RESORTS & HOTELS

HOT: All-Inclusive Resorts

Even with the economy in the crapper, we still must eat … and drink! Resorts in destinations like Mexico and the Caribbean are desperate for your travel dollars, and when prices drop at an all-inclusive resort, we’re talking mega-savings. Nightly rates include all your meals, drinks—yes, alcoholic ones too—and activities (usually that doesn’t include motorized watersports).

Sandals resorts in the Caribbean are dropping rates across the board, but the best deal can be found at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios in Jamaica, where you can save up to 60 percent through December 26, 2009 if you book by January 15. Tesoro Resorts in Mexico has a winter deal at its Ixtapa property that starts as low as $120 a night—and if you want to go a la carte, room rates at the Los Cabos property start at just $60 a night. And while the “gourmet inclusive” Karisma resorts in the Riviera Maya are a little pricier, at least $200 a night, where else are you going to find a restaurant that serves 20 dishes made from lobster?

NOT: Jamaican Sand Stealing

That’s right. Thieves are stealing hundreds of tons of sand from the coastline to fuel a construction boom.

Apparently Jamaican sand makes for good foundation covering. But it’s leaving beaches vulnerable to tidal waves and sea surges, which means that if this practice isn’t stopped, the Caribbean will soon only have sun … and surf.