Are you going on vacation? Then think through everything to the smallest detail. When reading hotel descriptions, you can see a term such as “half board”. What it is? Now let's try to explain. We also highlight how this type of food differs from full board.
What is half board in a hotel?
If you plan to choose a hotel with this type of food, then look for the designation HB (Half Board). This option implies that the price includes accommodation and two meals a day. Consider specifically what is included in half board:
- breakfast - various foods (pancakes, salads, fruits, eggs, porridge, granola, croissants, etc.) and soft drinks (coffee, juice, milk, tea);
- dinner is only food (salad, bread, fish or meat and sweets). Sometimes they still serve water in a jug.
Usually food is on the buffet. The time for food consumption is predetermined and limited, say, from eight to ten in the morning and from six to eight in the evening. In some hotels you can order dinner instead of dinner. For everything else (alcoholic drinks, snacks around the pool, drinks) you will need to pay extra, though not immediately, but at the end of the vacation. When you leave, you will be provided with an invoice.
In addition to the usual half board, there is an extended one. It means so - HB +. Such meals include breakfast, dinner plus alcoholic drinks (local producers) and soft drinks during lunch. The exact list of drinks depends on the hotel.
What is the difference between HB + and HB?
Now you know the concepts of "board" and "half board", what kind of food, we figured out. The difference between them is the availability of lunch. Note that full board is three meals a day and free drinks (non-alcoholic) at breakfast.
Half board not suitable
If you don’t have enough drinks and food for this type of food, then you can do this:
- Directly at the hotel to pay the required amount, then at the right place the type of food will be changed to the one you want. It can be either all-inclusive or full board.
- The second option is that you yourself go to restaurants and cafes. There you buy the desired food and drinks. Everything that you purchased outside the hotel can be carried to the room.
Feasibility of ordering half board in different countries
So, you have chosen half board. What kind of food is this, in general, we found out. Now we will understand the feasibility of ordering it in different countries. Due to the difference in infrastructure (leisure and entertainment), it is not profitable to choose it in all countries.
In the resort cities of Asia and Europe, it is advantageous to take this food option as a basis, since outside the hotel there are many cafes, bars and restaurants where tasty and relatively inexpensive food. Such establishments will help out even when you want to see local attractions, forgetting about the pool and the beach for a while.
In hotels in Egypt and Turkey, it is better to abandon half board. They usually go to these countries when they just want to soak up the sun by the sea. For this reason, most of the time tourists spend on site. Therefore, it is better to choose the type of "all inclusive", as paying extra for lunch will be more expensive.
We hope you’ve figured out the concept of half board. What kind of food is this, now it’s clear to you. This means that you can safely decide whether it suits you or not.