Hi, I'm Michelle.
My college girlfriends and I have been vacationing together for decades. What started as piling onto the floor of someone's parents' living room has turned into all-inclusive weeks in paradise — the kind where you land, someone hands you a drink, and you don't think about anything for seven days.
We've stayed everywhere — Sanctuary Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic, Hotel Mousai in Mexico, the newest Sandals in Cancun. Every year we pick a new spot and every year we go through the same painful process: scrolling through dozens of travel sites, comparing resorts that all look the same in photos, trying to figure out which ones are actually all-inclusive versus the ones that nickel-and-dime you at every turn.
There was never an easy way to find these resorts. You could Google “best all-inclusive resorts” and get the same ten listicles written by people who've never left their desk. Or you could spend hours on TripAdvisor reading reviews from 2019. Neither felt right.
So I built The Grand Escape.
It's the tool I wished existed — a quick quiz that actually understands what you're looking for. Not just “beach or city?” but the real questions: What's your vibe? Do you want adults-only or are the kids coming? Is oceanfront non-negotiable? What's a fair nightly rate?
Every resort in our database is one I'd actually consider booking. We monitor ratings weekly, pull in real reviews, and flag anything that slips. If a resort drops below our standards, it comes off the list. No pay-to-play, no sponsored rankings — just honest matches based on what you actually told us you want.
We use Welcome Pickups every single trip. They track your flight, wait for you no matter how delayed it is, and the driver is standing there with your name when you walk out. After a long flight, the last thing you want is to figure out a taxi. This is the one thing I tell every friend to book.
We never skip it. One cancelled flight, one medical issue, and you'll be glad you spent the extra $30. We've used it twice and it paid for itself both times.
Get an eSIM before you land. No hunting for WiFi, no roaming charges, no asking the front desk for the password every day. Five minutes of setup saves a week of hassle.
The Grand Escape is a small project built with real opinions. If you find your next vacation through it, I'd love to hear about it.
— Michelle