Are all "All Inclusive" resorts like this?

We managed to get away last year for a week in alcudia. Money is tight and we don't get away much but our was the misses 30 the so we splashed out.
Stayed at an all in and we had an awesome time, some suspect cliental but as long as they don't bother us I ain't bothered. Food was good, hotel clean, beach lovely, weather great. All for just under £900 for 2 adults 1 littleun.
 
oulton said:
God I LOATHE trip advisor. I consider it almost worthless when considering a holiday, and it just seems to take all the fun out of it.

Last year we went 5 star Full Board for a chill out holiday to the Sheraton Salobre hotel which had been given amazing reviews on TA, and found it really wanting. We rented a car and did lots of trips, and Gran Canaria in itself was just a massive disappointment (compared to recent holidays in Australia, Egypt, US, France, Thailand etc)

5 star surroundings, 3 star service.

Just because some chavs all think highly of a resort doesn't mean it will suite my refined tastes.

As for all inclusive - hit and miss. If you particularly enjoy fine dining on holiday you will be disappointed, even in expensive 5 star resorts.

But when you really just need a holiday to soak up some rays and start on the gin and tonics at 11 am, AI can be just the ticket.
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The problem with tripadvisor is even though a 5 star hotel with reasonable service is going to be much better than a 3 star hotel with great service it may be down the list because those at the 5 star expect more and those at the 3 star are pleasantly surprised...

(Read that without breathing!:p)
 
Amp34 said:
The problem with tripadvisor is even though a 5 star hotel with reasonable service is going to be much better than a 3 star hotel with great service it may be down the list because those at the 5 star expect more and those at the 3 star are pleasantly surprised...

(Read that without breathing!:p)
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Very true.
Tripadvisor is a valuable tool but you have to pick through the crap.

Many years ago Holidays From Hell did a 1 hour special on one AI Hotel we were going to 4 weeks later in Tenerife (Laguna Park 2) :(
At the end of the programme my daughters were asking if we could change but I said let's go through the complaints one by one.
People complaining about cats.
People complaining about kids making a noise around the pool table.
People complaining that one night somebody played some music at 2am in the morning.
One person complained they had an iPod stolen from under their pillow when they had a safe for 5 Euros they could have used
and so on ..................

We had a superb holiday.
 
Dimple said:
Very true.
Tripadvisor is a valuable tool but you have to pick through the crap.

Many years ago Holidays From Hell did a 1 hour special on one AI Hotel we were going to 4 weeks later in Tenerife (Laguna Park 2) :(
At the end of the programme my daughters were asking if we could change but I said let's go through the complaints one by one.
People complaining about cats.
People complaining about kids making a noise around the pool table.
People complaining that one night somebody played some music at 2am in the morning.
One person complained they had an iPod stolen from under their pillow when they had a safe for 5 Euros they could have used
and so on ..................

We had a superb holiday.
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Exactly this, there is a skill to reading the reviews and weaving between the proper problems and the people who had unrealistic expectations.
 
Rotty said:
We stay in the Excellence chain of all inclusives and have never had any issues at all
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Having tried many all inclusives around the world have to say we're the same now (and in fact I'm leaving for 2.5 weeks at the Excellence Playa Mujeres on Saturday :D )

For the most part we enjoy all inclusives as a simple "sun, sea, sand" holiday where we want to relax for a week or two, however we do ensure that we only book relatively high end hotels/resorts and generally only adults only.

The Excellence chain is absolutely brilliant, good food, good drinks and a lovely resort :)
 
York said:
Having tried many all inclusives around the world have to say we're the same now (and in fact I'm leaving for 2.5 weeks at the Excellence Playa Mujeres on Saturday :D )
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Have you been to EPM before? probably the smartest of their resorts though we prob prefer Punta Cana as it seems a little more "tropical" if a little older

Say hi to Hugo in the martini bar :D
 
Glaucus said:
Snobbery is a very odd choice of words.

Lack of understanding absolutely. I can't even understand how people can enjoy doing nothing on Holliday in such places or even your normal beach holidays.
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Me neither, it's my worst holiday nightmare, I never stay in the same hotel more than 3 nights when on holiday but quite why you need to ram the idea that you look down on all inclusive down everyones throat in a thread about all inclusive I've no idea. Dimple is right, it DOES come across as snobbery.

Yea, we get it, you don't like AI. I'd imagine that other people might find going trekking on your own thoroughly dull too, or spending 3000 miles in a car driving around a country.
 
So much snobbery in this thread.

I love to relax and do as little as possible on a nice AI holiday, not having to carry money and just being able to completely relax and eat/drink whenever and wherever i wish. Lie on the beach underneath a palm tree and lose myself in a book whilst listening to the lapping of the waves, knowing that my room or food and drink are only a short walk away.

I also go on city breaks and enjoy walking around and exploring etc, but after 3-4 days it gets a bit much.

Why are people so shocked when people just want to chill out on holiday and not trek round a foreign country?

This is yet another classic internet case of, "I DON'T LIKE IT SO NEITHER SHOULD YOU!"
 
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My parents have been going to the same all inclusive resort in Turkey now for the past 4 years and they love it. I've been there once and it was good but I wouldn't want to do it again. The trouble I find with all inclusive resorts is they end up forcing all the local business around the resort to shut up shop and move elsewhere and the resorts I find always have poor evening entertainment so if you want to do stuff at night you have to travel a quite a distance to find anywhere.
 
ganesh said:
So much snobbery in this thread.

I love to relax and do as little as possible on a nice AI holiday, not having to carry money and just being able to completely relax and eat/drink whenever and wherever i wish. Lie on the beach underneath a palm tree and lose myself in a book whilst listening to the lapping of the waves, knowing that my room or food and drink are only a short walk away.

I also go on city breaks and enjoy walking around and exploring etc, but after 3-4 days it gets a bit much.

Why are people so shocked when people just want to chill out on holiday and not trek round a foreign country?

This is yet another classic internet case of, "I DON'T LIKE IT SO NEITHER SHOULD YOU!"
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Pretty much, I've done both and can see the possitives for each. At this stage of my life I seem to steer more towards exploring, but I can see me wanting to chill again in a few years. :)
 
timmeh said:
My parents go to the El Dorado Royale and they always say how good it is. That's an adult only resort and from what I've seen of it, isn't anything like the one you went to.
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El Dorado Royale has been the OcUK Riviera Maya AI of choice whenever it's been discussed before.
Went a couple of years ago, and couldn't have been less like the OP's experience, fantastic food in all the restaurants. As you say it's adults only, so no problems with kids at all, it's also a pretty big resort, so even at the peak of summer didn't feel busy at all.
 
Sirrel Squirrel said:
Sounds about right for the majority of all inclusives. The only good ones I've been to that aren't like that have been in the Dominican and Cuba.
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I'll second this! The all inclusive my wife and I stayed at in Cuba for our Honeymoon was pure bliss. That said the whole resort was adults only and we opted for Royal Service which made it even quieter.
 
Amp34 said:
The problem with tripadvisor is even though a 5 star hotel with reasonable service is going to be much better than a 3 star hotel with great service it may be down the list because those at the 5 star expect more and those at the 3 star are pleasantly surprised...

(Read that without breathing!:p)
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Agreed. However I tend to find that this in itself represents an interesting tool. If I'm looking for value for money, I'll chose a 4* rated at 95% over a 5* rated at say 70%. I realise the difference may be negligible, but I'll (probably) pay less for the 4* :)
 
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