Prior to having children Husband and I liked to holiday a lot! With two incomes and no children, we would jet off twice a year and enjoy holidays all over the World. All Inclusive holidays were some of our favourites but what’s it like now with three young children? What type of meal plan suits us better as a family?
This summer we booked a holiday at the Eden Resort in the Algarve. With a variety of meal plans to choose from ranging from self catering, B&B to fully all Inclusive we chose self catering. The main reason for our choice at the time was that Daisy suffered from an egg allergy (thankfully no longer but more on that soon) so we thought it would be easier to manage. However, we were kindly offered to try one full day of the all inclusive in return for a review of the Eden Resorts food and restaurants so who were we to resist?
Self Catering
Now I must say that what we enjoyed most about self catering was the freedom to pick between eating in and out. Yes this involved cooking on holiday but sometimes children don’t want anything fancy. Sometimes they literally just want a simple bowl of pasta with tomato sauce or a pizza.
Other things we enjoy about self catering are the way we fall into an easy routine set around meal times. This Summer we would get up when we were ready and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before starting the day. Just like at home we were able to eat in our pjs but on holiday we could sit in our pjs outside and enjoy breakfast. Later on after a fun morning we would then come back to the villa for lunch and afterwards Daisy would enjoy a little nap whilst the rest of us appreciated some quiet time.
Sometimes we enjoyed the whole dressing up and heading out for dinner in the evening whilst other times it was nice to just come back from the pool late and literally sit outside and eat in our swimsuits! You have the freedom to do whichever you choose with self catering. As a family we tend to eat quite healthily on holiday, yes we might have a few ice cream’s but overall we eat proper meals and the girls snack very little in-between. A very relaxed way of eating you can pick and choose what you feel like doing at a time that suits you.
On the flip side eating out for 5 can be expensive and soon added up. If you like to know how much you are spending it could be worth paying it all out with the price of the holiday.
All Inclusive
We really enjoyed our full day of all inclusive eating and made the most of it too. We started the day with a delicious breakfast. As you would expect there was everything from a full cooked breakfast to cereal, fruit and lovely fresh bread. The girls filled up as well and thought it was brilliant.
Usually the girls drink mostly water but on this particular day we let them have everything. They were drinking apple and orange juices mostly and loving it. We did notice they drank more than usual but they were still helping themselves to fresh water in between too. Husband and I might have even enjoyed a few shandy’s around the pool area which we would never usually do around the children and enjoyed lots of diet coke instead of the usual water too.
We were planning to have a light lunch at the pool bar but just missed it. The reason being a combination of everyone being full from breakfast and losing track of time. It didn’t matter though we headed back to the restaurant instead. There was plenty of choices again for everyone including an assortment of salads and the much loved chips too. We enjoyed a few more drinks we wouldn’t usually have and Rosie in particular enjoyed a lot of cake!
Later on in the afternoon after a busy few hours at kids club there was more food by the pool bar. Pizza, hot dogs, burgers and chips! Despite not being starving we of course had to join in. There were also little tubs of ice cream….well we needed them as well. It would have been rude not to.
Finally after more fun at the pool we headed back to the villa to shower and change ready for dinner.
At this point no-one was really hungry so we didn’t actually eat much. Daisy literally helped herself to bread and butter with a little salad followed by cake. Rosie enjoyed a very small meal which might have involved a little bit more cake. Even Poppy didn’t eat very much. We washed it all down with a few more drinks.
The night didn’t end there though because next we headed to the pool bar. It was the girls idea as they knew the kids club were doing face painting that evening. Usually in their pyjamas and winding down with stories by now we couldn’t deprive them so let them stay up a bit later. Well we needed to review the pool bar anyway!
Husband enjoyed a few more beers whilst I tried out a few of the cocktails. I can tell you the sex on the beach was pretty good although it would have been even nicer in a proper glass. I’m not keen on drinking out of a plastic cup! The girls happily played with their new friends in the playground and then had their faces painted. They even tried non alcoholic cocktails once they had finished. We didn’t stay too late but it was nice that the pool bar was close to the kids club and playground. You could really keep an eye on them. As I mentioned in my review of the Eden Resort a few fairy lights or candles would have been nice to create a bit of atmosphere around the whole area. Other than that though it was a lovely evening.
Overall there was definitely a lot of food and there appeared to be a lot of choice too! I cannot comment on what it was like over a longer period but on the day we did it there were quite a few options and they catered for vegetarians too. There was chips at every meal except breakfast but there was also plenty of salad, bread and fresh fruit to even it up as well. Everything we tasted we enjoyed.
In terms of the main restaurant we liked the fact you could eat inside or out and that it was very clean (the whole resort is very clean). The staff were all friendly and helpful. In terms of the pool bar, it had a lovely relaxed feel about it. Perfect if you can’t be bothered to get changed or move too far from the pool. We did actually eat at both during our self catering stay too.
So All Inclusive or Self Catering?
I think at this time with our children’s age groups (4,6 and 8 years) self catering suits us best.
The children don’t eat or drink enough to merit the cost plus I wasn’t comfortable with them constantly wanting more cake, chips, apple juice just because it was there! I think we were all guilty of over eating that day but wouldn’t want to do it everyday over a two week period. If you have older children, particularly those you struggle to fill up and who drink coke and lemonade etc then the all inclusive option would probably be much better value for money and I think it would be very worthwhile. Overall the food looked great and you get plenty of it.
Whilst we enjoyed the pool bar that evening we are not really the type of parents that can sit back and drink alcohol whilst the children are running around. We are much more comfortable putting them to bed and then enjoying a bottle of wine together in the garden. Another reason why we wouldn’t get value for money with the All Inclusive option at this stage.
One of the lovely things about this resort is that you really do have choices. We definitely decided a villa resort was perfect for us. Overall, for those adults with no children or families with older children we would definitely recommend giving the All Inclusive a try. However, for us personally with the girls the ages they are right now, self catering suits us better.
In case you haven’t read all about our wonderful holiday you can read about it here.
What do you think? What sort of meal plans do you enjoy? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Karen x