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all-inclusive with GOOD food?

I've been to a couple of Carribean all-inclusives, and both were wonderful as far as the beach, pool, accomodations, etc. Just one complaint -- awful food! Has anyone been to an all-inclusive resort with good food?

Nope. Nice thing about going NOT all-inclusive is if you don't like the food, you can eat somewhere else next time....

Some include this destination as part of the Caribbean -- Royal Hideaway in Playa Del Carmen Mexico. Gourmet quality food, no lunch or dinner buffets. Just about the best food I have experienced including "real" restaurants in the Caribbean. Also an excellent value.

People frequently comment about bad food in AI's. However, the answer I am going to give you is that Sandals MoBay and Sandals Antigua both have good food.

Best AI with GREAT food is LeSport. This is how they do it: Breakfast: Buffet style for cereals, fruit, breads and meats, plus an egg and waffle/pancake 'station' for whatever you want made to order; or you can just get a.m. room service with a 'Cont. Brekky.' Lunch: Buffet style at the Cariblue Restaurant with wine; or a lite lunch at the on-beach deli with made to order salads or sandwiches. High Tea (~4pm): Sandwiches, cookies, cheese and crackers, snacks (pretzels, etc.) with teas, coffee and prem. liquor cocktails/beer/wine or liquers. Dinner (seating ~7:30pm): Either TAO Restaurant with menu of Carib/Asian infusion selections, complete with between course warm towels and little appetizers before the entree. Or, Cariblue Restaurant with menu selections for 3 courses and wines (usually from Chile, Spain, USA). One night there's also a typical USA BBQ with corn, burgers, steak, bbq chicken and fish, salads, and whatever drinks you want. Wednesday night is the Mgr's Reception at the spa, with hors d'ouevres and cocktails/beer/ champagne poolside (you can fill up JUST on the hors d'ouevres, really), then down to dinner. Their food is gourmet with an emphasis on healthy portions (not diner sized portions) and fresh seafood, some vegs and fruits from around the island. The 1st time we were there, for dessert there was 1 choice called 'Brown Spotted Dick and Creme.' Well, of COURSE we all had to try this one - it was delicious: Bananas flambe' in Cinnamon and Creme Fresh.... With all that eating even, I lost 7 lbs down there in 1 week...I think cause it's healthy, and with the activities and the spa, it's easy. For me, with some food allergies that react with stomach upset, this AI is a safe, sure thing, so that's why we trust it. Never disappointed yet. The sister resort in Grenada - La Source, has the same type thing. The other resort, Rendezvous in St. Lucia, has an indoor restaurant and meals are 'family style' with folks sharing tables. Wasn't OUR 'cup of tea' but many folks liked and didn't mind it.

Sandals MB haves very good food and so does Sandals St.Lucia.

The Wyndham Hotel in Aruba offers an all-inclusive plan and their restaurants are excellent and beautifully decorated. Cafe Baci has delicious italian food, Pago Pago is an upscale restaurant that serves steaks, fish--some dishes with exotic flavors, Blossoms serves Japanese and Chinese food and there are two other dining areas. Sandals Antigua also offers good dining but still not as good as the Wyndham.

Biras Creek, Virgin Gorda. While drinks are not included, all the meals are. By far -consistantly the best food I've ever had on vacation, 5 star restaurant quality at every meal.

Royal Hideaway in Playacar DOES have excellent food. I was skeptical at first, but it is gourmet. There are no buffets for dinner. The breakfast buffet is great. You can get room service 24 hours a day. Some of the food there rivals some of the best restaurants in the Caribbean. You will not be disappointed. PS The drinks are top shelf - just great!!

Going out on a limb here and throwing my hat in for the RIU and Iberostar resorts on the Mayan Riveria. The food in the specialty restaurants, in particular the Mediterranean and the Brazilian, at the Iberostar Paraiso was GREAT!

We very much enjoyed the food (and the whole vacation for that matter) at Sandals Negril. All the restuarants on site were good, as was the adults-only restaurant at Beaches up the street--a Sandal's partner. Breatfast was always a buffet, but as I recall, it too was very good.

The Royal Hideaway sounds great. I did some research on it, and the best price I could find is around $5,000 for two people, including airfare. Has anyone been able to do better than that? If so, how?

For what it's worth, the price I saw in last year's Apple Vacations catalog was $3,400 for two including airfare from O'Hare. This was a mid-range price which goes up or down depending on what time of the year you go.

jendi,We've stayed at the windjammer landing 4 times and the food is great!It's hard to please younger teens,older vegi teens 20 somethings,and parents,but the windjammer seems to do it!They have 5 restaurants to choose from.You can choose anything from steak and seafood to great pizza out of brick ovens.Great all-inclusive villa beach resort!A very rare find!