My husband and I recently enjoyed a three-day getaway to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica, alone. Since neither of us had traveled to an all-inclusive resort we decided to take a trip in February and enjoy a few days of sun, alone time and tasty food.
Normally, our travel involves a triathlon for my husband, a trip with the kids or a trip to visit family since neither of us has family in Wisconsin.
We travel across the U.S. and Europe for my husband’s races, which is awesome, but it is also exhausting and he is focused on racing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great and we see awesome places, but every few years I want a vacation with no race, no kids and no family visits!
We enjoyed the time together, but we won’t travel to an all-inclusive resort again unless the kids join us. I think an all-inclusive is great with kids, but for two adults who don’t drink a lot and we don’t eat until we need to unbutton our pants, the resort probably made a few bucks off us!
All-Inclusive Resort Pros:
- It’s easy to get to most all-inclusive resorts if you fly from a major airport hub.
- The food was amazing! We didn’t have one bad meal at our all-inclusive resort and we were able to try so many Jamaican delicacies. I took a cooking class at the resort and came home with a couple of recipes.
- You can eat healthy if you want to at an all-inclusive resort. There are so many options and the meals are normal-sized, not huge American sized portions (except for the buffet).
- Our resort had a fresh juice bar. I loved all the fresh-squeezed fruit and vegetable juices.
- The beaches in Jamaica were nice and clean. We loved the resort option of the beach or the pool. Our resort even had a small waterpark, which was fun for adults as well!
- Staff are great at an all-inclusive resort. They care that you’re there and they will go above and beyond to make sure you have a good experience.
- Since the kids didn’t travel with us, we didn’t use the kid zone or teen zone, but it’s a great option for the kids, as well as the afternoon ice cream, kid dance parties and large variety of food for all picky eaters!
All-Inclusive Resort Cons:
- If you don’t like being on a cruise ship, I don’t suggest an all-inclusive resort, which is like a land cruise. They have all the kitschy pool games, drinking games, etc. Our resort had the option of a beach away from all the noise, which was great.
- We don’t drink a lot. I don’t think paying the all-inclusive price was worth our while!
- And speaking of drinking, there were so many drunk people walking around!
- Unless you drink, there isn’t much to do after dinner. There was live music, which was nice for a couple of nights. Jamaica was a location where we didn’t want to leave the resort in the evenings, so on the upside, it meant more alone time!
- They had rules in some instances and in other instances, there were no rules (clearly for liability purposes). No swimming when the red flag was out, but you could swim at night when no lifeguards were present.
- If you don’t want to be kept up late at night from music or loud people, ask for a room away from the pool!
We had a great time together reconnecting, relaxing, catching up on our reading, and I enjoyed hours of zoning out watching the ocean waves. But not all trips are created equal and we’ll opt for something different in the future. You may love an all-inclusive resort and think I’m crazy. You may hate traveling to Europe, which I think is crazy, but that is why so many different travel options exist…we all like something different and that’s what makes the world great!
Have you stayed at an all-inclusive resort? Did you love it? Hate it? Tell us in the comments!
