All inclusive resort holiday

[AmenAmin]

Firstly I know this sounds ungrateful. For context my children haven’t been abroad, I haven’t ever been on a package holiday. We don’t have much spare money.

An aunt has come into money and offered to book a holiday as a treat, with set ideas. Sun, abroad, all inclusive. Obviously it’s a wonderful offer and we’ve excitedly expressed gratitude. She’s wanting to book it and gift it, lovely offer:

I’ve not said anything, but now looking at some links…. are they really fun with children? Especially with limited funds to do other things? It seems a lot of extra activities, eg pool tables, will be paid and realistically children aren’t going to just sit and read all day. Is it more of an adult break? Sleeping in one hotel room, even if a family room, sounds not massively restful either (I’ve never been to a hotel, am I wrong?). I’m just a tad worried it could all be stressful. Squeezed together for a week in close proximity, stuck to a site, hot and bored kids! Just me and children of mixed ages.

Can anyone tell me what it’s really like?

I tend to eat better at AI as it's all beautiful salads that I cba to make at home. I also drink less as I'm in a country I don't know.

Your judgement is unwarranted and unnecessary.

@Fuchs1a I assume chivvy means chavvy i.e. low brow.

How funny. If I said how much I’ve spent on AI holidays this year the pearl clutches would be out in force!

The last AI that I went to had an incredible variety of high quality food. This was good for myself, because I am vegetarian. There were themed evening meals like Mediterranean, Mexican, but they also served alternatives too

It had several restaurants including a burger, pizza & milkshake bar

Plus a day time snack bar for sandwiches, salads, drinks, icecream

I have also seen champagne 🍾 available at a couple of A1 places that I have visited available at breakfast !

On AI to Spain our early - mid teen DCs got involved in all the pool games where loads of other teens were playing (ie pool volleyball), then met those kids again (from all countries) socially in the evening and went out with them.

They had a fantastic time and still talk about how good it was. Nothing was engineered, they all just hit it off.

There should not be many additional costs. But since you won’t be buying groceries that week or paying bus fares/paying for petrol then use the money you would have spent on those as the extra spending money for incidentals.

Is there a moral superiority to paying as you go for food abd drinks versus paying upfront?

'Is there a moral superiority to paying as you go for food abd drinks versus paying upfront?'
This.

I love the variety at AI and I eat significantly more variety than if I ordered from a menu. It's also an ideal opportunity for a ''massive MN salad"

And how often is any kind of fruit platter seen on a restaurant menu? Not common ime but always piles of fresh fruit at all AI's

If your kids enjoy swimming they will spend a lot of time in the pool.

in terms of boredom it depends ont he location of the resort. Is there a beach nearby you can walk to? The last one we stayed in had a water park attached - the kids loved that. They also made friends at the pool - there was a kid entertainer round the pool and lots of ball games etc.

reqd trip advisor for the resort - you will get loads of information

Can anyone recommend any specific ones? Or where to find good places?

We are going here in a few weeks - I can't wait! OP, they have family rooms at this resort with the kids area separate to the main room. Two bathrooms too.

@wwyd2021medicine

Was away a couple of months ago, most nights I had salad and fish straight off the grill. Certainly not gluttonous. I prefer ai's that have multiple restaurants but it comes down to budget

They really are good fun for the ages of your DC OP, you don’t need to pay for activities and you can go out each day if you want. A nice stroll, boat trip, trip to caves, zoos, waterfalls etc etc.

You might not want to go to Turkey, but the last all-inclusive was at Club Turban, Marmaris

A couple of days I returned from Marmaris Place, the sister hotel which is really close to Club Turban. OMG the views, I’ve travelled all over the world and never had a hotel room
with such a beautiful view.
I love love love Turkey.

I personally think all inclusive is very boring and gluttonous- but I can see with kids it’s easier. The pool and beach will be included so it depends what extras you’d want
It really isn’t, I always lose a kilo as I have so much nice protein and salads.

What kind of budget are you talking about? AI is amazing if it's high end. Something like Ikos or Club Med. But it's not cheap. In 3* AI you might indeed find that it's not 'all' inclusive, it's 'some things inclusive'

We all shared a room in Egypt 13 years ago and I vowed never again! So now I always book an apartment with at least 2 bedrooms. This year, after learning that my 2 DDS could no longer share a bedroom without fighting, we have 2 X 1 bedroom suites. One for us, one for them! DD1 is nearly 20 now so she's happy to share a suite with DD2

Firstly I don’t know why people are saying go to Turkey (don’t), or book a cruise 🙄The aunt’s booking this, it’s not that hard to read a thread.

AI has its place, the kids will love it if they’ve never been abroad. You don’t need a lot of money as you will be catered for with all that food. There’s the beach, & the pool’s too. I’m sure aunty knows what she’s doing but tell her not to forget your travel insurance. You can never research a place enough, once you know where you’re going, get onto TripAdvisor & find out about the hotel, location, & any free or cheap stuff. If you have any spare cash to book trips don’t book with the travel agent as they’re far too expensive, find a local with good reviews on TripAdvisor & go with them as it’s far cheaper. Depending on where you are going you may be able to bus it around for a song. But you don’t have to do anything, just relax & browse around the local area. You will have a great time!

@gogohmm
I've not in the 'AI is gluttonous' brigade at all!

I reallly like having my fish cooked in front of me too

I would set the kids a budget for extras. Preferably give them this in cash once you have exchanged some. Clear warning that is it for the week, don’t ask for more and talk about budgeting before you go.

You can get little apartments rather than single rooms as other posters have said.

It is a lovely thing for your Aunt to offer your family.

Another one saying it’s fab for kids. They make friends, have a great time and you will REST

In my opinion, all inclusive holidays are a dream. No cooking, washing up or cleaning! Great for kids - pools, play parks, entertainment. Have a great time 😊

We have done a mixture of all inclusive and room only.
The two hotels we have gone all inclusive in have been fantastic and we return many times.
Both four star platinum with almost five star rating from guests.
The food has been fantastic as the chefs have their sections so take pride in food production and food presentation beautiful. Also if you don't like something there are lots of other options.
I would also disagree all inclusive mainly geared at families. Our children all grown up and hotels we go to we attend when kids back at school and loads of people without kids too. For everyone really.
You are not bound to stay on resort if you go all inclusive it just means you can relax abit more if you miss breakfast there is lunch at pool or restaurant and it actually makes the holiday much more flexible.
We never just stay at hotel and always go somewhere most days but it's so nice when you return to just get a coffee or wine etc without having to always carry money and have what you want without worrying.
Look up the reviews and decide from there. When our kids were young the thing they liked most was pool.

The hotels we stayed at do this and food was fantastic.
Loads of healthy food there too.
We certainly did it go to stuff our faces but the food was fabulous.

Not what we found at hotels we stayed at.
So disappointing if you found this but wasn't the experience we had. Where did you stay?