all inclusive that's NOT sandals??

minksterwedding · February 2015

I've heard soooo much about sandals and they seem great but my fiance's coworker told him they went through a travel agency and got a better deal on something similar through them. Anybody know of a "better" or "cheaper all inclusive resort? Thanks!

kvruns · February 2015

there are tons of AIs to chose from, depending on where you are going and a lot are going to be cheaper than Sandals. You have to look at what you are getting for your money, you probably don't want the cheapest of the cheap but something mid-range might be a great option if you are looking to save some money.

I've never used a travel agent as we've always done fine choosing our own. Things I look for are location (proximity to airport, excursions, etc), how many a la carte restaurants they have, do they have different upgrades available (higher package, swim out suite, etc), is it adults only or do you even care (we don't care). I've never been to sandals myself but we've had some nice vacations that were still affordable

mikenberger · February 2015

Personal favorites of mine:

Excellence Playa Mujeres - had a few friends go there for their honeymoon. They couldn't say enough good things about it.

Ocean Maya Royale - We've been here twice and got engaged here. A little cheaper, but great staff and you get a HUGE room.

Catalonia Royal Tulum - Our honeymoon spot.

All properties are all inclusive, varying degrees of accommodations (regular, suites, honeymoon packages etc) all are also Adults Only (not swingers clubs though) And have various food options. Ocean Maya will probably be your cheapest, Catalonia Royal in the middle with Excellence probably being the most.

Have fun! We LOVE all inclusive resorts

jenna8984 · February 2015

Seriously- there are hundreds. You need to narrow down an island and what your priorities are. Do you care more about the 5 pools, or do you care more about a 5 mile beach you can walk? Do you care about nightclubs and stuff around, or do you plan to stay on the resort? Do you want water sports included or just food and drink? You need to take all of these into account because that all influences why one might be more expensive than the next.

My mom's a travel agent- between her and I these are our favorites- Swept Away in Jamaica, Hard Rock in Cancun, Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica, Riu Cancun

madamerwin · February 2015

From my research, there are a LOT of perfectly good all-inclusive options much cheaper than the big name resorts like Sandals, Secrets, and Club Med. My best advice is to do a LOT of research!

We're going to Cancun for our Honeymoon in June, and we took a route that had never even occurred to me - our dentist (of all people) recommended booking through a specific resort and time share owner on VRBO. People who own time shares at all-inclusives get discounts on bookings, plus points when they get people to book through them - so they are able to offer packages at what it costs them. So we're spending under $3k for 10 days at a pretty big all-inclusive with VIP benefits.

Had we not gotten a personal recommendation, I would have thought it sketchy to book an all-inclusive through a site like VRBO... But after reading dozens of reviews on the owner himself, plus reviews of the resort, we are SUPER excited! My best advice if you do something like this is do a lot of research - check TripAdvisor, the hotel website, see if you can Google the person you're renting from, etc.

beachyone15 · February 2015

Secrets!!

.defunct635833965868395700 · February 2015

tfmrserwin said:
From my research, there are a LOT of perfectly good all-inclusive options much cheaper than the big name resorts like Sandals, Secrets, and Club Med. My best advice is to do a LOT of research!

We're going to Cancun for our Honeymoon in June, and we took a route that had never even occurred to me - our dentist (of all people) recommended booking through a specific resort and time share owner on VRBO. People who own time shares at all-inclusives get discounts on bookings, plus points when they get people to book through them - so they are able to offer packages at what it costs them. So we're spending under $3k for 10 days at a pretty big all-inclusive with VIP benefits.

Had we not gotten a personal recommendation, I would have thought it sketchy to book an all-inclusive through a site like VRBO... But after reading dozens of reviews on the owner himself, plus reviews of the resort, we are SUPER excited! My best advice if you do something like this is do a lot of research - check TripAdvisor, the hotel website, see if you can Google the person you're renting from, etc.

We're doing something similar, but my awesome cousin is the one letting us use her vip timeshare. Including first class airfare, our entire week at Riviera Maya is costing us 3k.

madamerwin · February 2015

sj613 said:

From my research, there are a LOT of perfectly good all-inclusive options much cheaper than the big name resorts like Sandals, Secrets, and Club Med. My best advice is to do a LOT of research!

We're going to Cancun for our Honeymoon in June, and we took a route that had never even occurred to me - our dentist (of all people) recommended booking through a specific resort and time share owner on VRBO. People who own time shares at all-inclusives get discounts on bookings, plus points when they get people to book through them - so they are able to offer packages at what it costs them. So we're spending under $3k for 10 days at a pretty big all-inclusive with VIP benefits.

Had we not gotten a personal recommendation, I would have thought it sketchy to book an all-inclusive through a site like VRBO... But after reading dozens of reviews on the owner himself, plus reviews of the resort, we are SUPER excited! My best advice if you do something like this is do a lot of research - check TripAdvisor, the hotel website, see if you can Google the person you're renting from, etc.
We're doing something similar, but my awesome cousin is the one letting us use her vip timeshare. Including first class airfare, our entire week at Riviera Maya is costing us 3k.

That's awesome! The one we booked is also some elite VIP level deal, with free unlimited golf, massages, all food and drinks (of course), and tours to Chichen Itza and some other places, all included in the total price. Granted, we still need to book flights, but I'm just SO EXCITED. Using someone else's time share is the way to go.

katiekessler123 · February 2015

We also went to a Catalonia resort in Riviera Maya, but not Catalonia Tulum. I think it was Catalonia Riviera Maya. We LOVED it! We did use tripadvisor to help us pick one, but we found that every place had both positive and negative reviews. I think it's just important to know what you want in an all inclusive. We wanted really good food and a variety of places to eat. There were 9 places to eat at this all inclusive and we loved each place! We also wanted snorkeling, but having a big fancy room wasn't as important to us. Oddly enough though, we ended up being upgraded to their nicest suite when we checked in!

JoanE2012 · February 2015

katiekessler123 said:

We also went to a Catalonia resort in Riviera Maya, but not Catalonia Tulum. I think it was Catalonia Riviera Maya. We LOVED it! We did use tripadvisor to help us pick one, but we found that every place had both positive and negative reviews. I think it's just important to know what you want in an all inclusive. We wanted really good food and a variety of places to eat. There were 9 places to eat at this all inclusive and we loved each place! We also wanted snorkeling, but having a big fancy room wasn't as important to us. Oddly enough though, we ended up being upgraded to their nicest suite when we checked in!

I think this is important to keep in mind.....weed out the really bad reviews and the really good reviews and focus on what's left.

FWIW, we stayed at Catalonia Riviera Maya and it was just ok for us. I wouldn't go back, nor would I have booked that place ourselves.....it was a group trip. The offered us an upgrade (for a fee) when we got there....I think it was to a "privilaged" room....and we took it. None of the others in our group did, and their rooms were pretty depressing. I would've been very unhappy if I didn't take the upgrade.

katiekessler123 · February 2015

Interesting..I read a few reviews on tripadvisor that said the same thing about the older rooms, but since we were in the nicest suite, we loved our room!

jenna8984 · February 2015

@tfmrserwin We absolutely loved the Chitzen Itza day tour! Especially if it's one that stops at the Cenote underground swimming hole. That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen! Make sure you get a waterproof camera

all inclusive that's NOT sandals??

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