Very picky mumsnetter needs your recommendation for next years all inclusive.

[mrsmilesmatheson]

We spent a week at the caretta beach in kalimaki on Zante this August and whilst we enjoyed it (with a few niggles), we would like to go somewhere different next year.

Things we liked about CB were: the water park, the fun park attached, the room, the proximity of family friendly restaurants, the variety of pools, the quietness and the minibus to the beach.

Things we didn't like were: the rubbish quality of soft drinks, the "Brits abroad" type entertainment (we just didn't partake, so didn't matter) and the repetitiveness of the buffet restaurant.

For next year we are looking for the following:
Accommodation for 2 adults, one child with separate sleeping areas for a little privacy.
A balcony or terrace.
Tea making facilities and fridge.
Sitting area would be nice.
Wifi.
Selection of pools, poss inc a water park on site if possible.
All inclusive with a choice of restaurants and bars.
Nice lounge/bar areas to relax in.
Local restaurants and nice quiet town or village within walking distance.
Beach within walking distance.
Somewhere in Europe, maybe Balearics, canaries or Greece but nowhere which is a "party town" and not bothered about it being somewhere full of other English people either.
Not bothered about kids clubs/"entertainment" either.

Ideally not high rise, a friend has mentioned somewhere with little bungalows which sounds lovely.

DH is quite picky, as am I and we would rather not just walk into a travel agents. Budget to up to £3K max for a week (this year spent £2400 plus a couple of hundred spending money, so know it's possible).

Have you considered Cancun area in Mexico? All inclusives that cater for the US market tend to a higher standard and offer a wide choice of restaurants and food.
A number of great waterparks available off resort as trips. Security tends to be very tight on the resorts.

Im sensing a misunderstanding here between all-includive, which i understand to mean that all food, drinks and entertainment are included in a fixed cost deal, while the alternative is assumed to be self catering.

Many hotels will provide which ever meals you require, on a pay as you go basis, without having to suffer entertainment of the type at makes you shudder.

Have I mis understood what you mean by all-inclusive?

www.canarygardenclub.com

We stayed here a few months ago, ticks all your boxes, swimming pools on site, plus 5 mins walk to local fairground and 10 min taxi ride to Aqualand. Would definitely recommend it.

Although it was a fantastic luxury experience, would not want all inclusive experience again. It doesn't feel like you are properly visiting a country IMHO. But good when DC are young, I suppose.

agree, weirdos who sit by the pool all day

Tbh I think all inclusive is a bit ' Ged ' ere Brandon'

I guess it's horses for courses Brenda, we ate out locally and went shopping and booked tours locally so I'm really not feeling guilty about the local economy from our trip to Greece! I take your point though.

All inclusive means all meals and drinks included in the upfront price. Not sure what I've misunderstood. Obviously doesn't mean you HAVE to eat every meal in the hotel, or never leave the hotel but it is an effective way of budgeting for an annual holiday.

I was asking for recommendations, not judgements on my choice of holiday or what type of person I am.

Thank you to those of you who have given me recommendations, I will be checking them out.

My recommendation is Alvor Baia in the Algarve. We were there for a week in July All Inclusive. Its a lovely hotel, Dc aged 9 and 4 loved it. Alvor village has a gorgeous beach and nice restaurants and is relatively uncommercialised. Short cheap flights are available too to Faro on Easyjet or Jet2

Chain wise try sensatori-Crete does well in ratings
Otherwise we stayed at holiday village rhodes which ticks some but not all-stay in deluxe area for ai but Al la carte
There is kids club and an adult only bar too
Not a water park but has various slides and can also use next door water stuff too. Old Rhodes town and Lindos both reachable by 20 min taxi or bus ride and c pretty

And fwiw I would avoid Turkey if you're fussy...

Turkey - but this is a really lovely AI, we loved it last year.
Izer Beach, Torba

I've also been to the Atlantic Aegean Blue in Rhodes and we had a great time - I went alone with my 3 girls and we had a family room with a dividing door.

It has a water park attached which is ace, the beach is shingle rather than sand but there were so many pools we didn't need the beach much.

Food was very very good, the hotel was immaculately clean and staff were very helpful especially once they realised I was travelling alone. They even posted DD3s teddy back to her as it had got lost down the side of the bed when we were packing to leave!

I also loved the Playa Pesquero in Cuba - amazing food, stunning beaches, wonderful pool and incredibly friendly helpful staff. I realise it doesn't meet the criteria you listed though, especially as you're entirely resort based.

We've just come back from the Blue Lagoon Resort in Kos. I think it would tick a lot of your boxes.

More luxurious is the Blue Lagoon Village, Also Kos but the other end of the island.

www.bluelagoongroup.com

How old is your DD? If you want big water parks then you can't beat Egypt. We are looking at this one www.jaz.travel/destinations/egypt/madinat-makadi-hotels/Jaz-Aquaviva.aspx

We've previously been to the Jungle Aqua Park in Hurghada which was fabulous, but only TC are promoting it now and I feel uneasy about using them.

I'm with you on the AI OP. Fully understand and agree with your reasons

Oh and we did 24 hours in Turkey when we went to Kos - DDs lasting impression is "Turkey Smells" (apologies to all the Turkey lovers). Although I thoroughly enjoyed buying lots of genuine fakes for her - saved me a fortune in SuperDry.

We've been to Blue Lagoon Village. It is absolutely fantastic and the height of luxury. Prob best suited to young families.
Pools large but very cold and Kos is a windy island.

We did a 24 hour 'swap' this year leccy - it really was lovely, but the Resort was better for DD (10) - otherwise we may have stayed longer. DH and I loved it.

Have you looked at Clubmed.co.uk OP? Their AI packages are really worth it and as a very picky person myself, it the only AI option I'd consider. Their family suit fits the bill and you can be as (little) sociable as you want. Corsica maybe?

We often do B&B as a compromise between AI and self catering. I like a buffet breakfast but hate buffets for lunch and dinner.

We will generally have one main meal in a restaurant each day (either lunch or dinner, rarely both).

The other meal will then be tapas in the evening if we have had a big late lunch or just a snacky lunch (sometimes just an icecream or fruit and crisps etc) and a meal in the evening.

We will go to the supermarket 2 or 3 times in the week to get alcohol snacks and water and sometimes sandwich bits if we have a proper fridge in our room. But I do like to have a nosy in foreign supermarkets.

Probably spend less and have a nicer food experience than all inclusive. Lanzarote is good for bungalow complexes.

Liking the look of a few in Portugal, we've never been there so it would be interesting to try a new country. Alvor looks lovely, am now off to trip advisor!

Thanks for the suggestions mumsnetters .

Interesting that you have been Caretta Beach and seemed to generally like it.

We went there two years ago and found it relatively poor compared to similarly priced AI hotels in Turkey. The food was nowhere near as good and evening entertainment abysmal. We also had a tiny, very primitive room, although I gather we were unlucky and most rooms were far better than ours.

The only really good thing a the Caretta Beach was the water park and Turkey has better choice than most countries if that's what you want.

Bookmarking this thread.

I was a bit sniffy about AI until I actually tried it but now I wouldn't do anything else, at last while I've got young children.

I'm not someone who lounges around pools unless I'm actually in the pool, but the freedom that comes from not worrying about spending money with two pre-teen boys and their insatiable appetites is so liberating. I was expecting the hotel to be full of beered up people, gorging themselves, but the hotels I've been to have been early laid back. They key for us was to pick somewhere that's got other stuff going on around it so you can have the best of both worlds if you want to. This year we spent longer in the hotel than in previous years as our kids made friends with other kids and wanted to do the activities that were going on there but we still sent a fair amount of time outside the hotel too. The bonus of going AI is that we can spend our spending money on things we actually want to do rather than food - for us, a holiday Is all about hiring boats, going on trips etc. Cooking, washing and cleaning are not for me.

OP tip - some AI have a premium upgrade. We did this this year and got all of the branded alcohol. Was great.

Wish I could recommend somewhere but will keep a close eye on this thread as the only thing missing from our holiday this year was good access to a water park.

Greenshadow, I know what you mean, we went to caretta beach knowing it was a cheap and cheerful option, also being aware that Greece can be more basic than other tourist destinations. It was by no means perfect but the food was hot and tasty and the Waterpark was what made the holiday. We never bothered with the entertainment at all as it's not our thing.

I probably wouldn't go back but we felt we got reasonable value for money and we enjoyed our week overall. As a first package holiday with our dd, and first package holiday for 13 years I was pleasantly surprised

I showed DH the Sensatori hotels and he is sold , he wants a swim up or private pool room lol. He seems happy to up the budget a little now! I also like the look of the blue lagoon village on kos ... anyone got any advice on these?

Downwith, where did you go this year?

I totally agree with your point about spending money on "treats" rather than essentials. We were on a tight budget this year and it helped to know that at the very least, all our drinks and meals were paid for as we really didn't know how much spending money we might be able to have for trips etc as dh was waiting for a tricky customer to pay right up until the day before we flew to Greèce. I know some people look down their noses at AI but it works for us

I have heard good things about the blue lagoon in Kos too.

We tend to stay in small complexes in a villa, we don't really like the while entertainment type thing either or sunbathing right next to a load of other people-I need to relax on holiday- I know what you are saying about it not being a break if you have to cook and clean -I agree , we eat out and other than make the beds in the morning and make the kids some breakfast thats about the extent of 'housework'.

Alvor is nice , there are lots of nice fishing villages and smaller lest touristy resorts around the western algarve.

Happy holiday searching.

I would recommend Stella Palace in Crete (visited May 2015) and also the Voyage Torba in Turkey (came back yesterday) both were fantastic, amazing food, friendly staff, excellent kids facilities, pools, kids club, and 2 room family rooms. Both resorts are low rise so only have ground floor and first floor rooms. Beach at Stella Palace is a bit average but the pools more than make up for it but Voyage Torba was fantastic on all fronts, gorgeous beach and pools alike