Arrive, hand over the car keys, stop deciding
The whole appeal of a resort week is that the decisions stop at the gate. Our job is to make sure the resort you land at is the one you were picturing.
What is an all-inclusive, really?
At its simplest: one price covering your room, all meals, snacks, drinks — alcoholic included — most non-motorised watersports, the entertainment, and the tips. You arrive, you stop reaching for a wallet, and the week costs what it said it would cost on the day you booked.
The variations are where it gets interesting, and where an agent earns their keep. Some properties include à la carte restaurants and some charge for them. Some include premium spirits and some pour the local rum. Green fees, spa treatments, scuba, motorised watersports, airport transfers and resort levies are all sometimes in and sometimes out.
- Ask about the restaurants. How many, whether they need reserving, and whether any carry a supplement.
- Check the transfer time. An hour and a half each way from the airport changes the shape of your first and last day.
- Look at the beach, not the pool. Photographs flatter. We will tell you if the swimming is rocky or the seaweed season is bad.
- Room category is not a detail. Swim-up, ocean-view and club level are often the difference between a good week and a great one.
Who is the week actually for?
Resorts are built around an assumption about their guests. Getting into the right one matters more than the star rating.
Luxury
Fewer rooms, more staff, private pools and beach clubs, and a food operation that would stand on its own outside the resort. Often includes premium spirits, speciality dining without supplements, and a butler who will handle reservations and unpacking.
Family-friendly
Supervised clubs split by age, water parks, family suites and connecting rooms, and restaurants that will feed a five-year-old at six o'clock. Look for properties that also give the adults somewhere quiet — the best family resorts do both.
Romantic & adults-only
No children on the property at all, which is a very different sound. Swim-up suites, candlelit dinners on the sand, couples' spa treatments, and honeymoon amenities that are usually free if we tell the resort why you are coming.
Book with us, and keep an advisor in your corner
Anchor Travel books Sandals and Beaches properties along with the wider all-inclusive market. Plan the trip exactly how you want it, with the security of knowing an Anchor Travel agent is looking out for you and can step in if things do not go to plan.
Call us for the flights and the airport transfers as well, so the all-inclusive part starts the moment you land rather than after you have found a taxi.
Photo credit: Sandals Halcyon Beach, St. Lucia.
Where the all-inclusives are
Let's find the right resort, not just a cheap one
Tell us who is going, when, and what would ruin the week for you. That last one is usually the most useful.