Day 1 of holiday. Hell.

[gilesday]

This will come off really bad I appreciate that but sod it I have to speak my truth.

Day 1 of our family holiday we came to Greece. Have been excited for it. It’s all inclusive which is our second time, last year we did all inclusive and same thing I hated it. Don’t know why I thought it would be different but anyway.

I hate it. The hotel is just crap. The clientele are typical of what you would expect at an all inclusive and I just seriously regret it.

The thing is, I get I’m being a snob. Let’s be honest clearly we have the same budget as these people I’m slagging off (100k combined income) so should probably be a bit more humble, but I can’t. Every fibre of my being feels like I’m not built for this. I want better. I want luxury. I’m sooooo much more at home at high end places, where as the people here would probably feel uncomfortable there and like this better.

is anyone else like this?

What do I do, just avoid all inclusive from now on and stick to nicer hotels but just breakfast, eat out and explore more?

What do people do who are like me but equally don’t have the Dorchester budget?

Ok sorry! I have read it again and see you said they did clean in the morning. I was just interested to hear as I’ve never visited the one in Corfu.

We did our first AI holiday in portugal last year , 3hb guarana in the algarve 4star but in my opinion was 5 star
Cost just over 2 grand for a week 2 adults 1 child with a free child place and we had a great time, wish we had booked a longer stay! Hotel ,food choices and staff we amazing , beaches and surrounding areas stunning

Other than page 1 no response from @gilesday and now on page 19. No response on budget, classification of holiday etc.

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you.

@CarefullyCuratedFurniture 😂😂😂

What exactly have you booked though? There's a huge difference between basic 3 star and 5 star all inclusive plus.

I've stayed in some band average all inclusive and some that were really nice, you get what you pay for. Did you check trip advisor before bookjng?

But why would people want to be around tons of other people's kids, by choice?

Because they are dear human beings and they don't mind them being about.

People need to be wary of term time holidays. We have some friends who went on one and said never again! The resort was packed with kids, but babies, toddlers and preschoolers, so they weren't offering a lot of the activities for older kids and there weren't many around for their kids to hang out with.

I love a bit of luxury as much as the next person, and have spent many a (relatively) inexpensive holiday in Greece. I'm on half your income, and have booked some lovely self-catering places, and eaten from bakeries, tavernas, etc. The trick is often not going for the super touristy places for the whole time, so instead of Corfu, look at Ithaka; or instead of Mykonos, look at Naxos..... There will still be plenty of accommodation - just fewer of the big AI complexes.

We are currently in Turkey on an AI holiday. It’s awful.
We dont usually holiday like this but are here for a sports event so have had to go with the flow.
We have done some outings to local sights and mountains etc but it doesn’t look like most people here have left the resort. The food is terrible and the entertainment is cheesy.
Enough to convince me that we will never holiday like this of our own choosing.
It is worth noting that we moved hotels from one side of town to another to join our group and the 2nd hotel is nicer with better food but it’s still a resort and if it wasn’t for our group being here I think the vibe would be the same.

Ps do they water down spirit drinks? 😂😂😂

Not in my experience (but I am s bit of a lightweight)

I'm sorry your diamond shoes are too tight.

Then there are definitely a lot of heavy weights here… never seen so many neat spirits being drunk.

Beer all day on the beach and then spirits on the rocks at night.

You get different standards of all inclusive though? A five star all inclusive is not actually that chavvy

Do stars even mean anything anymore? The AI I am at in Turkey has 5 stars on its wall outside and it’s far from 5 star. In fact, I would probably say it’s 3 star having stayed at many legit 5 star places.

Also, reviewing these places on TripAdvisor or Booking.com seems futile because they are all highly rated because there are obviously many people who genuinely think it’s wonderful.

What made the places you stayed at "genuinely five star"?

Smaller more intimate. Better quality local food. Location. No organized entertainment. Not catered to the masses. Service. Cleanliness. Building and infrastructure maintenance. Even the smell.

All those things.

Just as an example. This is an all inclusive in South Africa. I would consider this 5 star.

https://www.umngazi.co.za

This is the all inclusive in Turkey

https://kemer.sealifehotels.com/en

Having spent a lot of time in the first option and now in the second I can safely say they are worlds (literally 😂) apart. Even the website for the Turkish resort is completely misleading in relation to reality.

The only time I've drunk alcohol during the day (apart from on the plane 😊) is this amazing drink I discovered in Tenerife AI last year. It's called a barraquito and it's layers of coffee, coffee liqueur, condensed milk & foam, served warm. I had 1 every day at lunchtime & felt like such a rebel 🤣 (bit of a bugger for the staff to make but hey ho). I seriously don't know how people, especially ones with little kids, manage to drink all day. Maybe it doesn't affect you so much on holiday? I never noticed anyone drunk. Maybe it's a bit like Christmas where you can eat & drink all day without much effect?

Bear in mind that often the star rating is determined by the facilities on offer, not how “naice” a place is. Ie - x no of restaurants, a gym, spa.

some of the best boutique hotels I have stayed at, have been 3 star! And I would class them as genuine luxury.

That would make more sense and would make stars unreliable.

I have just spent a sleepless night in my Turkish 5 star. Aircons turned off in the hotel because it’s 24 degrees and that is not warm enough apparently to warrant having them on. Can’t open the doors to let the breeze in because the night club across the road banged tunes until 6am. Finally thought we had some reprieve but our neighbours have decided to have their morning fags so the smoke is wafting in. So now we have closed the doors again.

Never ever again.

I am very surprised this is 5 star, Turkey is not on our wish list but people who love it (and we know a few) do seem to stay at some gorgeous places.
Yours sounds horrendous and you don't seem to be being snobby about it.

@Iwantmyoldnameback I have a friend who goes to these 5 star ones in Turkey every year - she is honest though and dies say they are big soulless places with little around them of interest to actually go out the complex - but the accommodation is quite swish and she gets to sit round the pool all week , kids have a good club and a couple of mini water parks on site so don’t bother her and it’s an easy week and all paid for - but she fully admits she’s not fussy about food, doesn’t care if the wine is cheap crap etc and the weathers good- so I can see that for plenty of people on tight( ish) budgets they do serve a need -Thing is if you like variety and want an interesting place on your doorstep and value high end food and good wine on holiday plus ‘space’ I personally wouldn’t go on this type of holiday ( been twice by the way- both times exactly as people described , and that was technically 5 star -

unless i can fork out for Ikos, or even Robinson’s , mark warner, club med - and even then i dont want it in middle of nowhere, I personally know it’s not for me .

I’m from South Africa so a trip to Turkey is a long way away. My expectations were not high as it’s not technically a holiday we are on that I’ve put thought into but rather here for a sporting event. I was secretly hoping to at least feel like I was in Turkey but so far it’s pretty unauthentic and I think that is what these all inclusive resorts are about. They call it a package holiday for a reason. The town itself is full of fake designer shops all selling the same thing annd you get harassed to go inside and Turkish delight and tea shops again all selling the same thing. I can see why this would appeal to families with small kids who just stay in the resort. But I honestly will never come here on a holiday of my choosing (my husband is already signing up for next year so I need to prepare myself). We have been into a few resorts here and they are all the same, much like a copy paste of each other.

• swimming pool
• water slides
• bar
• eating hall type dining area
• snack bar
• spa (hygiene questionable)
• beach with millions of loungers lined up (either direct access or access nearby)
• entertainment galore… bingo, dance competitions, discos, foam parties, djs

The food in the hotels is mass produced and they try and cater for all tastes but this leaves little room for things to be amazing. My favorite laugh is the diet food section (boiled beef or chicken, boiled sprouts and boiled corn)… the meat is literally floating around in a pan of water. The food outside the resort is better in restaurants but there are plenty of the usual Irish pubs and restaurants mimicking American food (bad burgers etc). We have found a couple restaurants serving Turkish cuisine but it’s certainly directed at tourists.

I would imagine this is not typical of Turkey but rather of the town. This place must be a ghost town out of season. My husband says it feels like we are dairy cows being milked all day 😂

I would have to look at what we paid for our stay here but it won’t mean much to anyone as anywhere in the world is expensive if you are paying in Rands.