Club level upgrades: worth it?

Every brand has one, under a different name

Elite Club, Royal Level, Premium Level, First Club, Preferred. The names differ; the mechanic is the same. A tier above the standard all-inclusive rate that unlocks some combination of a dedicated restaurant, a reserved pool or beach area, upgraded drinks, room service, and a better room category.

In the resorts we document, the tiers that appear by name include Elite Club, Royal Level, Premium Level and First Club — and in at least one case the operator states plainly that the standard rate excludes access to two entire areas of the resort.

The uncomfortable way to think about it

A tiered resort does not simply add things for people who pay more. It also defines what the standard rate does not get.

One resort in our records publishes that premium beverages are an Elite Club area feature. Another publishes that room service is free only at the top tier. A third excludes First Club and Royal Level areas from the standard rate outright.

Read those the other way around and the picture is clearer: at a heavily tiered resort, the base rate is a deliberately incomplete version of the property. That is not dishonest — it is published — but it changes the question from “is the upgrade worth it” to “is the standard rate the resort I think I am booking”.

When the upgrade is usually worth it

When the tier unlocks drinks you will actually drink. If premium spirits sit behind the tier and you drink them daily, the arithmetic is simple and usually favourable.

When it unlocks a restaurant with availability. At resorts where a la carte reservations are hard to get, a tier-exclusive restaurant can be the difference between eating well and eating at the buffet.

When it unlocks space. A reserved pool or beach section at a resort with eleven pools and thousands of guests is a genuine, daily benefit.

On a short, expensive trip, where the marginal cost across three nights is small relative to the flights.

When it usually is not

When it is mostly room features. A bigger room and a better view are worth something, but you are asleep for most of the time you are in it.

When the resort is not busy enough for exclusivity to mean anything. Reserved space is only valuable where there is competition for space.

When you would be paying to fix a problem the resort created. If the standard rate excludes so much that the tier feels necessary, the honest conclusion is often that this is the wrong resort, not the wrong tier.

What almost no operator publishes

What the tier actually costs, and precisely what the standard rate excludes. In our records, the resorts naming their tiers overwhelmingly do not publish a full exclusions list for the base rate.

So the comparison you need — what am I giving up by not upgrading — is the one the website will not let you make.

The question to ask

“Please list exactly what the standard all-inclusive rate does not include that the [tier name] rate does.”

One question, and it converts a vague upsell into a priced decision. If the answer is short, skip the upgrade. If it is long, reconsider the resort.

Last verified 2026-09-13.