Going all inclusive

duffysfarm

I am going to see travel agent tomorrow. Have never booked an all inclusive before but am thinking of doing so this time. Only reason that i want to do this is because I want to take the hassle out of picking somewhere to eat and booking places and travelling. Looking for a nice relaxing holiday this year, nice hotel and pool with some activities. The only thing is i am a little bit nervous of going somewhere all inclusive and finding out it not that good. How did everyone else here find all inclusive if they did this in the past? We are a family of five, kids from 13 and under

BENDYBINN

double post

sioda

Depends on where abouts your going huge difference between All inclusive in Europe versus Mexico or Dominican Republic

fdevine

As regards Europe, the Canaries offer pretty good value for AI.

We did Lanzarote last year (Sol in Matagorda) and found the food and drink offerings to be pretty good. Tenerfie this year but Greece & Turkey were also under consideration.

Price for 10 days last year was on a par with non-AI in mainland Europe.

Have a browse through TUI, loveholidays & Budget Travel in advance to give you an idea of whats's available. You can filter to include AI only.

duffysfarm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120469663#Comment_120469663

thanks. have been looking at tui. some nice looking spots in turkey - from what i can see there seems to be better hotels on offer there. just a bit nervous with the eartquakes there this year but also understand its a big country

duffysfarm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120469571#Comment_120469571

would only consider europe with kids this young

stargazer 68

It really depends on the hotel and resort. Some would be great for kids with the drinks and ice cream all day etc. Others I have seen giving out the dinner menu at breakfast for you to choose then!

Imo one of the best bits of the holiday is finding new places to eat but then we don't have young kids with us.

witchgirl26

Honestly I think the best thing to do is look at the price difference between half board & all inclusive. If it's not too much per person or in total, worth the punt that the food will be nice. We did it before on the basis that if we ate in the hotel for dinner & lunch twice during the holiday, we'd probably have covered the difference. I've gone all inclusive a couple of times now & we've eaten outside the hotel on those holidays but only because we wanted to/found somewhere nice to go. Usually it was because we wanted indian or something which the hotel didn't offer. Still was worth it on the whole.

raxy

When we were booking we weren't looking for all inclusive but when you also want a hotel with kids club & slides etc for the kids the majority only offered AI. They were also not that much more then nice self catering places with only a pool. What had us concerned is the restaurants. Review of kids running wild handling all the buffet food. Also heard of big que's in some places to get drinks & they only give small glasses.

We picked Greece this year. First AI so nothing to compare it against but hoping it might be a bit more civilised. Restaurant looks buffet but they have servers & not help yourself. Hoping for more Greek food available as well to make it more interesting. Hotel looks like a dated 3 star but mostly good reviews.

Reading reviews of places also makes it impossible to pick somewhere. IT's hard to imagine how places can get such polar opposite reviews. I searched for the hotels we were looking at on You tube this time. You might get some people doing a walk through/review of the hotel which can be helpful for picking.

Something to watch out for is the location. Some of them are in the middle of nowhere so you would be stuck with whatever the hotel had.

whatawaster81

I was in Malta Last summer and was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. Plenty of options and you wouldn't go hungry. Dinner included cheeses, ice creams and cakes. It's a mix of Italian and British.

On the other hand was in Rhodes the year before that and hardly touched the food. I suppose you don't know until you try it.

Mike3549

I really liked tagoro hotels in Tenerife and Lanzarote. Stayed 2 x in Tenerife and 1 x in Lanzarote.

Animation team was great, nice family hotel chain, great food.

And it was a lot cheaper, like half price, to book the hotel directly, than through the likes of booking.com or loveholidays.

Link here:

https://www.dreamplacehotels.com

Went to Turkey last year, Long Beach Resort. Selection of food was OMG. Slides, great weather, 33-36degC, mind you, it was end of June/early July and locals said its usually closer to 40 at this time, so we were lucky. Top class hotel.

Booked with loveholidays.

Official hotel link here:

https://www.longbeach.com.tr/en/

Aaand we just came from another AI holiday in Hurghada, Egypt. Pickalbatross hotel chain. It was very good, not as good as the one in Turkey, but really very good.

Really missed bacon, they're muslims so no pork. Food was good, not that big selection as in Turkey or Tagoro hotels in canaries.

Note: theres a lot of people from the 'big country' known as Russia, in Turkey or Egypt. Lets just say, ehm.. they're not that well mannered as us, western Europeans. So keep that in mind.

TUI usually have great deals in Balearics or Canary islands, look for family and fun. And shop around. Somebody i know booked the flights separately and stayed in TUI hotel, they booked the hotel from german TUI website. They said it was way cheaper and had a better selection.

Bad experience: We stayed in a cheap AI in Lanzarote, long time ago, it wasn't good. But at the time it was this or no holiday at all. I think it was called Los Fiscos. Run away, please.

Mike3549

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120469671#Comment_120469671

Re: earthquakes. Turkey is huge. Earthquakes were on a border with Syria, quite far away from all holiday resorts. Its like saying 'im not going to Spain because earthquakes in Greece'

patrickc

we went to Lanzarote in Feb, and went AI,

the food was good, there was a different theme each night and plenty of it and desserts.

The beer was definitely watered down as a pint of local stuff tasted vastly different off the resort than on it. Still we definitely felt AI was worth it.

duffysfarm

Looked at the long beach hotel and it looks very good. How did you get their in terms of airport? Was there a long transfer?

Mike3549

We picked a semi private transfer, everything through loveholidays. Don't remember the price, but guessing €60 for a return trip for 2 adults and 2 kids. 17-20 seater bus/van, from Antalya airport to Long Beach took a bit over 1h30mins, there were maybe 3 drop-offs, we were the last ones. On the return we where the only ones on the bus, so no stops. It felt like a really long trip for us, one of the reasons is that our flight was delayed by almost 4 hours. It was a bit cheaper last year than now. There were direct flights to Antalya with Turkish Airlines and theres a chance that hotels reduced a price, read somewhere that statistically there were a lot less Russians than before, i thought it will be the opposite. If you look at the loveholidays website you can choose alternative flights, dates etc. If you fly with Turkish Airlines through Istanbul and pick a longer layover, you can get a complimentary tour FOC.

More info here:

https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/flights/fly-different/touristanbul/

Kurooi

You need to consider what is on offer, what alternative food and drink places are around the hotel, and what sort of holiday you plan.

I've been to two extremes of that. One was an all inclusive in Spain, watching people guzzling the one local beer included in their package and one of 3 watered down cocktails on rum that would make your stomach turn. Just steps outside there were 4.8 star eateries and bars they could have 3 sessions a day at for the price they were paying at the hotel. The spot around the hotel was a foodie and party heaven. The hotel food was miserable, I saw them do a lunch buffet most of which was stuff from the breakfast. The perk of all inclusive outside of food and drink? A different colour towel, Same exact towels as were free all around the hotel, but a different shade. All of this is a massive waste of money, but also waste of a holiday.

But I've also been to Mauritius, an all inclusive included free of charge as many meals a day as wanted meals and drinks at some 10 restaurants and 5 bars dotted around the resort, as well as room and beach service (AKA they'd check on you sunbathing and offer to bring food and drinks) . Everything there was incredible. On top of that the all inclusive included all the water sports, equipment hire which there was plenty of, and the drinks menu was BIG I mean any rum, whiskey, cocktail you'd normally see at a bar in Ireland was included. The print said foreign spirits are not included in the all inclusive deal but I ordered a lot of them and each time the bar tender or waiter would always turn the card away and say it's on the house, of course they got tips that way. All of that, and what were the alternatives? Nothing. It was middle of nowhere and even if you were to arrange a taxi you would not trust a restaurant and wouldn't feel safe at a bar. And it's a small island not much to go and do out there you really are hotel bound.

I should also mention, you can always buy an all inclusive once you're at the hotel. hell they will probably give you a deal on it. Why not check what they have on offer let them pitch it.

mojesius

We stayed in seaside los Jameos in Lanzarote last year with two kids under 5. Most guests were AI but we went half board as we weren't drinking much. The food was fab and the resort is in a great location just on the edge of Puerto del Carmen near the beach/boardwalk. I'd probably go AI when kids are a bit older but we were literally bringing them to bed after the mini disco every night 😁

There was lots of places right outside the hotel for lunch/tapas etc. I think if we went AI, I'd have come back a stone heavier as the choice and quality of food at every meal was great. I also think they did waffles/pancakes later afternoon

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120469671#Comment_120469671

Turkey would be a good choice.Their currency is having rough time with exchange rate especially to the euro,so good value.Be aware that when you go outside the resort the females in your party will be harassed.Obviously,under 13 no worries.Also,when souvenir shopping you could be intimidated into buying if you show too much interest in something

89897

For AI look at the range of restaurants and activities they have vs the length of time you are there. A place with 2 restaurants for 2 weeks will get very tired very soon. However one with 7 restaurants for 2 weeks is great. Its also nice to have a variety of pools or at least a big enough one to move around.

Ive only ever done AI in the Caribbean and the offerings there are quite different to Europe so do a comparison to what you'll get with AI vs doing a BnB and being able to go out and about to eat and do activities

snowgal

like comments above, I think it really depends on where you are going and what 'level' of all inclusive there is/you want... Weve done mainly Caribbean all inclusives which, bar one, were mostly amazing, like as said above, a huge variety of restaurants/cuisine options and actual all inclusive champagne, wine spirits cocktails, activities etc. Weve done one in Malta which was also amazing, same as what Ive just mentioned, but I believe thats gone now. Europe ones youve to be more wary of, and if theres alot of eating options close by, generally better sticking with the local food IMO....