i think you need to do research on the all inc hotels you are interested in first, as some are good value others not, im going to one in a few weeks and its got brilliant reports its called letoonia and a lot of international brands are included too which is good for me as i dont drink many things so being fussy on drinks usually is a problem on all incs. I find it very handy with children, ie if they spill their drink or it gets hot in the sun, fly lands in it etc they can get another, also they usually have good kids clubs, although i use all incs a fair bit i still eat out some of the time as i feel i have got my monies worth anyway. if you get a free child there isnt always a huge difference between all incs and sc and if you work it out and the difference is around £300 for example for 2 weeks theres no way i could feed 3 of us with drinks etc for that difference, thats usually how i work it out. the best thing to do is read as many reviews as you can and also ask people on here any questions and you should make the right decision. another good point is a lot of all inclusives have their own private beach and some water sports are included free, the entertainment is usually better so there are a lot of plus points, again the holiday camp aspect depends on hotel you choose, ive had a lot of great all ins and some not so good, the last being at easter a 5 star and that was bad but i went to it out of season and they obviously cut corners on the food, so have a good look around

ooooooooooo tough one!

i have done all inc before to spain, and i have to say although it is certainly value for money with 2 teenage kids, i dont like it

i would never go AI to turkey, as part of the holiday is meeting the locals and finding wonderful places to eat.

i find the food in al can get repetative, and you tend to get what you pay for, but for me turkey is about the turkish hospitality, and there friendlyness, i would only ever go b&b or self catering.

but that is just my opinion, i am sure you will get others.

The beauty of an AI is the flexibility. Some days you can have breakfast and lunch then go out and not come back till midnight. Another you might want breakfast then go out all day and take a lateish dinner. You also might want to be completely hotel based some days. You can just do what you feel like.

Most AI's that I have priced up in Turkey only seem to be about 300 pounds more than a one bedroomed apartment. :shock:.

You must do what Karen suggests though and research thoroughly. The food can get repetative, but then finding a different place to eat every night can also be a chore, especially with kids in tow. If you find a good place one night and then the next night the place you choose the food is you feel dissapointed.

I think unless you go really upmarket, you have to assume the drinks will be locally produced alcohols and soft drinks, but then you often get served these in local bars anyway and have to pay extra for premium products. It's just economics.

The swimming pools always seem better, than those in apartments. I suppose its a matter of priorities and personal taste really. As with everything there are good and bad.

The swimming pools always seem better, than those in apartments. I suppose its a matter of priorities and personal taste really.

Yeah that is exactly it and

i would never go AI to turkey, as part of the holiday is meeting the locals and finding wonderful places to eat.

I agree, there is nothing more personal than meeting everyone then going back year after year and they all recognise you straight away - you would never get that in England, they're like you're family! Well after all it is like your second home ... I wouldn't go AI either and like you said first thing - if you don't like the food then you have to spend your spending money on buying extra food so unless you research it can be very chancy!

3MIN3M4

I paid £2200 for my alinclusive holiday to turkey this year for 4 of us,my friend paid £1900 for 4 self catering in turkey...she then went on to spend a further £1800 on food and drink...i think this says it all.We spend £300 and went out for meals sometimes.But like i have said in previous posts the main reason i go ai is because the kids never want to leave the hotel because all their friends are there.When the kids no longer come with us we will go back to self catering i think.It just suits us at the moment...nicole

I think the majority of the big hotels with "all" the facilities & the mega pools & that are beach front & really swish seem to be AI.

But I think AI in Turkey is so reasonable that it's not as if you've paid loads for it & have to get your monies worth. You can go AI & get all the benefits of their locations, facilities ECT & still eat out & explore local bars as & when you want.

My husband & I are booked for the Aegean Dream Resort Hotel (in Turgutreis), which has great reviews & is beach front. We got morning flights both ways, paid extra for a sea-view room. Hotel even provides beach towels, so we don't have to pack them. All for just under £1,000 for us both for two weeks leaving on 4th May (to be over there for our wedding anniversary).
This hotel is 4* & 5* rated, depending on who's review you read.

Surely SC with morning flights & a fab location & a sea-view wouldn't have been much cheaper. So we have paid very little extra for the AI.

I booked A/I for the first time last year and repeated it again this year. My main reason was that i knew where I wanted to go and that was the hotel we liked.as i travel as the lone adult with 2 children it also works out cheaper as I get slammed by under occupancy in S/C. DIY didn't work out much cheaper as i am restricted to where I can fly from. As others have said , research was key. We ate out regularly - by choice , the food was great in the hotel, went on several trips booked locally and made our own way about the region by dolmus and taxi (spent around £500 each time so happy we contributed to local economy)
Its really a personal thing - for me its worth it now, probably won't be in a few years time - not just from a financial point of view but for the freedom it gave us all to have a great holiday.The girls could go with their new friends without me looking for them as it was time to eat, have a drink of water etc as I knew they would see to themselves.
Iwent to the same hotel and resort twice - breaking the rule of a lifetime and on the second holiday we met many people in the town who remembered us from the previous year so we had the best of both worlds
Didn't feel at all like a holiday camp either

My friend and I are going all inclusive 1st october the hotal is the Crystal at Gumusluk, we have been self catering and half board before but we think A I is the better deal. three years ago we went A I to Malta and when we went out for the day they gave us a packed lunch so we did not spend much on food or drink,

We go SC by choice. 2 Ad 2 kids 14 & 16. We have to go the first 2 weeks of the school holidays and have to be back by the Monday for work. I have just priced AI with Eclipse for 2007 and it averages 3300, SC is around 2200. I have booked to go SC (DIY) for 1600 including apt, flight, insurance and transfer. We usully spend between 800 & 1000 on food, drink, trips and goodies to bring back so that for me makes the decision easy. Perhaps when the kids don't come with us we will try AI but at the moment its better for us to SC. When the children were younger we used do half board (no AI in them days) but as soon as the eldest hit 12 the prices jump up. As has been said, price everything up catering for the way you like to spend you holiday so that you can work out a total price either way. Then you can make an informed choice. Part of our holiday is enjoing and choosing different restaurants every night, which my husband says he wouldn't do if we were AI as he says "I have paid for it so I will make use of it" not my way of thinking but I can see what he means. Hope this helps Di.

It's funny you saying you will do ai when the kids dont come with you wolvo as we will more likely go self catering when the kids dont come with us....nicole

the problem is her kids are 14 and 16 and normally classed as adults for all incs so that would make a big difference to the price having to pay for 4 adults, i also go sc when my older kids come although thats rare now, saying that ive been on 1 all inc this year and 3 sc and going on another all inc next month , on 2 of the holidays my 16 year old came with us so we went sc, the only all inc ive had this year and the 1 next month im taking only my 6 year old with us

Next summer is the last one my youngest will be considered a child for AI purposes as he will be 12. I guess after that when I am paying for 4 adults I may have to rethink my strategy. It's a shame really as I have only just discovered the benefits of going AI after years of SC apartments, hire cars and eating out.

morning chris, ive booked flights for next summer now instead of an all inc, xl had up 20% off next summer flights and with the tesco code i got another £20 pp off, decided to go back to akyaka as ellie made friends with a family that stay there for 6 weeks so that will be good, part of me is sad i cancelled the all inc although reading up on the recent reviews im glad, one of my friends is going there next month he got a last min deal i have warned him but hes still going be interesting to see what he says ,hope i havent made the wrong decision lol
, even though i have my own apartment in turkey and have no accommodation to pay for sometimes all inclusives still work out cheaper, hence shopping around so much, all incs are better value for me out of the main peak season, at easter we paid £650 for 3 of us all inc, now if i had booked my own flights ,paid for trans and with the cost of food and drink for a week staying in my apt would have been a lot more than £650

karen

Morning Karen

Back to Turkey then. Morocco will have to wait until you can find a hotel with better reviews. LOL

I think next summer I will do one more All Inclusive, probably Turkey or maybe Greece, while he is still a child price. But then who knows after that, I'd love to go to Akyaka, I've always liked the look of the Hotel Yucelen (think thats how you spell it LOL) thats on the seafront. Anatolia Sky do it and they have apartments as well as hotel rooms. But by then they will be 15 and 13 and it will probably be to quiet for them for a fortnight. Personally for me it would be great as I love quiet and beautiful settings.

my 16 yr son came with us this year with his mate and they were fine, they used to wonder off on their own play pool, go in the sea, chat to the bar staff, there is an open air cinema, boat trips along the riverside and sea etc so there are some things to do, our apt is near this hotel which i thought prices were good and this hotel was lovely , friendly staff, pretty gardens etc

http://www.idymahotel.com/en/default.asp

3 weeks tomorrow for letoonia really excited

That looks lovely. I love that mugla type buliding. I can't wait to hear what you think of Letoonia, we saw it from our boat trip in July and even my husband said how nice it looked all hidden amongst the trees, and we could see the slide that went into the sea. I'm sure you'll have a great time. There aren't many AI's that do premium drinks its normally just local ones. who did you book it through is it a DIY?

yes its a diy i booked my flights through sunstarleisure they are first choice flights and were £50 each cheaper than direct with first choice ,weird i know, the hotel i booked using some of my airmiles and paying the extra and airmiles booked it through somewhere2stay.com which is the accommodation side of cosmos, i booked my trans from orange cars who are members of this site, yes it does look lovely