7 reasons why all-inclusive holidays (with children) are underestimated

As soon as a new year starts, the more nervous half of the family (for us that’s me) already feels the need to organize the summer holidays. Almost more difficult than choosing a destination is the annual fundamental decision: ‘all-inclusive’ or not.

Of course: all-inclusive holidays are not for young, childless couples or even singles. They have to discover the world, spend the night on strange couches, feel the sweet smell of freedom and realize that even abroad you cannot get out of your skin.

The situation is different for couples with children and young children. For them, there are a few arguments in favor of the rejected holiday – assuming that you do not catch a bad egg when booking.

Preparing a snack, brushing the children’s teeth, washing clothes, cleaning, shopping, cooking, explaining, raising children, removing lint from the washing machine sieve, remembering to take away boxes, pulling chewing gum from their hair… and earning money in between. by: the life of young families is one gauntlet of obligations. (You can find our interesting series here.)

The all-inclusive hotel is the absolute contrast. You can’t organize fewer obligations in a family group than here – you don’t even have to look for a restaurant. Fewer obligations = less stress.

Of course this also has its price: the cute little trattoria remains undiscovered. This doesn’t give you a feel for the country and its people; it’s a matter of priorities.

In addition to less stress, fewer obligations have another effect:

What is lost in everyday life at home suddenly has time here: collecting shells with the children, watching the locals play water polo, or discussing whether the young companion of the older Frenchman is the daughter or the girlfriend. Redo an activity without hearing the timer ticking. This is also a consequence of having as few obligations as possible.

Visiting restaurants with (young) children can be difficult, especially abroad. The food is not like at home and that results in a well-known protest duet: ‘Das käni nöd’ and ‘das issi nöd’. The two have the strength of Bud Spencer’s fists – and usually result in, “I just want fries and Ćevapčići.”

Correct: Now educational work is needed. Again. Even on holidays.

This is made easier by a buffet. And that really offers advantages:

Reason 3: Here the children can see what they get to eat. This makes the often abstract attempts at explanation in the restaurant outdated and makes the children more willing to experiment.

Reason 4: The children can be more easily tempted/seduce into child-friendly sample portions (of generally healthy foods).

Reason 5: The meals are more varied and therefore healthier.

The same goes for electric cars. Because they are more expensive to purchase than combustion engines for the first time, they are perceived as more expensive. This is despite the fact that the higher purchase costs are quickly repaid thanks to significantly cheaper maintenance.

The situation is similar to all-inclusive holidays: the price that appears at the end of the booking is higher than normal. But if you save the costs for lunch and dinner afterwards, you usually get a cheaper price. This is mainly because, depending on the offer and price range, beer and wine are also included with the meals. Of course: no Châteauneuf-du-Pape is served. But on a warm summer evening in Sardinia, ice-cold table wine also works.

By the way, according to the experience of the author of this article: “Free alcohol” does not lead to drunken shouting guests.

An oft-quoted joke goes: Young parents need a break from the holidays. In other words, while childless employees go on holiday stressed and come back relaxed, parents go on holiday stressed – and come back even more stressed. There should at least be some truth in it.

This article is based on the experiences of my three all-inclusive vacations over the past five years. We were lucky: we were spared problems due to defects, the quality of the food, stupid guests or an unfinished facility. And so, despite having two small children, we returned deeply relaxed and with full batteries. Of course, after a few months they were empty again. But that is an other story.