When choosing a hotel for recreation, it is important to pay attention to the food system included in the price of the tour. In some cases, it is more convenient and cheaper to choose the so-called half board (HB) or half board plus (HB +), but this type of food has its pitfalls.
If full board is three meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), then half board is the presence of only breakfast and dinner, in some hotels you can optionally replace dinner for lunch. That is, in addition to the paid room, the vacationer will have at his disposal breakfast (eggs, pancakes, omelet, croissants, salads, depending on the menu) and dinner (meat or fish, salad, bread, dessert). For breakfast, they usually also serve some kind of non-alcoholic drinks, for example, coffee, tea, water, milk, juice, for dinner - most often just water.
Meal times are limited, usually breakfast lasts from 8 am to 10 am, dinner from 6 pm to 8 pm. The evening meal in most hotels is a buffet, where you can choose any dish on offer. At the same time, drinks at dinner are paid. If HB + Extended Half Board has been paid for, free alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks may be served for dinner.
Additional drinks, snacks, lunches - all this is available to the tourist even with half board, but for a fee. Usually, the invoice is issued at the end of the holiday, upon check-out from the hotel.
Benefits of half board
The main advantage of this method of eating is that vacationers are not tied to their hotel, they can freely leave for the whole day, going to cafes and restaurants on the way. That is why hotels with half board are often chosen in the resorts of Europe and Asia, as there are many inexpensive and cozy cafes, bars or trendy restaurants.
You can choose the time for lunch yourself, you do not have to come to the hotel restaurant at the right time. In hot resorts, you often want to spend time on the beach or by the pool, but there is no appetite at all at the appointed time.
For some, the absence of alcoholic drinks in the half-board menu may be a plus. Unlike the famous All Inclusive, when unlimited alcohol can turn a rest into a continuous drinking, half board allows you to strictly control your alcohol consumption.
Disadvantages of half board
Tourists who order additional meals, snacks and drinks in addition to those on the prepaid menu often overpay for them. In addition, at the end of the holiday it will be difficult to calculate whether the hotel employees are demanding the correct amount.
In most hotels in Egypt and Turkey, it is prohibited to bring food and drinks purchased outside the hotel restaurant into the room. This can be very inconvenient. In these countries, it is often more profitable and more convenient to pay right away for Full Board (FB) or All Inclusive.
