Self Catering vs All inclusive

melb

Isn't eating out part of the whole holiday experience? I can't think of anything more depressing than eating mass-produced hotel food every day. I understand the budgetary aspect completely but children don't have to have ice-creams and drinks every couple of hours. We go to spain every year and usually manage to get flights a villa and a car for two weeks for about £1600 for two adults and two kids. We spend some time at the villa where we can drink what we have bought from the supermarket and may have lunch there of bread and cheese, pate, salad and some of the lovely bakery products that are readily available in Spain. We can eat out for 40 - 50 euros for the four of us. I must admit Ive never sat down and worked out the total budget for our holiday because there's nowhere we could cut down. Our main expenditure is food and we love it! Maybe we should try AI before we comment but after one week's hotel holiday in Majorca with buffet style food (ie after the first ten minutes everything ends up a soggy cold mess) there's no way I'd swap a hotel for a villa.

skintas_2

turkey 2 weeks sc £880
turkey 2 weeks ai £1400

ai £500 spending money
sc £1700 spending money and more arguments, hassle, wasted food.............

ok food and drink not up to much, at least i didnt spend a fortune food and drink that got wasted with a 2 and 4 year old at the time..............

melb

I don't understand your maths. The SC is so much cheaper than the AI that you could eat out probably twice a day and still spend less if you self-catered - especially in Turkey. I totally sympathise with eating out with a 2 and 4 year old - we used to have the same nightmare. What we ended up doing was giving them something in the villa for their tea that we knew they would like such as macaroni cheese or hotdogs and then they could just have some bread and a bit of ours at the restaurant and then a pud and a drink to keep them happy. As they had already had their tea they weren't ravenous and fractious!

lily_the_pink

I have done AI twice - the first was fantastic, we had a 5 month old and were both recovering from sleep deprivation and the shock of having a child so a week of doing absolutely nothing was great. The AI place was fantastic too - great food and good variety. We werent drinking much as it isnt my OH's thing really and I was still breast feeding so limited. I think we spent less than £100 in a week and that included 400 cigs for my mum and other little presents so the whole week cost less than £800 for 2 plus baby.

A year later we did AI again and I have to say it was no where near as good (despite the hotel being the same star rating). An over zealous head waiter in the dining room made meal times miserable as we felt like the hotel was doing us a favour feeding us lacklustre food. The drinks were not good and the cocktails lousy. It put me off doing AI again for a while - or at least until we get round to having another baby (if we ever do).

With self catering I like the freedom of being able to have a salad for lunch in the hotel and then eat out in a different restaurant every night, and have a decent bottle of wine. I would do AI again but only at the right price and would definately check the reviews on trip advisor and other sites. Have a good time whatever you decide to do.

angelfire

Just wanted to add to this thread again and point out that if you pick the right hotel then All Inclusiive CAN include meals in different restaurants within the complex. In the Caribbean especially, most of the hotels have more than one main restaurant and if you choose carefully, the food ISN'T a mushy cold mess!

There are some really bad generalisations in this thread!

As I say, read read read the reviews before booking and you can't go wrong with A/I!

Sel_2

I've done both SC and AI holidays. Once you've been AI it's hard to go back. I've ended up saving quite a bit of money, on one trip I came back with 80% of the cash I went away with. As all of the food and drinks are included the only thing you need to buy are souveniers and any essentials that you forgot to pack! You do need to check the reviews of the hotels before booking though as you will be spending a lot of your time at the hotel. The best AI I've had was in the Dominican Rep. at a Riu hotel. There were several restaurants to choose from!

Have a nice trip!

edna_clouds

We've done both but although I'd prefer A/I mrs clouds and the kids won't do anything but s/c. They feel that the joy of eating somewhere different every night very much part of the holiday. I enjoy the simpler things in life.. Like sneaking up to the bar for a beer instead of asking for some pocket money off mrs clouds every time I want one..:o

Stevev99

I would add that a lot also depends on what time of the year you're going since the AI hotels can be very very busy during school hols.

I had an AI for the 1st time many years ago and whilst it probably saved me loads, it was peak season and a lot of people were going a bit mad with the included alcohol, if you know what I mean!

I then revisisted AI again 3 years ago and last year, off season with our 2 year old and we thought it to be fantastic, especially just being able to get coffee/tea and the odd beer without having to dip into your pockets all the time. Luckily the food was first class and full of choice so it is vital you do your research on an AI from here and similar sites!

I have read before that many people say that when they're in a hotel that offers AI as well as HB and/or SC, that sometimes the bar staff favour the NON AI guests for service knowing they'll get more tips etc....

We went AI last year in May to Ibiza and loved it although we ended up eating way too much because you tend to "pop in and see" what lunch is and end up eating 3 hot meals a day!!! :rolleyes2 Not sure if that's a plus or a minus point!!!???

So Yes, AI at the right hotel can save you money which with a lot of kids in tow can be vital or you're always putting your hand in your pocket.

I nearly went SC this year to P. Banus but having booked it cancelled it later since I reckoned we would have spent a lot more in the long run eating out.
Also with a 3 year old in tow I wanted the evening entertainment and quite honestly the women in the group said they didn't want to have to even think about cooking while on holiday which is fair. Also in my experience eating out always costs more across a week than included meal plans.

We were lucky and ended up getting AI for cheaper than HB so still eat out a couple of times to sample the local cuisine. The variation in hotel prices is staggering, we have managed to book a RIU hotel in Spain direct for 8 days HB for £400 for 3 of us and even Medhotels had them at nearly £600!

This year though, we have booked HB since we felt eating the big lunch was not vital!!! Will miss the paid for drinks but then none of us our massive alcohol drinkers, just a couple in the evenings!

So for me, especially for families with children, AI of HB is much better value than SC. But needs to be at the right hotel, there is one particular hotel in Spain I wouldn't revisit for AI again.

Time of year, hotel and finding the right price for that hotel are vital in making AI cost in. If economising is important, than for me SC is a false economy in the long run.

simes

Self catering for me....

I don't go somewhere to stay in one bar for 2 weeks. Or to eat the same repetitive food every night. Last time i went half board and still ate elsewhere most of the week in the evenings.
Half the fun is trying different restaurants and especially finding different bars with different entertainment. I especially dislike hotels where the entertainment is multi-language. i hate the same sentance being repeated 5 times in 5 languages !!!!

Many of the people i have met in bars/restaurants abroad have been people from all-inclusive hotels. They have said they didn't like the food or complained of the lack of entertainment. Some even mentioned they didn't like the drinks on offer too.
If you go A/I you really have to choose your hotel carefully.

JuJu_3

Last May we went to Paphos (courtesy of Tesco Clubcard Deals!) and couldn't decide whether to go half board or AI. (We usually go SC, so any meals cooked for us would be a bonus.) Eventually we settled on half board, and believe it was the "best of both worlds". The kids loved being able to help themselves to the buffet breakfast and dinner, and we only had to budget for lunch and drinks. Our main reason for choosing half board was because we didn't want to feel confined to the hotel. We hired a car for a few days and got out and about without needing to get back during the day for lunch. We got to try out restaurants in the mountains, and didn't begrudge paying for lunch and drinks that would have been "free" at the hotel. I'm of the opinion that if you travel to other countries you should at least see a bit of them, and not just the inside of a hotel, which could be anywhere!
Ju