My family of 8 spent $25,000 on an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. We ended up disappointed.

24.12.2024 - 10:05 / insider.com

In August, I traveled from the UK to Mexico for a two-week vacation with my extended family of eight.

We stayed at The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences, an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen that has five pools, 11 restaurants, and a spa.

We previously vacationed at the same resort in 2016 and loved it so much that we decided to stay there again on this trip for my uncle's 60th birthday.

But this time around, the hotel didn't meet all of our expectations and I would now think twice about booking an all-inclusive resort.

Our group of eight collectively paid at least £19,494, or around $25,434, for our two-week package vacation, which included flights from the UK.

Next time, I'd rather spend my money on an Airbnb or a different hotel that can better accommodate large groups.

Half of my extended family lives in England, while my parents, my partner, and I live in Scotland.

We each booked the trip separately since we were traveling from different locations and had slightly different budgets.

My partner and I paid £4,394, or around $5,732, for our portion of the trip through TUI, a travel group that specializes in package vacations.

The price included our round-trip flights from Glasgow to Cancún, airport transfers, and our standard room at The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences with all food and drinks included.

Our standard room was supposed to have a king-sized bed, a bathroom, and a shower. But when we arrived, we noticed two single beds with a dresser between them.

We told reception about the issue, and to their credit, we were upgraded to a suite the following day for no extra cost.

Our suite had a king-sized bed, an open-plan living room and kitchen with two flatscreen TVs, and a balcony that overlooked the pool below.

This is the same type of suite that my parents booked, which cost an additional £500, or around $652.

We were delighted with the free upgrade; the resort more than made up for the mix-up.

The resort's restaurants were vast, ranging from Mexican to Italian and Mediterranean food.

During our stay in 2016, there was a booking system for guests to reserve dinner each night. We never had an issue getting a reservation, despite the fact that there were nine of us.

When eight of us returned in August, we found out that the booking system had been scrapped, and guests were now required to show up without a booking.

We were probably impacted more than other guests because we were a large group. Sometimes, we had to wait in long lines, or we were asked to come back later. On one occasion, we had to wait for two hours to get a table for dinner.

We didn't have to wait as long for lunch, but this was because we were often asked to dine separately at two tables of four.

The only meal that