All inclusive vs self catering

[Coralnails]

Do you have a preference?

I've just booked a holiday, going with dh and 2 dc. I'm surprised at the amount of people that are absolutely astounded, that we haven't gone all inclusive.

I get that all inclusive has its benefits, being able to eat what you like, when you like.

But I've never done ai before with the dc and have managed fine, contrary to what most people seem to think they haven't needed to eat 10 ice creams every day and cost me £££££, we really like eating out and trying the restaurants.

Plus I've found a lot of the all inclusive hotels can be a bit away from the main resort, the reviews often say they're a bit noisy even at night.

Is it really so shocking to self cater with children?

We've actually gone b&b, but I'm the past we've had cereal/toast/croissants for breakfast in the room, made our own lunch then ate out in the evening.

I'm with you. We've only done AI once and hated it. Too restrictive. Like you say self catering doesn't mean you have to cook every night, you can eat out when you fancy it. I like variety but appreciate that's not everyone's cup of tea.

I'm not doing AI again until my kids are teens. I never get to sit down as constantly helping them at buffett

I've never done AI before. Always self catering.
That said, this year, we're doing one week SC and one week half board (at different locations) so I'll see if its worth the bother.
I realise HB not quite the same as AI but nearly there!

not half board. full board.

I prefer the freedom of s.c plus I'm an over eater so s.c is better for me.
However, we do AI for cost reasons.
I've been away alone on AI and s.c and I've felt more relaxed s.c.
I'm also crowd phobic, so prefer to eat in my own space.
Ai is like feeding time at the zoo.

Another vote for self catering! We've done AI a couple of times but my DD is a really fussy eater & just had plate after plate of chips & bread & cake every meal. I'm a vegetarian & my options were never that great either. My DD enjoyed the evening entertainment but tbh (and it's just personal) but I don't really like the lying around like a whale, stuffing your face & seeing not very much of the place you've visited experience. When you go AI, you're always a bit loathe to eat elsewhere as you've paid for food already. I know a number of Mums who think that AI is doing your best for your children but personally, I think it's better for them to actually see & experience local culture, food & history - that's easier when you're self catering! AI is also rubbish for the local economy as all the money goes to big holiday companies not the local people who need it to survive.

I've been AI once as an adult couple as the place we went to had no other options. It was ok. I didn't like the whole set times to sit down to eat. The food was very samey.
We then took Dc to a small resort ai...again the only benefit was the kids could go and grab an ice cream or whatever but the bad far outweighed the good IMO
A lot of my friends think we are mad to go SC but I just like to please ourselves

I've often had comments of the 'why didn't you go AI' but we've never been AI and probably never will. We did once go HB to a hotel that did AI and I didn't like the evening buffet experience.

On holiday I want to eat outside, after we've been for a walk and had a drink and be served at a table and you don't get that with AI unless you pay mega bucks.

We usually go SC or B&B in an apartment, so we have a kitchenette at least. At the beginning of the holiday we will do a fairly big supermarket shop for bread, milk, coffee, breakfast stuff if SC, cheese, booze, water, ham, olives, crisps, that sort of thing. Will probably need to top up the drinks, bread and snacks from a local shop once or twice during the rest of the week.

Each day we will have a big, late breakfast and go out for the day. Then we will either have a small lunch, snack or ice cream out and a proper dinner out in the evening, or a couple of days we will have a late lunch while out at the beach etc and then in the evening maybe just chill on the balcony with wine and snacks or bread and cheese etc while reading and chatting.

What I find weird is the people who go AI, say that the food isn't very nice but persist because they see the alternative as a never ending cycle of cooking, cleaning and shopping, whereas food I enjoy is very much part of the holiday experience for me, no cleaning except keeping the kitchen usable happens and everyone pitches in with that.

We never go AI. We always rent a villa or private apartment, although we don't eat in apart form breakfast and maybe the odd lunch if we are having a pool day. We like to try all the local restaurants and get out and about.

I don't want to be stuck in the hotel all the time and I don't want to eat buffet food, nor do my children need to be constantly fed ice cream or soft drinks.

We also prefer to keep to ourselves and not have to spend time constantly surrounded by other people.

We always go AI, and have always enjoyed it, even with 2 small DC. We've been SC once when we went with family and i felt like I was at home still. Still cooking and washing up etc, just for more people! We probably ate out 3 times in the whole week. We did SC to keep cost down and for 'ease' but I didn't find it enjoyable. Each to their own though!

We go AI. But the place we go has 10 restaurants to choose from so it never gets samey. The food and drink is very high quality too so we feel we get value for money. That is the carribbean though, not sure how ones shorthaul compare.

Always self catering. I tried AI once and didn't enjoy it at all- the buffet experience was busy and my kids moaned every morning because they couldn't have breakfast straight away! I felt restricted and it was an expensive holiday that was okay but the resort was noisy and busy.
Every other year we've rented a villa or an apartment with a pool near a beach and done SC. Absolutely loved it- a quick breakfast at the villa or flat, 1 ice cream a day and eating out in local restaurants. And quieter (you can probably tell I find lots of noise annoying!) I 100% understand why people go AI but I much prefer SC

I do both.

I did both and at different ages they suited the children in different ways.

S/C suited when DC were little and I didn't want to be sharing a hotel room. We had two bedrooms plus living space and I generally did breakfasts and we ate out the rest of the time.
AI was perfect when DC were older especially the greedy teenage stage.
Now DC are over 18 but still like to come with us we have found that B&B in a nice hotel works best. We all like eating out but it's nice to have a hotel breakfast.

Assuming cost isn't your priority then AI need not be cafe style buffet food, I would always recommend you go at least 4*.

SC is better for resorts.
I've noticed a huge decline in resorts regarding bars, cafes restaurants etc done AI became a thing in the last 10 to 15 years or so.
I've done both mind. Both have their merits and downfalls.

We never do AI. It's SC all the way for me.

We've been SC once when we went with family and i felt like I was at home still. Still cooking and washing up etc, just for more people!

I suppose it depends on what kind of SC you choose to do. I have never cooked on holiday.

The last few years we've done AI. But last year we swore never again as they tend to be large hotels. DS doesn't like noise or crowds so we've booked SC for this year. For Europe I don't ever intend doing AI ever again.

I don't intend cooking though! Will be nice to get out and about and not live on buffets for two weeks

Normally for our main summer holiday we go AI. I find it more relaxing that I don’t need to cook or think about cooking, or think about which restaurant to go to. Will my dds eat the food from the restaurant. At an AI if they don’t like it, they can go get something else and I haven’t paid for a full meal as such.
Most of the AI hotels we’ve been to haven’t had a time to be at the restaurant, so we turn up later. By which time it’s quieter.

We do SC in the UK, and have done it on one holiday to Cyprus, which was a pain tbh.

I like both, we mix it up a bit.

We usually do self catering but always eat out in the evenings. I do think it works out expensive but we like the variety.

This year we are doing all inclusive as I will be having a hysterectomy a couple of months before and I intend to do nothing. We will still eat out a few times, hire a car and see the island.

I wouldn’t fancy only staying and eating in the resort.

I've done both. AI buffets are the best bit because it's a blessed relief not to have to think about anything other than what I want to put on my own plate. We had to self cater until DS1 was 3 and had adequately outgrown several food allergies so previous holidays had been busmans holidays. We try to make sure the hotel is within walking distance of some kind of civilisation because we can't cope with a week flopping by the pool/ beach.

Our next one is SC. We're returning to a town after a decade and it has some wonderful restaurants of local food to look forwards to.

I like eating out and trying different places. One AI with kids when youngish and the buffet was a zoo.

I don’t like that feeling of being in a resort and not leaving it...I go a bit mad.

I quite like AI in that you’ve paid for it so you’re not having to budget for daily spending money on meals on top 3 times a day.

There’s nothing at all to stop you eating elsewhere and going to other places when you want to, but everything is already paid for if you are at the hotel.

We go AI if it's somewhere it's established but if it's somewhere like Greece where AI is causing horrendous harm to the locals (tavernas bars etc closing down and the families lose their income)

It's the same in Turkey Goose, AI has done so much damage to local businesses