To Be or Not To Be — What kind of question is that?

I hope to make this a recurring segment for controversial personal finance issues that come up from time to time; some serious, some not so serious.

The first up is relevant to me because tomorrow, along with the Lovely Miss H, I’m heading to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, for a 4-night getaway.  So the question before us:  is it worth it to go to an all-inclusive resort?

TBONTB:  All-Inclusive Resorts

For those not sure, all-inclusive resorts typically include all your meals, entertainment, and drinks for free, except specialty entertainment, such as parasailing, or spa treatments, etc.

To Be:

All is included for one set price, so you don’t have to worry about bringing your wallet everywhere.  You don’t like the drink they just served you?  Give it back and order another one without worrying about dropping another $10 for that fruit-flavored, tasty alcoholic treat.  Want to eat a snack?  Head over to the snack hut or the buffet for a mini-meal and don’t worry about extra costs.  All your worries are left on the mainland as you chill by the beach, sipping on a margarita, catching some rays, enjoying the surf, without a care in the world.

Also, there’s usually a variety of meal options available.  Total costs for all-inclusives are not super high either, once the services, food, entertainment, and convenience options are factored in.  The one all-inclusive resort I stayed at previously (Sandals in St. Lucia), the personal service was tremendous.

Not To Be:

Regardless of the services that are ‘included’, what you are paying for is the extra convenience.  If you correctly plan out your vacation, you can get just as memorable of a trip at a fraction of the cost.  Many all-inclusive complaints from patrons are for having bland and lukewarm buffet-style food.  If you choose a non-inclusive resort, you can enjoy the cuisine on a more local level at a restaurant, and avoid the generic “touristy” option that all-inclusives provide.

Bottom line, for a more genuine experience, the non-inclusive resorts allow and encourage you to delve into the local culture and scenery more than what the all-inclusive does.

Let Us Discuss:

Well, in this instance I think it depends on what you are looking for (cop-out, I know!).  If all you want is to lounge around the beach for a few days and unwind without a care in the world, the all-inclusive might be your best bet.

If you want to have a more “active” vacation and check out more of the local cuisine, and spend much of your time away from the resort in the local town, then a non-inclusive is probably for you.

Another factor — type of all-inclusive.  I’ve been to a Sandals resort, and thought it was top-of-the-line with service, food, amenities, and entertainment.  NO regrets, but pricey.  So pricey that we also went to another off-brand all-inclusive for the first half of our trip.  It was nice to relax, but the quality of food, amenities, and entertainment was lacking compared to the pricier Sandals.

We will be staying at an Iberostar property.  Certainly not as well-known as Sandals resorts, so I’ll report back on my findings.  Financially, we feel that we found a good deal and most importantly from a personal finance point of view, we paid cash for it.  This trip’s cost won’t be coming home with us

But as it stands, when we get away to a beach, we want to relax and not think about the details.  The convenience of not having to worry about bar tabs and restaurant bills is definitely worth the couple hundred bucks you would “save” by going the non-inclusive route.

My Verdict:

For now, I’ll side with All-Inclusive firmly in the “To Be” category.  The financial savings simply do not outweigh the convenience.

Others have a different take on the All-Inclusive debate.  What do you say?  Is an all-inclusive resort worth it to you?  What factors do you consider in making  your decision?

Photo by Battle Group, Mar Hotels, Majestic-Resorts

To Be or Not To Be all inclusive, Mexico, Vacation

WHAT’S ON TAP THIS WEEK?

I’m in the middle of a very busy stretch of life these days, some of it planned & some of it not!  Here’s a few QuickHits to give you an idea of what’s on my mind, and what I plan on blogging about this week.  Take a look and enjoy!

Pet Insurance

As I wrote about last week, one of my dogs swallowed an entire sock, had to have surgery to remove it, and may force the use of our emergency fund this week.  While I was at the vet spending my future kids’ college fund to save my dog’s life, I picked up some brochures on pet insurance.

So to briefly continue my pet-related theme here at MyMoneyMinute, I’d like to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of purchasing pet insurance vs. self-insuring through these times of calamity with our furry loved ones.  I guess that’s the beauty of blogging — you never know what life will throw at you (or in this case, what it will swallow).  So you get to adapt with me in these quick changes in life!  A scripted life would be quite boring anyway, wouldn’t it?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Wednesday is a landmark day in the MyMoneyMinute household, as I hit the big 3-0.  That’s right, I’ll be turning 30!  I’m sure I’ll provide some obvious self-reflection on that day, and somehow I’ll shoehorn in something that’s money-themed with it.  This may fall under the “and all that implies” part of MyMoneyMinute.  We’ll see.

Vacation to Mexico

It has been quite a while since we have been able to take a vacation that didn’t involve flying home to see family.  Don’t get me wrong, I love our families, but it will be nice for the two of us to just get away and recharge the batteries without any other responsibilities or obligations.  We’re flying off to Riviera Maya, near Cancun, on Saturday!  Four nights of all-inclusive resort bliss.  Expect a vacation-related post this week.

New Edition on Website — Find Cheap Gas!

All right, I guess I’m misleading you a bit here.  I am not interviewing New Edition, the pop group from the ’80s.  But I do have a new addition to my website.  Available on the tabs at the top of my page is a link that allows you to search for the lowest gas prices in your area, courtesy of gasbuddy.com! I’ll probably post a QuickHit on this later in the week, but feel free to navigate over and see where the lowest gas prices are in your city.

That’s about it for now.  I’m looking forward to this week’s batch of posts.  Here’s hoping it all goes according to schedule!

Photos by:

COmfH & Toots Fontaine

What's On Tap Energy, Gas, Pets, Travel, Vacation