«Good preparation is half the battle»

Mr Benkö, what does the perfect family holiday look like for you?
«Perfect» is in the eye of the beholder. With our children, who are now five and eight years old, we mainly went to all-inclusive family hotels recently. That was practical because we didn't have to lug around a lot of the things the children needed. This year, we're travelling more individually for the first time: we want to book a holiday home. Basically, I think family holidays are successful when everyone gets their money's worth.
How do you do that?
Good preparation is half the battle. This includes, on the one hand, discussions in which each family member can express their wishes and, on the other hand, good research. Unfortunately, you can't avoid the small print: if the catalogue states that there is a «heated» children's pool on site, this does not mean that it is heated. Depending on the destination, this may not matter, but it can also give us a cold that nobody wants on holiday. Equally, the much-vaunted «kids' club» can be a disaster if parents only find out when they get there that it is only open sporadically - or if they realise that their child cannot communicate with the childcare staff. It is therefore worth taking a close look at holiday offers on the internet, especially their ratings by other guests on portals such as Holidaycheck or Tripadvisor. Poor preparation is a frequent cause of trouble on holiday.
As a holiday rescuer in the RTL series of the same name, you help families for whom a holiday has turned into a horror trip. We see dingy hotels, rotten food, ripped-off guests - and assume that television has to exaggerate.

You'd be wrong. The market for family holidays has grown considerably and the number of providers has literally exploded. Not all those who promise great family holidays are able to deliver. Some don't have all the facilities they advertise, others don't have the money to maintain them properly. Some hotels have water play equipment such as slides installed - and neglect to maintain them. Last year, we carried out a test in Turkey: In five out of seven hotels, we found defects in the pools that could have been life-threatening under certain circumstances. We also found loose ladders, damage to slides and defective lamps under water.

It makes you want to go on holiday.
You shouldn't panic straight away. Bad incidents happen very rarely, but any one is one too many. But if you are well informed in advance, you can avoid a lot of trouble. And some things don't depend on the organiser or the hotel. It is also up to the parents to organise the trip in such a way that it is interesting for everyone. Club visitors, for example, can spice up their holiday by not staying in the resort all the time, but also doing something outside the resort. They should clarify in advance whether there are any possibilities for this. If you want to do without the family hotel's social programme, you can still offer the children the opportunity to have fun with their peers from time to time - for example with a visit to the water park. A good solution comes about when everyone tries to put themselves in each other's shoes.

Holiday saviour
Problems during the holidays? The holiday saviour is available to families: send an e-mail to urlaubsretter@rtl.de.

Read more:
Up and away - How to make a family holiday a success