Have you been on an All Inclusive in Mexico before? Tips please
 

Hiiiiiiiii errrrrbody,

I have never been on an all inclusive before and I really want to give it a go this spring break.
I get about 10 days off in March 2019 and wanted some ideas on places to go in Mexico, as it seems like the best deal for an all inclusive.

People have told me not to cheap out on resorts, is this actually the case? Is 5 star resorts ONLY? or can I do a 4 star?

I'm not a huge drinker, but i'll sip on a pina colada if it suits the mood.

Any tips or tricks would be helpful. BTW, does anyone know a travel agent? I wouldn't mind talking to one.

Thanks!

I've done two Mexican all-inclusives. There are pros and cons of each.

Hyatt Ziva - Los Cabos
On the pacific side, so the water was not that turquoise Corona commercial water.
The water is much like our water here, cold, but the undertow is for real... it will pull you under hard :-P
The resort was "small", at 3 big buildings. The room was huge and amazing (I had a balcony I could walk out to the beach on). Service was great, and the food amazing. All the restaurants were in the main building maybe 5-10 minute walk.
The pool(s) were awesome, which is where we spent our time. Massive pools, and they were VERY clean because there were folks constantly cleaning and pulling out bugs etc.
Humid AF... Went in the summer.

Bahia Grand Principe - Tulum(Riviera Maya)
The resort was massive, like a big ass community. You needed to take a shuttle everywhere, which isn't as bad as it sounds. But with kids in tow, it's best to jump on the shuttle to the restaurants.
The beaches were way better than the pacific side, nice warm water, and got to snorkel etc.
The pools, sucked IMO. Too many to count, very busy, but also pretty gross because they were not being cleaned up often. So you swam with tons of bugs.
Food, was 'ok'. Lots of options, but the quality was not as good as what I had at the Hyatt.

I stay away from travel agencies, they hose you. We always found hotel direct promos, and flights are easy to find.

Want beach? Go to the caribean side. Want a better all-inclusive experience and good pools, maybe try the pacific side. It all comes down to personal preference. Or do your research to find a resort on the caribean side that hits all the right notes.

Cabo sucks, dont bother looking there. and as said above, there are only a few places to swim in the ocean on the pacific side, If you're not a strong swimmer you can easily die in the tides of Cabo and the surrounding areas

As the above poster said, start on the caribean side and go from there. 5 stars only. The difference between 4 and 5 star resorts is typically the food, and it's worth the price difference. Generally a place that has good food and a higher end feel is going to be $1800+ for the week, but its well worth the price difference.

I'm a pretty wasteful person, who is also a heavy drinker, and even i feel like most of the all-inclusive's ive been to are disgustingly wasteful and shameful really lol..

Find the best reviewed resort you can afford with the nicest beach/rooms and try er out, All inclusives def aint for everyone

If you're not a huge drinker, an all inclusive is kind of a waste.

I've been to PV a couple times, I had much more fun staying in the PV side non-all inclusive adventuring into town and trying a different restaurant every night than I did staying in an all-inclusive on the Nuevo side.

You probably won't listen to me, but I'll agree with the sentiments above.

We've done all inclusives in Playa Del Carmen, Cuba, Jamaica, PV, and to be honest, unless you got a wicked deal, I'd never do an all inclusive again.

Sometimes all inclusives can be competitive in price because much of the resorts are owned or aligned with the actual airline (Sunwing for example), so basically your flight is subsidized due to you purchasing your hotel through the carrier.

If you can find a crazy reduced deal, then go for it. For us, I find all inclusives extremely boring, the food can be good depending on the resort, but get used to eating a lot of slop, or deal with bizarre booking rules for ala cart restaurants (like the sign up sheet being only available from 5AM-8AM, etc).

Plus you're going to another country for a reason, what fun is it being stuck on a resort eating French Fries with fat Canadians/Americans? Rent an AirBnb, or book a hotel in town, rent a car, or take a bus, and check out the restaurants, bars, beaches available to you in the area.

You'll find yourself sitting in a random beach along the way to Tulum or in Tulum where you'll be having drinks with other Mexican families, it's a much better experience IMHO.

If you do go the all inclusive route, don't bother with a travel agent. These guys have access and use the packages that you can find yourself on any site, Redtag, Kayak, etc. They are merely a middleman, and will add a bit of commission to a package you can buy yourself. I find travel agents are only handy when you're looking to book a more complicated trip that may involve different airlines, connecting flights, etc.

Have fun.

Stay inside the locked gated community.

Tourist places tend to be safer, like Cancun. my first Mexico trip. will be going again but a different area.
Resorts are the safest.

I didnt do All Inclusive, Westin Cancun and food at local restaurants are great. cheap eats/drinks also.

If your not drinking Coronas all day, do non all inclusive. The best part of Mexico is the food, and you won’t find that at an all inclusive. If you want to get high school hammered, then all the power to you.

I fucking love Mexico. I’ve been there probably 15 times (Mostly PVR, and Sayulita etc). But the fun part of Mexico is leaving your resort. It will cost you more money but it’s the experience.

If you are stuck on all inclusive, definitely find a 5 star. The difference will be the food. I’ve spent a bunch of time in Cancun (which I’m not a huge fan of, but the ocean is nice) at a nice 5 star. The food is was pretty decent (nothing to write home about) and it’s fun to order whatever you want whenever you want. I’ve also spent many weeks in Punta Mita at a nice resort where they offer all inclusive as well. The difference is, you eat at real restaurants. The all inclusive package isn’t cheap, but it’s there for convienance.

If you don’t drink, eat out at a great restaurant every night. Go for the 4.5 star, and get some cereal and fruit for the morning to save cash. Lol. Did I mention I love Mexico?!?

Thanks for the replies everyone.

A lot of you have commented on the thoughts that were in the back of my mind.
It seems like an all inclusive isn't all that people say it is.

I might have to rethink the all inclusive. Thanks for the replies

If we do a 5star resort, that'll cost us probably $4k. I think for that kind of money, we would rather go to Asia, as our dollar goes further, even if it were only for a week.

Hey did you stay at the Westin Lagunamar in Cancun? Heading there in 3 weeks for 4 days, then renting a car and driving around the Yucatan to see the "real" Mexico.

It's our 2nd trip to the country, after having visited Mexico City and Oaxaca (cultural capital). Both places were awesome and food was amazing and cheap!

I disagree with Hondaracer. Unless you want to swim in the ocean, Cabo is great. Quick direct flight and being on the peninsula, it’s more of a dry heat compared to elsewhere. Less muggy which I like. Smaller resorts so you don’t have to walk 15 minutes everywhere. The best all inclusive food I’ve ever had was at Riu Palace and I’ve been to quite a few. Excellent golf out there as well.

If you want to swim in the ocean, go around Playa Del Carmen area as Cozumel breaks waves like Vancouver island does for us so you’re basically in bath water. I spent hours in the ocean every day out there and plan to go back next time I hit Mexico. Its jungle muggy out there though..

I've been to Cabo once and had a great time as well (Stayed at the Pueblo Bonito). ATVing in the sand dunes by the old lighthouse was pretty awesome.

That was like 17 years ago, it has probably changed a ton since then.

Walking anywhere on the beach in the "Cabo san lucas" region (ie. where all the resorts are on the bottom end)

"Girls?!? Weed?!?! Coke?!?!"

fuck off already you bugs

....

I'm hitting up Playa Del Carmen in a month for my wifes 40th, I can let you know if I'd recommend or not.

I'm alright with what I paid, I'm more annoyed I have to pay $700 to board my dogs well we're gone. :( That's money that could be used towards excursions or Govt. weed.

We got our weed from the lady that was pushing the timeshares purchases.

"Is there ANYTHING I can get you guys?, ANYTHING at all?"

"Well actually, a little marijuana would make this trip a lot better"

Next day what was probably a 2 ounce bag was delivered to our suite.

Nothing better than relaxing in the sun on a mexican beach, sipping corona with a good stone going.

We got offered the coca as well... Of course most of us passed... But we did have one buddy that was Mia for a day or two :lawl:

If you've only got a week, I'd stick to Mexico.
You'd want at least two or three weeks for an Asia trip.
Plane tickets from country to country are so cheap once you're there, it'd be a real shame not to utilize that, imho.

We used to go to Mexico twice a year. Usually around the Mayan Riviera area. we always rented a car as we like to leave the resort and go find secluded beaches and cenotes. However now with the drug trade ramping up we haven't gone since late 2016. If I were to go back I wouldn't rent a car or go to those secluded beaches anymore. Wayyy too dangerous.

Try Isla Mujeres. It's basically Cancun but I'm sure the drug trade isn't hitting that tiny little island

How long did it take you to pick the seeds and sticks out to roll a joint? Hehe.

That's probably one of the worst parts of Mexico, the cartel brick weed, it's awful.

I have a friend who lives down in Playa Del Carmen who gets his hands on pretty amazing weed for Mexican standards, gets it shipped down from LA, apparently.

We were down there in May, and it honestly was one of the first times I've ever had "good" weed in Mexico.

weed shipped down from LA and mexico is sunny bright as hell?...what the fuck is this???...:seriously:

it must be risky for outdoor grows or something but the conditions in mexico should make some amazing outdoor if they knew wtf their doing.

Naw it's fine, he has stuff that is grown outside down there in Mexico as well, but it's not hydroponic. I actually grabbed some of the outdoor stuff from him as well, it was pretty good actually, definitely not like the brown cartel stuff, definitely on par with the outdoor stuff from up here.

I ended up getting an eighth of both, outdoor grown in Mexico, and hydro from LA.

Man has some balls on him, I would never have the gall to run the type of operation he does down there in Playa, especially as a deported American.. :gun:

I've had the opportunity to go to Mexico twice this year. And lucky to have stayed for free in all-inclusive resorts on both occasions. First time was in Cancun last June where I stayed at Barcelo Maya for 3 days. And I recently came back a couple of days ago from Sheraton in PV.

IMO, I would never spend the money to stay in an all inclusive resort because it's boring as hell. Food was never good. You get stale food or food that lacks seasoning, or both.

My best culinary experiences was on of some street paying 12-14 pesos for al pastor tacos.

I also don't understand the allure of staying in all-inclusive resorts just lounging around the beach drinking all day. I guess I'm not that type of traveller myself. It was when I went outside of the resorts (rented a car) where I had the most fun exploring various Cenotes in Cancun and driving to little random places.

It was the The Westin Resort & Spa that I stayed at.

I did some excursions, went to water park.. it was great.

I always ate my burrito sideways in Mexico