All-Inclusive Resorts
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New places, new foods, new experiences -- that's the real value of an all-inclusive package. At the resorts listed here, you can choose from a variety of restaurants, activities and excursions. You can try sailboarding, kayaking, snorkeling and Jet Skiing. You can swim with sea turtles, explore a Mayan ruin or ride in a glass-bottom boat. If you've never tried plantains, passion fruit or conche, now's your chance. And if you laze away the days in a palm-shaded hammock -- well, isn't that what choice is all about?
Up Next: Number 18 -
Moevenpick Resort & Thalasso Crete
Location: Amaoudara, Crete Island, Greece
What It Includes: Sun chairs and umbrellas by the pools and on the beach are free of charge for guests. Recreational facilities also include an indoor pool, watersports, soccer pits, tennis courts, a jogging track across the resort's landscaped grounds, billiard tables and table tennis, among others. There is a daily entertainment program for children and adults, and evening shows are held at the open-air amphitheater.
Up Next: Number 17 -
Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa
Location: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
What It Includes: The large, amoeba-shaped pool is served by its own thatched swim-up bar and is surrounded by a pink-paved sundeck. At night, POP (People of Palladium) entertainment staff gets strong reviews for their performances in two amphitheaters, and the complex's 17 bars, small casino, and lively disco guarantee something for everyone. Extensive sports facilities include the to-be-expected staples such as volleyball, tennis and watercraft. Scuba diving is offered for an additional charge.
Up Next: Number 16 -
Dreams Tulum Resort & Spa
Location: Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
What It Includes: The main pool includes a swim-up bar and sits with the whirlpool alongside the beach. An adults-only pool is void of splashing children or planned activities. Chaise longues and umbrellas are plentiful. Snorkeling gear and kayaks are included, and a free scuba lesson is given in the pool. Movies are shown at night on Rooma large screen by the beach. Nightly shows are in the theater and sometimes in an open plaza. A spa, an air-conditioned gym, an Internet access lab, a lighted tennis court and free bicycle rentals complete the amenities.
Up Next: Number 15 -
Couples Swept Away
Location: Negril, Jamaica
What It Includes: One of the three whirlpools flanks the elaborate lagoon-style pool, and a security force guards the thin strip of beach. Thirsty sunbathers need only raise their flags to summon an attendant. Lounge chairs have pads that double as rafts, and the latest addition is an infinity pool. The island's largest state-of-the-art fitness center includes massages, sauna and steam rooms. Watersports are extensive, and rates include diving, waterskiing and use of boats.
Up Next: Number 14 -
Couples Ocho Rios
Location: Ocho Rios, Jamaica
What It Includes: The emphasis here is on love, leisure and sport, with free wedding services (featuring a picturesque sea-view gazebo) and extensive recreational facilities. Arrivals are wowed with a glass of champagne and refreshing cold towels, especially pleasing after a long drive from the airport. Activities include croquet, shuffleboard, horseback riding, and scuba diving. Two two-person whirlpools are in a junglelike roomsetting.
Up Next: Number 13 -
Sandals Royal Hicacos Resort & Spa
Location: Varadero, Cuba
What It Includes: The pool has its own island with an eye-popping thatched swim-up bar. Another outlet serves the beach, while the pleasant and popular lobby bar looks over the pool. A piano bar and two additional bars serve night owls. Premium grade liquors are included in room rates, unlike many competing "all-inclusives," which charge extra. Aqua-bikes, banana boats, kayaks, water-skiing and windsurfs are available on the beach, and scuba diving is included in the room rate.
Up Next: Number 12 -
Sandals Grande St Lucian Spa & Beach Resort
Location: Rodney Bay, Gros Islet, St Lucia
What It Includes: Five specialty restaurants offer Italian, French and Caribbean cuisine, and guests can serve themselves from an international buffet. A British pub adds to the variety of bars, and a billiards room, nightclub and piano bar provide entertainment during evening hours. The huge lagoon pool has a swim-up bar and is flanked by wading pools and whirlpools. Three additional pools are on the premises. The full-service European spa offers massages, facials and wraps.
Up Next: Number 11 -
Sandals Whitehouse European Village / Spa
Location: Whitehouse, Jamaica
What It Includes: The hotel has six bars, including a piano bar and a theater bar, Le Cabaret, where nightly live shows entertain guests with anything from steel-pan music to limbo floorshows. A disco opens nightly, as well. Bars also include a tiled swim-up option in the main pool and supply beverages for all eateries, but the towering wine rack at Giuseppe's is the most impressive. The 2-mile-long beach is perfect for leisurely walks, and nonmotorized watersports are plentiful.
Up Next: Number 10 -
Excellence Riviera Cancun
Location: Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
What It Includes: The beach is ample and sandy. Those preferring the pool have six options, three of which are heated in winter. The central pool is a zero-entry affair backing the beach. The nine bars throughout -- including a swim-up -- serve premium liquor. A spa located on a small island surrounded by a swimming pool provides a variety of services and has its own health bar nearby. Guests have access to free bikes, and all nonmotorized watersports are included. Diving is offered at an additional price.
Up Next: Number 9 -
Barcelo Montelimar Beach
Location: Montelimar, Nicaragua
What It Includes: The four dining options offer international cuisine. The alfresco Oceano buffet offers additional seating beachside. Two a la carte restaurants tack a surcharge onto the bills of guests staying fewer than three nights. Bars are located in the lobby, pool and casino. Two pools and a whirlpool offer aquatic relaxation. The free-form pool is large and the beach is one of the cleanest in Nicaragua. Activities include a fitness center, massage area, casino, discotheque, horseback riding, tennis and miniature golf.
Up Next: Number 8 -
Kanantik Reef & Jungle Resort
Location: Dangriga, Belize
What It Includes: Situated on 300 acres of jungle at the end of a sand-covered road, it is one of the few resorts that combine a beautiful beach and jungle immersion. All meals are taken in a palapa-roofed pavilion from a menu of Italian and Caribbean choices that changes daily. The red tamarind wood bar, under yet another thatched dome, features homemade wooden furniture. A modest, free-form pool with an accompanying whirlpool gives guests an alternative to the sea. Entertainment is limited to a weekly visit by some Garifuna dancers.
Up Next: Number 7 -
Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort & Spa
Location: Providenciales, Turks & Caicos
What It Includes: A palm-lined drive leads to a complex of pink West Indian-style structures tucked into tropical gardens. Arrivals are welcomed with cold towels and tropical punch. After dinner, rake and scrape, reggae, limbo and talent quests keep evenings lively. The property has five freshwater pools (including two children's pools) -- some feature waterfalls and swim-up bars. The dive shop offers courses, with two tank dives included in the rates, but certification and an introductory resort course are extra.
Up Next: Number 6 -
Vallarta Palace
Location: Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico
What It Includes: The expansive pool area comprises a lagoon-style plunge crossed by bridges, as well as a smaller second pool. A poolside palapa bar joins the one in the lobby, serving snacks, drinks, and disco music after dark. Also on hand are two whirlpools, a gym and sauna, a gigantic chessboard, and a large sunken amphitheater. Activities included are sailing, kayaking, sailboarding, tennis, volleyball, basketball, soccer, badminton, minigolf, shuffleboard, all-terrain tours and aerobics. Theme nights are held on the beach and poolside.
Up Next: Number 5 -
Breezes Curacao Resort, Spa & Casino
Location: Willemstad, Curacao
What It Includes: There are three pools, a beach, diving (and diving instruction), tennis and shuffleboard courts, watersports, and rock-climbing lessons on an artificial mountain. Divers are offered one complimentary shore dive a day. Other activities includes hourly games, and fun at the pools and beach, ranging from aqua aerobics to salsa lessons to bingo. Nightlife focuses on the casino, but one bar transforms into a karaoke spot, and the disco stays open late. Weddings are arranged on site for no extra charge.
Up Next: Number 4 -
Dreams Cancun Resort & Spa
Location: Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico
What It Includes: Though the hotel perches on a rocky peninsula, the side harbors a beach with shallow water and a watersports pier -- a perfect place to learn sailboarding and kayaking. Guests can swim with mullets and the occasional turtle in the small sea-fed lagoon that laps the buildings. At its dolphin complex, the resort conducts a program in conjunction with the Via Delphi Institute that lets guests swim with dolphins and learn about the creatures through educational programs.
Up Next: Number 3 -
Grotto Bay Beach Resort
Location: Hamilton Parish, Hamilton, Bermuda
What It Includes: The heated pool and more secluded whirlpool overlook the bay. Two caves are on the property: One is a stop on a sightseeing tour, the other a swimming hole for guests, who also swim at two cove beaches. The private dock functions as the watersports center, renting equipment and offering rides in a large glass-bottom excursion boat. A sunken wreck off the beach makes for great snorkeling.
Up Next: Number 2 -
Beaches Negril Resort & Spa
Location: Negril, Jamaica
What It Includes: Every night has a theme, and the bandstand on the sand hosts parties, barbecues and dances. The lobby, piano, safari and swim-up bars are but a few of the thirst-quenching outlets. The beach bustles with watersports and scuba diving is included in package rates. Most guests relegate themselves to the furnished pool decks for sunbathing or reading under umbrellas, only a few feet from snacks and a bar. A lazy river ebbs and flows with its own tide, floating guests in rubber rafts.
Up Next: Number 1 -
Paradisus Playa Conchal
Location: Santa Cruz, Costa Rica
What It Includes: The property borders the pristine white-sand Conchal Beach. It contains the multi-award-winning championship Reserva Conchal Golf Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. Laid out amongst this property's tropical gardens and fountains are a village of shops, lakes that draw waterfowl, and a lagoon-style swimming pool. Scattered throughout the property are six bars (two swim-up); seven a la carte restaurants, one snack bar, and two buffet restaurants.
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