TripAdvisor’s Top 4 All-Inclusive Hotels

Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards 2025

Tripadvisor announced their Best of the Best “Travelers’ Choice Awards 2025” and I could not believe was I was reading.

As it turns out, we’d actually stayed in ALL FOUR of the World’s Top 4 All-Inclusive Resorts in the last few years.
First things first: “The Travelers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best title celebrates the highest level of excellence in travel” and is only awarded to those properties that receive top reviews over the preceding 12 months. Consequently we were bowled over that we’d accidentally stayed in the top ones!

There are several “Best of” categories, but “fewer than 1% out of 8 million listings achieve this milestone”.

Frankly, we were gob-smacked that we’d been to ANY of the hotels in their Top-25, let alone THE FIRST 4 on the list!

But was it purely coincidence? Or have HindlesWorld created a system that manages to select those hotels that provide what we actually want? 

HindlesWorld Reviews Have Credibility

Suffice to say, if it’s good enough for those who vote for Tripadvisor’s “Travelers’ Choice Awards”, then it must mean we’ve done our research and chosen well too.

We’ve been travelling the world extensively, first while travelling for business and then latterly as a retired couple. Over time, we’ve developed a process, and probably some skill too, in identifying hotels and resorts through our own methodology.

The approach has evolved over the years and have now made it public and one that anyone can use. We call it TripWorthIt™: a free online tool that allows you to select hotels based on your travel persona BEFORE you book. In this way, you are more likely to stay in hotels that provide you value and create joy.

HindlesWorld’s TripWorthIt™ Methodology

Above all, and like many others, we spend hours and hours researching destinations prior to making a booking. We don’t just select a destination and book the first hotel that happens to be top of the list.

Specifically, we use all the resources available to us, including AI tools and watching videos on YouTube, especially if it’s a destination that’s new to us.

Unfortunately, many of the travel websites (including Google Maps), have a single reference number and often the human reviews are biased or polarised. Some hotels have been swamped with oodles of praise and given 5* ratings for things we would consider ordinary. Regrettably, in some countries, reviews can be fake, so you HAVE to cross-check across multiple sites to be sure you know what you are paying for. 

Harsh for no real reason?

It’s also sad to see some really good establishments being given 1* reviews for something which may have been completely beyond the hotel’s remit or outside of their control.

That’s why we created a new way of rating the places we visit and we use 4 different “personas” to make sure we’re rating the things that matter most for the specific trip in question. For example, if you are travelling on business, your needs are going to be completely different to someone heading to an All-Inclusive resort and wants to get their money’s worth.

The Top 4 All-Inclusive Hotels Worldwide

So let’s go back in time and list the hotels and when we stayed there:

1. Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya – stayed 17th – 27th Nov 2019
2. Siyam World Maldives – Stayed 17th -3rd Feb 2022
3. Emerald Faarufushi Resort Maldives – stayed 26th Nov – 3rd Dec 2024
4. Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun – stayed 11th -18th Nov 2017

Cancun Beach Life

Both of us were lucky enough to have enjoyed family holidays at the two Secrets hotels in Cancun. We love the brand and would be tempted to stay in any of their resorts in the Caribbean (avoiding peak hurricane season!)
The beaches in Cancun are amazing, although the do have major outbreaks of Sargasso Sea Weed, so beware as this is becoming more of a problem with climate change.

The Maldives

If you want to have the most perfect beaches in the world, The Maldives will likely take that prize.
Our stay at Siyam World was not long after it opened, so we took a risk that not everything would be open. Indeed, we made the most of it, as there was a great deal on offer. In addition, it was our first visit to The Maldives and we had some big anniversaries to celebrate too.

Above all, and before you splash out on $1,000 a night rooms, make sure you are prepared for the weather. Many a honeymoon has been ruined for those who chose to visit in the monsoon season.

Originally, we had planned to stay at Emerald Maldives, but then Faarufushi opened and we planned on doing a two-centre escape. Then Covid happened and we cancelled.

Finally, we decided to go back to The Maldives and my goodness, Emerald Faarufushi was a find! See my Video review here. This has now had over 10,000 views, so we’re most grateful for that too.

Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya

Given the risk of weather interruptions, we chose to stay  at Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya in late November, when the risk of hurricanes deminishes.

Because we had stayed at a sister hotel previously, we knew what to expect in terms of à la carte dining, evening entertainment and also what the hotel grounds would be like.

As it turned out, the place was exceptional. Enjoying 3 pool areas, that went from crazy busy with all the activities you’d expect all day long, to two other quieter pools, it meant that you could pick your spot depending on how involved you wanted to be. Hence we changed spots daily depending on whether we wanted calming music or wanted to be in the thick of things.

Unquestionably, the staff were amazing throughout and were genuine in providing a service. As is our European nature, this didn’t need to be at the beck and call of a dollar bill, although we made sure exceptional service was recognised.

Siyam World (Sun Siyam Resorts)

As it happened, we managed to bang an incredible deal at Siyam World before it opened and ended up staying for something like 18 nights. There is no way we could afford to go back there now, and nor would we want to, I don’t think, as we wouldn’t want to break the treasured memories we have of the island and staff. 

Being the first visit to The Maldives also left an impression – so much so, we’ve now stayed at 4 different resorts across the archipelago.

Teething troubles

Yes, there were teething troubles and it was challenging getting reservations at the best à la carte restaurants, but I understand things have changed significantly since our visit. As it turned out, the room we booked didn’t fit the website description, so we changed rooms after a week. Staying in a two-bedroom house was mind-blowing, especially as we had unlimited access to Orchid Bar and Arigato. 

The Cube was being built as we were there, as was Shipwrecked, and there are many more activities available now.

Have you stayed there recently? Let us know in the comments how it has changed? I hear there’s been quite a bit of beach erosion too. The view below was taken near Wahoo Grill on our regular morning walks round the island we did before breakfast.

Emerald Faarufushi Resort & Spa

The Maldives were calling again and we were lured back in December 2024. I’ve already written a detailed review of our stay at Emerald Faarufushi Resort & Spa.

In short, I still believe this resort has the best All-Inclusive package compared to the 4 islands we have visited and I think it would be very hard to match anywhere in the world. 

Emerald Faarufushi may not be the biggest island, but the snorkelling off the reef was amazing. The staff were so friendly and genuine and the huge wine list was just superb. Unsurprisingly, I think we might have over-indulged, but with All-Inclusive like this package, it was so tempting.

Secrets® Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun

Number 4 on the Tripadvisor List, this stay was our first visit to Cancun and we were nervous about going for a few reasons. It was leading up to Thanksgiving and we didn’t know how busy it was going to be or whether there might be a late hurricane that would spoil the holiday entirely. 

Hurricane Warning!

Recall that this area was hugely impacted by Hurricane Wilma, then a Category 4 storm that ravaged the coast and the island of Cozumel on October 21st 2005.

For this reason, we only had a week here and the first two days the weather was iffy and rainy, but then the sun came out and my goodness, what a difference it made. The beach was extraordinary and I was impressed how they manicured it several times a day with a tractor sieving up the seaweed. 

If you’re after stunning beaches, amazing food and service, the Secrets Maroma is worth a visit!

So How Did These Hotels Score on TripWorthIt™?

We have been grading our hotel stays for a while, but it’s only in the last 2 or 3 years have I been keeping a detailed track of the results. 

In the table below, I include just the Top 5 All-Inclusive Hotels that we have stayed at in recent times. You will note that 4 out of the top 5 are in The Maldives.

But, WHAT A COINCIDENCE – that the TripWorthItTM TOP ALL-INCLUSIVE HOTEL is ALSO:

Secrets^® Akumal Riviera Maya, Cancun

I will post another blog on Been & Scene soon where I provide more details behind the scoring of each of these hotels.