My stay at an all-inclusive in Crete
From the outset, I should make it clear this is my view, and doesn’t represent the views of my travel companions. I am sharing my feelings not to judge, but to explain why I feel the way I do.
I liked the location of the stay; a two-minute walk to a sandy beach with warm, clear water – and it wasn’t crowded. The rooms were comfortable and the food was generally good quality and varied, with plenty of Greek or Cretan options. To their credit, the staff remained very friendly, even when looking after a large volume of guests.
I can certainly see positives of these types of stays for people with stressful lives and want to take a break from their demanding routine. Particularly those with young children, who can have them fed without effort, and entertained easily in a safe environment. I can also understand some people on holiday simply enjoy chilling out, not exerting themselves, for example, by searching for a suitable place to eat every night.
Each mealtime, however, I felt I was missing the opportunity to seek out a different eatery. I’m aware in many popular destinations there will be restaurants designed to cater for tourists, that may not serve authentic cuisine as locals might do. So, generic menus can dominate a city’s hotspots, likely offering a similar dining experience as a resort.
Beyond the main square of a city, though – down quieter streets, or in the undisturbed neighbours, you are more likely to find local offerings and taste food the locals in the city enjoy. The food that isn’t designed for tourists and, will give you the real taste of local delicacies. I find that these are more distinct because they stay true to the traditional recipes, which makes it noticeably different to the food you get back home. Discovering new cuisines is fun and enriching, with new tastes, and new ideas for cooking back home. The dishes are, more often than not, delicious.
A secondary point on food at all-inclusive resorts is that, in being served food in the same location for breakfast, lunch and dinner, gives limited the time spent away from the accommodation. If food is included in the price you are likely to want your money’s worth by eating there. Coming back for mealtimes was stifling, restricting, and limited my experience.
As a counter example, in the two nights before Chania, we stayed in two different seaside destinations. Between the two, we took a 45-minute ferry ride and hiked for two hours along a beautiful coastal trail. On both days, we were able to lie on the beach, swim in the sea, and enjoy good food. Exploring and relaxing can be combined. In fact, relaxing after some exertion may even enhance the former. A holiday focused on convenience isn’t the only way to relax.
From my perspective, I only have limited time to explore the destination I’m in. I want to see as much of it as possible. If that means extra walking, additional time spent looking for food, more bus or train journeys, unpacking and repacking my bags several times, I will happily sacrifice a little inconvenience to maximise what I see on holiday.
Ironically, I also found the resort less quiet than our previous accommodation and, as a consequence, less relaxing. All the rooms are centred around the pool, without much to break up the noise. Families with young children and babies frequented the resort and predictably brought a lot of noise with them.
Of course, I don’t blame the children… I blame the parents. That’s a joke! I don’t begrudge families enjoying a holiday. It is completely understandable parents embrace a break from relentless parenting duties. I think these types of resort are designed for them. I don’t think they are designed for people who want to ‘travel’.
If these types of places aren’t designed for me, then, you may ask why I even have an opinion on them. The last point I will make, then, is something that affects all of us – the environment.
Travelling itself is almost contradictory to being environmentally friendly. Unless you walk or swim everywhere. It might seem hypocritical of me, a seasoned traveller, to even bring this point up.
I think travel can live side-by-side with sustainability. The impact of travel for leisure on the overall carbon output is seen to be minimal compared to other forms of travel – largely business. Still, reducing the amount of travel we do, particularly long-haul flights, would be a benefit. And there are other steps we can take to reduce our footprint.
All-inclusive resorts serving buffets with unlimited food are, unfortunately, prioritising availability over waste. There is leftover food three times a day. And I can’t imagine every resort is able to prevent a significant amount of waste. Presumably, and this is where the business model is relevant, all-inclusive resorts factor in waste when pricing the stay.
Granted, all eateries are going to experience some waste. But to ensure an all-you-can-eat offering three times a day, and visibly leaving leftovers each time, is going to outweigh that of a restaurant that cooks to order. Or a restaurant that, if running low on a certain product, will say it’s unavailable, rather than having too much that goes to waste.
There are other subtler factors for these types of resorts, regarding the energy they use. For example, the constant changing of towels that may happen once or twice a day. The heating of multiple outdoor pools for guests of the resorts only (rather than a public pool), as well as large, air-conditioned reception areas and dining rooms.
I don’t expect the widespread boycott of all-inclusive resorts as a result of my experience. I am a privileged, largely responsible-free person who was a self-confessed inability to sit still. These resorts aren’t designed for me. And my dislike isn’t a judgement on those people who appreciate them. My aim is only to explain why I won’t choose to stay in an all-inclusive resort. And why I think you can get more from your trips abroad if you take the less convenient route.
In conclusion, after spending a week in Crete, I much preferred the first part when hiking and exploring. I daresay I was almost bored at the resort. I kept myself busy exploring Chania, which is nice by day and fun by night. I enjoyed swimming in the warm sea and passed time by building sand castles (I was 34 at the time of this trip, if you are wondering). But I wouldn’t come back to this style of accommodation in a hurry. I will stick to exploring new places, trying to see and experience as much as possible, and get the most out of my trips as I can.