Choose breakfast only when you can easily eat out. Choose half-board when the resort is remote and dinner outside would mean a taxi or boat. A quick test below helps you decide.
This guide is part of our budget topics. It focuses on one question: how easy is dinner outside the hotel?
What is the outside-food test?
Three questions give you a clear answer. Ask them about the exact hotel, not the area in general.
- Can you reach at least three restaurants on foot, or by a short cheap ride?
- Do those restaurants serve food you can eat, including halal if needed?
- Will you still feel like going out after a long travel day?
If you answer yes to all three, breakfast only is a good fit. If you answer no to one or more, half-board deserves a closer look.
When does breakfast only save money?
It saves money when you want local food, variety and freedom. You pay for each dinner only when you eat it.
This works well in towns and busy tourist areas where prices are posted and choices are plenty. Our bed and breakfast glossary entry explains what the term includes.
When does half-board make sense?
It makes sense in places where outside dinner is hard. A remote resort, an island with few shops or a hotel far from town fall into this group.
You skip the travel at night and keep a calm evening. After a wedding and a long journey, this matters. Half-board can also help you plan costs early, since the dinner is set.
How do we judge a half-board dinner?
A half-board dinner is only good value if you want to eat it. Check these points.
- Is it a buffet, a set menu or a choice of dishes?
- Does the menu change each night, or repeat after a few days?
- Is there a halal option, and how is it prepared?
- Can you swap one dinner for lunch or a different outlet?
- Is a drink included, or is it extra?
Our guide on limited choices in half-board dinners covers what to ask if the menu is narrow.
Can we mix the two?
A resort may let you add dinner on certain nights. That gives you the calm of half-board on arrival and departure days, and the freedom of breakfast only in between.
Ask the resort for this in writing, and confirm the nightly price for two. If the island is remote, read meal plans on remote islands first.
How does this fit the whole food budget?
Use the same sum for the whole plan. Compare the extra price of half-board with what you would spend on dinner anyway. The method is in all-inclusive versus half-board value.
For ideas to keep dinners enjoyable on a smaller budget, see eating well on honeymoon for less.
What should we do next?
- Run the three-question outside-food test on your hotel.
- Ask the resort about the half-board menu and halal details.
- Ask whether you can add dinner on selected nights.
- Send us the hotel and we will compare the options for two and confirm what is possible.