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When planning a tropical vacation to a resort in Mexico, the Caribbean
or the Bahamas you must decide whether to go to an all-inclusive resort
or traditional hotel. At an all-inclusive resort, accommodations,
meals, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages and activities are included
in the price and paid in advance. At a traditional hotel, you pay
only the room rate and taxes and everything else is an additional cost.
You must consider your lifestyle when you make the decision to go
all-inclusive or traditional. If you plan to relax on the beach,
don't drink and choose simple salads for your meals then you may be
overspending at an all-inclusive. Each of these options have advantages
and disadvantages that are listed here.
All-Inclusive Resorts
All
inclusive vacation packages are extremely popular. This type of travel
cannot be beat for convenience and options. All-inclusive resorts
give you the ability to budget in advance for your trip and the ease of
mind that you will not overload your Visa while on vacation. In
addition, bundling everything together for one price is generally
cheaper than buying components separately.
All-Inclusive resorts are great for families, and I speak from
experience traveling with two children. They offer plenty of
planned activities for kids and adults such as exercise classes, nature
walks, games, water activities and crafts. It simplifies the
vacation because your meal choices are limited to what is available at
the resort. Most resorts offer full service snack bars that are
open in between meals for light snacks. In addition, you
don't have to worry about keeping cash on hand to tip the staff or pay
for food. Many times depending on your destination it is dangerous
to leave the resort and you will welcome having everything on site.
A possible drawback is that since you paid in advance for all meals and
drinks if you visit an off-site restaurant, you're essentially paying
twice for whatever you order. Also, there are some things at
all-inclusive resorts that will cost you extra money such as spa
treatments, some water activities, sometimes golf and off-site
sightseeing.
As of 2009, all-inclusive resorts are only available in the following
destinations: Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean, Costa Rica, Florida,
and Mexico.
Traditional Hotels
Traditional hotels or resorts, allow you to customize your vacation to
your own preferences. Although it harder to budget for this type
of vacation you will only pay for what you use since the upfront costs
only cover your lodging. You will need to keep money in your
pocket and keep an eye on the budget during this trip because you can
not always anticipate what you might spend on meals and excursions
You
will have more options for dining and you are not obligated to use the
hotel/resort restaurants. It is a great option if you want to explore
the destination and experience the local features of the area.
Traditional
hotels and resorts can be found all over the world whereas all-inclusive
resorts are limited to certain locations.
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