REALITY CHEQUE Wealthy women swap five star travels for a budget holiday in Benidorm on Rich Holiday Poor Holiday

A GROUP of wealthy women swap a five star luxury getaway for a budget trip in Benidorm on Chanel 5’s Rich Holiday Poor Holiday.

The three friends, from Guildford in Southern England, are said to be in Britain’s top ten percent and often enjoy indulging on luxurious holidays.

Acknowledging they are “quite privileged”, the women lead luxurious lifestyles which see them enjoy lunch at fancy restaurants, sip champagne at horse racing events and drop a huge amount of money on over the top getaways they say “is enough to buy a small car”.

But as part of the television experiment, the woman are prepared to give it all up to see how the other half holiday, by taking a trip to the British tourist hot spot Benidorm in eastern Spain – a popular destination for holiday goers looking for a good time.

The three women – Jacqui, Louisa and Pat –  insist their nightmare holiday is anything that involves “coach trips, hundreds of pubs and anything touristy” and prefer quiet escapes and fancy hotels.

Meanwhile, swapping their ideal boozy Benidorm trip for an all expenses paid glamorous getaway, another four women gear up for a week of luxury and prepare to leave their council estate in Kentish Town in north London for a week of pampering.

For Sally-Anne, a cab driver,  and Anita, a clothing store assistant, a holiday only comes once a year and often means saving for the entire year to fund their girls trip away.

Joining them are two friends – both named Lisa – who say it’s essential for their trip to involve plenty of “drinks, drink and more drinks – followed by lots of dancing”.

The North London friends often opt for all inclusive holidays, and plan their trip during off-season to maximise their spend.

And when speaking of their most hated holiday activities, they all agreed that hiking and historical sites top the list – while chilling out and socialising makes for the perfect girls trip away.

So while the “privileged” Guildford trio soak up the sun in budget holiday destination Benidorm, the party girls  hope to find a bar or two while being treated to a lavish trip to the Caribbean island of St Lucia.

At the start of the experiment the Guildford women seem surprised by pleased to try out something different, in hope they might experience something new – and upon arriving at their budget apartment block, they realised just what the eight-story flat had in store for them.

At first glance the women were shocked to see the lack of space, and the two single beds the apartment had on offer, describing it as “horrible” and “grotty”.

While admitting the place at least “smells clean”, one of the women voiced her concern about not being able to unpack her suitcase given the inadequate wardrobe space the three of them were forced to share.

She said: “I like to have drawers for everything – jewellery in one draw, phone chargers and plugs in another. but we’re going to be living out of suitcases and that’s something I won’t be keen on.”

In comparison, over in St Lucia, the four friends were treated to their own private bungalows which were nestled into the hillside overlooking the glistening Caribbean waters – complete with private outdoor showers, four-poster beds and hammocks.

Meanwhile, in Benidorm, the women were shocked to see that their list of planned activities included a coach trip out of town, a budget pub crawl and  a food truck dinner – a vast contrast to their usual fine dining experiences.

Upon arriving at crowded beach on their first day,  one of the women said: ” I like white clean sand, I like water you can see your toes in and I like no people – don’t think you’re going to get any of that here.”

While the couch trip had another feeling bothered, describing it as “a bit like herding cattle, herding sheep – you’re stuck with these people all day”.

Despite  getting off to a rocky start, though, the wealthy women ended the trip on a high, dubbing the mobility scooter racing and beach dancing with the locals the best part of their trip.

Feeling pleasantly surprised, one of the women said: “We felt like we were a part of the local community and to me, that’s a part of the experience in the other type of holiday  –  getting to know and chat to people”

The trio even acquired a taste for beer and country and western music as they danced up a storm in a local pub.

Meanwhile,  the St Lucia women found the luxury lifestyle “boring” and “lonely” having no bars to go to and no one to socialise with.

In total, the luxury holiday cost the four North London women £15,500 for a weeks worth of the private dinners, luxurious bungalows and island  activities  – with all four women agreeing it wasn’t worth the money.

Each estimated it would cost roughly £10k, but upon learning of the addition £5,000, them woman agreed it would be far too much money for each of them to spend on a holiday considering it felt like they weren’t getting their money’s worth.

In comparison, the budget Benidorm trip cost a tiny £852.50 for the entire week – with the women admitting they’d spend that in one day on a regular trip of theirs.

One of the women admitted that the “activities were much cheaper than [they] thought they’d be”, with them all agree the mobility scooter was the best value for money costing just £40 for the three of them.


Image Source:*Emporium Productions

Source:thesun.co.uk