Tearing our hair out trying to trawl through AI deals!

ThriftyChoco

What is the trick to these things?

We've never been on an all inclusive, but fancy the relaxing nature of effectively having paid for everything up front and not having a care in the world once we're there.

We're looking at a fortnight towards the end of June/beginning of July for myself and my partner. Every single holiday we have looked at so far gets dire reviews on TripAdvisor. We're looking around the 800 mark for the 2 of us going to Tunisia/Turkey/Greece etc.
It seems the food is generally aweful, the alchohol not very nice, staff miserable, hotels are bomb sites, etc. etc. etc.

Are our expectations too high?

We're gauging this on the fact we have an apartment in Spain we can use for free, then with car hire, food, drink etc. we'd spend around £800. We thought we'd be able to find an AI at a nice place for the same amount of money as the apartment would cost us (including spends).
We just want somewhere we can relax and have a nice holiday and eat well/drink well.

So far, we've been mainly using Teletext holidays, but even when we look elsewhere, we're hitting the same problem. We'd be prepared to spend a bit more, if we KNEW we weren't going to be disappointed.

Thanks!

wallbash

Are our expectations too high?

£800 for two weeks for two , in June /July

Answer to your question .... YES.:D

Ai is great , doing for the second time this year
But its never going to be cheap and good.
Im off to Turkey for 10 days .. July/ Aug
my hotel has wonderful reviews , but its costing us more like £2500

peachyprice

ThriftyChoco wrote: »

It seems the food is generally aweful, the alchohol not very nice, staff miserable, hotels are bomb sites, etc. etc. etc.

Yep,that just about sums up cheap AI resorts, you get what you pay for.

You may be better of looking for a decent hotel that offers half board on your budget.

stephb34

To be honest you'd be lucky to get a week for £800 Ai, its not really realistic, if you go for the cheapest option it usually is pretty dire. If your not used to looking why don't you go to a travel agent and get some help, then at least you'll have some idea of what is realistic, even if you go back to teletext in the end.

richardw

ThriftyChoco wrote: »

We're gauging this on the fact we have an apartment in Spain we can use for free, then with car hire, food, drink etc. we'd spend around £800. We thought we'd be able to find an AI at a nice place for the same amount of money as the apartment would cost us (including spends).

Please explain this a bit more, are you including flights?

DavidRogers1968

£800 for AI is a big ask.
With most things in life, you get what you pay for.
We are going to Malta at the end of June for 10 Days AI (2 adults and 2 young children 3+4) and its costing us just short of £2000

mrs_lds

You may get AI for £800 but it may only be 1 star

paulwellerfan

i managed to get a week for 2 people in Bulgaria for £589.00 AI.
However after reading reviews on trip advisor i think the hotel is run by the Bulgarian !!!!! ( oh and the food isnt spose to be that good.)
but hey... i am sure we will have a great time. ( any one been to sunny beach in Bulgaria by the way, will it be at least hot in june)

Fawny_2

No don't think you could get a good AI for that price. I've only been AI once & it was a horrible experience, just food made for the masses nothing traditional for the area. Much prefer SC where we can try different traverns each night.

Feanor

I can vouch for Malta, been there 3 times and getting married there this summer! Not sure what AI deals they have though.

Please, whatever you do, dont go to Tunisia. It is awful!

x

philbostavros

Hi OP

We have been going AI for many years and to be honest, never had a bad holiday.

We usually opt for 4 star rated (travel company ratings) and in recent years, have used review sites like Tripadvisor for extra guidance.

To be honest, you do have to take a balanced view, as many folk will moan about the slightest problem. I tend to find that if the majority of feedback is good, then it's safe to ignore the bad ones.

We recently booked 11 days in a quiet part of Ibiza (late June/early July) for £1484. That is a package deal with Thomson and includes pre-booked airline seats, daytime flights and transfers.

This is the first time we have ever returned to the same place (went last year) as we had a very relaxing time. Hotel is a Spanish 3 star (Thompson 4 star) and feedback has been mixed.

Some folks complained about the food at the end of last season but we know it was fabulous.

We booked online but agree with other post that it would be worth using travel agent. They usually go on review sites themselves and also often have feedback from their own clients too.

Good hunting and hope you have a great holiday.