Amazing All-Inclusive Recommendations Please!

[IAmTheWaiting]

So we had to cancel our big anniversary holiday this year because of COVID. We're gutted but have promised ourselves we'll do something even bigger and better to make up for it next year and would love some recommendations please!

Criteria:

• Needs to be 100% all-inclusive
• Looking for luxury, not cheap and cheerful
• For a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 upper primary aged DCs)
• Open to suggestions of where, if you've been somewhere amazing you'd recommend - if you don't mind sharing approx cost that'd be helpful too but understand if you'd rather not

Ikos Olivia.
It’s premium all inclusive including room service. We had a bungalow that had a separate living room that had a sofa bed, and a private pool. I think it was about 6k for a week

Also to add a little more detail, in an ideal world we're after somewhere with a good mix of relaxation and yummy food / beautiful scenery for adults and lots to do for the kids. But definitely open to any ideas at all if you've been somewhere really memorable that the whole family enjoyed.

www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/sugar-beach on AI in pool villa

www.shangri-la.com/mauritius/shangrila/ close second

Phulay Bay, Krabi Thailand. Absolutely beautiful. Personal butler the works. Haven't a clue on prices as I went 4 years ago - still dream about it though. https://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/phulay-bay?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2&ysource=11_MzgxMzk3Ny03MTUtbG9jYXRpb24uZ29vZ2xlX3dlYnNpdGVfb3ZlcnJpZGU=

I came to say Ikos Olivia too. Fabulous food, great pools, loads to do. We had a bungalow with a private pool. Room service was included too. Has a real luxury feel too.Ikos have other resorts too, if you don't fancy Halkidiki.

IKOS looks amazing. And considering it's all inclusive, not as crazy expensive as it could be..... Have added it to my bookmarks for future reference! I love the idea of a good all inclusive trip with decent accommodation with the kids. We don't have the money currently but am hoping to be able to splash out next year so... Thanks OP for starting this thread!

Have stayed at the IKOS Olivia. Has a very high end feel but didn’t feel terribly exclusive. Very busy, lots of Russians, slow pool service, sun loungers a bit scarce, kids club needs to be booked in advance (and prior to arrival in peak season - we booked in Feb for a July holiday and some sessions were already full). The beach was ok but not like in the pictures. We paid over £10k for four of us for two weeks in a one bedroom villa thingy. The restaurants were amazing, along with the accommodation but I certainly won’t return and I wouldn’t say it feels like a honeymoon destination. Just a high end all inclusive in the Med.

We stayed at the Heritage Awali in Mauritius the following year. Same equivalent dates. £5,500 for all of us (July is off peak). It wasn’t as glitzy or well maintained but we had a much better experience. The sister property next door (Heritage Le Telfair) was very high end and I would recommend. The kids Club was a highlight - no need to book unless you wanted them to eat and run on an activity basis. So, if your child fancied crab racing, tie dying and glass bottom boat trip then you can just drop them off for those activities. The staff send you photos via WhatsApp too. Being able to go with the flow on a daily basis worked far better than working around pre booked and scheduled things.

The weather on the south coast can be a bit windy though in summer. Nothing awful but I would look on the West coast if you are planning that time of year. We stayed at the St Regis pre kids and it was stunning. We had two days of rain out of 14.

So, Mauritius gets my vote over IKOS Olivia any day.

Mauritius sounds lovely. I've also looked at Forte Village in Sardinia which ticks the boxes but I think out of budget, we are probably looking to spend about 9k max for the 4 of us for 12-14 days in July or August.

Also visited Forte Village - ridiculously overpriced and very shabby in parts. Also full of Russians.

You should be able to get exactly what you want in Mauritius for your budget going July / August time. There’s a huge range of hotels with family friendly accommodation so lots of choice. Also, whilst not All Inclusive I would definitely have a look at Koh Samui in Thailand. You will get a lot of hotel for your money and food and drink very cheap.

I've been to Forte Village too and after last time which was 2/3 years ago, I wouldn't rush back tbh. Very overpriced for what you get. I would recommend the Caribbean, lots of lovely resorts

Thanks both, that's really useful to know re: Forte Village. Caribbean is looking most likely. Has anyone found any in Greece or Italy which sound a good fit, to give me a few to look at?

I don't know how safe Mexico is at the moment but there are some gorgeous places on riviera maya

Kids would adore xcaret

Verdura Resort in Sicily is fabulous but not AI. Proper top end.

Apart from the IKOS resorts, Forte Village and Sani Resort, there’s the Sensatori Resorts which are very highly thought of but not in the same “league” as the others, but AI in the Med isn’t all that popular at the luxury end of the market.

I agree with @Succulentsue above and would recommend Sugar Beach in St Lucia (again stayed pre kids) but check the weather in July / August.

We loved Costa Rica and stayed at an AI with TUI. There's loads to do there - we had pools, beach, windsurfing, kayaks, stand-up paddle on site as well as beach volleyball / activity programme. Was surrounding by rainforest so when we ate at the steakhouse a lot of nights (waiter service unlimited included) often a family of raccoons would visit. 50 metres along the beach were monkeys. Also saw a coati and geckos wandering round hotel. Next door was Diamante which had a 60mph zipline down to the ocean 300 metres high which kids loved. Food was excellent. Hotel itself was lively so not for anyone after a quiet break, stayed at RUI but they have a choice of AI ones. It cost £6k or so for 2 weeks then excursions cost £2k extra (5 in total well worth it). If you can afford £9k for hotel alone I'ld maybe upgrade hotel to one of others as there were some drunk people around though they stayed in one small area (pool bar) and rest was fine. On excursions we saw sloths in rainforest, toucans, monkeys, went ziplining x 2, horseriding, saw active volcanoes, Arenal, blue river botanical gardens, hot springs, waterslide through jungle. Kids loved it and so did we.

Sani resorts Halkidiki would money your breif.

Haven’t been to Olivia but we did go to Ikos Dassia in August. The kids club was outstanding and the food/service was great but I would say you pay the premium because it’s so great for younger kids. I’d book it in a second if you had toddlers.

Maxx Royal in Antalya is super luxurious and extra. It has its own incredible chocolatier, patissier, loads of fab restaurants. There is an amazing onsite water park which would be brilliant for KS2 kids. (DD1 was 7 and a bit young for most of it but she LOVED it) Older children can sign themselves in and out of the kids club and there are loads of activities put on for them, dancing masterclasses, water sports etc. It is very Russian and bling though. (Much more so than Ikos) People arrive in helicopters and there’s lots of black marble. We felt like the scruffy British cousins and English is the third language after Turkish and Russian which is unusual in a 5 * hotel in my experience. The beaches are beautiful though, staff are on roller skates and little goats descend from the mountainside in the afternoon to graze. It’s very good fun. Maybe too hot in August? We were there in October.

BTW I didn’t mean to imply English should be the first language in a Turkish hotel. Just that it’s unusual for some waiters etc not to speak English in that setting - but it was good for us and we did learn a little Turkish and my kids learned some Russian.

www.thesandskhaolak.com/index.php

Stayed in a pool access junior suite. Had your own private plunge pool which led onto a larger private pool shared between about 10 rooms. But for the entire time we were there it was only us and another room.
Then obviously you have the other main hotel pools.
Hotel is right on the beach. Gorgeous restaurants. Shuttle bus into the local village / town if you want to go off resort etc...
Loved it.

Is AI in Italy even a thing? Can't seem to find any. Interesting that so many of these mention being very 'Russian'!

We went to Vietnam and it was very Russian.

To the extent that it was around 30 every day but the resort was full of fur coat shops and Russian restaurants. I wasn't expecting that at all and hated it.

Consider an upmarket 5 trident Club Med resort.

Lots in Italy.

Wonderful food, brilliant for children. Fabulous activities. Very French.

The one in the Maldives and Mauritius etc is luxurious.

Re all inclusives, the ones in the Caribbean we've visited have always been fantastic.

I judge by whether they offer branded spirits as part of the package rather than local spirits - while I'm not a massive drinker, I've found that if they do, it's a sign they don't scrimp on other things.

I haven’t tried one myself but how about a family Sandals Resort? My DH and I went to a couples Sandals resort in Barbados last year and found the food, drinks and pools excellent.

That's interesting I didn't know Sandals had family resorts....thought they are exclusively for couples (usually a bit older)?