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?

@owlexpresswould you mind sharing which hotel you stayed at, please? I’m looking at Croatia for next year. Thanks

I’ve only done AI for one night, once, due to villa
dates and flight times not matching up.

So we gave it a go.

Was a 5*, highly rated place.

Was awful.

Towels on sunbeds. Stupidly loud ‘entertainment’.

If we want to be entertained on holiday we go somewhere entertaining. Shows or theme parks or excursions. Entertainment that’s worth travelling to. Not that is forced upon me by who the hotel could book.

On our SC holidays we will often pop out after dinner and find a bar with a sea view and maybe take a game with us or chat or DC hunt for lizards etc. Actually relax.

AI doesn't appeal to me either. We are 2 adults of retirement age and prefer something quieter and to explore and eat out in different places every night. We like to enjoy a decent bottle of wine with our meal and eat local dishes.

We aren't bothered about evening entertainment. AI just isn't our thing. We sound so boring, but it suits us.

@Magnalux I’ve just got back from
a lovely AI. Was a proper break for all the family which is what we wanted.

We had a swim up family suite so no fights for sunbeds, DS in a separate room to us. Resort was very civilised and yes people were drinking but no one was drunk or acting in an antisocial manner. DS loved the kids club for an hour or so each day. He doesn’t like mini discos so we either played with the giant chess set, went to the bar with live music, the film screenings or just sat in a bar playing card games.

I think I’d horrify the OP though as DS is allowed a ‘footballer’ haircut as I deem it in the school holidays and I have eyelash extensions. Thankfully they don’t prevent me doing a senior leadership job in Financial Services which pays for the holiday!

AI is also not our only holiday- Easter tends to be the adventure one and AI is a week to relax in the sun.

I travel a lot and do enjoy a week or ten day all inclusive holiday once a year. My DH and I tend to book an excursion for every other day or every third day and we have a couple of dinners out or book an evening excursion or two.
I enjoy all the soft drinks during the day and I like the cheesy shows in the evening.
I particularly like the hotels that have a few different restaurants and I only book resorts that have lots of outdoor dining.
I am off to Greece in a few days and am really looking forward to it.

I am definitely on the same page, I think it's great in places like the Maldives, where there is no option to go and eat in a local restaurant, but almost anywhere else I wouldn't choose to go AI.

I agree on cost. We’re 4k for 4 people for a week normally, and I don’t expect luxury for that when it comes to AI. AI suits us because the kids are fussy eaters and would spend all day in the pool if
they could, so I just think we may as well pay the bulk of it up front. If you don’t like spending time around other people, it’s probably not for you though. (Nor is Eurocamp!)

I like AI with bottomless pit teens. It takes the pain away of them demanding McDonald's instead of whatever the local delight is. Adult only AI with a great spa very much has a place in my life, but they aren't cheap.
Im over Eurocamp, we did one this year and teens refused to go near the pool. They'd only eat pizza, burger and chips and I got fed up of sulks in nice restaurants. And it was way more cramped and uncomfortable than I remembered from when they were tiny.
A good villa would be great, but I've not been on one which didn't have some major issue. But I'll keep looking.

I've never done AI, and in my 50s am not about to start now! I don't really even like staying in hotels. For me, a good holiday requires having your own living space to hang out in, especially in the evening. I'm not interested in put-on entertainments (ugh!) or spending my whole time in shared areas, regardless of the demographic of the other guests.

Villas/cottages are best, but I also like quiet, spacious campsites. I've been on two cruises, which were great but I wouldn't want to do them often.

We used to go on all inclusive holidays, no children just me and my late husband . There were good and bad aspects to most of them . Mexico was good overall because they cater to the American audience . My favourite place was Cuba . Hotels were lovely . White sandy beaches , great pools , ok food , but the best entertainment anywhere. Because of it being a communist type country the hotel entertainment of an evening was spectacular. Professional dancers putting on shows most night . The only exception was the fashion show which we found hilarious only because all the clothing was made of cheesecloth . One year my DD , SiL and GD came with us . Granddaughter was only about six at the time and her favourite was the fashion show which, because she had raffle tickets for it . I would love to go back .

Love an AI with the kids but only 5 star where the resort hotel is huge. I like not thinking, not paying, not worrying about anything. Eat, drink, entertain yourself at whim. Its so easy with kids. Haven't been to a bad one yet but I do take a huge amount of time on researching hotels. I trawl through trip advisor reviews for days and look at all the photos and comments.
Room placement matters as well, thry usually have some shoddy rooms near the loud areas and I always call the hotel ahead and make sure we have room upgrade away from the noise.

We go AI every year as we like a chilled holiday where we can explore, enjoy the pool etc.
What the OP paid for their holiday is not high end, we pay around 6.5K for 3 of us and that's booked way in advance so we usually have a free child place or a hefty discount.
When choosing the hotel we are snobby, and we have never experienced drunk louts. Yes people drink during the day, I am one of those but I have never seen anyone drunk. Yes kids have fades cut into their hair, as a pp said for a lot of them it's the only time they can copy the footballers hair styles.
If you are full, just don't eat!
My son loves the sports during the day, he's always playing darts, signing up to the waterpolo etc.
We still go out and explore the local area, this year we are 5 minutes walk from the local town so will get out and about a lot and have a couple of meals out.
The evening entertainment isn't for us but we find a bar and play card games as a family. Then DS who is 13 will no doubt play on his phone for a bit and me and DH will have a chat.
AI can be brilliant and it can also be really crap you have to do your research and you have to be willing to spend good money.

The trick is to choose a resort which is multi national - entertainment still cheesy but the guests are much more varied. We only do 4 star and don’t see the same issues as you describe. I actually think those who book 5 star might feel they are more entitled!

Families in matching outfits!
Women with claw nails!
Skin fade haircuts!

Quelle horreur!!!!

Get a villa with a private pool and stay near family attractions and restaurants. I’ve never got the AI thing.

I must admit though that op would hate me - sangria o’clock is 11am and cheesy silent disco or tribute act is such fun - love it when there’s a hefty German contingent too, English v German silent disco and karaoke was hilarious. I go in term time though (kids are grown) so no entitled tweens there

I have watched too many episodes of Benidorm

I've done AI and it hasn't been like that. I've done it for the security oh having a rep because if it's just me and dd and we're going halfway round the world i need to know there would be support if something happened. If it was just Spain, etc I wouldn't bother.

You don't have to use the entertainment, I never have. I also don't stay in the resort all the time, happy to hire a car and go exploring, eat out of the resort, etc. I also don't drink so probably don't get my money's worth! :)

I hate them too.

We've done mid priced AI in Cyprus - fab food but cheesy entertainment, bad Brits abroad type behaviour/drunkeness and terrible cocktails.

Very high end AI in Dubai - fab food and drink but awful entitled behaviour from rich Russian families and loud pounding music around the pool all bloody day and sun beds so close to each other that the women next to me shouted at me because my parasol was blocking her sun.

AI in Croatia ( a last minute booking after our flights to a villa in Sicily were cancelled) - terrible in every possible way including 6am sunbed wars and a daily stampede for parasols at 9am.

AI in Barbados - beautiful hotel but food so bad we were literally starving until deciding to give up and eat out every evening instead.

Never had a problem at Eurocamp - loved those holidays when the kids were young.

We stick to villas or small family run apartment complexes now.

It's the reason we book package holidays, but not AI. The security of the tour operator sorting stuff out when things go wrong with flights, for example was invaluable when we ended up staying an extra night in Madeira (paid for by Tui).

We only book the package for the accommodation and transfers though. We do everything else ourselves - meals, trips etc. Also, DH's health conditions mean that it is nice to know that we can contact the rep if we need to. We usually do Jet2 holidays and have never been disappointed.

I hate buffet catering all week. Constantly getting up and down through the meal, half the table missing at any given time as they have gone for seconds or a forgotten roll etc

Plus the sparrows all over it.

Also have limited capacity for the ho ho ho Bonhomie as everyone orders their first sticky cocktail of the day , oooh aren’t we naughty / life and soul / desperate to get our money’s worth / oooh this is the life, plugged into a constant alcohol supply.

But I have enjoyed some real fun that I thought I would normally swerve.

It’s all in the costs I think. We have only done one AI and it was around £20k for 6 of us for a week. It was fine. Didn’t love the whole AI thing tbh. But I think had it been£6-7k for 9 days it would have been dire.

why does it have to be AI or a rented villa? Why not go to a non AI resort. Or a half board where breakfast and dinner is included. Or just breakfast. You don’t get people drinking low quality alcohol all day

We did AI in Austria this year ( see below ) . Different 'type' of AI than Greece , Turkey etc . as no 'entertainment ' ( thankfully) and there were not multiple restaurants but food and wine were AMAZING !!

We paid 9k for AI in Turkey last year in a top 5 star and even so I was disappointed in the food and wine quality . So we changed this year and loved it .
www.alpinresort.com/en/premium-all-inclusive-austria/1-0.html

Duplicate.

I think your mistake is going for an AI hotel. They just attract people who want to drink vast amounts.
A 5* hotel that doesn't do AI would be a different world. You would also find it cheaper because they factor in the assumption that everyone is mainlining cocktails all day. We just buy drinks and snacks as required and add them to the bill.
Also NEVER get the coach transfer, just get a taxi.