All inclusive holiday irritations....

[CupoTeap]

On holiday and in the restaurant......there is a huge block of butter put out each session with a knife to help yourself with.

I am getting more and more irritated by the people who insist on scraping a bit of butter off with this knife and then back to the butter to repeat before putting the knife down.

JUST PUT SOME ON YOUR PLATE.

Anything else I should be looking out for to annoy me

(I'm actually having a fab time and am very relaxed 😎)

We don't subscribe to the theory "I've paid for it in resort so I'm not having it out". We went to tulum a few years ago and had plenty of days out, Including dinner

I guess the whole AI holiday comes down to budget. If you can afford to book a really good hotel which has several, unlimited a la carte dining, lots of facilities with several pools, decent drinks, nice rooms and you have the money to not be bothered about staying on site all the time, it's a really nice relaxing holiday.
Otherwise, possibly not

@shieldmaidenofrohan thanks for explaining. Seems weird to me to pay for meals that you don't eat but less weird than just staying at the resort all day every day!

@Peakypolly which hotel would you recommend?

They are good value etc etc but the barging in and getting in peoples way was a challenge. It is a bit of a bun fight at times.
Deep breaths and enjoy your holiday! (Change over days might be better and less busy ! )
Try to gauge the best times to go along ..

@CollaterlyS1sters yes I agree- hence we take food out. Best of both worlds.

I got back yesterday from an amazing 5 star hotel and spa complex in Turkey. It was our third time there.
We are a bloody fussy family. Dd and I are vegetarian and ds and dp are not. We were spoilt for choice yet again and didn't even bother with the A la carte restaurants ( 5 of them )

You definitely get what you pay for.

The 'entertainment.'

Years spent having to join the sodding 'Mini mini disco time!' and listen to the same songs over and over again every evening. Horror of horrors actually feeling compelled to have to join in the 'Happy train" thing.

We book AI because we want a base to explore from but we have the security of a decent meal there when we get back.

My biggest bug bear is people letting their young DC wander around the buffet trying to fill plates themselves, taking ages and spilling half of it for someone else to slip on.

I bloody love an all inclusive!! Went to lanzarote last year and it was the best one I've ever been too. Food was delicious, there was a huge vegan section and they changed food every day/night.

@bringbacksideburns did you have I am the music man too?

Middle aged men who ask their wives "Do I like this?" at the buffet. FFS, man, do you not know what food you eat?

Unsupervised children. Anywhere.

Kids who get up on stage and interrupt the entertainment. It's not cute, get your kids out of the band's way

Anyone who steals an inflatable or permits their children to

Amalgamated puddings. Cream carnage

@shieldmaidenofrohan could you please link the family hotel? Sounds lush

ChihuahuaMummy1 but of course!

And the Court of King Caracatus.
And Heads, shoulders, knees and toes. Starting off slowly and getting faster. And louder. And louder.
And my personal favourite... the one about Superman ..spray spray etc

Ah! Wonderful memories

I do agree about the looking for a restaurant to eat in if your not AI abroad. Dh would say no to half the places and when you do find somewhere there was usually a problem or you had to wait for ages. Plus it can get pricey too.

If your self catering it's a bit like being at home with the washing up to be done and when we went to a French campsite years ago we had three visits from the reps reminding us to clean up and strip the beds when we booked out etc etc! We were only there a week. Plus it was a pain going to the big supermarket as I felt like I may as well been at home!

No holiday is perfect unless you really can afford the very best. Yet to experience that!
Lol.

To be fair, a lot of the complaints on here are things you will get in any big hotel complex, not just AI ones.

Last time I went AI (Morocco) I chose it partly because I was going on my own, and wanted the minimum hassle. Adult only hotel (well, over 16s only). Breakfast I tended to have freshly cooked to order omelette, there were pool bars with food and snack points open from 9am until 7pm all day every day as well as lunches both fresh cooked or buffet, buffet in the evening with some dishes cooked to order and 2 a la carte restaurants. If I was going on an outing, I could arrange for a packed lunch or pick up snacking food from the breakfast buffet if there wasn't a meal arranged as part of the trip.

Best for me was the ad lib non-alcoholic drinks (I rarely drink due to painkillers) like tea, coffee and soft drinks. There were always waiting staff in the buffet area to help people, and as soon as they worked out I was on my own they went out of their way to look after me. Snowy white table cloths, clean wine glasses on every table, clean cutlery & cloth napkins.

I wanna go back!

I bet Rolf Harris songs are banned at most kids clubs these days!
The reps must be sick of the mini disco by the end of the season too. They must sing the songs in their sleep.

@MadamePompadour
The birds sitting on top of the pile of crossiants pecking at them in the restaurant.

I'm sorry but this has really made me laugh for some reason! (and I guess could happen anywhere, not just on an AI) but I assume guests didn't take from the same pile?

@CollaterlyS1sters its fine if you are somewhere there is a newsagent/convenience store, we tend to holiday in remote places where the hotel is the only thing for miles and miles, and cannot just nip out for something from somewhere else as there isn't anywhere else. That's the reason they're AI too.

Obviously where there's a choice of hotel or other sustenance providing establishments the issue of AI buffets wouldn't be an issue as I wouldn't be eating at one

My favourite was a Spanish villa. Great marble floored kitchen with dishwasher and air con etc so no slaving. We just bought lovely stuff at the supermarket and had melon and coffee and birch for bekfast, salads for lunch and alternate between a restaurant or bbq at the villa in the evening. Having our own pool was the best thing ever. Same price as an AI and was so worth it on a hot day to come back and dive into your own pool with no danger of there being no sun beds.

Food poisoning...

Those who end up eating plain boiled rice for a week due to dietary restrictions - why go AI when it means you can't control the food on offer? This makes no sense to me. I've been to countries all over the world and never stayed in a AI hotel - just go to local restaurants or self cater, surely?

Agree you get what you pay for. I’ve done a cheaper one and it was a bit grim. Paid more for the second AI and it was fab - the Grand Palladium hotels are lovely. Esp Ibiza one.

Spent one summer being entertained by an entirely German entertainment team who liked to dress up as Abba.

And the summer where the sun beds were actually CHAINED UP and not released until 9 am every day, whereupon a scene reminiscent of the Last days of Pompeii would occur - with every man ( or woman in my case) for themselves, running to grab one and propel it into any available space round the pool , with the super human powers only the truly desperately sun deprived British can achieve on holiday.

I've done plenty of cruises and all of them are all inclusive food, buffers there are pretty good for lunch and breakfast and afternoon tea. And occasional evening meal when you can't be bothered to dress up for main dining room.
Done one with drinks also included and was just bored of trying to get my money's worth each day, ordering a cocktail when really i wasn't fussed. Now just stick to pay as you go drinks.
Give me nice Hilton breakfast buffet and I am happy! The ives in Japan were lovely!