A blogger and a professional traveler presented tourists with a detailed answer to the question of whether it is worth overpaying $200-$300 to get into an “ultra all-inclusive” hotel and what you can expect there. Tourists were exposed to the realities of Ultra and Inclusive in hotels in Turkey and their differences from simple “all-inclusive”, as well as ways for Turkish hoteliers to declare an “improved” ultra concept without extraordinary expenses.
“Many tourists, by default, think that the concept of “ultra all inclusive” is better than standard “all-inclusive”. But is it so? I often rest in hotels in Turkey and I know for sure that many of their owners are very cunning,” the blogger first noted.
According to her, she is familiar with the situation when a tourist chooses a trip to Turkey and finds two hotels of approximately the same level, but one works according to the “all-inclusive” concept, the other – according to the “ultra all-inclusive” concept. “A tour to the second resort costs $200-300 more. Without understanding the details, a person buys a ticket on UAI. For example, the hotel offers imported alcohol and a nice mini-bar. I hasten to disappoint: if the hotel does not belong to the premium segment, all this may not be possible,” the blogger emphasizes.
She then cites the official difference, which is recorded in Turkish standards: the concept of ultra-all-inclusive in Turkey differs from the usual all-inclusive by extended options, including:
- Any drinks are available to guests 24 hours a day
- The room has an expanded mini-bar, which is replenished daily
- All infrastructure on the hotel’s territory is free (including hammam and sauna, billiards, tennis, etc.)
- Tourists are offered local and imported alcohol-free of charge
- A la carte restaurants with a la carte service are free
- The hotel has an extended buffet (usually with fish, seafood, European cheeses, good quality drinks)
- Intermediate meals are also expanded (not only fast food in snack bars)
- Entertainment is available to guests from morning to evening – even during a break in the animation
- Additional options are also provided at the discretion of the hotel. Among them, for example, free ordering of food and drinks to the room. Or strawberries and champagne for breakfast.
It seems attractive, if not for one small “but”: hotels are not obliged to include all points from the list in the concept and can choose only one or two. According to the blogger’s experience, in an inexpensive five-star hotel with the UAI concept, only point #1 was fully fulfilled, #2 partially (there was no daily replenishment), #5 (you can go to the restaurant only 1 time, and only by appointment) and # 6″. At the same time, she separately warned tourists that “ultra-all-inclusive” does not include free imported alcohol at all. “This is not provided for in 5* hotels from the non-premium segment. If this point is important, then read about it in the reviews of tourists,” she said.
She also highlighted several points to pay attention to, including reading reviews. “If the result refers to the expensive segment, you can be sure that your ultra all-inclusive will be “real”. But when choosing a budget “five”, you need to read the latest reviews of tourists”, – first of all, the blogger noted. Some things can be understood from the description: often the hotel does not hide that its concept is abbreviated. “Read the description carefully before booking. It may be written there that all a la carte restaurants and imported drinks in the hotel are chargeable. For example, when people write that “fish days” were only on Tuesdays, and evenings of Turkish cuisine with a lot of meat dishes – on Saturdays. And that on the rest of the days the food was not varied and with a predominance of chicken or fast food. This means that the hotel cheated a little,” the blogger explained.