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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

All inclusive, don't even need to leave the resort!

358 replies

Borgenstein · 30/07/2018 17:28

I'm not judging but I'm genuinely curious as to what people do all day on these all inclusive, all in, don't need to leave the resort, type holidays?

I love travelling. Normally if someone suggest some I go somewhere I go but I've been asked to go on on every of these types of holidays next year. All food is in. There is nothing of interest nearby that doesn't involve alcohol.
The couple that have asked us went to Egypt some years back on a similar holiday. When she got back I asked her if she'd been to see the pyramids? Been to the desert? She laughed and said "god no, we didn't leave the resort, it was bliss".

But what on earth do you do all day then?? I have asked her this very question and she said you go for breakfast (sounds like the same shite menu every day), laze by the pool until lunch time, go for lunch, laze by the pool until dinner, go for dinner (again same shitty menu every day) and then get drunk whilst watching the "entertainment".

Now I don't want to upset this friend as she's been through a hard time lately and she'll be gutted if I say no but the whole thing sounds like two weeks of boring hell.

AIBU to make an excuse as I just can't see what I'd do after 10am each day??

OP posts:
Myimaginarycathasfleas · 30/07/2018 18:32

AI holidaymakers, know your place Grin

EnglishGirlApproximately · 30/07/2018 18:32

You clearly are judging, without even having been on an AI holiday you’re sneering at shite food, assuming everyone gets drunk and have put inverted commas around entertainment. It’s not for everyone, I can take it or leave it personally but I don’t assume that something is inferior just because it isn’t to my taste.

HulaMelody · 30/07/2018 18:33

My DH and I have travelled a lot and we’d only do the all inclusive resort if there were good excursions to places we were really interested (eg cairo trip half way through week in sharm el sheikh).
However the maldives was just that - resort (wee island) with only a couple of dining options. But it was bloody lovely doing absolutely nothing but swimming, chilling and eating.
Took the kids for a week all-inc this year and didn’t leave the hotel resort, but it was far from boring as it was so nice to have a week of just playing with the kids without everyday distractions.

Gilly12345 · 30/07/2018 18:33

We love all inclusive holidays as we have teenagers, we have just come back from a week in Majorca, it really was a relaxing holiday, some days we relaxed by the pool and swam in sea, read books, listened to iPod, other days we used local bus and visited local market and marina and went on a lovely boat trip, another day we hired a car and visited Palma, just because it is all inclusive doesn't mean you only stay glued to a sun bed, use your imagination.

rookiemere · 30/07/2018 18:34

I've never done one but I really wish we had for our honeymoon as exhausted after the lead up to the wedding with busy jobs and in retrospect a week or two of total relaxation would have been amazing.

ladymariner · 30/07/2018 18:35

Wow, there's some real holiday snobbery on this thread, what happened to each to their own?
Op, describing all the food on an AI holiday as 'shite' and 'shitty' makes you sound like an absolute tool. We've been AI when the kids were small and a group of us used to go and it was fabulous, we went with different people when they were teenagers to the Caribbean and had more fabulous times, we've done a Butlins one year when they were really little, once they were grown up me and dh have done fly drive holidays across the USA....as pp have said, it's what you fancy at the time, and what suits you. Looking down your nose at other people's choices is not pleasant.
And, tbh, as I'm working my way down the cocktails menu I don't want your sanctimonious expression souring them for me....judge away!
Live and let live!

Confusedbeetle · 30/07/2018 18:37

Dont judge, just say its not the sort of holiday you would enjoy

batshitbetty · 30/07/2018 18:39

You are not being unreasonable to say no, it doesn't matter how good friends you are some people are just completely incompatible on holiday. I personally couldn't think of anything more hellish than an action packed 'do do do' type holiday - that is what my daily life is like and I go on holiday to relax and recharge by having no plans and doing very little for a bulk of it (we tend to do 65% chilling, 35% sightseeing). You can't think of anything worse than sitting by the pool, people are just different!

We tend to go to the Caribbean as the destinations are beautiful with stunning beaches as well as friendly locals and plenty to see/do outside the hotel

Of course you get the odd knobhead who thinks All Inclusive is a challenge, but that's no different to the 'Brits Abroad' type you'll get in most European destinations.

thismeansnothing · 30/07/2018 18:39

Go out and explore!
We've gone AI while DD is little because it's just good to have options. If she doesn't want breakfast we know we don't have to make a deal over it and that lunch is available. Plus ice creams/drinks etc still mount up. While me and DH can manage a big breakfast and just have an evening meal I wouldn't expect that of DD. When she's a bit older we can reassess.

But what do we do? Same as any other holiday! We went to Greece in May. We had a couple of lazy days at the pool/beach let DD do some hotel activities that were on. We hired a car for a couple of days and explored and ate out a couple of times. Walked to neighbouring village and had a nosey. Wanted to do a boat trip but too expensive.

I certainly don't do AI and stop on site.

DuchessofManchester · 30/07/2018 18:39

Oh god I love all inclusive.. a week or two of doing absolutely nothing. No chores, no running to the supermarket, no mental load, No work!
Lie in followed by lovely breakfast... lounge by the pool with a good book, lazy lunch, swimming and a few cocktails and getting dressed up for dinner. Quality time with DH and quite a bit of holiday sex! What's not to love?
We do always do a few excursions though to break it up.

viques · 30/07/2018 18:40

I used to get parents asking for holiday work for their kids (a long time ago when parents took their kids out of school for summer travel at the drop of a piñata or sombrero) "They get bored of the kids club after a couple of days" one said memorably. They stopped when they realise that I wanted the kids to make a diary of all the places they had visited, the interesting food they had eaten, new worlds they had learned......

confusedmomm · 30/07/2018 18:41

OP it's not for me either. I fully appreciate everyone has different tastes and that's what makes the world diverse but I couldn't do that if it was free. I've politely turned this type of thing down in the past too.
I'm more of a sightseeing, go explore type of person as is husband.

DasPepe · 30/07/2018 18:42

Depends. I love traveling and car trips are my favorite. BUT we have 2 kids and are about to go to the same place for third year in a row. Why?

There is a pool and the sea. The food is really good (buffet and cook to order combination). There is a kids club and disco every day. It’s basicallu being out with the kids and not having to worry about cooking and traveling - just splashing and putting on sunscreen.

However, I don’t want to do once the kids are older. This will probably be the last one. DD1 is a great traveler anyway just DD2 has extra needs atm.

rinabean · 30/07/2018 18:42

How can anyone be "sneering" at or "snobbish" about all inclusive when it's the most expensive way to go on holiday? I'm never going to know what the appeal is unless someone else pays for me to go on one because I can't afford it. Do the people saying this never encounter anything that's more expensive than their favourites, only less? People I know brag about all inclusive because it's expensive, not because it's the yellow sticker of holidays for god's sake.

Anyway it does sound shit and it's also too dear so don't go if you don't think you'll like it, OP. You don't have to tell her you think it sounds shit, obviously.

bluemascara · 30/07/2018 18:43

Each to their own. Personally I love all inclusive resorts where food and drink is on tap and I don't have to break a sweat to get it!
The 50 other weeks of the year I'm run ragged between work and kids, playing servant to other people. 2 weeks of doing fuck all except eat, drink and sunbathe is fucking heaven on earth

BarbaraofSevillle · 30/07/2018 18:43

Well the pyramids are hours away from the 'holiday resort' areas of Egypt, so to see them you have to go on a very long bus trip and the people I know who have been say they are one of the most underwhelming things they have done, being much smaller than they imagined, dirty and full of fast food rubbish and crawling with hawkers.

If I ever go to Egypt I will go to dive, and will probably stay in an AI resort to do it.

sonjadog · 30/07/2018 18:45

While I have no problem accepting that for some people that kind of holiday is perfect, it is definitely not for me. I can do a day hanging around the resort but after that I want to get out and see stuff. I enjoy seeing new places and having new experiences. Those new perspectives are what I'm looking for on holiday, not relaxing beside a pool. I also find spas deeply boring and would hate the "spa break" as always suggested on MN. I suspect it comes down to being a certain personality type.

I wouldn't do well on that kind of holiday, OP, and if you are like me, then I wouldn't sign up for one either. Could you not find a compromise? Maybe go for a week, have a few days in a city and then move onto a coastal area where there is beach and things to see/do? For example, Lisbon is a lovely cit y to visit and then you could head somewhere on the coast for the second part of your holiday.

confusedmomm · 30/07/2018 18:46

That said my closest friend will only do all inclusive 5* (costing 8-10k a week incl flights) to lounge on beach. It's fine, we tried a little get away together and it didn't work and we just realised we are not holiday compatible. There's no issue with it, just the way it is.

BearsDontDigOnDancing · 30/07/2018 18:46

We did AI in Egypt Feb Half Term.

Did not do the pyramids, we had done those 10 years before on our honeymoon and it was very far to travel to Cairo. It would have been an awfully long coach journey leaving in the middle of the night. (it is nearly 500 km away from one of the main resorts, hardly an easy day out OP)

We had breakfast, spent the morning snorkelling, lunch, then usually spent the afternoon by the pool that had tons of water slides for the kids.

Then evening meal was in one of the 6 À la cartes so no not the same "shitty menu" every night. Although even the buffet restaurant we did on the first night was good.

The odd boat trip or desert excursion and it was great.

If it is not your type of holiday then fine, but do not pretend you are not judging.

Your general tone is that the holidays you do are just better than the AI option loads of other people go for.

VioletFlamingo · 30/07/2018 18:46

There are different types of All Inclusive. There are ones with 100s of sunbeds, booze all day and grotty buffet food.

I save up and then occasionally fork out on 'big spend' holidays where I go 5*, often AI, hotels in places like Mauritius or the Caribbean. I research carefully and try to choose hotels with fewer rooms, lots of restaurant options (not just one big buffet) and read TripAdvisor heavily. I then enjoy lying on the beach, going for walks along the bay, attending fitness classes, massages, going on boat and snorkelling trips and the odd day out to do more cultural things.

TooSassy · 30/07/2018 18:47

It's not your cup of tea. That's ok. I'd say as much and just be really honest with it. Trust me, you'd be letting your friend down a lot more if you went along with such a different viewpoint.

Aragog · 30/07/2018 18:47

I wouldn't do it for my main holiday but understand the benefit for a week of winter sun. Warm sun on your back whilst you lay in the sun and completely relax for a week, away from work, knowing that back home you'd be getting cold and/or wet weather.

We have never been to anywhere where you don't leave the resort though - that really would drive me mad. Even in the winter I do like somewhere where you can go for a wander, have a drink (as they are usually much nicer off resort!) and snack at a local beach bar, stretch the legs, etc. Even in the Caribbean and Kenya we found resorts we could leave and see something of the sights, even if just on foot for an hour or so.

We don't like the whole doing nothing holiday much though and, as I say, couldn't contemplate it for our main summer break. And kids clubs etc have never appealed. For dh especially holidays were and are still family time when he gets to spend much more time with dd. I get more time with her as I teach so have all the school holidays. But dh's time is more limited.

WatermelonGlitter · 30/07/2018 18:48

We do both kinds of holidays..All Inclusive and go out and explore..we love both. AI is nice because it's bloody lovely having the luxury of sitting round the pool reading your book all day and literally not having to think about anything. Exploring holiday is just as nice too, but it's different, takes more effort and planning. Horses for courses. It's not a crime, is it?

charliebear78 · 30/07/2018 18:48

I love going all inclusive-It makes it so much easy with Children.
However I do still like to leave the resort for day trips/meal and drinks at night.
It all depends on the Hotel you pick however.
We went to Egypt last Year and NEVER left the Hotel(which is unheard of and I would have been agast if someone had told me this is what they did)
Our Hotel had a spa and did lovely treatments(had to pay extra)
A Cinema,arcade with Bowling,Gym,Hairdressers and nail bar,Nightclub
Had its own private Beach with watersports(again had to pay extra)
The food was lovely and it had 5 different restaurants which you could book into for a different dining experience...
The entertainment was top notch with acts coming to perform(children's circus and trapeze acts for example)
So I do think it is possible but it has to be the right Hotel..

gingercat02 · 30/07/2018 18:49

We explore the local area, beach, snorkel, water park, arcades (We have 10 yo ds) shops, coffees, etc. Once he's older we will so more city breaks and exploring and hopefully back to scuba diving.