All-inclusive food

[StarSraah]

Hi guys
Looking for an all-inclusive resort - short to mid haul - that is family orientated (have a 4 year old) and does really great food! My partner is a real foodie and I am trying to convince him of doing all-inclusive for ease but he's not buying that all-inclusive resorts do good food. Any ideas? Thank you

Speak to dial a flight, they have been great at finding up fab all inclusive hols

Ikos group. Mainly in Greece but also one opening soon in Spain. Very very foody but also good for kids.
It's not cheap though.
Saying that if your four year old is not at school yet and you can go out of the school holidays it's much better.

One of them also gives you a free mini to explore the island and also has a deal with a couple of restaurants in the local town that you can go and visit as part of your AI package.
I think it might be Ikos Dassia but not 100/% sure.

Yep - Ikos group are brilliant

Thanks guys. Ikos looks amazing but super expensive! We can go out of holiday time which is great. See if I can find a deal

The Ritz-Carlton Abama in Tenerife

In my opinion you need to pay more to get decent food.

The best one we had was Aphrodite Hills in Cyprus, I heard also the other Atlantico hotels are good but it is mainly 5*.

We often book AI for the convenience, no double checking if DD wants another drink or a snack. But we often eat out for lunch on sightseeing or "leave the prision" as DH fondly calls it for dinner.

My partner is a real foodie and I am trying to convince him of doing all-inclusive for ease but he's not buying that all-inclusive resorts do good food

Hmm. I would also need a lot of convincing that an AI resort does really good food. I think you would have to pay a lot and go to a very upmarket resort to get the kind of food a foodie would really enjoy.

Generally, excellent food and AI holidays aren't found in the same sentence.

Agree that unless you pay for high end, you don't do AI for the food. I also don't think queuing up at a buffet three times a day is a nice relaxing way to spend a holiday.

I don't mind it for breakfast but for lunch and dinner I want my meals to be served to me at an outside restaurant table or beach bar, or occasionally to be easy food by the pool or on the balcony in the evening.

Is the issue that he doesn't pull his weight regarding food preparation and clearing up afterwards?

Perhaps if you decide not to do AI, make sure he does his fair share of cooking and washing up so you also get a holiday, but also eat out at least once a day and stock up with drinks, snacks, ice creams and easy food from the supermarket.

Or if he's a real foodie, he'll enjoy visiting the market for local produce to bring back and cook for everyone, while you relax and/or play with DD in the pool.

If you want really decent AI food, imo you need 5. I’ve been to a few in Tenerife and even the 4 hotels can be very canteen style. I’ve heard 3 is rather bland and all the same. The best place I stayed is GF Victoria 5 GL (grand luxe). They only do full board. Not AI. Drinks and snacks are extra. GF Costa Adeje Gran 5* AI is nice too.

Do be aware that it may be cheaper to go full board than AI if you don’t drink much alcohol. The difference between the two is that the snack bar and drinks are included in AI. For the 3 of us for a week, the drinks bill with ice creams, the odd bottle of wind was around £400. If you buy snacks at the hotel, this could be considerably higher though.

Yes I agree with what most have said you do unfortunately need to pay for the better food.
We do Ai once a year, I would never do it if it was just dh and I but with four children it just works so well for us.
I think they are recognising now that not everyone wants beige rubbish food and some higher end foody resorts are now available.
We usually do Ai in May and then do a self catering in August. The self catering is always much more expensive although we only have breakfast in the apartment we eat out for lunch and dinner.

You absolutely can go AI and get great food! Look for somewhere that has different restaurant options and as soon as you get checked in start booking your reservations. If your eating in the buffet restaurant try and go after any kids shows have stated as it's likely to be quieter then. Also filter my search before booking by choosing a hotel where most if not all the options mean I can eat outside.

I've done plenty of self catering holidays and found the local restaurants to be no better than what you could get at AI. We stayed in Ibiza last summer and thank god we were AI as the prices in any local restaurants we liked the look of were so extortionate (€10+ for a starter, €20+ for a main. Each ) that had we self catered we would either have been forced to go ham, egg and chips type places or cooked in, neither of which appealed.

Of course you can get good food in AI, but generally the multiple restaurants, eating outside ones are very expensive, possibly outside the OPs budget.

OP, Ikos have opened a new hotel this year in Andalusia southern Spain - maybe try looking for a free child place deal with jet2holidays, might be cheaper than the Greek ones as shorter flight and it's new this year, so they'll be trying to build up custom.

That's often true Barbara. Actually, I know a few people last year who did full board+ type holidays in Sensatori resorts very reasonably last year too so those might be worth a look. We've not done one but they look gorgeous.

I think AI and excellent food don’t really go hand in hand.
We do bed and breakfast in a nice hotel, enjoy room service, have a snack at lunch and eat out at a different nice restaurant of our choosing every night.
We enjoy having a stroll, change of scene and deciding where to go. Often AI resorts are in the middle of nowhere/back of beyond and I would miss my night time wandering. Also however good the food is a lot of it tastes the same bland and boring especially after a couple of meals.