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 😎)

@huggedtheredwoods

People were taking food from the same pile. The staff would chase the birds off so new people would arrive and were unaware of the bird who had been there two mins before and take food. There was no other pile so I carefully picked out croissants under other ones!

Ugh, the buffets, the people and the fact that AI is ruining the local economies of lots of lovely destinations. I don't go to hotels which offer AI any more, even 5* hotels which do it are geared up for it and standards drop.

I have been to lots of AI in my time, butter has always been in individual portions, if I saw anyone using a serving spoon for various different dishes, I would have told one of the waiting staff the spoon needs to be changed due to allergies and if anyone jumped the egg queue they would have been told to join the queue like everybody else.

A lot of the AI holiday resorts we have visited have had named brands of spirits and not local brands.

Anyone going on an Al have a fantastic time 🌞🥂😁

@gotmychocolateimgood

I felt very safe in Mexico. It was just me and dd and we hired a car and drove about to different places. The driving was a bit bonkers.

I think I got slightly scammed in a bar where we asked for drinks off the menu and were recommended something different....which of course turned out to be twice the price. £20 for two rather nasty cocktails!

When you turn up at somewhere like Tulum you get a bit swamped by people trying to sell you expensive tours/tickets. $32 each for some trip round the ruins when it's about 150peso to pay on the gate which is a bit more than £5. But do your research beforehand. we were ushered into a car park with a 100peso charge here and then noticed a big free car park over the road. But had paid by then!

So a bit of a tourist hustle going on at times but otherwise safe.

@morven can I ask which hotel you stayed at in Greece? I need some good GF friendly recommendations I think. Thanks.

I’m starting to get worried now! 5* AI in Cape Verde. I hoping it doesn’t get too crowded out there.

@NaturalBornWoman Ugh, the buffets, the people and the fact that AI is ruining the local economies of lots of lovely destinations. I don't go to hotels which offer AI any more, even 5 hotels which do it are geared up for it and standards drop.*

Thank you for making this point (first one on the thread, I think).

I've met some really interesting people and had interesting conversations in cafes, bars and restaurants in places I've stayed. And supported local businesses.

I have no interest in just funding TUI or First Choice while they pay local people a pittance.

Neilson Aeolian Resort on Lesvos. But I’d had similar in other Neilson resorts and also Mark Warner. Also much hated by the snobs of MN.

I’m common as muck me .

British people whose instinct to form a queue wherever possible overrides all common sense. If you want an item on the buffet which nobody else is serving themselves with, just walk round people and get it. You don’t have to form a random queue!

@CollaterlyS1sters i love how you posed the 'how do you go out' question, I answered it and you ignored me, then you posed it again and ignored me... again.

Its quite funny.

A note to the holiday snobs on here - if you are on a budget and have lots of very hungry children then AI is a godsend. Yes, people's manners are not great and the food is not to everyone's taste but if you have children that do not want to eat fresh seafood in a charming local restaurant every night and don't have lots of cash or a credit card to top up your spending money you tend to leave your airs and graces at the door of the giant dining room. If you pick your hotel carefully you will get quality food, table service, and local dishes, it's not just chips. As soon as my children are grown up I will never go AI again, but they have served us very well.

@NeverGotMyPuppy @CollaterlyS1sters i love how you posed the 'how do you go out' question, I answered it and you ignored me, then you posed it again and ignored me... again. Its quite funny.

What are you on about? I asked the question once. I thought I replied and said 'thanks for explaining'.

Are you the person who posted about the staff 'packing you a picnic' or someone else?

Weird that you find it funny

No you responded to a different poster.

I do find it quite funny because you really, really want to slag them off. And I explained how you were able to go out and that sort of fucked your point.

But that's ok. You can be rude online.

I think they started out as a very good idea but lost their way over the years and the hotels must cutback elsewhere in order to keep going. The likes of first choice must be hard to please I can imagine : they must want the bottom line all the time. They only do AI holidays where they did other options years ago.

I'm not against them at all , but other hotels and restaurants in popular resorts must despair at their appeal as they can't compete.
Must be very cut throat at times.

I've met some really interesting people and had interesting conversations in cafes, bars and restaurants in places I've stayed. And supported local businesses.

So have I, and these days virtually everywhere we go there are restaurants which have supported generations now struggling to survive and closing down. It's really bad. Soon there will be nothing left but bland faceless complexes churning out lukewarm shit food and watered down 'cocktails'.

British people are quite right to queue. Anything otherwise is simply not cricket.

I am AI this week at a very child themed place.

It's my first ever holiday with my DH and DSS. It's been tough going.

We have the mini disco every night. The same songs and dance moves every night. Then the entertainment follows. Basically 90 mins to 2 hours of pirate themed stuff.

I'm on night 5 of this now and starting to flag. There is zero for adults to do.

The food has been ok. We've eaten out a few times for lunch.

Next year I'm making sure the hotel at least has a gym, so I can workout whilst the entertainment is on 😂

Both photos are a sample AI from completely different holidays.

not sure all posters are actually thinking about the same thing!

Tonight at our hotel I saw a child taste a cake and then put it back. Also we have seen a massive amount of wasted food. Some people seem to load their plates, leave it on their table and then it's barely touched.

@NeverGotMyPuppy No you responded to a different poster. I do find it quite funny because you really, really want to slag them off. And I explained how you were able to go out and that sort of fucked your point.

Not really, no.

I thought you were the same poster. Didn't realise two people had replied.

I don't need special permission to 'slag off' all-inclusive holidays. I think they're appalling for any number of reasons. The shit food, the lack of engagement with the local culture or supporting the local economy, the narrow-mindedness and weirdness of eating random food that has no relation to the place you're actually staying in, the horrible food hygiene of buffets generally, the boredom of eating dinner in the same place day in day out, the crowds of package tourists... et cetera.

I'm delighted for you that you have been able to have someone 'pack a picnic' for you, and apologies for not thanking you for explaining that earlier. It doesn't really make any difference to my overall view of these things, but thanks anyway.

But that's ok. You can be rude online.

Cheers love.

Like anything, you get what you pay for.

I’ve been to cheap and cheerful AI and the food experience was as per this thread.

Small, adults only and relatively expensive AI on Barbados we return to every year - lovely.

Club med ski hotels are good as well

One of my biggest gripes about holidays ( last one was years ago ) is the late night flights home.
Nearly always a delay, usually a grotty airport and tired cabin crew.
Then you get back and it's another long wait to get out the airport with hordes of others and ages to find your car !
You need another holiday to get over it all! Lol
Still, it's a break from the norm.

troppi

No problem, it was the Aqua Fantasy waterpark hotel and spa, Kusadasi.

It has the biggest waterpark of its kind in the whole of Turkey and is attatched to the hotel which has its own private beach. I can't recommend it enough :) loads to do and is absolutely spotless. Hotel has a shopping mall, bowling alley, kids club which actually takes them for meals too ( themed kids evenings ) and a brilliant entertainment team. Mine are 8 and 16 which can be tricky but they both love it there. We're booking again soon for next year!

Surely All inclusive is rather naff?

Surely All inclusive is rather naff?

yes, dear, of course it is.
All the AI offers in all the hotels and resorts and cruise ships in the world. All naff.