Honeymoon Discussions

Has anyone actually been on a NICE all-inclusive trip?

I initially assumed that we would go on our honeymoon to an all-inclusive resort somewhere in the Caribbean, but the more research I do, the worse of an idea this becomes. I have gotten into the habit of checking out every potential resort on TripAdvisor.com and I have yet to find an all-inclusive that has garnered favorable reviews. I'm not saying it isn't out there... just that I haven't stumbled upon it yet! If you have, please tell me about it!

I'm not trying to be a snob or anything so I hope this isn't coming across that way. So far, it just seems that there is a trade-off by way of service, cleanliness, and food quality for the all-inclusive price and I'm just afraid that we'll arrive at our super romantic once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon destination to a room with cockroaches in the sink and a broken air conditioner and a staff that couldn't care less one way or the other.

We're definitely willing to look at non-inclusive resorts as long as we can justify the price after paying for meals and such.

Thanks for your suggestions (and warnings too!)!

Re: Has anyone actually been on a NICE all-inclusive trip?

  • Here's the thing - TripAdvisor is great, but it can also make you insane, because there will always be someone who has something terrible to say about somewhere (there are negative reviews on The Four Seasons, for goodness' sake!)  Also, things that are "negative" for some people may actually be positives for you - for example, I stayed at a resort once that was on a creek.  There were reviews on TripAdvisor complaining about how loud the creek was.  Seriously.  Why you would book yourself into a resort that advertises itself as creekside when you don't like the sound of running water is beyond me, but like I said, there will always be people with complaints about something.

    Also, consider whether there are common complaints in the negative reviews - if one review out of 670 mentions that there were "bugs everywhere" you're probably just seeing one whiny person venting for no reason, but if 35 reviews say the same thing, then it might be something to worry about.  Finally, don't forget to look at the age of the negative reviews - resorts are renovated frequently, so the complaint from 2006 about ugly curtains probably doesn't still apply.

    HTH!
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  • The reviews for Secrets Maroma Beach (Mexico) are excellent.  (It is listed in the Top 10 All-Inclusive Resorts in the first post on this page.)  My daughter initially said "No way" to Mexico when I suggested this resort, but once they did their reseach they booked their HM there. They haven't been there yet (not until July) - but worth checking into. 
  • edited January 2012
    Exactly what pp said. For that reason( bad reviews on place we hm'd. Turned out they were rediculous), I started writting my own reviews( in great detail from the view point of the average Joe (we aren't pickey people but we also don't want a crap hole place) with real pics ( not staged by the resort) and have now even started adding video of the resort/hotel. I had dh create a travel section to our website for them. I got sick of half a$$ed pics on trip advisor ( our room....well, what room, what room level???) and reviews from whinny people ( there where Mosquitos everywhere...really, and we don't hav those here???). I'm sure you've heard the saying " you can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time". What you have to keep in mind is that ANY review is only someones opinion. Like pp said, it basically comes down to a percentage between good reviews, bad reviews and of course, what YOU are looking for. My feeling, you don't know if you like it or hate it till ya try it.
  • Ditto above PP. although I love tripadvisor, I always take reviews with a grain of salt. Before I went on my first AI trip, I was very nervous because of some negative reviews. I ended up having an amazing time and couldn't understand the negativity. There are tons of great AIs in the Caribbean. I would suggest researching islands and then look at resorts.
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  • I've been to two Sandals resorts and thought they were both great.  One was the Royal Bahamian and the other Sandals Negril.  
  • If you're looking at Mexico, you can't go wrong with the RIU Palace resorts in Cabo and Cancun! Both are beautiful, with excellent food and an extremely friendly and helpful staff. Based on our experiences, I would book another RIU Palace resort in a heartbeat!
  • Every time someone has a bad experience, whether it's a vacation, or shopping in your home down.  When it's bad, you get angry, you tell all your friends, and probably the manager.  When you had a good experience you typically think... wow that lady was so nice, or they were the nicest cashier I have ever had.  But then do you go talk about it.  Do you write an email or stop into their customer service to say "good job?"

    Take review with a grain of salt.

    We went to the El Dorado Seaside Suites in Mexico and I would go again!  We loved everything about it.
  • RamonaFlowersRamonaFlowers member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited January 2012
    TripAdvisor can be a wonderful thing, but you really have to take some things you read with a grain of salt. I've read reviews from places where the person only gave a hotel 2 stars, and the only actual complaint they had was that they hated the wallpaper in their room.

    You are not going to find a hotel anywhere that has all 5 star reviews and nobody says a bad thing about it. The best thing you can do when reading reviews is try to be objective, and take into account that there are people out there that will  bitch about every last thing (And could possibly be embellishing negative details). Which star rating has the most reviews in it? And how current are the reviews you are reading? I tend to base my travel choices on what the majority of the more recent reviews have to say, and I've yet to have a bad hotel experience.

    If a place has 3000 reviews, and 2500 of them within the last 6 months mention that they woke up missing a kidney, chances are, you're probably not coming out with both of your kidneys, and you probably should ignore the 50 people that talked about how amazing the breakfast was during their stay 3 years ago.. On the same token, if a place has 3000 reviews, and 2500 of them are from within the last year gushing about how wonderful and clean it was, you can probably dismiss the 50 people bitching about bad food and the rude girl at the front desk.

    *I felt sorry for my husband before I met him. Take a number.*
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  • Agree with PP about Trip Advisor.  I became really nervous after we booked our honeymoon because of the (rare) reviews that talked about horrible experiences at the resort where we are staying.  But the way I finally "saw the light" was when I looked up some places that we have stayed recently and loved - that gave the negative reviews some perspective, and made me realize how utterly stupid some people are with the things they complain about.
  • AdeleDazeemAdeleDazeem member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    edited January 2012
    There's so much more to traveling than AIs - just throwing it out there.  If you see a hotel you like more than an AI, go there. 

    Budgeting for travel is a good skill (only spend a certain percentage of your budget on flights and hotel, do some searching for average price of meals and how much taxis cost, check into activities and see how much they cost.  In fact, this kind of stuff should be done before you go anywhere).  Then you can have a beautiful vacation anywhere in the world and not be attached to an AI.

    But, if AI is what you want, I completely agree with the other posters - take bad reviews with a grain of salt.
  • My friend did an all inclusive honeymoon outside of cancun and absolutely loved it. They have been back like 4 times since then. We are doing sabor Cozumel which seems good enough for us. The way I see it is we dont want to budget for every meal on our hm when we could be using our money to have fun. Plus endless drinks. All inclusive is the way to go. Just be careful of sandals. I haven't heard very good things about them
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_anyone-actually-nice-inclusive-trip?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:45135152-a3da-41f4-b6b6-98bee2d7ee0cPost:ea545baa-15f9-464e-8965-a7466bc6dca2">Re: Has anyone actually been on a NICE all-inclusive trip?</a>:
    [QUOTE] The way I see it is we dont want to budget for every meal on our hm when we could be using our money to have fun. Plus endless drinks. All inclusive is the way to go.
    Posted by Whtara10[/QUOTE]

    It's really not that hard to look at your budget and be mindful of money while traveling - I promise. 

    It's also kind of nice to walk by a random restaurant and say "hey - let's go eat there tonight!" instead of thinking "well, which restaurant at the hotel will be it tonight?"  I just like more freedom.  Our honeymoon hotel included breakfast and dinner and I thought that was too much.  I like reading up on the place and seeking out cool places instead of going on the same excursions with hotel people. 

    I'm a free spirit traveler.  Not everyone is and that's cool - but, I don't think there's any harm in hearing that not going AI on your honeymoon is a-okay.  There are many many many ways to travel - AI is just one one small part of that.
  • I would also like to add on to Joy's point about AI's not being for everybody. Some people want to have more freedom while traveling. I'm going to my first AI in the spring, but I've had plenty of really good vacations (And never a bad hotel experience) that weren't AI. It's just a matter of doing your research and figuring out what's best for you.

    Like I said in my PP, any hotel or resort you check on TripAdvisor is going to have positive and negative reviews. Sometimes it's a matter of a place just not being that great, others it's that there really is no pleasing everybody. So regardless of what type of trip you decide to take, just take the time to read the reviews and based on what the majority of the reviews within the last year or so have to say, you should be able to find a hotel or resort that's a good fit for you. Good luck!


    *I felt sorry for my husband before I met him. Take a number.*
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  • Ditto pps and also the rec for Secrets Maroma Beach.  If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help
  • I'm also more of a free spirited traveler and I'm ridiculously good at staying on budget, for better or for worse (ex: I spent 11 days in Rome, Florence, and Naples/Sorrento/Capri/Positano/Amalfi last year for under $1400, including airfare, transportation, hotel accomodations and food - amazing trip though!). I have never been on an all-inclusive vacation before for just that reason. I really prefer my freedom, even if that means the freedom to choose where to eat dinner on any given night. On some level, my fiance is also like this, which is why we decided to definitely not do a cruise. I'm sure a cruise would be nice, but it's just not our style.

    This will be our first big expense together as a couple, as well as our first time traveling together (except a family vacation to Florida - but you know what I mean) so the idea is to keep it as cost-effective (not cheap, but not overpriced either) and stress-free as possible.

    We are open to resorts that are not all-inclusive, but it just seems that in the Caribbean that's the best way to get the most bang for your buck.
  • The same exact thing happened to me. It drove me crazy. The best thing to do is look up past hotels you have stayed at with good experiences and see what % of people recommend it. Then from there, figure out where you want to go and know that as long as its X% or above recommend a resort, you should like it! Do not sort the reviews by worst to best and start reading. Trust me, you will get nowhere if you do lol


  • Oh and we ended up staying at Couples Negril which was very nice
  • We got caught up with TripAdvisor reviews as well and it almost made us crazy!  In the end, we chose Iberostar Grand Bavaro in Dominican Republic.  We go at the end of May, and I'm going to make a point to post reviews from an average traveler upon my return! 

    Good luck with your search and happy travels!

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  • Mexico has some great AI hotels.  FI and I went to Grand Xcaret Mexico this past Septemeber and it was great.  Trip Advisor had good and bad, but they had remodeling going on when we arrived in September.  So keep in mind that these resorts are always trying to improve.  I would only look at reviews as far back as 6 months.  We just found out that Grand Nuevo Vallarta in Porta Vallarta is brand new and just opened in Dec of 2011.  We did our research and found that we like Occidental resorts and are going to be going to the Grand Nuevo Vallarta for our HM.  I hope this helps.  There are lots of great places to go. Enjoy your HM.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_anyone-actually-nice-inclusive-trip?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:45135152-a3da-41f4-b6b6-98bee2d7ee0cPost:88dac4a6-d8d3-441e-b1f8-8972fc4b0dcc">Has anyone actually been on a NICE all-inclusive trip?</a>:
    [QUOTE]I initially assumed that we would go on our honeymoon to an all-inclusive resort somewhere in the Caribbean, but the more research I do, the worse of an idea this becomes. I have gotten into the habit of checking out every potential resort on TripAdvisor.com and I have yet to find an all-inclusive that has garnered favorable reviews. I'm not saying it isn't out there... just that I haven't stumbled upon it yet! If you have, please tell me about it! I'm not trying to be a snob or anything so I hope this isn't coming across that way. <u>So far, it just seems that there is a trade-off by way of service, cleanliness, and food quality for the all-inclusive price and I'm just afraid that we'll arrive at our super romantic once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon destination to a room with cockroaches in the sink and a broken air conditioner and a staff that couldn't care less one way or the other.</u> We're definitely willing to look at non-inclusive resorts as long as we can justify the price after paying for meals and such. Thanks for your suggestions (and warnings too!)!
    Posted by emilou02[/QUOTE]
    that can just as easily happen at a non-AI.

     

  • I went to the Royal Hideaway in Playa del Carmen in 2003 and my experience there was fantastic!! I had been to other AIs before as well and the service here was amazing.  I can't say enough great things about the place. It is owned by the Occidental which has a reputation for nicer hotels. The food was very good.

    Good luck with your search. I think HM planning is my favorite part of this whole thing. :)
  • We went to Dreams Puerto Vallarta in August 2011. We had such a good time!!! Beautiful resort and it was very affordable!
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