All inclusive ideas
 

I am looking for a place for myself, wife, and another couple for a summer vacation. We want to go some where tropical that is not to terribly crowded. We want to do the beach, some diving and some hiking to some historical stuff. Food must be great. Price is around 4000 with flight for each couple. So that would be 8000 total. Can any of you give me some suggestions in which you have experience with? I would appreciate any help. Thanks

Welcome to Fodors. Your budget is meaningless without knowing where you are starting.

Very few people on Fodors do all-inclusives, and many great places don't have them.

You will get more responses if you pick an area - Caribbean, for instance - and post on that board.

We have never been to one, but if friend of mine always recommends and has good experience at those Sandals resorts. There are many all over the Caribbean, you just need to pick the place you want. Some get better reviews than others.

Many go to Jamaica for all inclusives.

My favorite place is St. Lucia, and I've been to most of the islands in the Caribbean and Bahamas. See JadeMountain.com

Many others swear by all inclusives in the Bahamas, with the Turks and Caicos having very luxurious resorts.

Even upscale all-inclusive hotels rarely give you "great" food. And this is just a moderate budget for a week including airfare, so I think you need to look for value or up your budget a bit and look for a really good non-AI property.

You'll find the best values in Mexico, but there are also some good AI properties in the DR and Jamaica and even Barbados that would meet your needs (though in Barbados only in the summer).

But I'd also encourage you to look at non-AI resorts. Unless you are really heavy drinkers, you may do better at a non-AI property in terms of price. But you aren't going to get a luxury resort for that kind of money.

I rarely (never?) hear "great food" and "all inclusive" together.

For best value, I'd look at the Caribbean coast of Mexico or Jamaica.

I also would try to talk you into considering non-AI. Maybe even renting a condo at the beach somewhere.

Try the Barceló resorts in the Dominican Republic. All prices ranges, age ranges, etc. We just returned and loved it!!