All Inclusive Holidays

5-Star Luxury All Inclusive Holidays

At five star the board basis changes character: premium spirits, à la carte as standard, and service that justifies the line.

• Maldives: This is all inclusive at its most complete — house reef, non-motorised watersports, premium spirits and several restaurants folded into one price, on an island you have no reason to leave. The seaplane or speedboat transfer is the detail to check, as it sits outside most packages and isn't a small line. Nothing else offers the same ratio of space to people.
• Mauritius: Five star all inclusive with watersports, golf and kids' clubs built in as standard, wrapped around a coral lagoon that stays swimmable year-round. The interior gives the week a second dimension — Chamarel, the Black River Gorges and the tea route are all half-day drives. It suits families who want long-haul luxury without paying an island-per-couple premium.
• Cancun: The Riviera Maya effectively invented the luxury all inclusive resort, and it still sets the standard for scale — swim-up suites, eight or nine restaurants, adults-only wings inside family properties. Chichén Itzá and the cenotes are the excursions worth budgeting for separately. Avoid September and October if hurricane season is a concern for you.
• Halkidiki: The most convincing five star all inclusive cluster in the Aegean, spread across the Kassandra and Sithonia peninsulas, and it gets you there in under four hours. The beaches are pine-backed and Blue Flag, the water is calm, and the standard of the cooking is a clear step above what the price suggests. The short-haul answer to a long-haul budget.
• Dubai: What you're buying at five star here is space, service and a January guarantee of 25°C. Resorts on Palm Jumeirah and along Jumeirah Beach run all inclusive with branded spirits and multiple restaurants, and the city behind them works as well for city breaks as the coast does for beach weeks. Best November to March; from May the heat makes the beach unusable by mid-morning.