All Inclusive resorts are very popular among our clients, for honeymooners, families, groups, destination weddings, girl friends getaways and celebration vacations, but is it the right vacation for you? Most will be in the Caribbean and Mexico. Some may be adult only, others may be family friendly. Some may be huge, others downright boutique-y. How can you decide on if an all inclusive resort is right for you?
Let’s look at the pro’s of an all inclusive resort:
1. Budgeting– when booking an all inclusive resort, you’ll know your costs up front. You don’t have to figure in what you’ll spend for meals, drinks and resort activities.
2. Dining- you know where you’re going to eat. You’ll have your choice of the restaurants on the resort grounds (or perhaps at sister resorts) and the most you need to think about is which one to go to.
3. Activities- things like non motorized water sports, daytime and evening entertainment and more are usually included. You might not ever need to leave the resort grounds.
4. Put your wallet in the safe for the entire vacation– with the exception of spa treatments, purchases at the gift shop or specialty beverages, there is little out of pocket expenses- even tipping, if you don’t want to..
Let’s look at the Con’s of an all inclusive resort:
1. You may never leave the resort– if you like to explore the destination you are traveling to, you might not get to explore if you feel like you need to get your money’s worth of food and beverages at the resort.
2. The food may not be “local”- if you are the kind of traveler who likes to eat like the locals, the food you will get at an all inclusive resort is not going to be what you are looking for. The food at many all inclusive resorts are prepared to please the palates of the travelers- not necessarily the locals.
3. Activities- if you prefer not to be bothered and prefer not to have the “entertainment staff” encourage you to participate in beach volley ball or salsa dancing lessons, some all inclusive resorts may not be for you.
4. Time share sales- No getting around it…. Many chain all inclusive resorts offer time shares or vacation clubs and they are pretty persistent in getting you to buy into their clubs. They are annoying and will try to offer you free things to sit through their presentation. Some will try to convince you that in order to get your resort credit coupons or amenities, you will need to sit through a presentation. We have some tricks that make these time share sharks run other way.
When it comes to your vacation, the team at My Vacation Lady can help you figure out it an all inclusive resort is the right vacation for you. We’ve been helping our clients plan their dream honeymoons and vacations since 1994 and we can help you figure out what will make all of the difference in the quality and experience of your next vacation.
