just the kind of feedback I was hoping for, and the reason I posted a poll rather than made the plans and told you all what it would cost once finalised. Although the majority of the votes are for top accomodation I will look in to some alternatives as I think people are being scared off due to the high prices. 8 votes from 24 (now 25, all are welcome) participants is telling me what I need to know! Once I have some firm information I will bring it to you.
I agree 110% and we should try and make the trip affordable to all who want to attend - the comraderie and the cars are the 2 most importnat things IMHO. Hopefully that's me Marc. I have family in Scotland so please feel free to contact me about any aspect of the trip. Cheers Kevan
