eileenferrier

What are the pros and cons of staying at a hotel where half board is included in the price? Does that mean I HAVE to eat there or can I still go to different restaurants. I'm a bit confused as to what it really means as far as my stay at the hotel and what is expected of me.

BATUFFOLINA

No one forces you to have dinner in the hotel you're staying in if you don't want. If one night you want to eat out, just go.

Patrick

I geneally avoid half pension (half board) like the plague. Sure you can go somewhere else and eat, but you've already paid for dinner so you fell "obligated" to stay and eat. Also even when the hotel has a really good restaurant your "included" meal is likely to be a poor selection. You may not be able to choose the best dishes from the menu. Whenever I have a choice, I turn down the half board. On the other hand it is often a real money saver if you don't really care about the "dining" experience and are content with just getting something to eat.

nancy

You don't have to eat there but you've already paid for the meal. Perhaps you could get some feedback on the hotel where staying and how good the meals are and if it's a good deal. If you like the hotel and it's location, just skip the dinners and head out on your own.

I know I have many times wished I had done that on some tours where the included meals were awful. I've often had a dim view of the food in various countries based on the hotel included food when I should have ventured out on my own.

Dave_in_Paris

It also depends to some extent on the location, the hotel restaurant and your appetite. At the Auberge de L'Anse Mitan in Martinique, we were happy to have half board because other restaurants were a drive away. At the Hotel de Carantec on the Bay of Morlay in Brittany, the half-board price included all but one item from the menu of the hotel's Michelin one-star restaurant (now a two-star) and we were VERY happy about that. If you can enjoy two fairly large meals a day without indigestion or guilt, having one of them regularly in the same dining room is less of an issue. The key matter, as usual, is what the chef is up to. Can you find reviews of the hotel's food?

Underhill

Half-board is very useful when you're staying somewhere not close to restaurants or when you don't want to drive after a meal with wine. We've taken half-board at a number of hotels with excellent restaurants and not regretted our decision, as we had the option of either lunch or dinner at the hotel. There's usually a nice cost saving as well. At each hotel/
restaurant where we took half board we had a prix-fixe meal that allowed us choices from the regular carte--no special menu.