Is self catering just as expensive as all inclusive?

[cantbloodywaitforabreak]

We've always gone all inclusive but now with the three kids it's just extortionate! So I thought we could go to our usual resort that we love but I don't know if we would just end up spending the same amount or even more.

I thought maybe we could do a huge food shop once we get there. Have breakfast in the apartment then just eat out during the day and sometimes on the evening.

DH seems to think we will just end up spending the same amount and we may aswell just book all inclusive.

I agree with your husband. It would save you money if you cooked everything in your holiday accommodation but that isn’t much of a holiday for the cook. What about half board? We did this and got my on a big breakfast and an early dinner

It depends very much on how much you pay for hotel AI versus the cost of self catering. Which I guess is obvious, but work out the difference in cost between the two and see how much it is, then work out grocery costs and meals out.

What’s the price difference between AI and SC? We normally go SC but that’s because it feels like more of a holiday to us if we are eating out of the hotel etc.
The last time we went on holiday we ate breakfast and lunch at home and then dinners out. I do think it’s cheeky that AI charge the same for children when they aren’t drinking alcohol!

Also something to bear in mind is that with AI there's usually kids clubs and entertainment- unlikely to be the same with self catering.

It probably costs about the same as buffet style AI but the experience will be nicer as you'll be served at an outside table at a restaurant instead of the buffet when you eat out.

Eat out once a day, stock up on easy food, have bbqs etc plus drinks snacks and ice creams and just relax. Very little cooking required and everyone except younger DC pitch in.

I think it depends on your eating and drinking habits and whether you are happy to cook and clear up on holiday. I think AI is good if you both drink and are happy with the drinks on offer. Also if you are happy to spend a lot of time in and around your hotel. For me AI often isn't worth it because I don't drink, like to get out and about on holiday and being able to eat whilst out, not feeling that you should return to the hotel to eat because you've already paid for it. It's also nice to have the increased variety you get when SC.
Also, we find if we've eaten well at breakfast we are unlikely to want anything major at lunchtime.
I guess if you have children who need the routine of set meal times AI may could work better. Also we tend to drink mostly water during the day (through choice) but if you are more likely to be buying a stream of soft drinks that can bump the price up.

We've booked bed and breakfast in Tenerife this year. It was £1,000 cheaper than AI.

We booked it because DCs are a bit older (junior school age) so we want to eat out rather than use a buffet. We are interested to see how it stacks up price wise though. Our thinking on B&B is if you've had a large breakfast you won't want much for lunch.

It very much depends on your habits when SC! You can do SC very cheaply by eating breakfast of bread and cereal, taking sandwiches/ pastries for lunch then cooking a low cost evening meal. Or you can eat out twice a day. We enjoy the freedom of SC, all love eating out and OH really enjoys food shopping and cooking abroad, so we do a mix of these depending on how we feel and what we are doing. Typically if we have a very expensive day we'll eat in the following day to balance it out a bit.

The last time we went AI my 3 children lived off chips for 10 days as they didn't like any of the food (very fussy) so it seemed a complete waste of money! So maybe have a think about your childrens eating habits. We always went SC growing up as my parents hated staying at the hotel and having set meal times.

I don't know, but its definitely easier going Aai with young dc. They can go up and get their own drinks / icecreams, you don't feel like you're always being asked for €5 by them, the kids clubs tend to be better.

I'm happy to eat from the buffet for a week for the chance to not have to think about what to eat, do any food shopping, cater to different tastes etc. Depends whether your a family driven by food above all else and its the highlight to go to different restaurants etc, ot if your dc are fussy little sods and you're happy to drop your standards for a quiet life on holiday.

Also, we find if we've eaten well at breakfast we are unlikely to want anything major at lunchtime

We're the same. If we go B&B we'll have a big breakfast, quite late, eg 9-10 am and then go out for the day.

We'll either have something like an ice cream or slice of pizza while out and about and then go out for dinner in the evening or have a BBQ or we'll have a late lunch in a restaurant - we're usually in Spain so lunch is 2-4 pm anyway.

Then we'll have snacks like cheese, crisps, olives and wine on the balcony for a relaxed evening of reading and chatting or go out for drinks and tapas and just have something small.

Probably costs about the same as mid range AI but a nicer experience and more flexible and not much in the way of cooking or clearing up. We just make sure we're in walking distance of a convenience store so we can pop in a couple of times for drinks, snacks and stuff for BBQs (and breakfast if we fully SC but even if we have B&B, we always make sure there's a kitchenette at least in the accommodation).

I guess work out what a meal out for 5 is, say €100 to €150 and times that by how many days you are there. Then factor in ice creams, a few rounds of 5 drinks, I can’t see how it world be cheaper.

When I try the big late breakfast thing I find myself flag a bit by 3, then I eat and it messes up my dinner.

It depends. With SC you have to do a shop and inevitably forget stuff so have to keep topping up. Also you don't get a range of food for breakfast/lunch and we tend to have the same stuff we would have at home. Also I don't want to have all the cooking and cleaning up, I'm on holiday! Eating out can be expensive and many restaurants are hit and miss. For some reason we also always struggle to find restaurants we like the look of. Additionally we both like a drink so restaurants need to be walking distance. We have teenagers though so eating out is now v expensive.

With AI everyone can have what they want when they want. No worries about costs of ice creams/milkshakes etc. That said I would only go AI if there was a choice of restaurants.

No one can answer this but your husbands response is likely correct, as he knows your eating and drinking habits. And I don’t know about you but I don’t find supermarket shopping and cooking a holiday. But if you’re eating out twice day and drinking, and even soft drinks, Ice creams etc add up then yes, I’d say it likely will cost about the same. Potentially more.

Self catering only works out cheaper if you book somewhere with a kitchen, and eat most of you food there. If you paying for 2 meals out a day plus drinks and snacks, then that will probably cost as much or more.

for us it works out cheaper, we are a family of 3 and usually go away abroad in a villa in Europe.

We do a big shop at the local supermarket morning of day one, we prefer the local
ones, but everywhere we have been has had an Aldi or a Lidl!!

We normally get a car and go exploring so typically one meal would be bought a day depending what we was doing, for example if we was out we will buy lunch, if we stayed in the villa we would go out for dinner. We mainly go out for the day so often it’s a lunch that is bought, so £30 max as it’s typically a pizza place or some local little cafe/deli.

In the villa meals are snack meals, so sandwiches, charcuterie, salads, very minimal effort type stuff.

We aren’t ones for going to bars/night entertainment which is where I think the biggest cost saving is for most families on AI, we are happy to be in the villa reading / watching Netflix / playing games with a bottle of local cheap wine and some local cheese.

I find SC more relaxed as everything is at your own pace, normally there is a bakery or small local shop selling local produce nearby and I love going and having a little explore and filling up the fridge with my new finds and essentially snacking all holiday.

If it's a hotel that offers AL and SC it's unlikely to work out cheaper if DC are old enough to go play with other kids. The AL kids will be going to bar getting drinks and snacks when they want which DC will expect aswell

I guess it depends on the price difference and eating habits. Are you going to Have cereal and toast in apartment and make sandwiches or eat out 2 or 3 times a day?

we normally go AI but last year we decided on B&B at a lovely hotel. It was just DS and I and we easily spent another £100 a day on drinks and dinner. It actually but a bit of a dampener on holiday as I was constantly thinking about how much things cost.

It depends too on where you are going as prices vary vastly.

I think I’d much rather go AI and spend a little going out for occasional lunch or dinner than SC and spend masses.

I think it depends on the price difference. I know that if it was myself, dh and dc we would probably spend £200 per day on food, drinks and snacks. So £1400 per week. If we can get a sc option for £1400 cheaper then we would book that. We have booked Portugal for next year and difference between two 4* hotels- one AI and one SC was £600 so it was worth it to do the AI. we would still eat out several timers over our trip.

Surely it all depends if you are big eaters and drinkers?

If your normal is lots of soft drinks, ice cream, big meals 3x a day, AI might be better value

If you happily drink water and just a sandwich/snack for lunch, AI may not be worth it?

It also depends on how much you value the freedom of having whatever you want to eat without having to watch the cost. AI is very freeing in that way.

We like to get out and about and do things so self catering works for us - we usually either pack a picnic lunch and then cook dinner or eat lunch out and then have a light cheese and bread type dinner.

But TBH I prefer my own cooking so it isn't a problem for me to cook.

IME it is more expensive. I have zero desire
To cook and wash up on holiday apart from breakfast / packing a picnic lunch to take to the beach. Eating out every night for four plus a few drinks after plus what you'd spend on food from the supermarket racks up pretty quickly.

We go AI at the moment because it is just easier with kids but we eat out a few times too.

Of course SC is cheaper if you are actually doing the catering. If you end up eating in restaurants every night it won't be.