Please remind me to never go on an all inclusive holiday ever again!

[MouthBreather]

Just back from an all inclusive holiday. Thought it would be easy with teens and a nice rest for the grown ups.

I didn’t factor in inconsiderate, greedy ‘Brit’s abroad’ into my holiday calculations.

Sun beds were all gone by 7.30am, made worse by no one occupying them until after lunch. People playing loud, shit music over the top of the hotel music, kids bombing round the pool shouting football chants, people making ‘communal’ plates of food for their table at breakfast and taking all the freshly cooked stuff, then not even bloody eating it!

I’m looking into a private island for next year. Anyone want to come??

My idea of hell. I don't want to see brits when I'm abroad.

You went to the wrong AI. We always go AI and have never experienced anything like this.

DrMadeline, Malta is not a very family friendly location due to the lack of beaches - this might be why there were many children there.

*not many children

We've just come back from an AI cruise where we only heard one British family during the entire week. Most families were German, Italian, Spanish , etc. It was bliss. No screaming kids, no foul languish, no shouting, no infantile behaviour from supposedly adults. Brought back to reality with a bang when back at the airport for the flight home surrounded by British dross again!

I like that at least on this thread there are no delusions of grandeur over being British. Meanwhile elsewhere on MN today someone was being told she failed in her Britishness for being slightly less than exquisitely polite/charming in a worrying and stressful situation.

Did AI for the first time last year and didnt love it. Did 3 weeks with family this year in their home, I cannot wait to go back to AI next year!

Where did you stay @LoafEater

I think the trick is to stay somewhere where's there is already an established resort. I've only done AI a couple of times with extended family who have kids. The first time we stayed at the Lydia Maris, Kolymbia, in Rhodes. It is a fairly small hotel but the staff all get to know you, and everyone is really friendly. Some nice shops, tavernas and bars, and not far from Rhodes Town, and two excellent beaches, so nobody has to get cabin fever, and nobody seems to get nasty or greedy over the buffet.

The second time we stayed at a larger, more luxurious resort near Bodrum called Voyage. Several pools, by the beach etc, but there was absolutely nothing else there unless you got the bus into Bodrum. I think this is why people just went mad over food, drink, and space, because there was just nothing to do outside the resort.

PierreBezukov There were plenty of children at the hotel. They just weren't allowed to run wild in the restaurants which I've read about in some reviews of hotels. We went to Melleiha which had a lovely beach.

Boggles, Cuba is a poor country. There aren’t lots of local restaurants. The variety of food is fairly limited. We did go out lots, but it was difficult to even get a variety of drinks.

I tried to book a unicorn of a holiday in Cuba once. AI for my SIL and culture, local restaurants, a little actual Cuba for me. The holiday advice was... the AIs are

Here and the the culture is...

Here

That's the issue.

I went to an AI near Holguin and it was lovely - all a la carte meals so no buffet. It sounds horrible OP but possibly because of the other guests rather than the fact it was AI

We went all inclusive a few times when the kids were younger as it seemed easier. The last time the food was so bad we ate out every day (not at a cheap resort). I’ve come to the conclusion that AI only suits those who eat/drink a lot and that’s not us. I also can’t stand lying centimetres away from a stranger on a sun lounger. I prefer to be spread out and not have loads of loud music and games going on.

For these reasons we have either gone on villa holidays with a private pool or Florida where the pools are quieter during the day as most people are at theme parks.

I’d never go all inc ever again.

MrsTerryPratchett I think that’s where we went wrong. We did see lots of culture and lots of ‘real Cuba’. We went to cities, villages and fishing ports. We had a few days out at sea. I think the hotel was a bit of a base for us, with the hope of a few days relaxing.

Maybe we picked a bad time to go. The reviews were all excellent, only negative reviews were about variety of food which didn’t bother us. I think a large proportion of the hotel had booked because it sounds exotic and was hot, with no real thought of the country they were visiting.

Some snobbery on here I despair sometimes. We had two all inclusive holidays one was Egypt for our honeymoon AL 7 restaurant one was a buffet restuarant or was dire, you only got the better food if you paid extra same for cocktails I become extremely unwell and got c diff we paid about £2500 for the two of us. We booked Turkey via Jet2 did alot of research on the hotel prior to booking looking at various reviews. It was amazing we paid £3000 for a family of 5 all inclusive buffet restaurants was fab and we got to paid one evening meal in their restaurants, snack bars available 24/hrs bar free mini fridge in room and the entertainment was amazing. I didn't see any poor behaviour that you described. It isnt necessary the price either but the time of year you go and where you go.

Only been to two AIs in Croatia (cheaper hotel) and Turkey (higher end hotel) and never saw anything like this.

I never understood the point of AI abroad. If you aren’t going to go to local restaurants, go out to whatever there is in the area etc. what’s the point? Just stay in a nice hotel in Britain and eat at their restaurant for every meal.

That's a great idea.

Could you please tell me where there's a hotel in Britain that provides all inclusive drink, a huge buffet of Turkish food and other international dishes, in fact 24hr food and drink? Oh, and there should be a pool complex outside, and minimum 25 degree heat the whole week. I'd like to take in a bit of Turkey whilst I'm there too, see some Roman and Greek ruins.

What do you think, somewhere on the south coast?

Get your head out of your bum. Even if people do just want to relax and not see anything else, there are obvious advantages to doing that abroad. In fact, my husband and I just agreed that we need a wholly relaxed beach break at some point, because travelling is just as exhausting as work sometimes.

Could you please tell me where there's a hotel in Britain that provides all inclusive drink, a huge buffet of Turkish food and other international dishes, in fact 24hr food and drink?

Why do you need 24-hour food and drink?? And all inclusive drink??

I never used to understand the point of AI. I too felt like you wouldn't get the full experience of a holiday eating at the hotel everyday. However. 3 kids later and what I want in a holiday is a break from the mindless chore of deciding where to eat, what to eat, reading menus to the kids before choosing my own whilst simultaneously trying to entertain them. Then having to entertain them while waiting for food, then worrying about them not liking what they chose. I don't want to deal with rationing drinks and ice cream, making sure they don't spill or drop them etc. All the AI I have been to use local suppliers and offer a wide range of international as well as local dishes. This year we didn't do AI and went somewhere with more cultural day trips and the kids didn't appreciate it one bit. They just want a pool and a buffet restaurant. I'm down with that. I've not been unlucky enough to go somewhere full of Brits like that though yet. I'm not sure how you would avoid that for sure. I would have thought Cuba would be a good bet. Not cheap!

Nice to see the travel snobs are out in force in this thread.

I’ve never done AI (haven’t been abroad in nine years, actually) but I keep thinking it might be a nice idea for our first foreign family holiday with children.

Now I’m starting to rethink.

Hell is other people.

I hate all inclusive deals with a passion, you can never rest of the “peculiar” characters because no matter a what time you are in the hotel, they are ALWAYS there, and if they give you a rest for a morning, they make sure they leave towels on the sunbeds for the whole day, just in case they want to sit there for 5 minutes fully dressed before they join the dinner buffet.

Personally, I prefer those places where nothing is included. Much a better experience than joining little Britain under the Sun. I don’t cook but I enjoy a coffee for breakfast in a local cafe, a light lunch in a little restaurant and a proper dinner in a nice lovely restaurant frequented by the locals whithout inconsiderate tourists cheapening the environment coming for dinner in flip flops or beach wear and behaving as if they were in a drunken area of Magaluf)

With three dc I want a break from catering so sc is not that attractive to me

Usually do half board not that it makes much difference.

You’ve got to choose wisely however

What did the reviews say?