Coming to the end of our first all inclusive and wondering if they’re all a bit like this…? Or if it’s our family that doesn’t fit them?

[Xrays]

We’re staying at a 4/5 star resort in Ibiza. It’s got very good reviews on trip advisor, good reviews online elsewhere etc and I know - before someone pounces on me - that we are incredibly lucky to have a holiday at all, yet alone this one, considering how much people are struggling financially right now. This holiday was booked and paid for with some inheritance money from my Mums passing just before covid and has been rebooked and cancelled many times. It’s our first time abroad as a family, Ds aged 11 who has autism and dd aged 20 (normally at university). We’re a close family, and dd really wanted to come, no issues with all being together etc (I know lots of people here are often horrified at older teens etc going on holiday with them)!

But it’s all been a bit underwhelming. Mainly the food aspect. Most of the food is buffet style with kids running riot, it feels like a school canteen with lots of kids screaming, everything feels sort of cheaply done - pizzas that are freshly cooked only have a small amount of topping in the very middle and edges bare etc, the pasta dishes are basically like pasta bakes you could make yourself from a jar from Tesco, lots and lots of chips and everything at breakfast feels like it’s sat out there for ages - except for omelettes which they cook in front of you. I’m kind of sick of omelettes now…! Feels a bit like if Haven did an all inclusive- and just to be clear, I love Haven and we go there every year but I wouldn’t consider Haven 4/5 star and pay to eat there all inclusive!

I guess what I’m wondering is if we were / are just a bit unlucky and other places are better / have more fresh food cooked to order or if they’re all a bit like this? Or maybe we’re just really fussy? (Perhaps we are). I’m thinking ahead to our next holiday and just not sure whether to look at another all inclusive or whether to go for self catering - and use that as a base and eat out (and that’s basically what we’ve ended up doing this time, we’ve given up trying to eat here, which is a shame as we’ve paid ££££ already for food…)! I don’t feel I’ve had a holiday if I have to cook as I do that all the time at home.

Looking to see what other’s experiences are and if you have any ideas of better AIs or elsewhere throw them at me….! Or just tell me they’re all like this and I’m being too fussy and I’ll look for self catering apartments etc.

Quite a few of my colleagues with children have been to Ikos. I don’t think a single one of them did so for the food. It’s all about the kids clubs, I hear!

Some are nicer than others. Some are quite posh and some aren't. We only go AI as its prohibitively expensive with 4 kids unless it's paid up front.

My kids love it, that trumps the food. We go out a few times as well. It is, what it is. A cheap package holiday. To get the 6 restaurant choices on site and specialist restaurants like a dedicated Mexican it involves big resorts which I hate. But they have the better food.

I always had the impression that AI was either for people paying out bazillions for waiter service at their sunlounger overlooking the Indian Ocean/Caribbean Sea - or those who don't want to risk eating foreign food.

I think you were unlucky OP .. most all inclusive have a mix of the type of food you are describing and some much better dishes . I have noticed though that a lot of Brits in all inclusive resorts are not at all adventurous which is why the reviews you read were probably ok

Ibiza is pretty bad and I always associate it with low quality holidays , I don’t think many AI are amazing .
Your mistake was you should have gone to a resort with several restaurants . So no most AI experiences are not like that .

Another vote for the Greek Mitsis hotels - or Labranda, which I've also visited twice on Rhodes. Decent meat and fish freshly prepared, a great emphasis on delicious local dishes as well as "international" choices and salad stuff to die for

Only thing is, being family places they're LOUD with out of control screechers and screamers running all over the place, but my DS wanted a place with a water park so it was to be expected

or those who don't want to risk eating foreign food.

They'd best not go to an AI then. Any that I've been to have had plenty of "foreign food."

The thing that makes many a bit unpleasant, is that they encourage greed and waste.

When it’s AI many people want ‘their money’s worth’. They encourage their kids to go back for a 2nd pudding, even if they won’t eat it, and leave half drunk drinks lying around. People fill their plates high and don’t eat it. The buffets can create a feeling of ‘grab it before it goes’ and feel like being in a school dining room.

Tobe honest, it’s often the way people behave that makes it feel a bit meh.

I wonder how many people find the waste offensive?

Well AI holidays are hardly adventurous are they? 😂😂

I’ve always liked to go in different types of holidays personally. I can do AI for a maximum of a week but I’m not sure how I would appear adventurous at an AI.

I think you've been unlucky op.

First ai I went to in Sri Lanka was awful, but the whole experience was literally illness inducing. I actually lost weight in a week on AI! They upgraded us to a 4 star place and the food was beautiful. Mix of local dishes, mainstream Western food, desserts to die for.

AI in Egypt we struggled more with, hotel was German-centric and we didn't like much of it - lots of one pot kind of dishes but it was fine, we didn't go hungry.

Dominican Rep was lots of fresh options, so lived on omelette for breakfast with different fillings, but rest of days food was good too.

Always had afternoon tea provided too, so cakes / biscuits etc early afternoon.

4/5 star does not mean you avoid loud, rude entitled people.

I have always given AI a wide berth as a result of posts like this. However you might be better off with an AI somewhere more off the beaten track, and smaller.

4k for an all inclusive for 4 people IS cheap these days, I'm afraid. Holidays abroad are generally expensive since COVID. 4k for 4 people will get you average, edible food. We always thought AI wasn't for us, and then someone advised us to try a 5* one in Tenerife. I researched it a LOT and most people thought the food was great. So we went the year before COVID and really enjoyed it. Yes, there WAS a fair bit of coming and going to get your food but my teenagers (one on the fussy side) really enjoyed being able to try just a little bit of something to see if they liked it before going back for more. Sometimes they are scared to try something new in an a la carte because if they aren't keen on it it's a waste of money.

We are going back to the same hotel this year and it's costing a lot more than before COVID. We're paying 6k something for a week for 4 of us. I don't think I'd pay less than that TBH as I know it wouldn't be the standard that I wanted. I also wouldn't do less than 5* either. And I wouldn't want to go to the kind of place where people fill their faces with pool snacks all day and get hammered by 10am, just to "get their money's worth".

I've been on a lot of AI holidays over the years and I've found the Spanish ones to not be as good, food wise, as Greece and Turkey. North Africa was ok.

Don't get me wrong, I love food and cook from scratch a lot at home. I do "lower my standards" on holiday though as I just want to relax, swim, read books and chat with my partner. So breakfast is usually yoghurt and honey/fruit, lunch is salad and dinner salad or veg with some fish or chicken.

I'm not sure what gastronomic marvels a lot of MNers are whipping up at home, as this is literally what I eat day to day. It's always nice to have things like spanakopita or local dishes, which is normally in plentiful supply in (e.g Greek) hotels, but the idea that people are 'dining out at tiny authentic restaurants' at places near to the large AI hotels really makes me laugh.

See, we absolutely lucked out and went to a Stone Group hotel in Turkey for £330 each including flights.

Apparently there was a rule where a new 5 is only allowed to launch as a 3 whilst it "proves" that it meets the quality standards... Bloody hell, it was amazing.

Entire individual rooms devoted to salad, bread, show cooking. Huge buffet of meals chosen that specifically that worked in a hot tray, and nothing left for hours. All super fresh (our room wasn't far from the delivery bay, so we saw cartloads of veg brought in daily).

And that's before you got to 24/7 proper cocktails etc.

I looked recently, same week is £1300 PP now.

We go half board OP. We have three kids under 10 and they absolutely love the buffet. We drink very little so AI isn't worth it for us.

With half board, we have dinner there every second evening and lunch the opposite days so we go out to eat locally every second night which is my preference. The buffets in the places we've been (all 4* in Spain, Portugal, and the canary islands) are as you describe.

We were AI in Mexico for our honeymoon 10 yrs ago and it was much better with several cooked fresh restaurants and the buffet just so fresh and abundant.

But half board works for us as our kids absolutely love the buffet, we all get a bit of what we prefer.

I think that type of holiday suits best with younger children. That said, the last time we went AI, we took advantage of the buffet breakfast / unlimited tea / coffee / soft drinks / ice cream / alcohol (to be fair, the latter is a big draw for a lot of people with AI) then explored the local restaurants in the evening. That felt like the best of both worlds for us. I wouldn’t want to do self catering as I prefer to avoid not so much the cooking as the cleaning up when I’m on holiday!

Such an ignorant thing to say. Have you even been to Ibiza 🙄 it’s a stunning island with many beautiful and serene parts. It’s not just San Antonio! The island has loads of amazing restaurants and gorgeous hotels.

I've not been to loads of all inclusive hotels but the ones I have been to have been similar to what you've described. Probably if you pay top $ it might be better and some have a la carte restaurants.

You could maybe try SC / B&B. I prefer going to different restaurants and having table service! But then also kinda like the free drinks, ice cream etc. if you can find a good deal and accept that you will want to eat out quite a lot of the time, that has worked well for us in the past.

I’d say more ignorance.

We’ve just got back from AI , 2 weeks in Ibiza and loved it. We went for all the kids clubs/entertainment. We really enjoyed the food, I love vegetarian food but I’m not great at being creative re cooking dishes myself so I was so pleased there was so much yummy choice! And the desserts were amazing! It was a bit chaotic though my mum and dad were thinking of coming , my dad would have hated it.

My budget won’t stretch to one of the luxury, fantastic resorts that are linked on the thread, but my advice at buffet all inclusive a is to pick one dish and not pile your plate with bits of everything.

Also, try and eat at the pool bar at lunch, as going to the same restarant for breakfast lunch and dinner becomes like groundhog day, even if the selection is great!

We didn't do AI or HB when DS was younger as we preferred not sleeping in a small hotel room altogether.

But I have to say for hungry teens having a number of your meals included is fantastic. We were HB and one night swapped dinner for lunch, a fairly average two course dinner with some drinks for 4 cost around 120 euros in Lanzarote. We've booked to take DS and his friend to Tenerife this October and gone HB again as AI was going to be another £250+ and there were extras to pay on lots of the drinks or eating at the a la carte.

We'd probably not go HB or AI if just the two of us, but having said that there were quite a number of retired folk at our hotel. I suppose they want the relaxation of not having to go out all the time for meals and it's good having paid for everything in advance.

Been to one in Turkey and Lanzarote. Both were ok but normally go half board. Turkey was because we were unsure of the food and Lanzarote as it was a family holiday with young children and older relatives so easier for us all.

What do you mean by 5? For example, I’ve learned that Tui 5 is their own classification and isn’t actual 5. I think there are specifics that class a real 5 hotel. I’m sorry but I’m not sure your food suggests it is one.