Day 1 of holiday. Hell.

What made the places you stayed at "genuinely five star"?

Do stars even mean anything anymore? The AI I am at in Turkey has 5 stars on its wall outside and it’s far from 5 star. In fact, I would probably say it’s 3 star having stayed at many legit 5 star places.

Also, reviewing these places on TripAdvisor or Booking.com seems futile because they are all highly rated because there are obviously many people who genuinely think it’s wonderful.

You get different standards of all inclusive though? A five star all inclusive is not actually that chavvy

Then there are definitely a lot of heavy weights here… never seen so many neat spirits being drunk.

Beer all day on the beach and then spirits on the rocks at night.

I'm sorry your diamond shoes are too tight.

Not in my experience (but I am s bit of a lightweight)

We are currently in Turkey on an AI holiday. It’s awful.
We dont usually holiday like this but are here for a sports event so have had to go with the flow.
We have done some outings to local sights and mountains etc but it doesn’t look like most people here have left the resort. The food is terrible and the entertainment is cheesy.
Enough to convince me that we will never holiday like this of our own choosing.
It is worth noting that we moved hotels from one side of town to another to join our group and the 2nd hotel is nicer with better food but it’s still a resort and if it wasn’t for our group being here I think the vibe would be the same.

Ps do they water down spirit drinks? 😂😂😂

I love a bit of luxury as much as the next person, and have spent many a (relatively) inexpensive holiday in Greece. I'm on half your income, and have booked some lovely self-catering places, and eaten from bakeries, tavernas, etc. The trick is often not going for the super touristy places for the whole time, so instead of Corfu, look at Ithaka; or instead of Mykonos, look at Naxos..... There will still be plenty of accommodation - just fewer of the big AI complexes.

People need to be wary of term time holidays. We have some friends who went on one and said never again! The resort was packed with kids, but babies, toddlers and preschoolers, so they weren't offering a lot of the activities for older kids and there weren't many around for their kids to hang out with.

Because they are dear human beings and they don't mind them being about.

But why would people want to be around tons of other people's kids, by choice?

What exactly have you booked though? There's a huge difference between basic 3 star and 5 star all inclusive plus.

I've stayed in some band average all inclusive and some that were really nice, you get what you pay for. Did you check trip advisor before bookjng?

@CarefullyCuratedFurniture 😂😂😂

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you.

Other than page 1 no response from @gilesday and now on page 19. No response on budget, classification of holiday etc.

We did our first AI holiday in portugal last year , 3hb guarana in the algarve 4star but in my opinion was 5 star
Cost just over 2 grand for a week 2 adults 1 child with a free child place and we had a great time, wish we had booked a longer stay! Hotel ,food choices and staff we amazing , beaches and surrounding areas stunning

Ok sorry! I have read it again and see you said they did clean in the morning. I was just interested to hear as I’ve never visited the one in Corfu.

I have already explained what happened and am unsure why you have such an investment in ikos hotels. Tbh i didn’t even leave a review or a complaint of any kind. I was generally happy but their housekeeping was crap. I have no more to say @MainframeMalfunction

No that is not what I said.

The OP hasn’t replied for two days so I hope that’s a sign she’s having a better time now!

Generally in hotels like that housekeeping come twice per day: in the morning to do a more thorough clean and change bedding/ towels as needed and then again in the evening for the “turndown service” where they replace any used towels again, do a quick tidy up, turn down the sheets and leave you a chocolate on the pillow usually. Are you saying housekeeping didn’t come during the daytimes? That would be very odd as they’d not have time to clean all the rooms in the evenings while people are out at dinner given some may be back quite early.

You could write off the AI aspect of your hotel and get out and explore a bit? Get onto Tripadvisor for some good suggestions, taxis are usually reasonable or you could rent a car for a couple of days

MN is so weird about AI and cruises. I read some of these responses and thank fuck I’m unlikely to ever come across them while on holiday!

AI can be amazing, I’ve been to some really luxurious AI hotels and I’ve also done the cheap and cheerful. Always managed to have a good time. Eating in the AI restaurants, going to the entertainment and speaking to other guests has always been optional!

Or one may stay in their villa and go nowhere every night, again nothing wrong with that.

One might go to the same bar every evening on a self catering holiday, whats wrong with that?