well lets put it this way.the hotel i stay in now sends people to a bar for meal.if they get to hotel late and miss there evening meal.all paid for by the tour company.its all extra money for him.but what would happen if everyone went to such a bar that has been set up to take guest from a hotel.

it's a dreadful idea. AI is the lowest common denominator of tourism, second rate drinks and second rate food. any restaurant serving up that rubbish would never attract any paying customers. it's a scheme designed for poverty stricken east germans only.

sdII

Spottydog,
I usually stay at a Fiesta hotel when I go to Ibiza and can assure you that they don`t serve second rate food or drinks!!.

Being a person who occasionally does AI but mostly self catering, I don't think this is a good idea. As another poster stated, these places would be too full of AI people meaning that there would possibly be no room for the likes of paying drinkers/diners. On the other hand, it might mean less favourable service at these places for the AI guest as the restauranteur/pub owner will already have received their money thus meaning they give better service to paying customers in order to increase profits.

sorry, but anywhere where you have to queue to put your own food - which has been sizzling under hot lights for hours - on a plate, is indeed, second rate. how can you compare that to freshly prepared food brought to your table in a restaurant?

sdII

I do not like using a debit card or atm whilst on holiday,I choose to go all-inclusive so that I can take enough cash for any trips I may want to take and a few meals or drinks away from the hotel.Whilst I appreciate that all-inclusive is not to everybodys' taste I feel that some people may take offence at previous comments.

Each to their own I say.

I think AI is great for anyone who wants to sit round the pool all day and then watch the entertainment at night! It's your holiday you can do what you like! You've earnt it!
I prefer to go out and about though, seeing the sites and eating out each night! Thats why AI isn't for me!
I have however stayed Half Board in hotels that also offer AI and the food has been great. Also at the bar i seem to get served first too as I'm paying with cash!

All nice thoughts.

However... If you want Ibiza to be this lovely magical island sitting in the med, then I have to assume that you are prepared to support it.

If you want a cheap holiday in a sunny rubbish tip then by all means purchase an AI holiday and enjoy it. For the time being you will have a holiday on a beautiful island where you can walk past lovely bars, restaurants and beaches to your all inclusive experience with all your hard earned holiday money going into a bank account in Germany and nobody in Ibiza benefitting. Please go ahead and enjoy your holiday.

But don't come moaning in ten years time (or less) when Ibiza is a barren wasteland outside of the hotel complex where you have you booked your holiday at a bargain price.

When Ibiza has died because you were only interested in cheap sunshine and sangria you will all be complaining that you used to come to Ibiza and it was so fabulous but now you have to pay thousands in long haul air fares to get to the next AI destination that you are going to destroy on your search for cheap sunshine.

Ibiza is not a cheap holiday destination. The bar and restaurant owners pay rents that would make London business owners retch and the cost of stock is twice as expensive as that on the mainland as it all has to be ferried across the most expensive stretch of water in Europe before it arrives at your table.

If you are going to come to Ibiza to holiday please put something back into the local economy or the next time it might not be there.

So where do the AI hotels get all their food, local spirits,beer, maids, staff, pool boys etc? Germany?
I see what you're saying but people just won't feel guilty about going AI. They want everything in one place and they get it. I'm sure though they do go on trips around the Island and spend some moeny in the process. Like i said above it's not for me but it's exactly what some people want and like and while it's there for them they'll take it! They'd be mad not to!

We usually go AI as it suits us,we do still spend money with the locals,usually several trips out,meals,drinks,souvenirs etc.As Chivas points out not everything can be imported from Germany so there must be a fair amount of Ibizan goods and labour used.Whilst AI hotels exist they will be patronised.

I must admit I do go where possible AI, I don't use credit cards (don't have one) and like one other poster has said not keen on using ATM abroad at all, although I have with no problem, so I take cash with me for trips, gift etc I like to have meals/drinkies paid for as that is then paid for and don't have to put money aside for that with cash that I take with me. I have stayed in quite a few AI hotels and some were better than others of course, but would not say just because something is AI it's substandard food/drink/service far from it.

As far as putting something back in the country - what about the staff that are employed at these AI hotels, the caterers that delivry the fresh food veg/meat/fruit etc to the AI, the drinks that are delivered - do these not get taken into consideration?

I guess it's horses for courses really, and we all get out of holidays something different - I have S/C and mostly I am a solo traveller and it is far too expensive for me to do S/C - and for me I prefer A/I or F/B or even H/B not S/C

Spotty dog

Me thinks your comments are a bit over the top to say the least, yes everyone is entitled to their own opinion but to tar every AI hotel with the same brush is ridiculous.

We always went SC until we could no longer afford it. Every year it was costing more and more to budget for food and drink usually resulting in getting more money out while we were there or sometimes even having to put some on a credit card (obviously not good!) We now prefer to pay for our holiday upfront and know that if we want it the food and drink is taken care of. I can assure you that if you choose the right hotels like us, the food and drinks are deffo not second rate. The best food I have ever eaten has been in an AI hotel in Mexico (buffet, out of this world and mostly cooked in front of you!)

We still spend money in resort at other bars and sometimes restaurants and therefore I think it would be a great idea for the hotels to pay the restaurants if they want in some sort of dine around scheme (they do this already in some places, Sani in Greece for instance)

You also need to remember in some places AI Hotels are the lifeblood of the resorts, the locals could simply not survive without them as that is the only work to be had in those areas.

So until the prices come down in these bars and restaurants it will always be AI for me, otherwise I could not put any money into these resorts, which I am sure everyone agrees would be far worse. Lucky you if you can afford to pay the prices for the whole of your holiday!

how would and do they police the a/i in bars ect.

does it mean you names on a list.and possible your room number on it as well.how do they do it

Vouchers for meals I presume, issued by the Hotel.
The restaurant will serve up the same food as for a paying diner because their reputation is at stake, and obviously if you enjoy the meal you may go again and pay for that meal. Also word of mouth is the best advert!

Spotty Dog has gone over the top on his comments on A/I hotels. A lot of A/I hotels have a mix of people staying on dirrerent board basis, so if a person is staying half board in a A/I hotel is he or she to be regarded in the same light as Spotty Dog regards A/I customers.
Also most hotels in Spain now serve meals in a buffet style, served from under "hot lights" as Spotty Dog likes to call them. So are all these hotels in Spain serving rubbish, regardless if they are A/I hotels or not.
Also most A/I hotels serve local brands of alcohol, but so do ALL of the local bars and they will charge you extra for international brands as will a A/I hotel. If it was not for A/I hotels the Spanish hotel and tourism industry would be on its knees and a lot more hotels would be closed. A lot of Spanish bars have a lot to answer for over the past decade or so and have priced themselves out of the market by charging up to 6 Euro for a LOCAL spirit and mixer. Shame on them. (This is the same second rate drink that Spotty Dog refers to)
A/I hotels have provided many people with holidays that they could other wise have not been able to afford, so Spain is the richer for them.
Wise up Spotty dog

Well said,BIG RED

Also most hotels in Spain now serve meals in a buffet style, served from under "hot lights" as Spotty Dog likes to call them. So are all these hotels in Spain serving rubbish, regardless if they are A/I hotels or not.

you forgot to mention that most hotels now have show cooking.so food is cooked infront of you fresh.

i have stayed in hotels that offer any board you fancy.but i go h/b.i don;t spend 18+ euro;s a day on drinks nor food for lunch.you know there are options on a/i.either the drinks or inc snacks and lunch.you seen what the fiesta group offer now.5 options.started last year.prices are from 2009

http://www.fiestahotelgroup.com/UserFiles/File/CondicionesAI/2009/20090715FiestaHotelGroupIbizaTodoIncluido2009ENOK.pdf

apologies for the late reply but i've been on holiday myself. i stayed in a hotel with its own restaurant, with a menu, where if you wanted to eat there, you ordered what you wanted and a waiter brought it to your table. there are thousands of these hotels all over spain which serve decent food and real drinks. big red's assertion that almost all spanish hotels are buffet style is an exageration.

woody's show cooking example does nothing for the cause of AI - you still have to get up mid-meal to serve yourself.

mexico is not ibiza. AI in the third world was devised so guests wouldn't be at the mercy of water or rat borne diseases and gun toting yardies still prevalent in those countries.

the difference in bars serving up cheap local chemicals and your hotel is that, you have not paid for anything up front in a bar and can go and choose one that serves the real stuff. luckily there are still hundreds in ibiza, but there may not be soon.

i can't see why €6 is considered expensive for a real drink. You get 3 or 4 times more in a glass than a british measure and whole bottle of mixer to go with it - not a squirt from a dispenser.

I still stand by my original point which concerns 'all incusive all around' which is that any bar or restaurant serving up second rate stuff will not get any paying customers.