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An all-inclusive vacation just may be the easiest trip you'll ever plan-but what are these hotels really like? We've got the scoop.

I needed a vacation, and a trip to a Caribbean resort sounded incredibly seductive: I could relax on the beach and sip cocktails until the sun set over the ocean, and enjoy fabulous meals of fresh fish. After doing some research, I chose the luxurious-looking Curtain Bluff, 72-room resort on the island of Antigua. But I hesitated when I learned that Curtain Bluff is an all-inclusive resort. While I liked the idea of paying one price up front—for the room, meals, drinks, activities, even gratuities—I wondered if some of the stereotypes I’d heard about these properties were true: Would it have a summer-camp-for-adults atmosphere, with bad food and corny group activities? Would the unlimited drinks be watered down and the buffets picked-over? There was only one way to find out—so I booked a ticket to Antigua and set off to see for myself what this particular all-inclusive was all about.

I needed a vacation, and a trip to a Caribbean resort sounded incredibly seductive: I could relax on the beach and sip cocktails until the sun set over the ocean, and enjoy fabulous meals of fresh fish. After doing some research, I chose the luxurious-looking Curtain Bluff, 72-room resort on the island of Antigua. But I hesitated when I learned that Curtain Bluff is an all-inclusive resort. While I liked the idea of paying one price up front—for the room, meals, drinks, activities, even gratuities—I wondered if some of the stereotypes I’d heard about these properties were true: Would it have a summer-camp-for-adults atmosphere, with bad food and corny group activities? Would the unlimited drinks be watered down and the buffets picked-over? There was only one way to find out—so I booked a ticket to Antigua and set off to see for myself what this particular all-inclusive was all about.

Warm Welcome

My first impressions of the resort immediately calmed some of my concerns. In the open-air check-in cottage, a waiter presented me with a rum punch served in a sleek highball glass, the fruit juices blended to perfection. This was no summer camp.

The walk to my room was a steep climb up a white stone staircase where red hibiscus and vines spilled over the latticework railing. My suite, the Terrace Room, was as luxurious as any I’d ever seen: It featured a four-poster bed and a marble-trimmed bathroom with a huge tub. Elegant as the digs were, they were eclipsed by the room’s semicircular terrace, furnished with a massive Jacuzzi. I threw down my bags, rushed outside and let the warm ocean breezes awaken my airplane-dulled senses.

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