Spill the beans... on how to max all-inclusive holidays

lutzi1

DEBTMONKEY1A wrote: »

Trip Advisor is hardly 'more balanced' ...it's the extremes that tend to post. There are as i said 1000's of people who can't be bothered to post....I know for a fact that probably 20-25% of bad posts-especially for Egypt/Turkey are from RIVAL HOTELS. I can't understand how people can hang on every word of something that can't be proved to be genuine?

Granted....its a bit of a guide. But people take it too literally. Good agents will give correct advice as in the current climate repeat business is needed. I'd better not mention again that I'm in the Industry as some MSE posters on the various boards thing that agents are the devils spawan as...shock horror (!) we actually make some money from the bookings we do....(!).

AI is 90% of what we get asked for now.....!

I regularly post on tripadvisor and get thanked by others for doing so, and most people on there are not extreme.

Personally I find I can learn a lot from the general tone of a review whether it's likely to be fair and accurate or not - ignorant, ill-spelled rants I ignore, some people seem to just go on holiday to moan - and travellers' own photographs are extremely helpful.

howardtog

We travel for about 3 months of the year usually in 2/3 week periods. We always hire a car and visit the area. Eating locally is a must..whats the point of a holiday if you eat in a hotel all the time.Generally the best value for is is breakfast included. This gives us a good meal and the rest if the day to do things.we sometimes tour and often self cater.
BUT thats what suits us. We spent ten day s in Morocco and had one day on the beach and the other 9 seeing the countryside.We met a couple who were all inclusive and left the hotel grounds once.They both worked full time and only spent time together at the weekends.For them they had a no hassle easy going rest with everything to hand.
So whatever is best for you should be the rule.
Trip Advisor: We often post reviews.We want to share some fantastic experiences and one or two bad ones.Its a good guide but a pinch of salt is needed...a competitor may post a bad review equally a poor establishment gets a friend to write a review.
So enjoy yourself

pogofish

wallbash wrote: »

£1000 per person ? you going on your own ?

I became M.F. last year , a great feeling.



Op in Late March / April and you want to fly within a few weeks ? Only you know if that is wise.
Thinking maybe Sept , kids are back at school , prices drop but the weather is still good.
You certainly want to avoid the school hols , wish I could.


New 2012 has shown what perils can lurk in Ai

Getting late , bed time .

To sum up ( again) Don't do Ai on the cheap
I don't do hotels where Ai is an option , I require the whole hotel to be Ai
Trip Advisor is wonderful , just be prepared to do your home work.

It could be either - I may ask my GF along or I may take some time for myself, so per person to begin with. I've promised myself a break from everything whatever - having a disabillity really reins your horizons-in and I'm looking to stretch them again if possible. So if I can find somewhere with decent enough public transport to let me get out and about on my better days and less demanding stuff on site to pass the worse ones.

I'm thinking on the absolute earliest time I could go - They have said I'd need six weeks after the op for recovery and I've managed to keep a reasonable degree of physical fitness , which will help. So if all goes well, I'll be happy enough to finish-up my convalesence with a holiday. I'm still waiting for a final date for the op though, which is annoying! Also work is pressing me to give them some dates as I have a load of leave backed-up. Sept may well be better but that is when things get busy although I could probably still get the time.

Yes - 've been doing a bit of wading through Tripadvisor and it looks like you need to draw a line through the many and varied reviews! :eek:

Thanks.

boggie40

In my view you pay more up front for your holiday, then you have to take a chance that the hotel food is going to be ok !!!
Save your money hard, get the best holiday you can afford. Book the flights, hotel and transfers all separately then enjoy EVERYTHING your resort has to offer.
Personally even though we have 2 children 12 & 10 i will never go on an A/I holiday - but then the wife and I never drink alcohol, so i guess that is what "drinkers" are really thinking about when booking. :eek:

wallbash

boggie40 wrote: »

In my view you pay more up front for your holiday, then you have to take a chance that the hotel food is going to be ok !!!
Save your money hard, get the best holiday you can afford. Book the flights, hotel and transfers all separately then enjoy EVERYTHING your resort has to offer.
Personally even though we have 2 children 12 & 10 i will never go on an A/I holiday - but then the wife and I never drink alcohol, so i guess that is what "drinkers" are really thinking about when booking. :eek:

Your theory falls down , I am very nearly tee total . I might manage a couple of small lagers . I go Ai

Incapuppy

pogofish wrote: »

I'm thinking on the absolute earliest time I could go - They have said I'd need six weeks after the op for recovery and I've managed to keep a reasonable degree of physical fitness , which will help. So if all goes well, I'll be happy enough to finish-up my convalesence with a holiday.

I just wanted to pick up on this point. Before you book anything please check that you are going to be able to afford the travel insurance premium for the trip. Sometimes premiums skyrocket and do not drop to a more manageable level until, for example, 3 months post surgery. I speak from personal experience and although your circumstances will naturally be different from mine you may wish to check this out.

miamoo

I've stayed in top end all inclusives, mid range all inclusives, self catering, half board.
They were all great in there own way. But as Wallbash said earlier there is no comparison between a luxury 5 star all inclusive on Lara beach in Turkey and a 3 star all inclusive in the canaries for example.

We stayed at the Delphin Palace and it was amazing, you could get any drink you wanted, the food was delicious (buffet and a' la carte). Also Stella do mare beach Sharm that was unbelievable, the quality and choice of food and drink was as good, if not better than any top resteraunt. (we paid £500pp for Delphin, and £600pp for Stella)
The major plus point with the Stella was you could book AI for as many/few days as you wanted. So we had a day out for a trip and then to eat in Naama bay, and just didnt get all inclusive for that day!

A good way to get a great price on a top end AI is find a new one, and book for the month after opening date (new enough to have any issues sorted, but still no reviews so you are taking a slight risk, but getting a VERY good price. Only use this tip for TOP END hotels!)

I have never regretted booking AI, I check the reviews so I know what I'm getting, and know if its value for money.
I have regretted booking S/C though, we always spend alot more than we think we will, and even though we end up having a nice holiday, we end up eating in the same 2 or 3 resteraunts/ chatting with the same 2 or 3 bar staff therefore ending up in the same 2 or 3 bars, so we may aswell of been AI!

Mexico does AI better than anywhere else in my opinion, I think I stayed at the same Riu as mentioned earlier, and could use the other 3 hotels, this was a great holiday (and we still ate out a couple of times in playa del carmen).

busiscoming2

We always did self catering (2 adults and 3 kids) saying AI was too restricting etc, etc. We got fed up with trying to decide which places to eat every night (didn't want to cook on holiday). We tried HB and thought it was brilliant, then AI which is brilliant when you have multiple people!

We leave the hotel complex and love to explore the place we are in, stopping for coffee etc.
I have found the choice of food wonderful. We don't drink much and hate to see the few people who chuck it down there necks like it is going out of fashion. Some people are so greedy taking vast amounts of food, which they then proceed to leave!

I am amazed at the amount of people who never seem to leave the complex.

I always check reviews and so far haven't been disappointed.

suze012

We are going all inclusive as we have a 9 month old n by the time we go he will be 16months. I imagine it will be easier to stay at the hotel rather than looking for somewhere suitable for him every breakfast lunch n dinner and a there will be a big variety to choose from so if he doesnt like something there will be other things to pick from. Cant imagine many day trips will be suitable for him either! Yes we could go s/c and i could cook for him.... But its my holiday too!

penarthian

We have just returned from an all inclusive holiday in The Gambia. We had a lovely time and as it was not our first visit to this lovely country and the hotel was out of the way, we found this option to be most satisfactory.
However
The staff in the hotel did not like the all inclusive option because they missed out on tips! In a pay as you go hotel when you bought a drink you paid for it there and then, giving a note and receiving coins in the change. These coins you left as a tip. With all inclusive no money changes hands so tipping is much reduced.
Please remember this fact when you are enjoying your next holiday as many of the staff rely heavily on the tips they receive to live!