Have I wasted money booking all inclusive for teenagers?

[OboePiccolo]

I’ve booked a week all inclusive in Spain for next summer for me and my two (14 and 16) and now wondering if I’ve made a bit of a mistake.

I’ve always done self catering before, usually caravans or apartments, and tbh I’m sick of spending half my holiday in supermarkets and then cooking tea when I’m supposed to be having a break. I found a deal I could just about afford and thought it would be nice to not have to think about money every time they want a drink or something to eat. I’m paying for it myself and have been putting money away for ages so it’s not something I can just change on a whim.

Anyway showed them the hotel and neither of them seemed particularly bothered. The eldest said they’d rather go somewhere near an actual town where they can wander round shops and go out for food, and the younger one has now decided it’ll be boring sitting round a pool all week. They’re not refusing to go or being horrible about it, just very underwhelmed which has made me wonder if I’ve picked something they’ll hate.

I thought they’d like having a pool, snacks and food there whenever they wanted it, without me having to keep saying no because everything costs money. We’ve had holidays before where I’ve spent the whole time adding things up in my head and worrying about what we’ve got left for the rest of the week. I really wanted one where I could relax a bit as well.

I know they’re teenagers now and don’t want the same things they did when they were little. The older one especially wants a bit more freedom and I do understand that, but I also don’t want to spend a fortune on a holiday where we’re all off doing our own thing and barely see each other.

The booking isn’t refundable without losing money and I couldn’t afford to book something else on top. I’m now wondering if we’d have been better off with a cheap apartment somewhere with restaurants and shops nearby, although then I’m back to sorting meals and paying for everything separately.

For those who’ve been all inclusive with teenagers, did they enjoy it or did they get bored? Is it actually worth it when they’re older or would you go somewhere you can get out and about more? Feel like I’ve booked what I wanted rather than what they’d want but I honestly thought we’d all enjoy it.

They will enjoy it! There will be other kids the same age, and activities around the pool and entertainment at night they can get involved in if they wish. Many hotels will also have a shuttle bus to the nearest town, and staff can advise on local buses.

Unless you've booked an absolutely tiny place with a dinky pool absolutely in the middle of nowhere with no buses it'll be fine. Enjoy.

On reading your OP, it was all fine for the DC, but quite stressful for you. They need to understand it’s your holiday too.

Task them with coming up with some places you can visit or activities you can do whilst there. Involving them is the way to go.

No, you haven’t wasted your money, you have made a good decision I think. They will enjoy being able to go to the bar and get their own drinks and eat whatever they want in the restaurant, and you deserve to relax! They will probably meet other teenagers and there might be a bus stop nearby to get to the nearest town or beach.

I think teenage boys will love an all inclusive with all the food! Is the hotel in the middle of nowhere?

They just don’t get what it will be like yet OP. Once they are there they will love it

My dd loves an all inclusive. It's not just the meals but the fact they can grab a crepe or ice cream and mocktail independently. They'll love it when they get there... and if they moan grab a lounger and a strawberry daiquiri and ignore them completely. You're a single mum with 2 teens. You deserve a chilled break!

DS13 absolutely loves an all inclusive. Can eat whatever he wants at breakfast lunch and tea and icecreams or snacks whenever he fancies. Usually al inclusive have a decent sized pools, activities as well to encourage people to stay on site.

Where is it you’re going? Nearest town if you don’t want to say exactly where.

You can still go out and about.

My teens love all inclusive, it works so well for our family. As you say people can eat and drink all they like without having to keep tabs on how much is being spent, and nobody has to cook or go to the supermarket. A proper break for everyone.

Saying that, how remote it this hotel? Usually we'll take a stroll into town in the evening and maybe have day trip or evening out in town where we'd buy a meal. We won't always eat in the hotel.

Every all inclusive hotel is not made the same - 3 star all inclusive with one single buffet restaurant can be pretty grim, like a school canteen. But we're just back from 4 star+ which has 4 a la carte restaurants a snack bar, and multiple bars, the quality of the food was amazing.

It’s not in the middle of nowhere, there’s a town not too far away so they could go and have a look round. I think I’m just second guessing myself because they seemed so unenthusiastic when I showed them the hotel. Maybe they’ll be different when we’re actually there!

DC and people of all ages often don’t like change. They don’t know if they’ll like it if they have never tried it and at the very least it will give you a complete break.

You can still go out of the hotel, it’s a holiday not a prison! Breakfast then have a morning out before the sun gets too hot then back for the afternoon, read on a sun lounger gave a dip in the pool…. Let them know you’ll still go to the local markets and towns they won’t be held hostage for a week.

Stop worrying they will love it.

X

Leaning hard OP. Point out what they eat and what it costs and tell them to embrace the you can have what you want. Promise an excursion or adventure and make mention of the many merits.

I have no problem letting the kids pick some hols too but we all enjoy each others. Get them to connect to their gratitude!

The fact you can relax and enjoy the holiday without feeling anxious about potential, unexpected costs makes this worthwhile.
I think most teens will have very little understanding of how quickly the bill grows when a couple of cokes, hot dog and chips with an ice cream each or similar are the requirements for just a quick lunch everyday on holiday, let alone a main meal in the evening.
Your 16 year old could find a weekend job before next summer if he wants to finance trips into the nearby town, but the reality is they will probably love the facilities at the AI hotel, my teens certainly do.

I have a teen and 2 younger ones and my sister has an 11 year old and a 8 year old

we tend to holiday together with our partners and kids and ALWAYS book all inclusive because we know we’ve paid upfront for everything. Even buying soft drinks and ice creams all adds up and this year we went
to Majorca and there was about £600 difference between bed and breakfast and all inclusive. For 5 of us that’s £85 a day and we would have spent a lot more than that a day on lunch, evening meal and drinks, pool snacks and Ice Cream.

to be honest they sound hugely ungrateful! We don’t go abroad every year we aren’t next year we are going to Whitby for a week together and plan to do the same/similar the year after (we both put money away each month) but they have 2 choices - either
go or don’t!

My teenagers have loved all inclusive so long as the pool is decent - just the excitement of unlimited cokes and burgers from the snack bar if nothing else 😂 Plus you can do excursions to water parks, local towns, attractions.

The only time I thought AI was worthwhile was with two teenagers.
They loved it, loved being able to eat as much and as often as they wanted with drinks and ice creams on tap. They loved organised activities, pool games and cheesy music.
I've only been to AI that's in a resort so we didn't spend all the time there. I guess if it's remote then you might want to plan some day trips out.

They’ll love it once they are there. I think kids often aren’t that great at visualising things and tend to get hung up on the negatives.
My two t an AI!

Well my teens are the same age and love an all inclusive. Endless ice cream and fizzy drinks. A week isn’t long enough to get bored. What exciting things would they be doing at home?? They can still do lots of doom scrolling and tik tok watching, just in a sunny place instead. Is there no town near by to go for a wander? Beach?

We’ve only been able to do AI once. Mine were teens 16yo twin boys and their 13yo sister. All absolutely loved it!! They still talk about it now.

Ours was in a small resort but my three loved the unlimited snacks and drinks. And they were quite reluctant to go exploring which is unusual for them - I think the novelty of AI was entertaining enough!

My twins are 16 and we’ve done AI the last few years but always in a resort so they can access the toot shops etc on their own. We always eat out at least a few meals as well. When they were younger besides couple of HV holds which were great for the age but unless you hired a car / taxi / bus there was nothing within walking distance and wouldn’t work now.

Teenagers only know the joy of AI once they've experienced it!

They’re probably unenthusiastic because they don’t know what to expect and what will be on offer. They probably think they’ll be tied up because of the AI aspect but still having to be sensible and it’s all a bit confusing. I expect it’s the unknown factor and the fact that a lot of people look down on AI holidays , rather than real dislike/disinterest.