Bed & Breakfast Holidays Are Cheaper

According to the Daily Telegraph last week, Bed and Breakfast holidays' are cheaper than 'All Inclusive' holidays in Europe.


Holidays booked on a bed and breakfast basis can often work out cheaper than those that are all inclusive, new research has shown. In July a one week five-star package in Majorca including meals and drinks for two people was £590 cheaper than an All Inclusive week’s holiday. When the cost of a meal in the resort - based on average prices of food and drinks in local restaurants - is added to the price of a B&B holiday, the UK Post Office found that both couples and families could save a significant amount of money if they booked on a B&B basis in Europe. Destinations where this was true included the Spanish Costas and Majorca, the Algarve, Cyprus and Bulgaria.


The study found that seven in ten people who booked an All-Inclusive holiday ended up paying for extras that bumped the cost of their holiday up significantly. But in popular European resorts, holidays booked on a breakfast and board basis offered potential savings of more than £1,000 in some cases. In Majorca, for example, it suggested a family of four could save more than £1,000 by taking a five-star B&B break for a week. It came to this conclusion having comparing the cost of the cheapest B&B break available, plus the costs of eating out and drinks amounting to a bottle of wine, 14 beers and 14 Coca-Colas, at £2,434, with £3,468 for a week on the cheapest All Inclusive deal available.

Using the same calculations in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, families could save £883 on a five-star package if they opted for the cheapest B&B deal (£3,114) rather than the cheapest All-Inclusive deal (£3,997). In the Costa del Sol, they could shave almost £766 off the cost of a five-star trip (paying £2,528 for B&B ; £3,293 for All Inclusive).


Couples can also benefit by going for a B&B break, the Post Office said. In July a one-week five-star package in Majorca including meals and drinks for two people was £590 cheaper than an all-inclusive week’s holiday - £1,760 compared with £2,350 for two. Bottles of wine were excluded by almost four in five of the resorts surveyed which only offered house wine by the glass, which was a sticking point for many.


“Our research showed that European resorts include far less in their all-inclusive packages [than long-haul resorts], so it is important for holidaymakers to budget carefully and do their homework to find out how much meals and other extras might add to their trip,” advised Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money. ”With the rising value of sterling, it is also worth checking whether going all inclusive will save money. Our research has charted price falls in European restaurants and bars this year so it may be cheaper to book a B&B package and eat out each day to get a real flavour of the holiday destination.''


So what are your plans this summer? Whatever you holiday destination and the type of accommodation - B&B, All Inclusive or Half Board, my advice is to budget carefully. I have always found B&B all-together cheaper in European resorts, but less so in North African, Caribbean or North American holiday destinations.    

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