Are expensive hotels worth it compared with a self-catering villa holiday?

[snabada]

Are expensive hotels worth it?

We usually rent a villa and self cater. Never anything super lux, but for some reason I’m getting an urge to be irresponsible and drop £4k on a B&B hotel in Barbados for a week this winter. For reference we generally pay around £1,500 for an apartment there for the week.

It completely depends on your life. I have young dc and self catering would be the same shit in a different place for me, tidying up after people, supermarket shopping, deciding what we'll eat etc.

But pre dc I loved a villa holiday, with other adults who pulled their wieght.

What's your situation?

Totally agree about circumstances. When dc were younger we did all inclusive because it gave me a proper rest, but this year we had a villa. Dc are older now and having our own space, no sunbed wars was amazing.

I love having someone make up my room and make my bed every day on holiday.

Whether your particular hotel is worth the price tag, I can’t say for sure. But if you can afford it, why not treat yourself. Clearly this place is calling to you.

With small children self catering is best even if you eat out for every meal because you have more space.
Older children big fancy hotel all the way for me.
Adults only it depends where you are. I like a 5* hotel abroad but in the UK I'll probably pay mpre for a nice cottage or apartment in the best location.

Yes it is worth it. I’ve done both recently and with a really good hotel is just more relaxing no dishwasher/ preparing meals/ tidying away/ I love house keeping . I haven’t experienced any subbed wars at the really good hotels I’ve stayed at and I love having waiter service at the pool

Depends, everyone places a different value on different things, for me hotels. I like the ability to have very thing catered for, no cleaning the room, fresh towels and bedding etc, I also don’t want to be too isolated.

I have never and would never stay in self-catering but I don’t have children to consider. For me a big part of the holiday is staying in a nice hotel and enjoying the ambiance.

I hate self catering. I agree it’s ‘same shit, different place’ for me. I would rather pay more for an AI or half board hotel and still have the odd meal out.
Even just faffing about with breakfast and washing up pisses me off.
My friend much prefers SC though so it’s very individual.

I love s/c and we did it a lot without child and then when DD was small, we never did hotels until she was 7 as I found I loved the space and convenience more than having someone to make me breakfast. I also always use villas with dishwasher, washing machine, everything provided and walking distance to shops and restaurants/cafes.

We did some AI but I never was a big fan, unless you go really expensive, I found that especially the food is just not worth it and if I want to go out each night then I can do s/c anyway.

We did hotels with the teen and s/c and it really depends also on where we are and what we want to do.

I love a really nice hotel with good facilities and a large and comfortable room. But these come with a price tag.

As long as the price tag doesn’t put you off leaning in and enjoying it

With children, self-catering all the way, it’s so nice having separate rooms and a living room and kitchen and being self-contained and can mix and match eating out with easy food in the villa.

As adults, apartments for city breaks, country cottages etc but a hotel B&B is great for a bit of indulgence, people-watching, being brought cocktails round the pool etc

I cannot be dealing with villas, they are expensive compared to hotels and I don’t cook on holidays

Depends what you get for the £4k compared to the villa. I want separate rooms for the children and a living room where I can relax with a book or after they’re asleep, far more than I want my bed making up.

If it's an extra £2,500 and the villa is usually in Barbados, you might be able to arrange for the people who run the villa to sort out dinner coming in daily, even bringing breakfast in? You can wrangle a lot for £2,500. So I guess it depends what you would be wanting from a hotel that a villa doesn't provide.

I have always gone SC even as an adult without children,all adults now!Hate being cooped up in a room. Having a living room,kitchen and outdoor space is really important to me.

We do both. Me any my siblings inherited my great grandfather house abroad. We go a few times a year, between us to look after it. When the DCs were little, we would stay there and do a few nights in a hotel as well. Otherwise it’s same shit in a different location.

And for me and my siblings on top it’s maintenance and jobs, and other stuff as well. But you would we sell? Probably not as that house has been in our family for over 150 years.

Went on a hotel holiday this year for first time (have stayed odd nights but not 10 days in a row) and realised it's not for us. The lack of space and ability to be together as a family w the main thing. We usually play lots, if have or chill out in collective spaces so just a bedroom or 'public' areas felt very restricting. Also got very sick of the food (so samey) and realised I'm a pretty good cook and cook very varied food alongside some meals out! On holiday we usually take it turns to cook bit ill plan it and suggest what to cook/how to cook. Also, awkward cleaner wanted to come in between 9-10am which was v early and teen kids not happy. I think she cleaned their rooms a couple of times all holiday. Couldn't have predicted those timings. So...yeah, give it a go. I wanted to try a hotel, not cooking and having rooms cleaned - but I've decided I prefer the space and privacy of a villa.

There's no right or wrong answer really, it's just a matter of personal taste. I like a good hotel, but only for short breaks. It's nice to have everything done for you for a day or two but for a longer holiday I value the privacy and space of self catering more. I always enjoy the first two or three days in a hotel but after that I find the novelty wears off pretty quickly. For me, hotel holidays aren't particularly good value as we tend not to use most of the facilities or go to any entertainment etc and I don't want to eat big meals every night no matter how good they are. So we're really spending a lot of money for a nice bedroom. You can get that, plus your own pool for less money if you self cater. I like the complete absence of other people, more living space and the flexibility of self catering. I also like cooking and really enjoy exploring the local food shops for ingredients so I don't find self catering a chore at all.
But hotels have plus points too of course. How do you want to spend your holiday and which option meets your needs best? If you're going to use the facilities of the hotel a lot then that's probably your best bet but if you're going to be out most days or just don't fancy the types of activities etc that the hotel provides then you're likely to be paying for a load of stuff that you won't use so I'd say you'd be better off self catering and eating in local restaurants if you don't like cooking.

I find if I'm going to use a kitchen prefer if to be my own.
Don't go for long holidays but love getting away from all the usual routines so my preference is always hotel and no car. To self cater easier to be at home.
Saying that plenty to do near my house and it's an area people come to on holidays. But I love to get away for sun holiday, more luxury the better.