All-Inclusive
Resorts as a Holiday Option
By Susan Gerle
I am normally a
budget traveler when in Mexico but recently I chose to stay at an all-inclusive
4 star hotel on a short, well-deserved holiday. I had lived in the city for a
year previous to that trip and knew my way around.
I thought
staying at an all-inclusive meant a stress-free holiday but it turned out it wasn’t
as relaxing as I thought it would be. Simple
things became challenges, which surprised me. The first one was getting to the
hotel. I know the Puerto Vallarta airport well and I usually walked out the
door and got on a city bus or grabbed a cab. This time the hotel supplied
transportation. We were one of the first couples off the plane, so we had to
wait for everyone else. An hour later we finally got to the hotel, normally a
10-minute ride from the airport. Then we lined up to check into our room, there
was another ½ hour wait. But no problem, even though it was late in the
evening, copious quantities of free drinks awaited us after settling in! Of
course everyone else had the same idea so it was necessary to wait in line once
again.
The next morning
arrived far too early (8 AM) with children screaming and shouting outside our
window. Don’t get me wrong, I love children but I’ve already raised my own. A
relaxing getaway wasn’t supposed to include noisy kids in close proximity.
Our room was
right next to the kiddy pool and after explaining the situation to the desk
clerk, Jesus (pronounced hay-zues), he managed to move us from the 2nd
floor to the 9th floor. I really think the fact that I didn’t call
him the English version of his name helped. The only thing above us was the
penthouse and there were no kids around anywhere. Our new view was to die for.
Our balcony looked out over Banderas Bay and south toward the Malecon in the
downtown section. What more could we ask for?
Now that our
noise issue was solved we could venture out and soak up the sun. It’s obvious
that people who go to Mexico in the middle of winter look forward to Vitamin D
intake and warm rays. The nice thing about an all-inclusive resort was they
supplied towels and lounge chairs and even umbrellas or palapas (little woven
palm roofs that take the place of an umbrella) for the guests. It’s not
necessary to take a towel and lay on the hot sand on the beach, or so we
thought!
Before long we
ran into our next problem. There weren’t enough lounge chairs to go around. The
challenge for poolside or beach seating began early each morning. A person had
to get up at the crack of dawn in order to gain access to a coveted lounge
chair. They would lay a towel out or even put a magazine on their chair of
choice and often scoop 3 or 4 others for friends at the same time. Once their
territory was marked it was theirs for the whole day……. Even if they didn’t use
it! Because all the lounges are locked up each night, there was no possibility
of planning a chair possession after dark.
Those of us who
lulled about in our room in the early morning don’t stand a chance! The idea of
setting an alarm clock while on holidays was disgusting! What could we possibly
do to get a chair? I’m sure some people paid staff to do the dirty work for
them. After some discussion we decided we would take turns each morning to get
our coveted lounges. Believe me, by the end of each beautiful sunny day we were
glad we did!
Another
challenge at the all-inclusive in Puerto Vallarta was the lack of authentic
Mexican food on the menu. I’m used to eating my share of local fare but
obviously the hotel guests normally preferred American style food. I was
hard-pressed to find even frijoles (beans) and there wasn’t a tortilla to be
had anywhere!
There was a
little cook shack on the grounds that was open mid-afternoon. Hoping for a quesadilla, I headed over to
check it out. No luck unless I wanted
hamburgers and hotdogs!
Taking into
account all the challenges, would I consider doing an all-inclusive trip again?
Yes I would. It’s still a nice change occasionally and can certainly be very
relaxing.
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