Too snobby for AI?

[Lookingforadvice678]

Just got back from 9 nights at an all inclusive. Supposedly 5 Star resort and whilst it was mainly good, certain aspects were not 5 star in terms of hygiene!

First did AI two years ago with DC, loved the convenience, the ease of meal times, no meal planning, no washing up!

This year, I begrudged a lot of the other holiday makers. There were men who would sit at the pool bars clearly getting sloshed in the afternoon whilst on family holidays with their DC. I will have a drink or two when around mine but don’t get really drunk! Lots of chavs who have money - think TOWIE types. Lots of kids on phones all the time, boys with fades, girls wearing make up.

The AI just felt like a feeding frenzy. I didn’t feel hungry the whole holiday.

Two of the 3 DC never been a fan of the cheesy evening entertainment, this year my youngest turned his nose up too so evenings were a bit dull. None did kids clubs or activities on offer and only one made a friend, on the last day!

I think it might be our last package holiday and next year we’ll go for a villa with pool, or Eurocamp (did this when youngest was 2 and it was fun but hard work!).

Anyone else found this?

Yup - I have to spend a fucking fortune before I hit an AI that I can stand as a holiday - we did £10k on Mauritius as a once in a lifetime and that was great - but anything under that and I would hate it!

We do French campsites now - posh lodges, in Biarritz, smaller campsites very relaxing and no chavs in sight.

Realistically the ai you want is something like the Ikos chain.

The cost of that is now about 5k per adult per week.

which is just a breath taking amount of money

I've done AI once, in the Caribbean and found it much the same as you describe.

We've holidayed in small apartment blocks with pools, ever since. As DCs get older, they have their own ideas of what their holiday will look at. My ds likes to swim in the pool and on the beach, to read, to explore locally. Our randomly discovered entertainment, with the help of the reps, has been much better than anything we found in the AI.

Nobody's forcing you to eat though. If you feel full, skip a meal.

We stayed B&B at a 3 star in Croatia recently and it was very good. The bathroom was a bit dated, but very clean and the food was incredible. Good bar, good restaurant for lunch and dinner if you wanted to pay. Apparently it was 3 star because it lacked some of the facilities required to be 4 or 5 in Croatia. I think it was like a 24 hour reception, or an indoor pool or something. Things that were irrelevant to us. So you have to look beyond the star rating.

@FusionChefGeoff sounds perfect. Any recommendations?

@Clarinetiu yes agree, I wouldn’t spend that sort of money on a resort holiday, it would have to be a long haul holiday for that much!

The key to all inclusive is adults only.

What about half/full board? That’s what we do occasionally, people have to buy their own alcohol and it tends to be expensive.

I don't think 6k for 5 people in the school holidays is particularly high end tbh not at today's prices and for that long. It was more than that this year for 3 of us. We also don't do transfers, we hire a car to collect from the airport and very much see the resort as a base. I always go for an AI with a selection of a la carte restaurants included. DS is 6 and when he's a bit older we'll go back to b&b or self catering. I don't want to be grocery shopping, cooking or washing up on holiday with a child and 3 meals out a day with a 6 year old is a bit of an ask.
Which country were you in?

This year, I begrudged a lot of the other holiday makers. There were men who would sit at the pool bars clearly getting sloshed in the afternoon whilst on family holidays with their DC. I will have a drink or two when around mine but don’t get really drunk! Lots of chavs who have money - think TOWIE types. Lots of kids on phones all the time, boys with fades, girls wearing make up.

How does this affect you at all?

The AI just felt like a feeding frenzy. I didn’t feel hungry the whole holiday.

Well, you chose what to eat? No one was forcing you to do so.

I’ve never done AI and I’ve only been on a package holiday once (and hated it from the moment we had to get on a coach at the airport). That probably makes me a horrible snob too. I don’t really care.

I don’t want entertainment, I just want peace and quiet and a few civilised people around me. Can’t stand lots of people or noise. I live in central London so when I go on holiday I tend to be quite anti-social. So I either book villas (or similar) or boutique hotels or stay at a 5 star hotel with club lounge access (so I get breakfast and evening cocktail hour included and I can socialise in the club lounge if I feel vaguely social). I went to Bali as a wedding guest and stayed in the hotel I was told to stay in by the bride and groom (luckily a lovely 5 star that’s part of my favourite hotel chain). It was slightly embarrassing to discover that the bride and groom were staying in a ‘regular’ room (with their son on a camp bed) whereas I had a huge suite with its own garden and private pool and 24 hour butler plus club lounge access. Oops. 😂 Sorry not sorry.

I guess it’s horses for courses and we all choose what we prioritise spending our money on. For me that’s not AI and it’s definitely not hotel entertainment or unlimited cocktails. I’m a grumpy cow but I make me happy.

As an aside, I don’t recommend a 24/7 butler. It’s like having a very well dressed, polite but ever present stalker. 🤦‍♀️😛

🙄

Agreed, AI in school holidays is not enjoyable. We had some nice times at Sensatoris when the kids weren’t yet in school. HV Ibiza 2019 broke us and was minging despite being 7k.
Villas all the way if going to Europe for us now.
Apparently Turkey is where it’s at for AI - we had a nice AI in Barut Lara back in 2013. But AI is really for young families with very picky eaters needing kids clubs, although I am looking forward to an adults only Sani trip when the kids don’t need to come anymore!
Incidentally am I only person who thought you were talking about Chat GPT and maybe it was giving you low-rent holiday suggestions!

We've been on some really nice AI's where there are lots of al a cartes included and professional entertainment. I've found the best ones we've been to are in Turkey - particularly any hotel by Liberty

@Mayve we were actually looking at the Ibiza HV! Glad we didn’t go for it.

I felt the quality went down after Covid.

We did one in 2022, according to everything it was 5* with restaurants to choose from and plenty of pools.

It wa 4* if at all, food in the main restaurant was always the same, plates were dirty, drinks turned up when we were basically ready to leave, pool bar drinks were not really great, no free water available, the laundry service was awful, main bar had hardly any decent drinks.

The extra restaurants were basically adult-only and hardly anything to talk about.

We are now a firm believer of B&B in a hotel with a nice pool and plenty of things to do outside.

I love AI!

there was an amazing one in Marrakesh that was adults only and was literally five minutes walk from the main square of the city.

also been to some great ones in Egypt where there was a dive centre and water sports club as part of the hotel so we could all dive and do qualifications etc on site.

I have never done AI, I much prefer wandering the towns amd trying different restaurants.

I think AI is just for piss heads who just want to drink all day round the pool. I can see why it's good if you're on a very limited budget as you know exactly how much you will spend but otherwise, I can't think of anything worse.

Yeah I don’t think a family place would be like this (and it wasn’t everyone) but the majority were having alcohol pre 12pm and plenty of dads propping up the bars.

Ah.. wish I hadnt opened this thread! I’ve been online looking at AI holidays for next year. We always go self catering and enjoy it but with three teenagers and dh the food costs are huge, ( I don’t cook on holiday so we always have dinner out) we do get cereal, croissants etc for breakfast / baguettes, cheeses for lunch which isn’t to bad but it’s the endless drinks, ice cream snacks etc that all add up. I’m having second thoughts now.

Have never done AI, we usually have quite modest holidays renting a cottage (mostly in the U.K.) and doing self catering with some eating out, but I was recently looking at AI. I can’t tolerate heat very well so I think it would have to be very early/late season, but it sounds like you have to go really upscale / Ikos price point to get the kind of experience I’d be after? (i.e. restaurant quality food and drinks, lovely super-clean surroundings, no cheesy entertainment or drunk people/loud families?)

Honestly, Mumsnet hates AI so ignore some of the horrendously snobby posts on this thread. I’m absolutely not a ‘pisshead’ and neither are any of my friends who go on AI holidays. It is perfectly possible to find a decent AI hotel that isn’t Ikos. You need to read the trip advisor reviews very carefully and IME Greece tends to have a more relaxed & upmarket feel than Spain (though it’s a bit more ££)

We have two boys aged 10 & 14 and at this point in time it works really well for us. Basically, if they’re happy, we’re happy!
As we’re limited to the summer holidays, places in Europe are crazily hot & busy so exploring & sight seeing., traipsing round trying to find a restaurant menu everyone likes etc just don’t work for us - been there & it’s stressful!

DC spend the whole day in the pools/on the beach and love the independence of being able to go up and get their own food & drinks. It works out loads cheaper as we’re not having to constantly shell out for soft drinks, ice creams & snacks. We choose places with additional restaurants as I find it boring eating from a buffet every night. We also head out to a local taverna at least one night to break things up a little.
Two lovely AIs we’ve been to are:
Blue Sea Beach (Crete)
https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/greece/crete/hotel-blue-sea-beach-by-melia
Eden Roc (Rhodes)
https://www.edenroc.gr/

both have A La carte restaurants and definitely don’t have a chavvy vibe. Don’t let some of the posts on this thread put you off.

Gosh don’t get me started. We usually rent a lovely villa in northern Spain, but in 2021 the Covid test kits were so expensive we opted for what looked like a lovely AI resort in Kos via Tui.

Well, the public areas and pool and gardens were stunning, but the bedrooms were very basic and completely different from the photos. That was our least worry though.

The food seemed just repurposed each night, so yuck, but the worst thing was the other guests - we were late risers and we’d appear at the pool each morning to find (sorry) 35 or so overweight Brits floating in the pool on their third cocktail!

We tried renting a car for three days to see the rest of the island, but literally gave it back after three hours, as the rest of the island appeared to be a poverty-stricken dust-bowl.

What did it for me was getting to know the lovely young staff at the hotel bar. They were just so sad and overworked. I said to one near the end of our holiday “Oh soon you can knock off and swim in the sea” and she said sadly that she never does that as they all want to just go home and sleep.

Never again.

Thank you for that @IndieRocknRoll . As long as the kids are happy we’re happy! I’ll do plenty of research

We paid that for 2 adults and a small child 6 nights in IKOS - that’s Europe too, and it’s nice, but doesn’t feel like radical luxury either. I think you were too optimistic!