All-Inclusive / Alles Inklusiv

I love the concept of an all-inclusive resort. Basically, you can eat or drink whatever you want. There is usually a main buffet restaurant offering an array of food as well as smaller a la carte restaurants where you can order off a menu if you make a ‘reservation’. There are usually a number of bars open throughout the day and much of the night as well.

When Peter and I worked at TASIS, we went with the girls’ basketball team on a training trip to Malaga, Spain. We stayed at an okay hotel with the girls with a full board plan (three-meals-a-day were included, though not all drinks). The food was miserable. Three-meals-a-day of it were really more than any of us could take. I think that by the end of our time, we were mostly surviving on cold French fries in the dining room and store-bought cookies in our hotel room. All-inclusive hotel food can be pretty hit or miss.

Like everything else at Limak Lara, the all-inclusive package here is first rate. The main dining room has a phenomenal buffet with fifteen or so different serving lines/areas, all with different offerings, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We have not been disappointed with anything yet. Breakfast includes an olive bar with no fewer than eleven different kinds of olives in giant bowls followed by a dozen or so platters of feta cheese, each prepared with different vegetables, herbs, and spices. The jam area has a similar number of jams, all seemingly homemade in a thinner consistency than you find in the US, including rose jam which tastes exactly like roses – perfumey and sweet. At lunch and dinner, the choices of salads and fresh vegetables and fruits are amazing. Of course there are hot food options, and there is also a grill/wok area where food is actively being cooked in front of you. And if you aren’t full after all that, there is an immense dessert station with tiny portions so you can sample a half dozen or so.

No longer meal time? If you are thirsty during the day (or later at night), just stop by one of the half dozen or so bars scattered around the resort and order whatever you’d like. Or, if you’re in your room, grab a drink from the mini-bar which is restocked (for free) every day.

If you were here during the summer when it is high season, there would be a number of bars that also serve up snacks in the afternoon, like burgers and pizza and hot dogs. But since it’s low season, you have to simply settle for cakes, a large assortment of which are served at 4:00 pm. We’ve gone for cakes each afternoon, even though we aren’t really all that hungry. And, for the truly gluttonous, if eating and drinking all day hasn’t quite filled you up enough to keep you through the night, then you can head back to the dining room from 11:00pm to 1:00am for ‘Midnight Snack & Soup.’

Not having to think about meals or prepare meals or wash dishes is really a true vacation. And when the food is really good, it’s even a better vacation. All-inclusive at the Limak Lara is a really great vacation! It’s sort of like living at Pennington. Sort of…