Serviced Villa or All-Inclusive Resort? 7 Questions for Your Caribbean Trip

1. How many people are you really planning for?

Headcount is usually the first filter:

• 1–3 people: a resort or small hotel is often simpler and can be cheaper.
• 4–10 people: a serviced villa starts to make sense, especially if you fill most bedrooms.

For example, Casa Phil sleeps up to 10 guests (4 main bedrooms plus a kids’ room). When 2–3 families or a group of friends share the house, the nightly rate divided per person often ends up in the same budget range as a good all-inclusive resort, with much more space and privacy.

2. What kind of week do you picture when you close your eyes?

Forget labels for a moment and think about the mood:

• Resort week: waterslides, kids’ clubs, shows, crowded pools, entertainment schedules and new people everywhere. Everything happens inside one large property.
• Serviced villa week: private pool, long meals around one table, quiet mornings, afternoons discovering beaches and villages, evenings split between dinners at home and local restaurants.

One is not better than the other in absolute terms. The question is which rhythm matches the trip you are trying to create for this particular group.

3. Do you want a bubble or a base?

Resorts are designed as a bubble: once you check in, you could spend the whole week on site. That is perfect for some travellers, especially with young children or on very short stays.

A serviced villa acts more as a base:

• You have a private home to return to, with your own pool and living spaces.
• You can easily explore different beaches, viewpoints and restaurants around Las Terrenas.
• You decide how “busy” your days are and how much you stay in vs go out.

If you like the idea of discovering the area, trying different beaches and mixing beach clubs with quieter spots, a villa often supports that style of trip better than a single large resort.

4. How much privacy do you need to actually relax?

Some guests relax when there is energy and movement around them. Others only really switch off when there are no strangers nearby.

• In a resort, you share pools, restaurants, elevators and most spaces with other guests. You can find quiet corners, but they are still public.
• In a serviced villa like Casa Phil or Casa Valentine, the pool, jacuzzi, living areas and games spaces are for one group at a time.

Think about the personalities in your group. If several people are sensitive to noise, crowds or lack of personal space, a private villa can make a big difference to how the week feels.

5. How do you prefer to handle food and drink?

This is where the three models differ most clearly:

• All-inclusive resort: food and most drinks are bundled. You typically eat buffet or restaurant meals on site three times a day. Very simple, but you are tied to what the resort offers.
• Standard rental: you shop, cook, eat out and handle dishes on your own.
• Serviced villa: staff cook key meals, but you pay for groceries at supermarket prices and mix home meals with local restaurants.

At Casa Phil, for example, breakfast and lunch are prepared and served by the team, while guests pay for ingredients and drinks at cost. Dinner service is optional on the evenings you prefer to stay in. This suits travellers who enjoy fresh food and flexibility, without wanting to cook every day.

6. How independent do you want to be with logistics?

With a standard rental you are almost fully independent: great if you like organising, less so if you do not want to think about cleaning, transfers or activities on holiday.

With a resort, everything is centralised: airport transfers, excursions, kids’ clubs and entertainment all run through the same front desk.

A serviced villa sits in the middle:

• The in-villa team handles daily housekeeping and meals.
• The host or concierge helps you book transfers and excursions with local providers.
• You still decide your own schedule rather than following a programme.

If you like the idea of independence but also want someone local to lean on for practicalities, this hybrid model can work well.

7. What does the total budget look like per person?

Comparing headline prices can be misleading. Resorts quote per person, per night. Villas quote per property, per night.

The honest way to compare is:

• Choose real travel dates and a realistic resort you would book.
• Look at the total cost for everyone for the full stay.
• Compare it with the villa rate for the same dates, plus a realistic estimate for groceries, dinners out and activities.

In many scenarios for 6–10 guests, a fully staffed villa such as Casa Phil ends up in a similar per-person budget range as a good all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic. For couples or very small groups, resorts usually remain the cheaper and simpler option.

Our free Serviced Villa vs Resort guides walk through example numbers in more detail, so you can run the same logic with your own dates and group size.

Putting it together for your Las Terrenas trip

After you have answered these seven questions, you should have a clearer sense of whether your group belongs in a large all-inclusive resort, a simple vacation rental, or a serviced villa with staff.

If the serviced villa model sounds like a match, you can:

• Download the lite and full guides for more detail.
• Explore our fully staffed villas, including Casa Phil and Casa Valentine.
• Contact us with your dates, headcount and rough budget so we can help you compare a villa stay with the kind of resort you would normally choose.

And if your answers point you back to a classic resort for this trip, that is also a useful outcome: the goal is to choose the format that best fits how you actually like to spend a week by the ocean.