We hate,hate,hate Those entertainment mornings when they ask everyone to get in the pool and do Zorbas dance to music, also when the people employed to doing the entertaining ( normally students working for their board ) ask people in the audience to get up and make fools of themselves , that’s normally the Dads, the drink is watered down too, we’ve done it once in Rhodes in a 5 star but wouldn’t do it again.
For us it’s the choice of staying in with a bottle of wine and a takeaway on the balcony or terrace or dressing up and going out for a nice meal, I understand people with young children opting for the AI though for ice creams etc
Lanzarote for us, many friends there and I’ve still got stuff to take there For a friend, he orders and gets it sent here, I take it across with me, much cheaper for him doing it that way for him , I’ve threatened to flog his motorbike filter and gloves on EBay haha
Errr, No, not really Naomi, I get quite bored being on a beach, don’t like swimming in the sea, prefer a pool and walking around ,stopping for a coffee or a drink, get back to the villa for a dip in the pool , shower, get dressed accordingly either ‘posh up’ or casual , take a walk along the beach front and going for something to eat followed by a nice little bar
We have been offered to upgrade to AI from HB on arrival at a couple of hotels but the amount it would cost puts us off. We would have to drink a lot and eat a lot to justify it and then we do go out on most evenings so not worth it.
Do a lot of trail rides on horses in remote places so these are A.I ( difficult to find a shop up a mountain in Kyrgyzstan for example). These don't have entertainment thrown in though!
I think all inclusive in Europe are quite variable and some are truly exceptional.
If you want an example of exceptional, Google Ikos Aria. They have 7 or 8 different restaurants and you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner in any of them. They have over 200 wines to pair with your food and guests staying in deluxe rooms get a bottle of pink Taittinger on arrival. There's a well-stocked minibar in each room which is free and replenished daily with all branded drinks.
We're booked to go September this year and May next year.
They're opening their brand new Ikos Estepona when all this carp is over and if I can earn a few pennies in overtime, I might book that too.