With such a huge selection of holidays, we are privileged to work with lots of wonderful Tour Leaders. We’d like to introduce Mark, one of our ClubSolos Tour Leaders who has taken almost 50 groups on holiday over the last 5 years. Here he shares his excitement for brand new ClubSolos Kefalonia and some of his ClubSolos and Solos adventures in recent years.
Meet our ClubSolos Tour Leader Mark
I’m Mark and I’ve been a Solos tour leader for over five years. Before I started tour leading, I went on numerous Solos tennis holidays as a guest and can still remember my first solos experience. I arrived just before midnight and a lady came bounding up to me asking if I was called Mark. I’d guessed it was the tour leader – actually it wasn’t – it was a friendly guest who had decided to wait up for me. Since that day we have stayed in touch and remain good friends and that’s what I love about Solos Holidays.
When you’re on a Solos holiday, not only do you have the tour leader looking after you but you have all the guests as well – some of them become friends for life. A few of the guests who I keep in contact with, know I also work as a TV extra and every 6 weeks or so I pop up on Coronation Street. Blink and you’ll miss me, but it’s good fun and I have put a fair few guests in touch with TV agents around the country so now they are enjoying working in TV too!
Next year I will be hosting ClubSolos Kefalonia and I’m very excited about the new venue. I’ve heard good things from others about the resort and researched the facilities, tavernas and local sites – it sounds absolutely perfect. Kefalonia is an island I’ve not visited yet so I’m looking forward to discovering it together with our guests.
In past years, I have hosted ClubSolos at Zakynthos, Corfu, Antigua, and Crete. What I like about ClubSolos is that no other guests are in the hotel, so the group has the chance to bond from day one. I also enjoy the fact that the ClubSolos hotels are family run – you can meet the owners and see the pride that they have in their properties. Greek hospitality is so warm, you’re made to feel very welcome by ClubSolos hotel owners and when the local tavernas get to know ClubSolos guests are in residence they always extend a really warm welcome to us as well.
Last year I did a couple of weeks in ClubSolos Zakynthos which quickly became one of my favourite ClubSolos locations. It’s so peaceful, but there’s also just enough entertainment and choice of bars to have a fun night out – dance to an ABBA tribute act, watch a live rock band, or simply drink cocktails on the beach. I’m not a big foodie but we ate out at five tavernas during that stay and they were all excellent.
I have hosted over 50 holidays since I began working with Solos Holidays and I can honestly say I have enjoyed every single one of them. A few of my favourite destinations are Corfu for tennis – we stay at a beautiful 5 star hotel which always goes above and beyond for us, Solos have been returning there for years and we’re treated like family. Austria on a walking holiday in the Alps was beautiful – the views were breath-taking when we (eventually!) reached the top of the mountains.
The last tour I did was in February in Tenerife and the whole group thoroughly enjoyed what was quite a strange week. Two days in, we had a sandstorm from the Sahara Desert – I’ve never seen anything like it! You could only see four feet in front of you! The day of the sandstorm we had a planned walk along the promenade which I wasn’t expecting to go ahead – but the group were tough cookies and determined to go on that walk. It made me laugh thinking we must all be a bit mad battling through. On the last few days of the holiday, the Coronavirus arrived at a hotel a mile down the road from us. The Solos Holidays head office staff were brilliant and were in touch with me instantly to check all the guests were safe and find out if anyone wanted to come home early.
I am hoping by next summer, things will return to normal and the pandemic will have been bought under control. I’ve just returned from a solo holiday, which was strange at times, but I enjoyed it – there weren’t many people in the resort which meant it was very peaceful. The beaches weren’t at all crowded so it was a chance to see the location without the crowds which felt like traveling back in time. I only mixed with about 12 people during my stay and felt very safe – probably safer than being at home in England!
