rewrite this title Best All-Inclusives You Can Book With Points – NerdWallet

For a long time, all-inclusive resorts had a less-than-stellar reputation. Think: mediocre buffet food, watered-down drinks, and a stigma of quantity over quality. However, over the past decade, there’s been a significant shift in perception, and the major hotel chains have finally gone all-in on all-inclusives.

Hyatt, Hilton, and Marriott have each invested heavily in their all-inclusive rosters, and they continue to grow — and improve. Just as notable is where they’re pushing. Travelers can book all-inclusive stays at high-end properties, including resorts under Marriott’s Luxury Collection or even W Hotels. Hyatt has leaned in hard, too, folding more than 150 resorts into its Inclusive Collection, among them adults-only and luxury brands like Secrets and Zoëtry.

With so many options out there, the trick is knowing which properties are worth the points. Here’s a look at some of our favorite all-inclusives worth booking right now.

The property sits on a ridge above the Pacific in Big Sur, California, right off Highway 1, surrounded by redwoods and a dramatic coastline. With such a remote location, it’s also one of the rare instances where I felt fully disconnected staying at a resort.

Rates (points or cash) include all meals, whether you take them in-room, poolside, or at The Sur House, the resort’s restaurant overlooking the ocean; alcohol is the one notable extra. Some rooms come with private fireplaces or hot tubs, and ocean or forest views, and the resort caps occupancy at two guests per room.

My favorite amenity, however, was the Japanese hot baths. Set in the trees above the resort, soaking in there is about as zen as it gets.

Best for: Adults-only beach loversLoyalty program: World of Hyatt

Located about an hour south of touristy Cancún, Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya sits on a beach that means “place of the turtles” in Mayan. In fact, a reef just offshore makes this resort an ideal spot along the Riviera Maya to snorkel with green sea turtles. It’s an adults-only, all-inclusive resort with 434 suites, many with ocean views, swim-out access, or private plunge pools. Dining covers nine venues, including six à la carte restaurants with a smattering of cuisines from Mexican (obviously) to Asian and Italian.

As part of Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection, everything runs on the brand’s unlimited model — meals, drinks, and activities included with no wristband required. Even better, you can book it on World of Hyatt points.

Best for: Families Loyalty program: Hilton Honors

Hilton’s first all-inclusive resort in Tulum is also its largest resort in the Caribbean and Latin America. The property features a whopping 735 rooms in three-story, villa-style buildings on a secluded bay near the Riviera Maya coastline. It’s particularly attractive for families, with a dedicated “Family Zone,” which includes a water park playground, nine pools, daily kids programming, and nightly shows.

Couples also have a dedicated section called “Enclave,” an extra-fee area that adds a private pool area, a personal concierge, turndown service, and access to its own restaurant.

On the dining front, there are 13 food and beverage outlets, including five specialty restaurants — Italian, modern Mexican, Asian fusion, and a large international buffet — not to mention poolside grills, a deli café, and 24-hour room service. A full spa with 16 treatment rooms and a hydrotherapy circuit is shared with the adjacent Conrad Tulum, and rounds out the list of amenities. Between the treatments, the beach, and the pools, it’s an easy place to do nothing for a week.

Best for: Design and culture loversLoyalty program: Hilton Honors

This is Hilton’s first Curio Collection all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic, located on a beachfront location in Playa Esmeralda. Curio Collection is Hilton’s brand of independent, design-forward hotels.

The Taíno, the region’s Indigenous people, shape the look and feel of the place, down to a restaurant that features Caribbean cooking and a design that focuses on eco-conscious materials. The 500 rooms, suites, and bungalows stretch along 2,000 feet of sand, and 119 of the ground-floor suites have their own plunge pools.

Dining covers 14 venues in all, with menus spanning from the Caribbean to Thailand to the Amalfi Coast, and there’s a spa, a fitness center, and daily yoga to round things out. For an added fee, Club Azure gets you private check-in, a concierge, a 1,470-square-foot rooftop infinity pool, and a handful of restaurants reserved for that tier.

Best for: A romantic adults-only getawayLoyalty program: Marriott Bonvoy

Almare is the Luxury Collection’s first all-inclusive in Mexico, set on Isla Mujeres, an island 20 minutes off the coast of Cancún. The island’s name means “Island of Women,” after the Mayan goddess Ixchel, and the resort greets arrivals at its private dock with a traditional Mayan welcome.

The resort is adults-only and built around 109 suites, each with a private balcony looking out on the ocean, the mangroves, or the property grounds. The design of Almare is meant to echo the island surroundings, with a lobby featuring a Mayan calendar motif.

Dining includes BOGA, one of the resort’s restaurants, which does Mayan and Mexican cooking by day and shifts to international plates at night, and Seasalt, a rooftop spot with a 360-degree ocean view and a Mexican-European menu. There’s also Alma Spa for massages and facials, a fitness center, and non-motorized water sports like snorkeling and kayaking.

Best for: A grand beach resort feel Loyalty program: Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott’s Sanctuary Cap Cana is designed to resemble a colonial Spanish castle town, with stone turrets and colonial architecture spread across a white-sand beach about 15 minutes from Punta Cana airport. It sits inside Cap Cana, a gated 30,000-acre community that’s also home to Punta Espada, one of the top-rated golf courses in the Caribbean.

The resort is adults-only, with 324 suites and villas done in rich wood, rattan furnishings, and Coraline stone bathrooms. Some accommodations even include terraces, swim-up access, or private plunge pools.

Dining covers a range of venues, the standout being Blue Marlin, a seafood restaurant built on stilts out over the ocean. There’s also a Pan-Asian spot with a private-chef teppanyaki table, a canoe-shaped poolside eatery, and 24-hour room service.

The all-inclusive rate covers meals, drinks, activities, taxes, and gratuities, and as with everything on this list, is bookable on points.

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