Always All Inclusive?
- Sharmeen Suleman
- Apr 6, 2018
- 4 min read
What's not to like about going All Inclusive? All the meals, drinks & activities you could possibly want. You need never leave the hotel. As I sit here in an All-Inclusive Resort in Turkey, I share 10 reasons not to go All-Inclusive.
Here are my 10 reasons not to go All Inclusive:
All you can eat is great but if you are not careful, you could end up putting on the pounds you spent months trying to lose before the holiday. Whilst you don't have to cook or clean up, you still have to plate up for the kids from the buffet, balancing plates & negotiating a healthy choice of food for them. Just when you have sat down to have your dinner, the kids inevitably want to visit the toilet. Fine if you have teenagers, not so good if you have toddlers. So you have to go off to find the toilet & return to a cold plate of food. Of course you could refill your plate but that would be wasteful & you just want to eat.
All you can drink is pretty much the same as all you can eat. After all, whether it is booze or juice, drinks offer up an easy way to clock up your calorie intake. Unless you pay for a top All-Inclusive hotel, you will most likely find the juice is mostly water & sugar with a tiny percentage of actual fruit content.
It can work out considerably cheaper. With Airbnb or other vacation rentals, set close to malls, supermarkets & restaurants, it's a great way to get more space for less. Apartments in Marrakesh starting from £35, with 3 bedrooms, in prime locations to luxury villas like Villa Sebaa sleeping 12 for only £130 for the night. Not per person. Per Night. Plus get £25 off your first stay by using this referral link With cooks & drivers available to hire, you really can get the best of both worlds.
There is a whole world outside of the hotel. When you have paid a lot of money for a luxury experience, it is easy not to venture out. Missing out on learning about local culture, visiting historical sites & just experiencing something different from our day-to-day life in the UK, would be an absolute shame. The kids might think that 'Turkey' is a hotel & never even get a glimpse of the country or its customs. Giving our children the opportunity to see the World, even a small part of it, is a gift that will stay with them forever.
Food is very much part of the culture & tradition of a place. There are lots of amazing restaurants & eateries to try outside the hotel, unless your resort is in the middle of nowhere. Even if your children or you are fussy eaters, there is often plenty of selection out there to please most appetites. Food can very much be part of the adventure & certainly something the kids will remember.
There are often local attractions, parks & pools that you can visit. You can literally try something new every day or stick to what you enjoy most as a family. Whether it is a water park or a theme park, or a walk on the beach, you can plan your own activities, the way you want to & potentially at a fraction of the cost of going all inclusive.
When going for these large all-inclusive hotel packages, you might miss out on an authentic experience like a staying in a Riad. You also share the facilities with possibly hoards of other holiday-makers. If you really do want a guaranteed sun bed to yourself, your own private pool villa might be a better option.
If you have a larger family, as in more than 4 people, often all-inclusive packages can work out more expensive. Most family rooms only cater for up to 4 persons, so you end up having to book two rooms. The costs of the holiday double.
When you don't buy into an all-inclusive package holiday, you really can have far more flexibility in what you do, where you stay & what you chose to enjoy as a family. For example, you can book a few nights in a Riad, a few in your private pool villa & then a few in a hotel. You can include your own tours & create your own menu. We've even stayed at places where the house keeper will make the meals at an extra fee. Like Villa Kahina in Essaouira , where we had access to the Sofitel hotel facilities too. We even had all the laundry & ironing done in the price. Now you can't get that at an all inclusive resort with out paying a fortune.
The best part of family holidays is the memories that you create together & keep forever. There are far more opportunities to experience new, unique & culturally diverse experiences outside of an All Inclusive Package Holiday. That said, if you are getting a good deal on an All-Inclusive package for your family, it can be an easy option There is no cooking, cleaning or washing up to do. The kids club will give parents somewhere to keep the kids occupied. And sometimes, all you want to do is chill out & not take on the World.
