All inclusive holidays vs self catering

[musingonhol]

Which would be your choice?

Love the convenience of AI but can see why some hate it… especially at buffet time! I often think self catering must be peaceful but paying all that money to come away and have to do a food shop and wash up?!

Is there a compromise?

At a villa I can eat when I want, have food fresh from the fridge and only prep as much as we think we want. I can eat in peace and not have too many people around me

See this doesn't appeal to me on holiday...this is how I live for 51 weeks of the year anyway!

We have had a few AI holidays. There have always been some restaurants in the resort in addition to a buffet. We also tend to try to find somewhere nearish to a town, so we can go out too.

for us, a lot of the appeal of s/c is having a private pool. And being away from other people!

I like the whole hotel experience. The restaurants, the bars, activities and. entertainment all in the resort. Self catering and getting a villa just doesn't appeal to me...too similar to being at home, just with better weather and a pool.

Self catering and getting a villa just doesn't appeal to me...too similar to being at home, just with better weather and a pool

Er, the 'better weather and a pool' (along with the change of scene, chance to relax and sea/beach/watersports etc) is the main reason that a lot of us go away.

Yes, this is a big benefit of self catering for me. I don't really like people very much!
But I can see the appeal of hotels and once in a while I do enjoy a few days where someone else is doing absolutely everything for me. I think you can enjoy both in different ways.
The type of holiday that I would never take is a self catering complex with a shared pool etc. That seems to have the worst of both worlds to me. When we self cater is is usually somewhere fairly out of the way and I like to look for somewhere a bit quirky if possible. One of the best places we ever stayed in was a converted windmill which our children absolutely loved. But it doesn't bother me at all that many other people wouldn't enjoy that type of holiday. If they did, all the places I like would be swarming with people and then I wouldn't like them!

Never fancied buffet food in hotels. All those sweaty bodies picking over the food which may be reheated leftovers anyway.

I love feeling at home when we go away!
During the day we travel around, eat out, do activities and then in the evening we go back to where we're staying knowing we'll sleep well (no guarantees obviously, but I take great care when booking places) and can potter about doing what we like, when we like.
Home w/o the housework/admin/work and hopefully with better weather.

I think it's very much down to personal preference. Reading the threads on here shows how challenging many people find going away with the people they're meant to like/love, so lord knows how they manage with other even more annoying people about!

We mix it up and do a bit of everything, all have pro's and con's.

If we are doing AI - we make sure the hotel as a couple of al la cartes and budget to eat out once or twice for dinner that breaks the time up well. These are much easier with the family as we dont have to feel like we have to think about how much we are saying no to.

If we are going non-AL, we tend to do B&B so we can fill up at breakfast without having to plan. Then make sure we plenty of drinks, snacks and quick lunches in the apartment (breads, meats, pastas etc) and eat out at dinner. Most nights we would be out at different restaurants, if we had been out for the day on excursions etc we might grab a pizza / gyros and take it back to the apartment.

I did struggle more in a villa as had to either plan or go out for every single meal. Loved the privacy but not so much the rest.

This year for our adults hotel, we have booked an adults only villa with an AI offering, so hoping this is the best of all worlds!

On the last AI holiday I went on, our lunches were EXACTLY what is being lovingly described here only I didn’t have to go to the flipping shop in the heat every day! Just stood up from my sunlounger, stretched and wandered in (no queues, no pushing, no being herded like cattle) into a quiet, clean dining room where we had lots of fresh salad, good bread, cold meats (AND cheese!) as well as a very appetising array of really lovely desserts. And wine brought to my table. Without a single bit of washing-up.

It doesn’t suit everyone but the lengths people go to in order to persuade themselves SC is inherently better than AI is crazy. Yes, it is very awful to be provided with three square meals a day that you don’t have to do anything for. Just the pits.

I will say though I really dislike parents letting their kids run riot at a buffet and not watching them properly....

I've done a mixture of holidays and I think it largely depends on your location and travelling companions.

If it's just my partner and I, I love to try different local restaurants and perhaps wander in to a local bar or find some live music.

When I've travelled with a larger mixed group, including older people and young children, an AI with a decent buffet has been far less stressful.

I find a small hotel or B&B most relaxing so I don't have to do the cleaning.

And unlimited cocktails. That's my priority 😂

All inclusive is OK but is all a bit regimented.

Everyone marching from the pool to the restaurant when the siren goes off, then staggering back again to collapse in the sun. For a week.

I would want maybe a half and half. Some days all inclusive but some where you can eat out. Problem is it always feels like a waste when you are all inclusive and then go out to a restaurant.

That doesn't sound anything like any AI I've ever been to!

Generally the restaurants are open for hours - 12-3 for lunch, 6-10 for dinner or similar. No sirens, you can choose when to go and eat, just as you would in any other hotel...

The Bread, Cheese and Ham(TM) lot are just making stuff up now. Sirens?

I think you're confusing 21st century hotels with Butlins in the 60s or something. AI isn't my preference either but it's hardly imprisonment.

So AI is worth it if you pay an absolute fortune to keep out the riff raff for a la carte service and then don't use it half the time because you're eating out instead?

Depends on circumstances. Who you're going with, age and fussiness of DC, what you want your holiday to look like etc. There's a sweet spot in terms of value when the DC are old enough that they need something off the adult menu but still young enough to count as a child at a resort. Or even better, a free child place!

The middle ground options can be good too, it doesn't have to be one extreme or the other. Lots of resorts offer B and B and half board options.

Also, yeah, sirens?!

Half board was spot on. You can have a big breakfast which sets you up for the day, then evening meal. Then explore the area. With AI you'd feel tied to the place and who wants to spend the day with AI type people?

Yep! Always the way on holiday threads though, albeit I'd not seen it expressed through the medium of deconstructed bread and ham before. The social class dynamics on here are fascinating

Haha one of my exes used to call them the egg and chippers!

This is true.

Criticism of AI as bad for local economies and businesses tends to rest on the assumption that if people weren't in AI, they'd be using local small businesses instead. Not necessarily the case. It's nowhere near that binary.

There's the location factor, but also even in busier areas, people might well be at large, possibly even international chains instead. Plenty of popular holiday spots have KFC, Lidl etc. Or just eat in the resort anyway, but pay differently for it. It's really quite a varied picture.

Indeed. There’s also a bit of a vibe that anyone who’s been on an AI holiday doesn’t know any different - I’ve done my fair share of city breaks, AirBnBs, cottages, I’ve been round picturesque markets and bought fresh tomatoes, and honestly I ate the same on those holidays as I ate on an AI one! Except with more variety on AI because the puddings are ace.