There is something fascinating about an all-inclusive hotel. For a week or two, people from completely different countries suddenly find themselves sharing the same dining room, pool and buffet queue. Nobody knows anyone, yet we quickly start noticing each other’s habits.
I recently returned from Croatia, where our hotel was a wonderful mix of nationalities — Croatians, Slovenians, Austrians, Poles, Germans and, naturally, plenty of Brits. Most people spoke at least some English, which made conversation surprisingly easy. I even enjoyed spotting similarities between Bulgarian and Croatian — little reminders that our languages, however different, have travelled some of the same paths.
But it wasn’t just language that caught my attention. An all-inclusive hotel is also a masterclass in cultural behaviour.
Take the buffet queue. Most guests waited patiently for freshly grilled fish or meat. Yet every now and then, someone would decide that the queue was more of a suggestion. The same logic applied to sun loungers — a towel placed at 8am apparently constituting a legally binding reservation until lunchtime — and to the pool rules, which certain guests interpreted with considerable creative freedom.
I found myself wondering whether these little differences are cultural or simply human. Every country has patient queuers and determined shortcut-takers. Holidays perhaps just make those tendencies more visible. At home, we live alongside people who share our unspoken social rules. Put a Croatian, Bulgarian, Brit, Pole, German and Austrian around the same pool and suddenly those invisible rules become rather interesting.
And yet, what struck me most was how easily people managed to share the same space. A smile, a few words of English or an attempt at someone’s language was usually enough to bridge the gap. We might disagree about queuing etiquette, but we were all there for the same reason: sunshine, good food and a proper rest.
That, I think, is what I enjoy most about travelling. Cultural differences are real — but they don’t have to divide us. More often than not, they simply give us something to laugh about over dinner.
Even if the person who reserved six loungers before breakfast does deserve a little cultural investigation.
Photo by The Travel Nook on Unsplash
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