[Closed] All inclusive holidays.....

You'll meet some great people there and get to spend all week with them in the bar.

I vowed never to go on an all inclusive, but since the kids came along it was an easy (and cheaper) option.
I have been on 3 over the last couple of winters, they have always been 4/5 star so the quality has always been good.
Only problem is you eat and drink far to much, and by the 4th day it gets boring.

Choose the hotel/location carefully and you should be ok.

Just got back from San Antonio (i know, i know) Nice hotel, lovely view great food etc. Full of ****s.

Could say it's my own fault for going to Sa An but I've been going for years and normally found that if you're far away from the West End you are OK.

We got a stupidly cheap deal, on reflection we should have paid a couple of hundred quid or som ore to be out of reach of the chavs.

i was dead against the all inclusive, but few years ago went away with the inlaws to a posh RUI hotel in tunisia, it was great.

i always loved self catering as you can go out each night to a different place but in my eyes ion the long run self catering is more expensive.

(putting snob hat on) you get what you pay for, RUI are sort of top endish so you get less weird people.

Choose the hotel/location carefully and you should be ok.

+ 1, this helps when you get cabin fever!

We only go all inclusive now, for our 'lounge by the pool, getting some sun' holiday.

You can get some really good resorts/hotels and some not so good ones, same as anything really.

Trip Advisor generally has good reviews, but you need to weed out the stupid reviews - people moaning about the 'rubbish food' as they didn't have egg & chips.

Last year we went to The Rubicon Palace near Playa Blanca in Lanzarote & that was great. It was a decent walk from the main town along the coast promenade, food was nice, room was decent, pool was good, food was good with plenty of choice & there was a nice piano bar that we went to most evenings.

We've just come back from the Seven Seas Imperial near Side, Turkey and I thoroughly recommend it. It was great - 2 large pools, one with waves, slides, lazy river & crazy river, very good food & drink, 20 min bus ride to Side (for about a quid), the rooms were OK without being amazing, although they did have a great shower and lots of the rooms have sea views.
We had a great time.

As above - fine as long as you don't go for the budget end of the market. You can still get some very good deals at the good places.

We went to Club Magic Life in Fuerteventura last winter and it was superb. Booked through a UK company (Thomson I presume as it comes up on a google for them), but it's run by a German organisation - which is a real plus point IMHO, as very cosmopolitan and upmarket, and I much prefer to get away from other Brits on holiday 😉 . Brilliant food, good wine, lots of free activities and sports including group bike rides - unfortunately you can only go out as part of a group, but the rides are quite decent (longest road ride is a 100 miler!)
http://www.magiclife.com/en/club-details/clubs/spain/club_magic_life_fuerteventura_imperial.html

Most AI deals are cheap if you compare them with buying everything instead, that's why they're popular, but remember ........

It's not compulsory to eat in the hotel is it? - it's funny how people get stuck in that mindset
We usually have at least a couple of meals out and a few drinks just to break it up a bit, still works out loads cheaper

Depends very much on the location/resort. For example, at the upper end of the market such as in the Indian Ocean AI is the only way to go, as everything is very, very expensive. Mauritius was a prime example. A beer with lunch? £5 please. On the AI? Works out much, much better.

Also worth looking at what else is included. So, for example, wakeboarding, sailing, tennis courts etc.

If you like to do a lot, not necessarily just drink a lot, then AI is excellent.

Low market AI holiday? Well, it's a low end of the market holiday. What do you expect?

Have only done all inclusiove for skiing - and despite my initial reservations, that worked really, really well.

Would do it again, but Euro / Sterling exchange rate changes a year or two ago took the shine off (ie price for a family of four went from 4-5k to 7-8k 😡 )

This was with Club Med BTW

We've become repeat customers for the Mexico all inclusive, playa del carmen area mainly. Food is always superb, and drinks plentiful and staff attentive. As above user reviews on Tripadvisor are a very good indication of actual service levels. We've always looked for good fitness centres, spa for the SO and good pool / beach facilities.

If contemplating mexico just ensure you are missing the nearby Cancun busy periods, can be populated with over zealous americans at times.

By contrast stopped off in Bali on the way home last year, absolutely stunning destination but the bill at the end was pretty high compared to what an all inclusive can offer. Hence benefit, you never have to think about the cost factor once on site.

Just back from an AI at Sharm el Shark we had a great time
food and local booze was excellent

definitely do it again next year and not having to worry about carrying cash is a great feeling

AI is a bit ITV isn't it

Is it, random? And what does that mean exactly?

I think he is suggesting it is a bit 'Jeremy Kyle'.

We went AI to St Lucia, and for a beach/pool/odd day trip holiday it was good - dead easy and relaxing. Although we did have dinner out twice as despite the food being good it was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic in the restaurant. I think I'd go doolally on a 3 week cruise.