Head Tale

A few years back, I did a post where I listed 10 things that were important to us when selecting an all-inclusive resort for our vacations.

That list, in no particular order, included the following:

• Multiple/big pools
• Decent, non-repetitive food
• Beautiful beach
• Unique bars
• Kids Club
• Oceanview Room
• A la carte restaurants
• Wifi
• Nearby city/attractions
• Swim-up bars

Obviously, it’s pretty hard to find a resort that hits all of these notes at a high level (our most recent, Moon Palace Cancun, may have come closest but it also had a pretty bad beach which is something we rank highly. Hmm, maybe I should go back and add some sort of three point scale of “factor multipliers” to show how important each of these categories are – “Good Beach = critical, Swim-up bars = important, nearby city = nice to have”.

Anyhow, now that we’ve been on a few more trips and also because our family’s getting older and what we look for is changing, I thought I’d update my original list with “10 (More) Things We Look For In An All-Inclusive”.

1. Room Service
We’ve had a couple resorts in the last few years that offered room service and it was a nice option, whether you wanted breakfast in bed or a late night snack.  Moon Palace went above and beyond – 24-hour room service for no extra charge with the extensive menus displayed on the in-room smart TVs plus a menu card you could leave out on your door to guarantee delivery of breakfast the next morning at a time of your choosing!  (We may have overdone it the first time we used it when the person delivering our food observed “That’s a pretty big order!”)

2. Teen Club
Pace is 10-going-on-11 so he’s a pre-teen which means that a lot of the features of a Teen Club are going to appeal to him more than a Kids Club.  (Interesting side note: there was a lot of online discussion about the Moon Palace Teen Clubs being listed as for 13-17 year olds and how that should be enforced, if at all.  Ironically, some of the discussion/inquiries/complaints may have played a part in the Moon Palace removing the “Teen” designation from their clubs entirely to make it open for all kids.)

3. Good Balcony
You don’t spend a lot of time in your room but if you want somewhere to sit for morning coffee, if you’re having some quiet time in the afternoon, or for a night cap, it’s nice to have a spacious balcony with comfortable chairs, at least a small table, and hopefully room for more than a couple people.

4. Waterslides/Water Park
I used to think it was silly to pick a resort that had a water park since I always figured spending time between the beach and the pool was sufficient for anyone’s water fun needs.  But again, with the kids getting older, I’ve come to appreciate how enjoyable it can be to have a water park for them to play in as well.  Unfortunately, the gigantic water slides at The Grand at Moon Palace weren’t operational during our visit.  Luckily, we knew this in advance, we knew parts of the park were working (lazy river, small wave pool, kids play area) and we’d also been to another resort – Sandos Caracol – just last year that had fairly decent water slides so it wasn’t that disappointing.  With that said, the lack of a functioning water park probably also played a role in our decision not to upgrade to The Grand for our second week.

5. In-Pool Lounger Chairs
There’s probably a better name for this but whatever they’re called, I love resorts that have pools with lips where chairs can sit submerged in a few inches of water, allowing you to splash water on yourself to keep cool and providing direct access to the pool when you want to go for a dip.

6. Spa
I’m not a big spa kinda guy but if the price is right, I might go for a relaxing massage at some point during a holiday.  I’ve also been a fan of a couple resorts we went to that allowed adults access to some parts of the spa – whirlpools and cascading waterfalls and so on – even without booking any other services.

7. Unique A La Cartes
In my last list, I mentioned a good selection of a la cartes as something I wanted in an all-inclusive resort.  I’ll go one further on this updated list and say that I will also lean towards picking a resort that offers something beyond the usual mix of Mexican/Italian/Brazilian/Japanese Teppanyaki/Seafood that you get at most resorts.  Last year, we went to Sandos Caracol Eco-Resort, which, in keeping with the theme of the resort, had a Vegan restaurant.  It wasn’t great but it was different and memorable.  Similarly, on our trip this year, we went to a Lebanese restaurant and it was the best meal of our trip.  We didn’t get to try a couple other unique ones at Moon Palace but they also offered a Peruvian and one that I think was more specialized in regional cuisine of the local area of Mexico.

8. High Quality of Service
Good customer service principles are universal but are particularly important in a leisure-based industry like all-inclusive resorts.  So you should feel like staff are willing to do whatever they can to make sure they’re giving you the best experience possible and going out of their way to accommodate you.  This also manifests in other ways – does the resort train staff well?  Do they staff areas sufficiently?  And most importantly, are drinks served promptly? Or when you tell a bartender you’re tired of all the usual drinks and you’ll drink whatever he makes you, does he whip off something amazing you’ve never heard of like the “Mexican Butterfly” pictured below?

9. Intangibles
This is hard to describe (and in many ways, relates to that last point about “High Level of Customer Service” but to me, it’s all those little touches that show the resort has thought through creating a great experience and which are going to add up to make your vacation feel like something special.  Are you greeted with a drink/flowers/cool towel upon arrival?  Do staff bring around a tray of drinks at the poolside for people to sample?  Does the cleaning staff make towel animals in your room *and* include the stuffed animal your child bought along in their creation?  Does the server at the buffet remember how you like your coffee or the bartender get to know your preferred cocktail?  Do staff maintain the same level of service whether you tip or not?  Is the safe easy to operate and spacious?  Is there a scale to weigh your suitcase when you’re getting ready to leave?  Are walkways between buildings covered to give guests a break from the sun?  Are maps posted around the resort (and which clearly identify “You Are Here”)?  Is there also clear signage indicating times and locations for both daytime and nighttime activities? Is food in the buffet clearly labelled?  Is most signage in Spanish *and* English?  In a world where all resorts build on the same foundation of beach/pool, buffets/a la cartes, daytime/nighttime activities, what does the resort offer that you’ve never seen anywhere else?

10. Close To Airport
All things being equal, I’d prefer to be in a resort that minimizes the time spent in transit once we arrive – if you spend 2-3 hours getting to your resort after you arrive, that’s 4-6 hours of your trip, *not* spent enjoying the resort.