AIC All-Inclusive Resorts – 07

All-inclusive vacations are a blast, but how do you pick the best one? We’re discussing a fantastic new AIC Hotel Group all-Inclusive resorts sale for you.

AIC Hotel Group All-Inclusive Resorts Sale

• What’s Included in an All-Inclusive Vacation?
• Who Will Enjoy AIC All-Inclusive Resorts?
• What Are AIC Hotels?
• Hard Rock All-Inclusive Resorts
• Unico 20°87° Adults-Only All-Inclusive Vacations
• AIC Limitless Inclusions
• AIC Promotion

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Next on All Things Travel: Episode 8: Pigeon Forge, TN.
Previously on All Things Travel: Episode 6: Where is the Harry Potter Park?

Shayne: Hello, and welcome to the all things travel show today, we are talking about all-inclusive resorts. This is episode number seven, original air date, August 5th, 2020.

Introduction to AIC All-Inclusive Resorts

Ryan: Shayne, today we’re talking about an amazing style of vacationing, the all-inclusive resort. What makes an all-inclusive resort so attractive to both adults and families? You think.

Shayne: I think everything being included, knowing that you don’t go there and wonder:

• how much are you going to spend on food?
• How much are you gonna spend on snacks?
• (In my case) how much are you going to spend on drinks?

You just know. You have an idea of what’s included, and then you don’t have to think about it when you’re paying for each item.

You think, do I really want to spend this? If it’s all-inclusive, you just take it, you just eat it. You just drink it. You just enjoy it.

Ryan: That’s right. That’s absolutely right.

Shayne: And Ryan, this week’s promotion is a biggie. It will save you time and money on your next all-inclusive vacation. So, you’ll definitely want to hang around to hear about that later in the show.

A Brief Word About Out Promotions

Ryan: Now one thing, Shayne, I do want to talk about these promotions that we bring up every week is they are time-sensitive. And, and so if you’re listening to this at a different time, other than when the show came out, don’t worry. Still, reach out to us.

Oftentimes these different resorts and different destinations will have promotions going on, so even though they may not have the specific one that we’re talking about today, I’m sure they have something that we can help you find and apply towards your vacation.

Again, we’re going to help make you the vacation planning superhero. So, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’ll find you the right promotion and right special for you.

What’s Included in an All-Inclusive Vacation?

Today let’s talk all about the all-inclusive vacation. While most people think about unlimited drinks by the pool, swim-up bars, and adult craziness. There’s a lot more to this type of vacation, and that’s what makes it attractive to both families and adults.

You talked about everything being included. Usually, with an all-inclusive, that means that you have prepaid for a variety of things, certainly your accommodations, your food, your drinks, and most of the time, that includes both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. And then also resort activities, usually anything that’s not motorized.

So you may have to pay extra for scuba or jet skis, but things like paddleboards and, and stuff like that, kayaks are usually all included, you know, assuming that you’re on the beach.

Shayne: A boogie board, perhaps something that you have to power, that’s not using electricity or gas.

AIC All-Inclusive Resorts are a Great Place to Relax

Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, one of the things that I like about the all-inclusive resort is that you can definitely have that laziness. You know, my wife and I have been to several, all-inclusive resorts. And there’s just that idea of I want to sit by the pool.

I want to have a nice adult beverage and just chill for the afternoon, fall asleep, wake up, go have lunch, fall back, sleep, all that kind of stuff. And that’s, that’s definitely possible at an all-inclusive resort, but it’s also for active people.

You know, there are a lot of different activities that these resorts put on anything from:

• volleyball and
• sports on the beach to
• hiking,
• to water parks,
• to having different excursions, both on and off the resorts.

There’s a lot of different things that you can do, and the pool bar will be there when you get back. But there are other things to try out too. So what type of people would be to this type of vacation?

Who Will Enjoy AIC All-Inclusive Resorts?

Shayne: I think pretty much anyone except parents with really young children, maybe toddlers. Because a lot of these resorts have plenty of activities for younger kids four and up and definitely for teenagers. So:

• parents taking their kids,
• parents taking their parents on vacation,
• couples taking one another on vacation,
• or groups of friends too.

Ryan: Yeah. Yeah. Groups of friends or groups of people that like to do the same things. I’ve worked with groups to put together like tennis, trips to all-inclusives or, you know, different things like that.

Weddings

So another group that we haven’t talked about yet is obviously the destination wedding, the honeymoon, and the group getting together for the actual ceremony. Almost all all-inclusive resorts have this as a service to their guests.

What Are AIC Hotels

So as an example of the all-inclusive Shayne, let’s talk about a particular group, and I want to talk about the AIC hotel group. This is a brand that owns Hard Rock Resorts. You’ve heard of Hardrock before, right?

Shayne: I think I’ve heard it come up in conversation and maybe every major city I’ve ever visited.

Ryan: Yeah, right. Well, it’s not just for restaurants. It’s not just for casinos. They actually have all-inclusive resorts. So this AIC group owns Hard Rock Resorts, which are adult and family all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

And then they also own Unico 20°87°. Which is an adult-only all-inclusive in Mexico’s Riviera Maya.

If you don’t know where that is, it’s just a short little car ride South of Cancun, so you would be flying into the Cancun airport to get to any of these in the Riviera Maya.

And they also own several non, all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and Miami, and they just actually opened one in Chicago as well. So, let’s talk about what the different types of resorts that AIC has. Let’s first talk about the Hard Rock resorts, Shayne.

AIC Safety Procedures at Hard Rock and Unico Resorts

Shayne: Well, I would like to point out that for both Hard Rock and Unico, they are both taking measures to ensure their team members, health and safety, and that their resorts, including the rooms, transportation, all of the activities, everything is clean and sanitized and safe.

Considering what’s going on and probably the biggest concern with travel right now, they’re taking measures to make sure that we’re all safe.

Hard Rock All-Inclusive Resorts

To narrow it down to Hard Rock resorts, they’re all-inclusive vacations for essentially people that want to live like rockstars. It’s luxury and fine dining and fun, really geared towards music lovers. If you love music, then you’ll definitely love these Hard Rock resorts.

Ryan: I’ve stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Studios. And so there’s lots of music memorabilia and things like that. I’m assuming that’s here as well.

Shayne: Probably just like the restaurants in all the major cities, they’ll have some of Elvis’s Vegas suits on the wall and maybe one of Prince’s guitars.

All the properties are beachfront. Each one has multiple restaurants and bars, and each one is a 24-hour room service. They all have fitness centers. A few have what’s called a Body Rock Fitness Center with all the essential machines, all the machines I’ve ever used.

I’m a workout guy like working out. However, I’m not going to do it on vacation.

Ryan: I’ll take your word for it. You can tell me all about it while I’m sitting by the pool.

Shayne: And you know what, if we’re on vacation, I’m going to tell you about it because that’s not why I’m going on vacation

But it’s there for those hardworking, consistent, healthy people. The machines are there. And then they even have Les Mills workout classes, which I don’t know anything about, but they look pretty hard.

Who Are Hard Rock Resorts Best For?

Ryan: And so the Hard Rock resort is for both adults traveling by themselves and families traveling together. Right? It’s my understanding that these resorts will have a family side and an adult side.

Shayne: There is one location that has one resort that is adults-only, and that’s the Hard Rock resort, Heaven. And then the other one is for all ages for the entire family. So, there is one that is adult only.

Ryan: Got it. Okay.

Shayne: And, as we mentioned earlier, they do have activities for teens and younger kids, so it’s a great place for families to take their kids.

A Great Offer from Hard Rock Resorts

It depends on where you go. You can’t get it all year, but there are some restrictions, but often two kids between the ages of 4 and 17 can stay free when they’re sharing a room with one paying adult.

Ryan: Very cool.

Shayne: Yeah. So, you know, a single parent can take both of their kids, and it’s included with the price of their stay, all-inclusive vacation.

Ryan: That’s a great tip.

Weddings

Shayne: No doubt. You know, good for newlyweds. Good for couples. And, I think we may have touched earlier on weddings.

I was kind of surprised to see this, that even some complimentary weddings, if you have to schedule in advance and make sure that they have the room for you at the time for you to book, but there are, they do some complimentary weddings.

Ryan: So, it’s not only a done-for-you vacation, it can be a done-for-you wedding as well.

Shayne: Certainly. And of course, non-complimentary weddings will have more features and luxuries than the complimentary. But if you want to get married while you’re there. You can knock out three birds with one stone, your all-inclusive vacation, your wedding…

Ryan: Family. Yeah. Family reunion, honeymoon, and..

Shayne: Yes. Do it all at once. And then, if you happen to live in one of those states that don’t acknowledge all types of weddings, these resorts will cater to all types of weddings.

Adults-Only Vacations

Ryan: That’s great. Sounds good. Now that sounds awesome for families. And I definitely want to take my kids and do something like this, but you know, there’s sometimes where I don’t necessarily want to take my kids to a place like an all-inclusive resort, and that’s where Unico comes in.

Unico 20°87°Adults-Only All-Inclusive Resorts

Shayne: Yes, Unico is adults-only, and it’s a five-star resort in Riviera Maya. an excerpt from their site states:

“Equal parts, international outpost and local getaway Unico 20°87° is about immersing yourself fully. Whether you’re out to explore the regions, lesser known alcoves or indulge in the culturally inspired onsite activities.”

Unico 20°87° Resort Immersion into Quintana Roo, Mexico

And I was looking through some of the tours they’ve got. Any adventure you want:

• Jungles
• Ruins
• fun on the beach
• zip-lining

They’ve got lots of tours so that you can really immerse yourself in that Quintana Roo area of the Yucatan.

Ryan: Yeah. Yeah. Very, very cool. And again, that kind of goes against that idea that people have about all includes.

To me, it’s the best of both worlds because you have that all-inclusive service where you don’t have to take out your wallet. You don’t have to worry about anything. All your drinks are there, your food’s there, but yet you have access to all these great excursions.

And so, if you want to spend a day at the pool at the beach, that’s fine. And then tomorrow you can go out and explore and still come back and relax. It’s a really well-balanced vacation.

Unico 20°87° 5-star luxury

Shayne:  And then in addition, if you want more of a relaxing vacation or some relaxing after those excursions and adventures, it is a five-star resort with really nice rooms. Each room has a minibar, and their site says it’s stocked “according to preference.”

And I looked at a couple of these, and it’s not just “bourbon or whiskey.” So, a couple of examples of items, one of the mixed drinks is the Exotic Yellow, with “rum, homemade syrup of mango, passion, fruit, lime juice, lime scent, and Rosemary.”

Ryan: Yes, Please.

Shayne: I’ll take one. Those are the types of custom items you can have on your vacation,

Ryan: Not just going to open it up, and there’s a standard beer can and small little bottle of wine and stuff. They actually take it to the next level.

Shayne: Yeah, definitely. Next level.

AIC Limitless Inclusions

Ryan: Very good. Well, one of the things that I liked, because I, as I’ve learned about these resorts more and more, one of the things that AIC does is they have this really cool promotion at their resorts where you can have limitless inclusions.

So, things like spa treatments, excursions, paying for those different resort activities that aren’t included for just a 25% service fee. So, it’s essentially 75% off anything that you want to do, which is really, really cool.

You know, you’re not having to say, do I want the couple’s massage, and do I want to go scuba diving? They make it so that it’s affordable to do both on your vacation.

Shayne: Yes. A lot of resorts will have resort credits, but the Hard Rock Resorts and Unico, they’ve done away with the resort credits.

You can, as much as you want to do. And then yeah, everything is free, free Wi-Fi. I’m baffled by the resorts that don’t have free Wi-Fi.

Ryan: I think we’re past that. Right?

Shayne: You would think it should be ubiquitous. It should be everywhere.

Limitless All-Inclusive Includes Gratuities

And then it also includes gratuities.

Ryan: That’s important. That is really important.

Shayne: Yes, you can tip if you’d like, but it is not expected.

Ryan: Yeah. And actually, you know, we’re talking about these two specific types of all-inclusive resorts, but there are some all-inclusive resorts where it’s not only not expected, it’s against the rules.

They explicitly say, “we do not want you to tip, and our folks are not allowed to receive tips.” That kind of takes a little bit of the pressure off as far as feeling like you always need to be tipping and different things.

Now I’m not speaking against tipping by, by any means, you know, I’m happy to pay for my service, and I’ve always received great service from these types of resorts, but it’s nice to know that you’ve already paid that upfront. That’s what I mean.

Shayne: Definitely. Yeah. I guess one more advantage of an all-inclusive is that you’re going to be out in your swimwear. You don’t want to have to carry a wallet and cash.

Ryan: Exactly. Well, this sounds awesome. Are you ready for an all-inclusive vacation? AIC is offering a fantastic promotion right now that will make you want to start planning. Shayne. Let’s talk about this really cool voucher program that they have going on.

AIC Promotion

Shayne: Yeah. So, save now and travel later by securing a special rate between now and September 30th, 2020, at one of the all-inclusive Hard Rock hotels or Unico 20°87° Hotel Riviera.

And that we didn’t talk about today, but this also includes for future travel until Halloween of 2021:

• Nobu Hotel Los Cabos
• Nobu Hotel Miami Beach
• and Eden Rock Miami Beach

Ryan: So basically, what this allows you to do is prepay at a lower price. And now you can choose to travel right now, or you can choose to travel later, so it’s kind of locking in that lower rate.

Shayne: And I think they want to sell some vacations now, so people can get some excitement in their future, but they’re not nailed down to a time because we’re still a little unsure about how things are going to go over the next few months.

Examples of Voucher Prices

Ryan: Yeah. So, basically how this works, just to give you a couple of examples:

Example 1 – Hard Rock Resort in 2020

At Hard Rock, if you book three nights, and that’s for any Hard Rock resort you want–except for Heaven, the purely adult exclusive–for three nights his year, 2020 (between now and December 25^th) two adults and two kids ages, zero to 12:

A family of four could go, Shayne, for three nights for $855.

Shayne: And that $855 isn’t per person. That’s for all, for both adults and both kids.

Ryan: That’s the whole thing. That is the total bill for an all-inclusive vacation.

Now, if you want, you can get a voucher for 3, 4 or 5 nights, but you can also buy more than one voucher.

So if you have a week-long vacation, or if you have multiple families that want to travel together, you can buy with your travel advisor, you can buy multiple vouchers that then you can apply towards later vacations.

I think that’s a really cool promotion. You know, it allows you to get something planned, but yet you don’t have to have all the details figured out.

Example 2 – Unico 20°87°in 2020

Unico, as an example, if you were to do the same type of thing. So a 3-night vacation in 2020 before December 25^th, it’s going to be $1,049 for two adults, and you can add for an additional fee and add more adults.

So, if you want to have another couple go with you or something like that, but $1,049. So yeah, it’s still very reasonable.

Example 3 – Hard Rock Resort in 2021

And then in 2021, you can plan ahead and again, you can do 3, 4, or 5 nights at either Hard Rock or Unico.

So to give you an example that 3-night now in 2021, which allows you to travel any time between January 2nd and October 31st, 2021 for two adults and two kids is $954 for your family of 4.

Example 24 – Unico 20°87°in 2021

At Unico that 3- night in 2021 is $1,189 for those two adults, so there’s a lot of flexibility here to do what you want to do.

The only times that you can’t travel are the week between Christmas and New Years in 2020. and also Valentine’s Day weekend over the Valentine’s day, a holiday in 2021, but then that it’s, it’s open.

You basically buy this voucher now and then work with your travel advisor to pick the right time, and it’s honored by the resort. It’s a really, really neat, it’s a way to save some money.

An Example for Ryan

In fact, I was running some numbers because this looks really good to me. My wife and I are looking at the possibility of a long weekend in November 2020 coming up here. And so I looked at does this voucher makes sense for us?

I looked at Hard Rock, and I looked at Unico, and if I were to buy this voucher for Hard Rock for the two of us because remember the kids are free, so that is one of the reasons why.

For two adults in a deluxe room, which is what the offer covers, we would be saving about $100 by doing this voucher. So $100 off the price of if I were to book this with my travel advisor and not use a voucher.

If we look at that Unico property for those 3 nights, if I was just to book this with my travel advisor, and not use the voucher, I would pay $265 more. So with the voucher I’m saving $265 for the Alcoba ocean view room.

So that’s an ocean view room. You’re, you’re saving $265 with this voucher.

So, a very cool way to kind of think ahead with your vacations.

Shayne: Yes. If you know you want to go, but don’t know yet when you want to go, this is a way to do it.

You Are Paying Up Front For The Discounted Voucher

Ryan: Yeah. So one thing to think about those Shayne. You do have to pay upfront. So, that is one thing to keep in mind when you’re paying for the voucher you’re paying for the vacation.

Shayne: Because it gives them a chance to have a little working capital to stay afloat, and yeah. It’s a very clever deal.

How to Get the Deal?

Ryan: Great. Well, how would we go about getting this Shayne?

If I’m interested in this voucher, if I want to take advantage of this opportunity, I know I’ve got to do it before the end of September 2020. So, I’ve got a couple of months to make the plan here.

Who do I reach out to?

Shayne: It would be my honor and privilege to help you take care of that.

Ryan: Awesome. Well, how can I do that?

Shayne: If you were ready to book your all-inclusive vacation, reach out to me Shayne AT creatingmagicvacations.com, or come find me on my website at Shayne.fun. And from there, there’s a lot of options on how to contact me.

Ryan: All right. That sounds great. I’m excited to book this type of vacation. I hope you are too.

Thank you so much for listening to the All Things Travel Show today, and remember, never stop exploring.