Cheap All Inclusive Holidays
sketchley
Posts: 4,238
Mrs Sketchley is thinking about a cheap last minute all inclusive holiday in a few weeks time. Anyone ever done this, is it worth it, could you give me some tips or recommendations, do and donts? I guess you get what you pay for but having never done it....
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Chris
Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
Chris
Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
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Lastminute.com - have used them numerous times and are pretty good. The other one to use is moneysupermarket.com - also used them and again find some good deals. This is what me & Mrs V are going to do in Oct for our holiday. Once you have identified what you want - check the hotel etc on trip advisor.0
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Egpyt (red sea just not sharm) usually have good all inclusive deals0
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Personal choice but I like to sample where I am visiting and not be restricted to one hotel.
Okay, you are not restricted but, as it's paid for........None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.0 -
Did all-inclusive once, never again.
Depends where it is though, the resort i went to in Cuba was quite remote so there was literally no other choice of where to eat/drink etc.
Horses for courses.0 -
We've done it to Sharm, so that we can afford diving on top. Its nice if you like rude staff who get indignant if you insult them, their family, their country by or the entire middle east by asking them to fill the minibar more than once every three days, or something like that. You arrogant rich f *ing tourist.
But there is stuff to do in Sinai. Most of it is under water, most of which you can see perfectly well with good lungs a mask and a snorkel. But what most people don't realise unless they've seen live coral is that all the coral in or near Sharm is dead. To find any coral which isn't dead, you have to travel. Only Egyptian men drive (by by god they are so good), so that's a hassle. You could try Dahab - smaller, just as rude, but the coral is in better shape. No beaches - coral shelfs. Flip a coin. There's also some interesting 127 hours type canyons inland - the price is a long day trip, come and see my brother's carpet shop and buy a photo of you looking dusty and knackered, with a random crappy backdrop of a near-scrap vehicle, or I'll sulk - type trips. Ditto a day trip to Jordan, but at least there'd be a boat trip in there for good measure.
Also recently done it in Tenerife - much needed winter sun / accident recovery.
If you can, if Mrs Sketchley will refrain from filing divorce papers, take a bike (or take shoes, pedals and hire one - there used to be a guy on here who ran a high end road bike hire shop there). Oh my god, the roads there. At the very least talk walking shoes and hire a car for 2 or 3 days.
Unfortunately, most of it is on fire at the moment, or the smoke from La Gomera will obscure the views from up hight.
Overall, all inclusive is the means of getting you there, cheaply, with zero planning. The flight may be awful. The food might be alright but will be repetitive and the herd of cattle experience may be grating. But overall it will be hassle free and there are ways to take yourself off somewhere more interesting, or read a lot and wind down.
Don't do it for more than a week.0 -
Er just fly to the sarf of France and chill by your own pool drinking rock bottom priced but excellent wine, to wash down all the bread & cheese of course.Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.0 -
^^^^^^ TROLL ^^^^^^None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.0
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Teletext holidays: http://www.teletextholidays.co.uk/Food Chain number = 4
A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game0 -
Never done all inclusive but done half board a couple of times recently. Makes life a lot easier with young kids as going out for an evening meal just becomes hassle when you are dragging a tired toddler along. Just booked a nice hotel and cheapest flights we could find, Gran Canaria and Corfu - both times the food was surprisingly good and different menu every night. Lunch at a cafe on the beach washed down with a nice local lager. Never liked the idea of being tied to the complex and would hate to have to wear a wristband for a week!0
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done it once - flew to Sharm and stayed at the Savoy away from all the oiks in Naama. It was quite nice.0
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Done all inclusive in Mexico a couple of times, both in January. Had a great time on both occasions. Good service because of all the Americans who moan about everything.0
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Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.0 -
Listen old man free beer is only truly free if the cost of holiday & flights etc are less than the amount of food and beer you could have bought with said cash, therefore not free.
I have very fond memories of an all inclusive trip in Barbados whereby I drank more beer and ate more food in 10 days than some people could in a year, gotta love a 24 hr cocktail bar and room service.Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.0 -
Also, it is advisable to tip the waiting staff pretty soon or even upfront. They must have a mug-shot gallery behind the bar, because if you don't tip, you can forget about getting service in a timely fashion....0
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I agree with all the arguments against, but the Mrs thinks it will be cheap way of getting a holiday. I'm not so sure. My big concern being I'll probably end up eating and drinking out anyway as I won't like being stuck to one place.
Anyone done it and had a truely great expeirence, if so where (hotel name) and why was it so good?--
Chris
Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/50 -
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Turtle beach in Barbados 10/10 from me but very family focused. I spent quite a bit of time talking to the young super yummy mummies whilst our children played under the ever watchful eye of Mrs itboffin of course.Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.0 -
Stayed at Riu hotels in Playa Del Carmen (mexico). Had great holidays, pretty varied food. still went out drinking as well. Cheapest way of going to Mexico and staying in 4 star hotels. Being all inclusive enabled us to go on tours, snorkle, speed boats but go on the more expensive ones. Fly rather than long coach journeys to attractions.
Not sure would go all inclusive in Europe as get too many brits just trying to drink the place dry.
Tended to be 40 something+ brits where we stayed but we still had a good laugh.0 -
You'll be lucky to find a cheap deal at the mo.
Holiday I booked 5 months back has increased by £1.1k!
Big demand for holidays at the mo and the tour operators have cut back on supply.
Have to say cheap AL means shite in my experience. Went a place in Malta once if you looked at their website look 5*. Place was on holidays from hell a few weeks later. What did we expect for £200 each all in?
Went to Sensatori in Sharm in Feb which really nice. Pricey but worth it.
All AL you'll see a minority of 'Brits abroad' they just cannot be avoided.0 -
Done it loads of times, mostly with success. BTW my measurement of success is 'a good holiday regardless of price' and 'good value'. My approach is as follows:
Decide where you want to go
Work out roughly what is available at that destination
Check on Trip Advisor to ensure that others have been broadly satisfied
Negotiate a good price
"'How do you get a good price?" I hear you ask
Start by pricing elements seperately (accommodation, flights, insurance, transfers). Use resources such as moneysavingexpert
Contact hotel direct to see if you can't get a better price or upgrade
Contact you travel agent and see if they can beat
More likely than not purchasing elements seperately will be cheapest.
Once booked, email your hotel and try to build a rapport. Be complimentary and hint that you have received positive recommendations from friends and family who have used before. Ask for something that it easy for them to deliver but hint at something better still e.g "Could you please arrange for a non-smoking room, ideally one of those lovely refurbished rooms overlooking the bay". Suggest a celebration is to take place while you are away (birthday, wedding anniversary etc.) - might help get an upgrade, welcome pack or bottle of wine.
This year went here. Paid £750 for a family of 4 for 2 weeks a/i accommodation. If you can get cheap flights then this is a great value holiday.
EnjoyNobody told me we had a communication problem0
