All inclusive ?

[Thirtyrock39]

We are trying to work out whether we can afford to go abroad next year . We've been extremely lucky that in laws paid for us to go abroad with them this year but we still spent £1000 over a week on eating out and drinks/ice creams in the day
The obvious thing is to go all inclusive as many of our friends do but worry we would miss exploring new tavernas etc .., however it sounds like it would be such a money saver and great for fussy kids to encourage trying different things... just wanted to hear others experiences of it- our kids will be 13, 10 and 7 when we go and we are thinking Majorca

We go AI and still have some meals out, we find it works out as good value if we eat breakfast in the hotel, then drinks, ice creams etc when we have a pool day and maybe evening meal on site 3/7 nights? We tend to go to AI with a choice of restaurants so we aren’t eating in the same place for every meal. If we do that and eat out a few times it suits our pocket and our needs.

We did an AI holiday in Majorca 2 years ago. We spent a fortune. Food and drinks were AI but there were a lot of things at the resort that had to be paid for. Kids activities, sweet counter, WiFi, kids clubs, table tennis, pool, crazy golf, it all added up. I felt like we were constantly being mugged.
Choose your resort carefully (and avoid ClubMac Alcudia).

We went to Majorca 5wks ago Al, no kids with us so probably not your target response. However, free bottles of water (helped yourself), ice creams, snack bar (burgers, hot dogs, fruit, yogurts, salads, chips), slush puppies, kids sweet buffet bar on one night, on tap self serve soft drinks (branded). We booked through Thomas Cook. We budgeted for a few meals out for a change, hotel also provided packed lunches for the beach if requested. Free WiFi, kids club, kids disco before entertainment every night. TripAdvisor is your friend here OP.

I've just got back from my first ever so Holiday in Majorca. I've alwAys been an ai snob but it was brilliant. I did spend money on trips and cake\tea out but that was optional there was really no need to spend anything. Ds and I went for 9 days. I think I took about 350 euros and came back with 130. 10 of what I spent was on a tip for the maid and 50 on one trip

We go all inclusive, this year we were at holiday village Rhodes which was great id recommended it there. We didn't spend any extra money but if your kids want to play football or have swimming lessons then you will pay extra.
We spent a bit in the little shop actually.

But we wouldn't go all inclusive anymore as our kids are a lot older and we don't make good enough use of the included food. If you will eat enough then it's a good deal.

Mallorca is expensive to eat out. You might find you spend less in the Canaries, Mainland Spain or Greece.

But unless you go to a hotel where there are multiple restaurants with a la carte service, the buffet experience for lunch and dinner isn't very nice. Egypt or Turkey might be better value for money for what you are looking for if doing AI.

We find a good compromise is to go B&B in an aparthotel so you get a kitchenette and a fridge and eat out once a day. Stock up on snacks, drinks and easy food like bread, ham, olives etc and make this the basis of your third meal each day. Cheaper than nice AI but a nicer experience than mid range AI.

@FlyingMonkeys Where did you stay ?

It could potentially work out cheaper - I'm assuming your older dcs are eating adult portions so your meal costs would be quite hefty.

That said, you need to weigh up if you're happy eating at buffets. We love it because we have a 3 year old so they are quick and definitely something she will eat, but, even though there is a lot of variety in my experience, it does get a bit samey. Most AI will have at least one a la carte but you can often only eat there once a week. We tend to have a couple of lunches out of the hotel irrespective as we like the change of scenery and to try local food.

If you do go AI read TripAdvisor reviews very carefully. The hotels I've been at recently would bore teenagers rigid. Also there can often be charges for things like aircon, bottled water, cocktail menu might be small on AI etc

@pinyata We stayed at sol calas de mallorca. Not great for under 30's who like 'lively', nor kids over 6 which probably didn't fit OP's brief tbh. It's very quiet (very!) One nightclub, 4min walk to shopping markets, few bars, 3mins walk to secluded beach with bar (plus a sheer drop of 1million steps!). Other beach is a leisurely 10min stroll around a wide paved costal path to the 'big beach' (Cala Domingos), beach was clean but small, food was great, sea views were tremendous! Flight times were great, and transfers were around 75mins. There's basically nothing there other than sea, sand, sun! But it fit our brief for a week for under £900. Plus everywhere seemed so clean. Three sister hotels at various prices but all the same standard give or take a bit of better/lesser decoration.

We've done SO twice in Majorca with the 3 dc's and think it's the best idea. As a previous poster said you can help yourself all day.....the slushies for kids and various drinks for us were definitely worth it for the days by the pool. We usually eatboit a couple of times a week and think that's a fair ratio.

To be fair OP with teens I'd be looking at Ibiza or Fuerteventura, they're very set up to provide fun activities, water sports, very lively to stop the teens moping! Hope you have lovely holiday wherever you choose.