To start, I should probably disclose that until recently when people mentioned Club Med to me I pictured two things:
First – A bunch of hedonistic nudists having orgies on yachts in the Greek Islands or enjoying sensual holidays in Portugal
Second (and perhaps more reasonably) a bunch of pampered and spoiled middle aged tourists enjoying exotic places like the south of France who don’t have to do any of the hard parts of travel but simply spend tons of money to enjoy the best parts.
In fact, Club Med is something very different from both. I don’t know how much you know about Club Med, but what it really is, is an all-inclusive holidays with a very wide number of activities included. It is essentially a service that makes it very easy for people to budget their holidays.
During holidays the staff are called GOs (gentil organisateur = nice organizer) and the customers are called GMs (gentil membre = nice members). There is a very close and friendly relationship between GOs and GMs: GOs help you with anything and do all the activities with you as if they are clients themselves.
Everything is taken care of: people going to Club Med feel free to relax and do nothing or get highly involved in all the activities, meet many people and have a lot of fun.
And all of this is possible regardless of the type of resorts: for families, for couples or for friends wanting to party. The food is served through buffets, where people can eat as much as they want. There are many different types of foods with new specialties from exotic places on a regular basis. You can be sure you will be able to have some “raclette” or “fondue” everyday in every winter ski resort, and still have the opportunity to choose among regular food.
I have recently met a few folks who went to Club Med as kids, and I can guarantee you that children have an amazing time over there! But, as I mentioned, there are adults only resorts as well, so maybe the hedonistic version I mentioned really does exist somewhere.
I’ve met a fair number of people who have been to Club Med in resorts all over the world and one thing I’ve never heard from any of them is a complaint. Frankly, I’m amazed by that. No complaints about the price, the service, the activities, the resorts – nothing at all!
The interesting thing about my ideas about Club Med is that while I was picturing the “unique” bits, I was picturing the wrong bits. In fact, what makes Club Med unique is the service, the way it is set up and the huge number of things that are included in each package. The close bond between GMs and GOs make it unique too. It is true that not everybody wants to socialize but they don’t have to if they don’t want to.
Here is a mind blowing statistic. Out of several hundred people I’ve talked with who have been to Club Med, only three families of them haven’t been back and that was because of work and finances – they all said they would like to return.
It’s actually not all about beaches and yachts either, check out the Club Med ski resorts:
In any event, Club Med isn’t even all about Europe – you can find Club Med in Morocco, Turkey, Cancun, or elsewhere – so, if you want to budget an incredible trip – you might just want to have another look at Club Med.