To ask if you’d enjoy this holiday ?

[CryJustALittleBit]

All inclusive hotel in Spain.

Fancy dress competitions for kids and kids club for general ents etc discos

Some of the male hotel guests putting on drag acts as evening entertainment

Two pools - one indoor / one outdoor

Sharing a dinner table with another guest couple at the hotel

Space invader machines /Pac Man etc

Pool table

VERY predominantly British guests

Hotel is right next to a beach

Plenty of cafes and bowling alleys near by for entertainment

Nice ‘bar’ area where you can also get drinks like milk shakes etc

Courier service so you have the option to go on day trips etc

Hotel guests in general are a bit ‘Phoenix Nights’ iyswim

So, what’s the verdict ?? Y Viva Espana?

Oh dear OP, I think things may have changed now though.
I am unsure what the actual hotel offerings might be at the moment for entertainment but there are more hotels to choose from now.

Still a beautiful beach, specially in the mornings when the water is crystalline ;)

Why are "middle class people dull", and what is the issue with villas???!

One of the best holidays I have ever been on was to Butlins in my 20s with my then boyfriend, my friend, her DH and their kids. It sounds just like @CryJustALittleBit ‘s holiday but with not as great weather.

I don’t think I have ever laughed as much. It was absolutely fantastic and not the type of holiday I would have usually have chosen to go on. It was very Phoenix Nights with the entertainment and I had a brilliant time.

That type of holiday people would probably say now are “not me” but it was / is. I just don’t have people in my life now who will go with me on a holiday like that so I don’t and they’d probably look down their noses at it. A bit sad really, they’re missing out!

I said I'd find a villa holiday dull.. not necessarily the people.

It’s amusing because I can imagine the tone and complete disgust of the very obvious snobbery from posters who quite clearly think AI resorts are “grim” “hideous” and “ghastly”.

And that’s their descriptions not mine.

I can imagine the complete Pearl clutchers cringing at the thought of a breakfast buffet and drag artists. That’s why it’s amusing to me.

You don’t have to agree though and that’s fine.

Same lol!!

I'd hate that. Forced 'fun' and mingling with strangers is my idea of hell.

I love a self-catering villa with a pool, away from anyone else.

Yeah sorry guys on reflection it was

HALF BOARD NOT AI!

What would be "dull" about a villa holiday? Don't most people go with close family or friends, hire a car and go out and about? It's just a place to stay that happens normally to have a private pool?

Same. It wouldn't be my first choice but I'm sure I could have a couple of glasses of wine and GP with the flow.

Well you have a very different sense of humour than I do!

I don't think there's anything wrong per se with AI resorts. I am sure some of them are lovely. I've never been; never appealed.

It's the AI concept I don't like. I don't want to spend my time in one resort lying by the pool and eating resort food for every meal!

No. Sounds like hell on earth

I'd like the pool...but there's no pool bar at a villa...so you'd presumably have to find a supermarket to stock up on snacks and drinks. I don't want to go food shopping on holiday, I have enough of that at home. Then you have to wash up the glasses and crockery or load a dishwasher...again, I do enough of that at home. I also don't really want to spend my time driving around. I don't mind a wander or an excursion to see the area but driving in a foreign country is just stressful imo.

Yes. It’s the one area of life I admit I am a snob about. I never want to stay anywhere that has ‘entertainment’ on site every evening.

I would never express this irl. But OP asked…

I wouldn’t choose AI for my main 7/10/14 day holiday but I’ve done it when I’ve had a winter long weekend break. Only a couple of months ago I did 3 nights in a lovely hotel outside of Marrakesh.
I’ll be honest the entertainment isn’t my sort of thing - but the food was really good. Drinks were watered down though

I would hate it.

but loads of people would love it.

In terms of food, what do people think ai food is like?

We went to Spain and Greece the past two years....there was plenty of local food at the buffet....paella, breads, cheeses, olives, fruit...we didn't spend the week scoffing chicken nuggets and chips

No issue with sharing a table. Everything else, I'd rather be at work.

My idea of hell.

It's not like being at home, because for me the point of the holiday is the places you visit, the culture, the food etc.

Anyway, it's all a trade-off isn't it? Based on your priorities. For me, the minor inconvenience of having to put stuff in the dishwasher and wash a couple of pots on the evenings we don't eat out is less important than the home comforts and private space of staying in a house or apartment.

Don’t think it’s the type of holiday I would have chosen but I also think my kids would have loved it when younger (beach, pool etc) maybe just embrace it and accept it for what it is

I also don't really want to spend my time driving around. I don't mind a wander or an excursion to see the area but driving in a foreign country is just stressful imo.

So you just spend most of the time at the hotel? What's the point in going to another country if you're just going to stay in the hotel? Is it just for the weather?

I can imagine the complete Pearl clutchers cringing at the thought of a breakfast buffet and drag artists. That’s why it’s amusing to me.

I have no problem at all with a breakfast buffet. I absolutely loathe drag though.

Not for me.

We went to a fantastic AI in Turkey about 20 years ago and the food was amazing, ditto the one in the Maldives, really top quality food. We also went to a Mark Warner in Greece and the food was okay, not amazing but certainly not awful. You do get 'buffet fatigue' after a while though, and crave a meal in an a la carte restaurant.

But they were all quite expensive resorts. I think it's a question of you get what you pay for. I would not want to go to a budget AI because I know I'd hate the food and I have no interest in spending all day and all evening trying to get my money's worth in alcohol, so it would be a waste of time for me.