My Verdict on All Inclusive

Club Med Cancun Room Views

I just got back from a lovely 4 day retreat to Cancun (poor me!). I love the Yucatan peninsula, beyond the beaches of Cancun to Chichén Itzá, Coba, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel… I’ve done it all and would go back a thousand times more. If you visit our Prudent Travel section, I think we’ve been to Mexico about 8 times the past two years?

Point being, I never say no to a trip to Mexico. But this particular trip I was invited by Club Med to check out their new Aguamarina family suites and soak up the all-inclusive experience at Club Med Cancún Yucatán.
Club Med Jade

Let me tell you all about it after the jump…

I admired the views from the new building, which is right on the beach. I went snorkeling along the Mesoamerican reef, which was AMAZING. I also drank quite a few margaritas while sitting and looking at the Mesoamerican reef. Because all inclusive means all your food (and the food here was great, lots of options for classic Mexican, easy American for kiddos, and a delicious Argentinian steak house) AND all of your drinks are included! I did have to special request that they not make them too sweet, but once I did, they were great.
Club Med Cancun Meso-American Reef

I also did quite a bit of relaxing. The beautiful white sand beaches and warm turquoise waters of the Caribbean are in full effect here. I could literally just sit on this beach for 10 days and not doing anything else and be totally happy.
Club Med Cancun Beach

The rooms were lovely. Each with it’s own balcony or lawn, with luxurious shaded outdoor furniture to relax on while watching sportier people have fun in the ocean. The water sports on offer include lessons (all already included in your vacation pricing) in waterskiing, wakeboarding, windsurfing, sailing, water aeorbics, snorkeling, etc. etc. etc. You can also take tennis, fitness classes, basketball, soccer, water polo, kayak and on and on. All included. I laid on the beach a lot instead, but maybe next time I will feel more sporty.
Club Med Aguamarina

The kids club for ages 4-7 is also included in your package, and it looks amazing! They have a club for tots aged 2-3 for a little extra as well. I adored the six-seater stroller’s stripey style. The kids’ club has its own pools, nap room, and tons of fun things for the little ones to get into. Every kid I saw at Club Med was grinning ear to ear.
Club Med Cancun Kids
They can even do the famous Club Med trapeze/circus classes.

The rooms in Aguamarina are beautiful, with two seperate bedrooms, one with twin beds for the kids, AND two separate bathrooms. The super lux rooms in the “5-Trident” super lux space, Jade, were also beautiful. The pool at Jade was just stunning. There are so many beautiful outdoor nooks and crannies to relax in at Club Med Cancún, I kept finding new ones around every bend.
Club Med Cancun Jade

My favorite were what I called the “secret hammock gardens.”
Club Med Cancun Relaxing

My verdict on all-inclusive is this: I would like to visit one with my family, I think it would be a great way to relax and have fun together. You can take some excursions to local historical sites from the resort, but I don’t think it’s really designed for that type of vacation. If you want to just tune out, relax, and not worry about a thing – while keeping your kids totally entertained, so you spend some quality time together (and some quality time apart), and maybe do some recreation — sports, shows, dancing – this is the way to go. And like I said, Yucatán is a pretty magical place, whether you go all-inclusive or not.

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2 Comments

Maggie

I think you’ve sold me on our winter vacay this year! I need a place to decompress that will entertain my non stop energy boys and get away from the cold!

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