Planning All-Inclusive Resorts
Sanjay Surana
Sometimes the best getaways aren’t those taken with the children — or even at a place where kids are around — but at an adults-only resort. At these properties, the amenities, facilities, and ambiance are designed to cater to the older set, with activities, dining, and the general sense of joie de vivre representing a welcome, refreshingly grown-up departure from smiley face pancakes and brightly colored water slides (though you can have those too!).
Here, your mind will be stimulated with the company of like-minded souls, and you are guaranteed to be spared the ear-splitting noise of screaming toddlers and sullen teens that would, it seems, rather be anywhere else. And to sweeten the vacation experience even more, book your stay at an all-inclusive resort, one where the room, food, drinks, and other treats are rolled into the nightly rate, making this one less thing that you have to worry about when you are supposed to be relaxing.
Excellence Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Courtesy Excellence Punta Cana
On the stunning eastern coast of this Caribbean nation, near the town of Uvero Alto, in the northern section of the resort area known at Punta Cana, this multi-building complex occupies a prime piece of beachfront. The experience here can be arranged in two ways — a regular stay or in the category known as the Excellence Club, where accommodations are larger and come with access to a private lounge, special beaches, two dedicated pools, and a separate restaurant off limits to non-club guests. Wherever you stay, expect to enjoy spellbinding views of the Caribbean Sea.
All rooms are suites, predominantly decorated in white and accented by pastel shades, and available in a variety of configurations. Some have terraces, others have swim-up access to a communal pool, while a select number feature their own private pool. All-inclusive here lets diners pick from at a healthy stable of restaurants, such as Mexican at Agave, seafood at The Lobster House, and French at Chez Isabelle among the options. The variety of active pursuits is equally impressive, with chances to try out snorkeling, archery, billiards, beach volleyball, dance lessons, mini-golf, aqua aerobics, and more.
Miraval Berkshires Resort and Spa, United States
Courtesy of Miraval Berkshires Resort & Spa
A wellness-focused retreat in the heart of rural New England, the adults-only all-inclusive places a premium on centering the body and mind together. The setting is perfect for a mental escape — 380 acres of Massachusetts countryside with rolling hills and spots ideal for quiet contemplation. To clear the mind of distractions, the resort prides itself on being digital-device free, a welcome move in a world where the digital realm has us all bound by invisible shackles.
Activities take full use of the space here, with yoga sessions in verdant fields and walks on meandering trails. Anchoring the wellness is the 29,000 square-foot Life in Balance Spa, a temple of tranquility, while a fitness center with the latest Technogym equipment and eclectically varied cardio options get the heart pumping. Meals work on inner health, with nutritionist-led, seasonally changing dishes served three times a day at Harvest Moon Restaurant. For a more formal dining experience, 1894 Restaurant places guests in a space with ornate ceilings and large picture windows. Rooms are dotted around different buildings, including an old mansion, carriage houses, and new cottages.
Hotel Mousai Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Courtesy of Hotel Mousai Puerto Vallarta
Located in a tourist town due west of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city, this resort isn’t your typical tropical all-inclusive — it fills broad towers with shimmering pools spreading across the rooftops. Puerto Vallarta, sandwiched between the Sierra Madre mountains and the rolling turquoise Pacific Ocean, has long welcomed tourists that come for the food, warm weather, and chance to explore the surrounding countryside, as well as cruise passengers visiting for the day.
Guests of Hotel Mousai come here for the gastronomy for sure, with alcoholic drinks, 24-hour room service, and meals of contemporary Chinese, Italian, Mexican, and more, plus the perk of eating at restaurants at nearby Garza Blanca Preserve resort as part of the all-inclusive rate. Suites display kinetic energy, with mirrored surfaces and brightly colored fabrics. The Penthouse, in the North Tower, amps up the intensity with jazzy patterning and gilded panels. Guests will not lack for things to do, from snorkeling off the beach at Garza Blanca Preserve and wine and tequila tastings, to jazz and Latin nights at the property.
Matangi Private Island Resort, Fiji
Courtesy of Matangi Private Island Resort
Set on an island that’s shaped like a broad, joy-filled smile, this resort is likely to make guests a very happy bunch. The secluded retreat in the South Pacific promises physical features that are sure to stir wanderlust in even the most hardened souls — fringing coral reefs, dense rainforest, sugary white-sand beaches, volcanic cliffs, and waters that couldn’t be clearer. Better yet, the property spreads across 240 acres and has only 12 bures, or huts, making the place feel like a castaway paradise, but one distinguished by supreme comfort.
Rooms come in three options — bures that either have views of the ocean or are right on the beach, and spacious treehouses that have split levels, lava rock outdoor showers, and large sun decks. Fijian staples like tapioca, breadfruit, spinach, coconut, and seafood inform the menus at the Vale-Ni-Kana restaurant, and once a week, guests can enjoy a traditional Lovo, where dishes are prepared in an oven packed under the earth. Active types can snorkel, kayak, explore the island, sail, or fish, but for many — the place is very popular with honeymooners — the most enjoyable activity is just laying around and taking in the scenery together.
The Caves, Jamaica
Courtesy of The Caves
Almost on the westernmost tip of Jamaica, Negril has built itself a steady tourism business that’s intimate, and low-key, a stark contrast to the commercialism and roiling crowds at Montego Bay, a couple of hours away. It’s in Negril that travelers will find this small retreat with colorful interiors, whose names hints at the type of place visitors can expect — rocky and remote, with buildings set atop cliffs and headlands.
This is a small place that doesn’t aim to overawe with options and offerings, but rather bewitch with its character and charm. All rooms are in cottages — there are only 12 accommodations in total — and some have outdoor showers or terraces. The pick of them is the three-bedroom Clandestino villa, with a thatch roof, a landscaped garden, and a private pool. Diners can look forward to the chance of sampling classic Jamaican dishes like jerk chicken, ackee and salt fish, callaloo with searing hot peppers, in a striking waterfront setting.
Breathless Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Courtesy of Breathless Cabo San Lucas
You can’t visit Los Cabos, the tourist stretch between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, and not see the giant granite arch El Arco, which plunges into the sea and is a breathtaking image. You can see El Arco from Playa El Médano, which is where, at one end of the beach and by the marina, you’ll find this property, one of many all-inclusive resorts in Los Cabos. The views from all 169 of its modern suites showcase the gently bobbing boats arranged neatly in the marina, with furnished terraces and balconies letting guest soak in the vista at ease.
Here, meals, drinks, and 24-hour room service are folded into the all-inclusive program, while guests have plenty of opportunities to party and let off some steam — pool parties with a live DJ spinning tunes, fashion shows, sunset get-togethers with fellow guests on the rooftop, and other nightly live entertainment. Dining ranges from small, tapas-style sharing plates at Bites to fine Italian at Spumante.
Ambre Mauritius
Courtesy of Ambre Mauritius
The Indian Ocean. Just utter those words and your mind is likely to conjure up images of lazy palm trees, leaning as if they’re weighed down by heavy coconuts, empty stretches of sandy shoreline, crystalline waters filled with vibrant sea life, and a simple joy that comes from a place so pure. Those images pretty accurately describe the scene at this resort on the eastern coast of Mauritius, an Indian Ocean gem not far from Madagascar. The accommodations, 297 of them, are divided between rooms and suites, some on a lagoon, others near the beach or secluded among the tropical landscaping.
All have a simple, clean design, overwhelmingly white with occasional pops of color so as not to detract from the outstanding natural surroundings. Guests can lounge in the Indian Ocean, or float without a care in two large pools — one of them, an infinity pool, seems to melt into the turquoise sea. Drinks and meals are served in a number of locations, though the nightly Mauritian curries at Indigo are not to be missed. Golfing fanatics will relish the chance to play the Ile Aux Cerfs 18-hole course — it was designed by German legend Bernhard Langer and is free for Ambre Mauritius guests.
Occidental Papagayo, Costa Rica
Courtesy of Occidental Papagayo
A part of Guanacaste province that has been developed with luxury hospitality in mind, Papagayo is an area of wild beauty, with jungles, forest, and fantastic beaches. One of those beaches is home to this all-inclusive where buildings with red tile roofs, arrayed between verdant landscaping, welcome guests to Culebra Bay. Accommodations are simple, furnished with sliding doors opening to verandas, and ceiling fans providing cooling breezes; some have private hot tubs on their deck.
The resort offers three restaurants and four bars, with choices that include Asian fusion at D’Oriental served to guests that can take meals in one of the private tatami rooms. The U-spa has the standard sauna and treatment offering, but takes the amenities up a notch with hydrotherapy facilities like a Vichy shower and Turkish bath. Activities span day and night, with kayaking, volleyball, pools, and tennis available during the hours of light, and live music three times a week for guests that don’t want the fun to end.
Sentido Port Royal Villas & Spa, Greece
Courtesy of Sentido Port Royal Villas & Spa
A large island closer to Turkey than to Athens, Rhodes is where a mind-blowingly immense bronze statue — known at the Colossus of Rhodes and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world — once stood in the main city, a place that today is a Unesco World Heritage site. While not as historically revered as that huge sculpture, this resort is also to be found in Rhodes, and has plenty of attractive qualities. The décor in accommodations has a contemporary feel, with walls that are textured and beg to be touched, and soothing neutral hues.
Rooms, totaling 202 at the property, come in a variety of options, with views of gardens, pools, or the beachfront. The beach itself is sublime, designated a Blue Flag site, an award by the Foundation for Environmental Education that recognizes environmentally responsible beaches, marinas, and tourism vessels around the world. But guests have plenty of other diversions, from seven bars and restaurants to three public pools, from a spa that blends Eastern and Western therapies to a private chapel that hosts destination weddings.
Warwick Paradise Island, Bahamas
Courtesy of Warwick Paradise Island
A scattering of islands sprinkled across the Caribbean, the Bahamas has long fulfilled the fantasy of quintessential beach idyll, thanks to the gorgeous beaches and crystal-clear turquoise waters that grace its shores. Its isles vary in size and ambience, from the slender slashes of land that make up the Exhumas to the cruise-ship hub New Providence (dominated by the town of Nassau) and its petite neighbor, Paradise Island, where visitors will find this adults-only all-inclusive.
A main hotel tower anchors this property, where rooms add some island flair into the décor through colorful artwork and lively prints on linens. At meal times, travelers can retire to Verandah, where the Art Deco-inspired interiors recalls the Bahamas of last century, for buffet breakfasts, or pan-Asian fare at Tings on a Stick, among other options. The resort’s harborfront location places it right by the water, and guests can cool off in the ocean, at the labyrinthine pool, or unwind with treatments at a lookout over Nassau’s harbor.
Elysian Luxury Eco Island Retreat, Australia
Courtesy of Elysian Luxury Eco Island Retreat
If you’re a water lover, the Great Barrier Reef is likely already on your bucket list. A coral network off the coast of northeastern Australia, it’s a marvel of nature, with hundreds of types of coral, and thousands of species of fish. It’s an iconically important part of the world, landing on the Unesco World Heritage site list. Many visitors to this part of Australia access the reef via a long day trip from a coastal town, like Port Douglas or Cairns, packed aboard vessels. But, for the lucky few, a trip to the reef can be a much more intimate affair, which it will be at this resort that is fully solar powered.
Located in the Whitsunday Islands, the property is remote and private, with access here only by helicopter. The surroundings are calming — rainforest on one side, the turquoise sea on the other — and the experience of tranquil and restorative, with a maximum of 20 guests here. Rooms are beach chic, with wicker furnishings and whitewashed vaulted ceilings, while the all-inclusive program rolls meals, non-alcoholic drinks, spa treatments, and water sports into the rate. The property prides itself on its environmentally sensitive credentials, with rainwater harvesting, a zero-waste kitchen, biodegradable cleaning products, and safe water treatment among its commendable practices.
Cocobay Antigua
Courtesy of Cocobay Antigua
Antigua likes to promote that it’s an island with 365 beaches, one for every day of the year. But you can happily spend multiple days at the two beaches in front of Cocobay, a resort arrayed on a verdant hillside that slowly descends to a coast alternating between rocky, rugged terrain and sultry sand. Pastel cottages are laid out on three levels down the hill, connected by snaking pathways. They all have private balconies with views of the aquamarine sea, and vary in their outdoor amenities — Adirondack chairs and a hammock, a private plunge pool, an outdoor tub for baths al fresco.
Meals are taken at the main restaurant, Rafters, and unlike many all-inclusive resorts that serve buffet meals as standard, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are a la carte. At night, live music provides some extra enjoyment to the meal. At Sandy Ground Sunset Terrace, where the view takes in the blues of Little Ffryes Beach, themed evenings include Paella Night and Caribbean BBQ. Guests can stay active with a session on the wellness deck, sailing, kayaking, a gym workout, or just unwind with a spa treatment.
Hurawalhi, Maldives
Courtesy of Hurawalhi
If there is one thing that stands out at this luxury haven in the Indian Ocean, it would be the underwater restaurant. Yes, you read that right. 5.8 Undersea Restaurant gets its name for the location, 5.8 meters (about 19 feet) below the surface of the resort’s lagoon. It’s a miracle of marine engineering, and the kind of place that you might think only exists only in dreams — 10 tables inside a tunnel of glass that turn the space into a giant aquarium, which in a way it is. And yet, there is so much more here to enjoy.
The property features 90 villas, two-thirds of them suspended over the water — an archetypal Maldives resort experience — with outdoor pools and tubs, and clean, simple design. Besides the underwater eatery, the property has Kashibo, specializing in Asian street food, a vegan restaurant playfully named J.F.K. (or Junk Food Kitchen), and the beachfront, buffet destination Canneli. There are also three bars here, including one in an overwater pavilion that specializes in Champagne at sunset. You can lay down on sublime sand, take a dip in the resort pool, get a treatment at the spa, snorkel, sail, or try the many other water sports, or even take a workshop at the onsite marine biology center.
Hyatt Zilara Cancún, Mexico
Courtesy of Hyatt Zilara Cancún
Cancún has many fabulous beaches in and around the main hotel zone, and you’ll be able to enjoy one of them at this all-inclusive. All accommodations are set inside a broad, whitewashed building where archways on terraces add a bit of colonial flair to their design. The rooms, 310 of them, are all suites, and feature pleasing, contemporary finishes, and a light palette enlivened by Mexican bed throws. Views from them take in the ocean, the pool, and parts of the resort.
Leave the lodging and you’ll find a cornucopia of activities to keep you busy. Sports range from volleyball and water aerobics to aquatic adventures like kayaking, snorkeling, and an Olympic-size pool. For gym rats, the fitness center has the latest workout equipment, though strengthening and toning is also the lure at yoga sessions on the beach. Fun is on the agenda with ping-pong, trivia nights, live mariachi bands, and even aerial acrobat shows. Restaurants use the globe’s riches for culinary inspiration, hence Asian, Mexican, and Caribbean among the choices; tequila fans can sample a selection at the beach bar.
Londolozi Game Reserve, South Africa
Courtesy of Londolozi Game Reserve
Set inside a private reserve next to Kruger National Park, this incredible safari camp on the Sand River has a number of different lodging options. All promise a supreme level of comfort, and an amazing experience tracking and spotting wildlife, but only two are kept exclusively for adults — the Tree Camp and the Private Granite Suites. At the Tree Camp, the rooms are nestled in the canopy of leadwood trees, adding elevation and perspective to the viewing experience — you might notice spot a leopard slumbering on a tree branch.
The accommodations come with large decks (you’ll spend hours out on them), leather sofas, and huge windows that bring the outdoors in. Plunge pools in each lodging lets you cool off after a safari drive. In Private Granite Suites, rocks are everywhere, from the large granite boulders all around the camp to stone walls in outdoor areas of rooms. This camp represents the most luxurious lodging at Londolozi, and with it comes the chance to experience something truly extraordinary, like soaking in your outdoor tub while a family of elephants wander along the river a few meters in front of you. Days are equally magical, with twice-daily game drives (the second usually around sundown), gourmet meals in the bush, and true escape from your normal daily life.
