holidays with kids - cheaper all inclusive or self-catering

[mgh89000]

Kids are 5 and 3 - due to covid we havent really been abroad but now that the eldest is going to school, we can only ever go away in the school holidays. Before kids we usually just booked flights and airbnbs and never put much thought into planning our vocations. But with kids/school, I feel like we need to get better at planning our vocations. Seeing as they are still so little - is it actually easier and cheaper to go for an all-inclusive for a week or do most people still find it better and cheaper to book flights and an apartment separately.

At those ages we found self catering easier and cheaper.

It doesn't have to be one or the other, you can still book a nice easy (financially protected) flight and accommodation package with a self-catering apartment.

Definitely self catering as we always found the breakfast service started too late for our early risers.

Against the grain here but we have always done AI. I don't want to be cooking etc on holiday and there's always a wide selection. We have mainly gone to the Caribbean though- so have always had great food choices. Did go to the canaries one year though and stayed in a great hotel- AI. Obviously it can be more expensive but we never worried too much about spending money because we had already paid for food/drinks.

It obviously cheaper to so self catering if you are planning on cooking. If you eat out most meals then ai is better value

We are doing all inclusive with GDs 3, 3 and 6 ....it 550 for 9 nights ...but to be honest its more for the pools ( 4 of them and one with slides etc) and the kids entertainment ( discos , kids club etc) ...we are going on a easyjet package so 2 apartments...flights, baggage, transfers, food and all included.... we've been to same resort when our own children were small...so will be a trip down memory lane with the grandies

I tried to look at flights plus accommodation versus AI and was surprised that AI wasn't that much more expensive

Depends. Do your kids sleep well? Can they share a bedroom? Can you all share a room together? How are they in restaurants, will they sit and eat and can they be kept quiet with colouring etc? Or will they run about? Do they need to eat at odd times ie not standard adult mealtimes? Are they very picky eaters?

If they can share a room and will eat well in restaurants at standard times then I would say AI will be easier. (buffet is definitely a huge amount easier than a la carte as it means no waiting and they can try different things).

If they need separate rooms and are not great in restaurants then s/c will be easier.

So I would say they can definitely share a room and are fine in restaurants. We've just never done a resort or anything like that before.

We've always found s/c apartment, usually in complex with pool, gives us more space and flexibility, which can be important with young kids.
breakfast and lunch in apartment (gets kids in out of sun for couple hours during the day) local restaurants in evening.

Also always felt AI didn't give much incentive to go anywhere else as you've already paid up front.
Getting out and about in local bars and restaurants is always important to us.

I would say it depends on the sort of holiday you want. If you are likely to be based at the hotel, days around the pool or at the beach AI can work really well. However, if you prefer to be out and about all day everyday then you still end out shelling out for stuff whilst out and about.

Also think about the evenings. Are you happy to relax your bedtime routines and allow the kids to stay up or do you plan to stick with what they know? If the former AI fine. If the latter go for apartment so you won’t be tied to one room once the kids are in bed.

I prefer AI for holidays with the dc, unlimited snacks, drinks, ice creams which soon add up when SC. I prefer to spend a bit more for some decent food, although recently had 2 last minute cheap holidays in the Canaries, one had excellent food, the other was hit and miss but always something to eat for everyone.

We're going SC to Menorca in the summer, I'm already drumming it into the kids that there won't be ice cream on tap as usual!

Also just to point out there are plenty of family hotels that have apartment style rooms with separate sleeping areas, but also offer an all-inclusive option.

Wanting evening space doesn't mean you need to be self-catering, and being all-inclusive doesn't mean you can't still have a little kitchen!

There's always half-board as a middle ground, breakfast and dinner sorted every day but the freedom to go out and about in the day and lunch elsewhere. Lots include some wine/beer/soft drinks with dinner now.

I would always choose a self catering house or apartment.

For me it isn't about the money but the convenience.

When DS was little we went on holiday to hotels twice. Both times he was a bit ill and hated the heat. For comfort he wanted milk at about 4am. Very difficult to arrange in a hotel! Fine if you have your own kitchen.

I prefer all inclusive, as a previous poster said the snacks etc mean if you miss breakfast/lunch it isn't that big a deal as you can get something else. We just booked a holiday all inclusive to a family hotel where our apartment has a separate lounge and kitchen, it was roughly £1500 and if we went self catering it would have been £1300, in a week we would spend way more that £200 on food and drinks. Don't get me wrong we still like to go out for a meal. But the fact neither of us have to cook/clean for a week is a big positive to me.

I have recently discovered the delights of AI after self catering for years. Game changer for me. Not to have to go shopping, prepare the food, cook the food, clean up. Glorious.

Plus buffet so easy with kids. Everyone can get exactly what they want and no waiting around.

We went to a villa complex in February in Fuerteventura which was AI but you had your own villa. So that was perfect as you had the space.

We're going to butlins. I know this is uk based. Cost 750 for travel and food. I thought that was a good deal

All inclusive- especially if they are always hungry. food available all day, unlimited ice cream and drinks.

I must have the weirdest kids but they literally dont care about snacks or ice cream. AI/staying in a resort feels very different to what we used to do before. But then only going away during school holidays feels equally weird.

We used to go self catering as I thought there was no way we could afford AI so we would save to pay the holiday off and save for spending money too . Then one year we went AI and I would never go sc again certainly not with kids , so so convenient. I certainly don't want to be food shopping on holiday or even wandering from restaurant to restaurant every night looking at menus. if it was just the 2 of us yea but not with kids. They aren't interested in a leisurely meal in a restaurant and I'm certainly not interested in cooking on holiday !

s it actually easier and cheaper to go for an all-inclusive for a week or do most people still find it better and cheaper to book flights and an apartment separately

That's not the comparison you need to make/think about.

You can book flights and an AI hotel separately or you could book a package where the accommodation is self catering and there's no rule to say that either method (package or individual bookings) will work out cheaper or more expensive.

We've had it both ways, especially with Jet2holidays, where we've had a package for very little more than the flight and the accommodation before you consider the cost of hold luggage or transfers.

You need to think about the comparison between SC and AI however you book it, but cruicially also how you'd feel about the food provided with AI, especially if it wasn't very nice/to your taste as you can get AI for not much more than SC but it will be 3 buffet meals a day and it might not be very good quality/to your taste.

I wouldn't go mid range buffet 3/4 star AI because I don't like buffets for lunch or evening meals and would be disappointed if the food wasn't to my taste as a big part of a holiday for me is being served local food at an outdoor table with a sea view or in a picturesque town square. You can get AI with a choice of a la carte restaurants, but it is very expensive.

If you're not particularly bothered about what the food might be like, you could go AI, or you could pay for the higher end AI, but then it's likely to be a lot more expensive than SC and eating out.

What we generally do is go SC or B&B in an apartment where you get a kitchenette and will generally have breakfast quite late, then eat out for lunch or dinner, but rarely both and for the other meal have either a big ice cream, or street food type thing out (empanada or slice of pizza) something snacky like bread, cheese, olives, crisps etc, or a barbecue, or pizza from the supermarket, that sort of thing.

Probably works out cheaper than high end AI, but a nicer experience than buffet AI, plus minimal cooking and I love a nosey round a foreign supermarket. We always make sure we're walking distance from at least a decent sized convenience store so we can stock up on fresh bread, drinks, ice creams, snacks and easy meals/BBQ stuff.

I go AI as I don’t want to be making my bed and washing dishes.

Personally find AI easier, plenty of food to choose from so the kids can try different things, no shopping/cooking/washing up, it's a proper break.

When our DS’ were little we found AIl inc great TBH, DS1 was a fussy eater, so there was always something he could eat, or have a snack during the day. And soft drinks etc. Some All Inc, are better than others. Now our DS’ are adults we hire a villa, and eat out as we want more space, private pool etc, but when they were young, all inc was great, they still remember some of the hotels we stayed at.

It depends what you prefer, for me it’s not ai v sc it’s the general public v my own space. . I don’t like buffets generally and I like a heated pool so we usually go sc in a villa. we buy ice cream for the freezer and I can have a g&t whenever I like (though I do have to make it myself). I have no desire to lay on a sunbed around a pool where I have to listen to other people’s music. Organised fun just isn’t for me. I can sit/lie in the sun or shade, brin the kids in for a nap while I read my book in the sun-you simply don’t have this flexibility in a hotel/apartment. If you aren’t as anti social as me and don’t have an issue with the impact of ai hotels on the local economy then I’d probably do that.