Thinking of taking my adult (20s) kids to an all inclusive this summer. We’ve done cruises sonwewanted to try just one island / place instead.
Any recommendations? Price matters - but don’t want the red roof in.
I've used godreamvacations.com, which coordinates deals with Apple Vacations. I've used them a bunch of times...Punta Cana Dom Rep (Iberostar, RIU Palace), Santo Domingo Dom Rep (former Hilton All-Incl), Puerto Plata Dom Rep (Iberostar Costa Dorado, RIU Bachata, and aformer Hilton All-Incl), Cancun Mex (Moon Palace), Cozumel (El Cozumeleno), Riviera May Mex (Dreams Tulum), Panama (RIU Playa Blanca), and Jamaica (Iberostar Rose Hall). My kids were a but younger except for Panama.
Moon Palace was the largest with more things to do than the other places (Golf on site), many restaurants (however, all food was bland), wasn't impressed with beach itself but a lot of pools. Moon Palace, and the Palace resorts in the Cancun / Riviera Maya area had a bussing system to take you between their hotels, if you wanted to try a restaurant or beach at another one of their site. We went to Beach Palace in Cancun and spent a good part of the day there...walked across the street to a few bars (Carlo's and Charlies or something like that). Not sure if they are still the same company, but they owned the Wet & Wild water park just outside of Cancun...which they provided free entry / access for those that stayed at Moon Palace. The Wet & Wild also had an area that included all food and drinks just by showing them your Moon Palace wrist band.
Iberostar by far had the best restaurants / food. Pool and beaches nice at all Iberostar places, had a lot of ocean options (scuba, snorkeling, excursions). The Puerto Plata site my favorite although not very large site. We went their 2x. The people working the entertainment at Iberostar were great...they were always engaging, getting you to join in activities, whether it be Volleyball, some sort of obstacle courses, etc. Also had a great outdoor shipwreck party with BBQ on the beach. Even cooked a giant pan of Seafood Paella with Lobsters, etc., beach competitions, etc.
RIU's seemed to be sort of cookie cutter similarity at all sites...looked really nice, food just ok, pool and beaches nice at all RIU places, had a lot of ocean options (scuba, snorkeling, excursions).
El Cozumeleno was the smallest All-Incl I've been to...one site down restaurant, but brought a lot of single $s for tipping...and they went all out for us. One night they didn't have any interesting desserts, so I asked waiter if they could make some sort of flambé dessert. They did some show with it at my table...I left him a $10 tip. Next night everybody was asking for something flambé....I felt bad, so I wasn't going to order anything special. The waiter then told me he could make a different type of flambé. So, I went with it and tipped him another $10 (note this was like 1999). Activities were great...golf right next door, easy to rent a car to travel the island or taxi. Cozumel known for Scuba, and Snorkeling...also went to some nice park.
Dreams Tulum was a great place...but far from Cancun and not a lot of things in area at night. Food was great, activities were good, and close to a lot of sites (Chichen Iza - spelling?, Underground Cenote which was great to go down the cave and than go swimming in the water). The grounds of the hotel were great...on a very large lot, gardens, etc.
Godreamsvacations sometimes has these 5 Apple Square deals....where you basically sign up for a vacation but you won't know which all-inclusive resort they'll put you in until you arrive at the local airport. They guarantee a 5 Apple rated resort...which is not quite 5 star US standard, but the top tier that they have, We did it once, and got placed in the Dreams Tulum site. We were very pleased with it...and I've been wanting to try a 5 Apple Square deal again.
