Is all inclusive food actually good or just cheap and easy?

We stay at an all inclusive called IKOS - 90% of people eat at the a la carte options for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it’s amazing. Try there maybe next time. It’s on the higher side of prices but worth every penny.

I have never had fabulous food at AI - all five star.

sometimes the local fish is good -but in general the food is usually overcooked, reheated and bland. Deserts have always been good though - basic but tasty and the fruit has always been excellent.

we did AI when there were small children in the fanily. Would never do it now.

Over the years

Worst AI
Cuba due to not much choice, however there was always something that we could eat. The local supermarket had very few items in it too. Not like supermarkets in UK with a million choices.
The people were friendly though.
Politics of Cuba

Best AI
Cyprus in December,pre Xmas, huge hotel with only about 10% occupied. The hotel still cooked everything, massive choices of excellent quality food.

Indonesian island
Stayed on a small island & I was a little worried about what food would be served. The food was excellent some Western & some local.

Various
I have seen champagne on offer at more than one hotel for breakfast !
I have not drunk the 🥂 because we normally go exploring

I do have concerns that AI kills off the local, small family restaurants & businesses, so I do travel independently too.

I agree I went all inclusive in Turkey and food was substandard not of decent quality not enough choice and cheaply made.

The problem with buffet food, is you tend to put a bit of lots of things on the plate. If you can control yourself and choose just stuff that goes together it is often better. At a hotel in Mallorca the food didn't look that appetising, but it was mainly food, that if portions had been served in little pottery bowls it would have been a good tapas meal. It was very tasty. This year we had a couple of weeks BnB in Greece. Lots of restaurants, at all price levels in the town. The problem we found was every restaurant served huge portions. In the second week we had a couple of nights with no meal cos we were stuffed, just an ice cream and pastry from the bakery. At least in a hotel buffet you can choose how much to eat. We usually go to adult only hotels now we are older, and it always makes me laugh that they all seem to have a selection of haribo with the desserts which are v popular.

I find Turkey has the best food for short haul all inclusives.

I always enjoy the breakfasts, eating lunch outside and I look for hotels with restaurants on the beach. I then eat out every 2 or 3 evenings.

I am more than happy with some protein, rice and lots of different salad for lunch and dinner and most importantly a nice view so all inclusive works really well for me.

It definitely depends on how much you’re willing to spend on your holidays. the first AI I took with my now husband and 2 kids when we were early 20s we booked a holiday village type holiday and the food was awful. After 3 days we were fed up with the same school dinner style trays and reheated food we went out to eat! Now we spend a little more on the AI the quality of the food increases. Freshly prepared, many options, good quality. It’s like anytime you get what you pay for.

I genuinely clicked on this to find out WTF “inclusive food” is and whether or not all of it is good! #whypunctuationmatters (That’s not a criticism btw, it’s just that I’m neurodivergent and tend to read things literally.)

The food at the RIU chain is brilliant

The AI I went to last month had lovely food- lots of veggie options like bean casserole, quinoa with roasted veg etc. the reviews consistently said how good the food was and it was correct.

We went to a 3star AI in May half term for a wedding and the food was horrible. It’s a hotel that offers everything from SC, HB to AI and its competing with great restaurants outside and was just cheap unhealthy crap.

Club Med food in France is definitely the best AI food that I have eaten, but then it's not aimed at the British market.

I think one of the things that happens is that if you get used to one type of holiday, that's what your kids adjust to.

We have rarely done AI so my kids don't expect unlimited ice creams, drinks, hot chocolates etc on holiday so it's not a particularly big deal. I can see that if your kids are used to that, they'll be a pain if you take them on a different type of holiday

In my opinion one of the main enjoyable things about going abroad is choosing local restaurants and trying out new ones every night. I usually book an apartment and make a simple meal for my child before we go out then he can just have chips or an ice cream or whatever in the restaurant. I find hotel food is usually crap but there are exceptions.

We had a exclusive at a Turkish hotel that was out of this world, But then we went to a Spanish one where it was awful and we had to eat out every day anyway
Very much potluck

I've only been to one AI hotel that had awful food, it was 5* too.
All the others I've been to had lovely food. They had a man cooking steaks one night, or slicing roasts etc each night was different and you just had to add what sides you wanted at the buffet. Mornings were fresh cooked eggs to order not dried out left in a warmer tray, and salmon and fresh fruit and bagels etc
It's seems to be the luck of the draw unfortunately.

I've had good and bad. Not a fan of AI but when the kids were little it was perfect. Went last year with friends and the food was the best I've ever had abroad! Hadn't done AI for about 10 years but would do again just based on the food there!

That's genius, I hadn't thought about looking at the complaints!

Ah that's a bummer. Generally I'd save money and self-cater, am not a foodie.
One time I joined friend on holiday in hotel she had booked months before, that hotel catered breakfast & dinner. That was in Puerto da Pollensa? the food was terrific.

it was adults-only hotel...

We did turkey and it was nice. Fresh salads, freshly cooked meat and fish. Obviously not super fancy but nice

We stayed at Sani Beach a few years back and loved their eat-out half board restaurant model. To be honest even the buffets were pretty good and so easy.

We usually go self catering and it's definitely not as relaxing!

Of course. I don’t think it automatically means you go for a ‘fill your boots’ approach though, which suggests quantity over quality!

The implication though is that people who don’t enjoy AI somehow think they are ‘above’ other people, or ‘classier’. That’s not why I don’t choose AI holidays.
AI threads always descend into a pointless class discussion.

A lot of people have to make compromises when they have children, either based on price or based on what their DC will eat.

the Island Inn, Barbados. Lovely boutique hotel - would go there again in a heartbeat!

I remember staying at an all-inclusive resort with my family when I was a child. The hotel was beautiful, but the food was awful, so we ate out every day. That experience put me off all-inclusives for years, until about five years ago, when we went to Mexico. This time, the food was excellent and incredibly varied, with several restaurants to choose from. I especially loved the seafood evenings. One day, we wandered over to the hotel next door to have a look around, the food looked dreadful and I was shocked to see birds flying around and pecking at the food. It was completely off-putting, and I was so relieved I we hadn’t chosen that place as my holiday would’ve been ruined.