Among tourists from Russia and the CIS countries to last years the most popular is the rest in the beautiful - in hotels with the all-inclusive service system. Each seasoned tourist will easily tell you about the advantages of such a vacation: once you have paid and the whole vacation you can not worry whether there is enough money for the next trip to the cafe or an extra portion of alcohol in the bar. But is everything as beautiful as it seems at first glance?
Turkey is a country with its own traditions, including culinary ones. No, you will not find specific exotics in the form of fried cockroaches, ant jam or raw octopus on the Turkish buffet. But, at first glance, the simplest products are still very different from the usual way of preparation and taste. A striking example: Turks love vegetables in all their types. From raw, fried, boiled and stewed vegetables, Turkish tables are bursting in the truest sense of the word. Eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes, cabbage of all kinds are the true favorites of local chefs. They also pay attention to legumes. But what is so unusual about this, you ask? In general, nothing, if we discard the fact that all vegetables are seasoned with a spicy tomato sauce with spices unusual for our stomachs.
But not just vegetables. A separate topic is meat products. It is no secret that Turkey is a Muslim country, so you will not find pork we are used to on the Turkish table. The hotels serve mainly chicken or turkey meat, or their offal. Beef and veal are also quite rare guests here, they are served in hotels of average and high class... But in hotels of the three-star category, throughout the long-awaited vacation, you will be content with soy cutlets and the same sausage.
Another point that requires attention is Turkish soups. They do not boil cabbage soup or borscht in Turkey. The local soup is a vegetable mass chopped in a blender with the addition of spices unusual for us, or chicken broth generously thickened with flour. And not a single slice of potatoes in the soup! It's hard to imagine, but the Turks do not understand at all how something can float in the soup. What our tourist will never understand is pasta salads. Yes, yes, you heard right, it was from pasta. Boiled pasta is mixed with the same vegetables or sausage and seasoned with local unsalted mayonnaise.
What about Turkish sweets? Baklava, Turkish delight, halva? But no. You will find all this on the shelves in stores, but not on the buffet at the hotel. Here you can expect the same type of Turkish pastries and semolina puddings, generously poured with artificial honey or painted in colors of unnatural shades.
So that your holiday in Turkey is not overshadowed by stomach problems, choose what you put on your plate carefully. Don't try unknown or spicy foods. Don't attack food: an all-inclusive system does not really mean continuous overeating. And most importantly: take a carefully prepared first aid kit from home!
It should be borne in mind that every year more and more varieties of the all inclusive system are offered - Mini all inclusive, Max inclusive, Ultra All inclusive... Another nuance: Full Board is a full board, that is, breakfast + lunch + dinner, alcohol is paid separately. And the ALL system - three meals a day + local alcohol + the possibility of snacks: lunch, afternoon tea, barbecue, cocktails and snacks on the beach, night dinner. Please be aware that a hotel's star rating directly determines the characteristics of an all-inclusive meal plan.
What food options are there for hot tours?
So, if you buy an all-inclusive package with accommodation in a hotel of the category:
- 2 * or 3 *, then the service package will include three meals a day (buffet) and local drinks, you will have to pay extra for imported alcohol. In budget hotels, the most common option is the mini all inclusive service, which allows you to enjoy the service only from 10.00-21.00.
- 4 *, you can count on a plentiful table (three times a day) with an extensive menu and the possibility of an additional choice of lunch or late dinner, as well as drinks and local alcohol. The bar will be glad to see you from 7.00 to 00.00.
- 5 *, you will be able to appreciate all the advantages of the Ultra All inclusive system - these are the extended capabilities of the standard all inclusive service. Premium service is offered to guests by luxury hotels in Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab, Antalya, Alanya, Kemer and other famous resorts in Turkey and Egypt.
All inclusive
Breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet + additional meals possible, free drinks all day.
Bed & breakfast
Breakfast or buffet only
Bed & breakfast
Abbreviation for Extended Breakfast
Half board
Meals at the hotel "half board", breakfast and dinner
Most Russian tourists, going on a long-awaited vacation, prefer to have an all inclusive vacation. And it is not surprising, because having paid the cost of the tour, you can have a great time in a hotel with all the amenities and not spend anything in excess of what was paid at home.
Most often, the all-inclusive food system is offered in hotels, but sometimes it can be found in other countries. Due to the fact that there are more and more varieties of all inclusive every year, it is better to understand what is the difference between them and what is included in the “set of a vacationer”.
The essence of the concept "all inclusive"
All-inclusive meals, or in English (ALL), are prepaid services that are provided to the guest after check-in. The most common ALL options are the following list of services:
- accommodation in a room of the indicated category;
- three meals a day throughout the day on a buffet basis;
- local drinks, including alcohol;
- other types of service (safe in the room, mini-refrigerator, etc.).
Thus, all-inclusive food allows you to forget about many problems associated with the organization of recreation. Eliminates the need for additional costs money to pay for dinner in restaurants, since the hotel will offer tourists a buffet meal, where no restrictions are imposed on the amount eaten. Depending on the category of the hotel, the number of dishes ranges from 3 to 10, as well as fresh pastries, desserts, sweets and fruits.
Alcohol lovers will appreciate the all-inclusive food because of the unlimited access to locally produced alcohol. However, you need to be prepared for the fact that spirits that are not produced in the country of rest will need to be paid additionally. Freshly squeezed juices and ice cream are usually not included in ALL prices either. Among the services free of charge will be provided relaxation by the hotel pool and on the beach, a children's animator and, possibly, an evening program.
Varieties of the "all inclusive" system
Exists different types all inclusive, which differ depending on the country of destination, the level of the hotel, the cost of the tour and other factors. It is worth noting that there are no standards that should be included in all-inclusive meals, so much depends on the hotel's reputation, competition and the imagination of the managers.
Despite this, hotels with a 2-3 star rating also offer local drinks at their own expense. In 4-5 star hotels, the price also includes the use of beach equipment and related equipment.
There are several abbreviations for all-inclusive meals. Almost every tourist knows how the concept is indicated. The most common are ALL (all inclusive), mini ALL (used in UAL (more wide range free services in hotels
Ultra all inclusive meals
Ultra All inclusive is a significantly expanded list of services that a tourist pays for when buying a voucher to a selected hotel. This system is most developed in luxury five-star hotels in Egypt and Turkey. Typically, it includes the following:
- round-the-clock food system (late breakfast, afternoon snack, night dinner);
- food delivery to the room;
- imported alcohol;
- daily replenishment of mini-bars in the rooms;
- free tennis and bowling;
- visiting the SPA center, sauna, massage room;
- entertainment in amusement parks and hotel water parks;
- water sports.
All-inclusive meals (as we have already said) are a very convenient concept of relaxation. But the "ultra all inclusive" system is usually quite expensive (more expensive than the simple All inclusive). It is worth clarifying that, in turn, Ultra All inclusive has dozens of types: Mega All inclusive, Imperial All inclusive, All inclusive de luxe, and so on.
All inclusive in Europe
The European ALL system differs significantly from all-inclusive meals in Egypt and Turkey. The reason for these differences lies in the very nature of the All inclusive, which is in demand in resorts where all entertainment is located on the territory of the hotel. European tourist centerson the contrary, they abound in a variety of restaurants, bars, discos and local attractions. Therefore, Europeans consider the "all inclusive" system an unnecessary excess.
Having paid for All inclusive, the guest receives a bracelet or other insignia, which entitles him to three meals a day and local alcoholic drinks. Among additional services water aerobics, tennis or sauna can be offered. Special entertainment is not provided at all in 3-star hotels.
When buying a voucher, it is better to check with the tour operator which system is used in the selected hotel and what is included in it. Upon arrival on vacation, you will be able to get full information about the services provided.
"Buffet" - these words mean that you can eat as much as you want at dinner at the hotel - put on a full plate, and then come back for more and more. And if the hotel operates on an "all inclusive" system, then you can overeat all day long. Russian tourists like it.
Waste - mashed
“I will never choose a hotel with a buffet where all food is included in the price,” says Gennady STOYANOV, a chef who has worked in the budget catering system for many years in Russia and abroad. - I know how this food is prepared. First, the cheapest products are often purchased. They do not disdain anything: neither GMOs, nor "fodder" varieties of vegetables, nor unripe fruits. Products written off from wholesalers and shops often come to kitchens. "
At the beginning of the tourist season, the National Food Safety Agency of Bulgaria carried out a food check in such hotels. It turned out that more than a third of all such hotels "bought" only expired food for cooking! They were "written off" as spoiled, and they miraculously ended up in the kitchens.
The all-inclusive kitchen has its own secrets. The main one is that food here is virtually waste-free. “What you haven't eaten today will be used tomorrow,” says Zulfiya NEMOVA, who has repeatedly worked as an animator at turkish hotels... - From yesterday's meat can be washed off the gravy and fry again. Salad vegetables are often used in soup.
In some hotels, I came across the fact that not only unclaimed dishes from the buffet were used, but also scraps collected from tourists' plates: waitresses brought plates to the back room, where the servants sorted the contents: folded on a plate, but untouched - into one tank , tomorrow it will be served in the same way; bitten - in another, they will make soup, pizza, stew from it ”. You don't need to be a doctor to understand - with such a "kitchen" the transmission of diseases from one guest to another is ensured!
“It is very easy to disguise the poor quality of a product or its reprocessing,” says G. Stoyanov. - There are universal techniques: first, cook with sauces or with big amount seasonings, and secondly, make a deep-fried dish; thirdly, to construct soups-puree from "illiquid" - in this form, tourists can even feed rotten potatoes or frozen cauliflower five years ago. "
Not just alcohol
Even worse than food, the situation is with drinks. As you know, the all-inclusive system most often includes local drinks, and imported alcohol is poured for a fee. “In practice, even if a tourist pays, the first 1-2 glasses are imported,” Z. Nemova is sure. "Then the person loses vigilance, and low-quality local alcohol is added to him."
When paying for the "ultra all inclusive" system, it is assumed that the tourist gets access to any alcohol free of charge. But even here, more often than not, in "expensive" bottles there is ... a local analogue. “I personally saw how before the start of a new shift, at 5-6 in the morning, bartenders pour dubious liquids from huge cans into bottles with European labels,” recalls Zulfiya.
It is also not known with what water the juices for breakfast are diluted, how often the tanks in which the drinks are put on the buffet are washed. And finally, from what water the ice is frozen.
The likelihood that something like this will happen in a hotel that does not operate on an all-inclusive basis is an order of magnitude less. “If you order from the menu, it is assumed that the dish is prepared just for you. Want to check it out? Ask to change something in the recipe: say, do not add an ingredient. This is a guarantee that the portion will be made just now, ”advises G. Stoyanov.
“If you choose three star hotel, then I do not advise those where "all inclusive" - \u200b\u200bwarns Maya LOMIDZE, Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia. - And it doesn't matter what country we are talking about. For this system, take only 4-5 stars. "
By the way, when concluding the contract, you must be informed which products will be used to prepare the buffet dishes - only local or imported. “Often there is no such information,” says Viktor PETROV, a lawyer. - This is regarded as the provision of inaccurate information, and the tourist has the right to count on a reduction in the cost of the voucher "