All-inclusive or ‘à la carte’ - which vacation is better for you and your pocketbook?

Life is about expectations.

This is certainly applicable to vacations. Choosing a vacation can be stressful.

It can be like picking a car. Once you drive it off the lot, you are stuck with it.

Recently I travelled to a Caribbean country. I won’t specifically say which one to avoid embarrassment of that country and resort. After the recommendation of a friend raving about this property and doing some “research”, I took the plunge and made the reservation for a 4.5-star all-inclusive resort.

I am fairly well travelled and have stayed at low-end hotels, 5-star hotels, cruise ships and all-inclusive resorts. Ratings are certainly subjective, but they can be useful to give you some level of expectation of your future experience.

This last vacation I took did not meet my expectations. A few incidents one can overlook. But issues like rooms not being made up and towels rarely changed, less than warm food at the buffet, and lack of coffee cups at the coffee bar were only the start. As the deficiencies start to add up, it is difficult to ignore. At this point, what do you do?

When booked at an all-inclusive you feel obligated to eat and drink at the resort to get your money worth. But when you aren’t a big consumer of alcohol, is it worth it? Yes, there is the convenience, but in this instance, I felt “locked into” this resort.

My question to you: is it better when travelling to stay at a hotel and pay for drinks and meals “à la carte” or possibly the more costly price of an all-included property for the convenience? Should the level of service be less because it’s an all-inclusive and they have already received their money from the guests?

The monetary cost of a vacation can be high or low depending on your budget. But to me, it’s not about spending my money, but more importantly, spending my time.

Time can never be replaced.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Nancy Woods is senior portfolio manager and investment adviser with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. Visit her blog, “Nancy’s Notes” at nancywoods.com or send her your question to asknancy@rbc.com