• My family's stay at a Mexico resort fell short despite a previous positive experience.
• The resort's lack of a booking system led to long waits for our large group of eight people.
• Mexico's tourism industry is growing, with a shift toward luxury-focused properties.

In August, I traveled from the UK to Mexico for a two-week vacation with my extended family of eight.

We stayed at The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences, an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen that has five pools, 11 restaurants, and a spa.

We previously vacationed at the same resort in 2016 and loved it so much that we decided to stay there again on this trip for my uncle's 60th birthday.

But this time around, the hotel didn't meet all of our expectations and I would now think twice about booking an all-inclusive resort.

Our group of eight collectively paid at least £19,494, or around $25,434, for our two-week package vacation, which included flights from the UK.

Next time, I'd rather spend my money on an Airbnb or a different hotel that can better accommodate large groups.

We got upgraded on the second day

Half of my extended family lives in England, while my parents, my partner, and I live in Scotland.

We each booked the trip separately since we were traveling from different locations and had slightly different budgets.

My partner and I paid £4,394, or around $5,732, for our portion of the trip through TUI, a travel group that specializes in package vacations.

The price included our round-trip flights from Glasgow to Cancún, airport transfers, and our standard room at The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences with all food and drinks included.

Our standard room was supposed to have a king-sized bed, a bathroom, and a shower. But when we arrived, we noticed two single beds with a dresser between them.

We told reception about the issue, and to their credit, we were upgraded to a suite the following day for no extra cost.

Our suite had a king-sized bed, an open-plan living room and kitchen with two flatscreen TVs, and a balcony that overlooked the pool below.

This is the same type of suite that my parents booked, which cost an additional £500, or around $652.

We were delighted with the free upgrade; the resort more than made up for the mix-up.

A disaster dining experience

The resort's restaurants were vast, ranging from Mexican to Italian and Mediterranean food.

During our stay in 2016, there was a booking system for guests to reserve dinner each night. We never had an issue getting a reservation, despite the fact that there were nine of us.

When eight of us returned in August, we found out that the booking system had been scrapped, and guests were now required to show up without a booking.

We were probably impacted more than other guests because we were a large group. Sometimes, we had to wait in long lines, or we were asked to come back later. On one occasion, we had to wait for two hours to get a table for dinner.

We didn't have to wait as long for lunch, but this was because we were often asked to dine separately at two tables of four.

The only meal that presented no obstacles was the breakfast buffet, which was held in a giant restaurant with plenty of tables and staff.

We had paid a lot of money for this trip to celebrate my uncle's birthday. But this situation made my family and I feel like we were an inconvenience or an annoyance to the staff, who seemed to struggle to accommodate us.

A haphazard solution

During the second week of our trip, a staff member asked for feedback on our overall experience. My mom mentioned the issues we'd been having at the restaurants.

To our surprise, the staff member said the resort would make an exception for our group and allow us to reserve tables for the final week of our stay.

Our party was then given a timetable with reservations for dinner each night. We were thrilled by the turn of events.

This was definitely an improvement, but even after we were given the timetable, two of the restaurants completely forgot about our reservations when we showed up for dinner.

We tried ordering room service a couple of times, and we enjoyed it. But we couldn't keep this up every night, as the menu options were limited to mostly fast food and snacks such as pizza and nachos.

It's not unusual for all-inclusive resorts to host large groups such as wedding parties, bachelor and bachelorette groups, or families with children.

With that said, I couldn't understand why this resort would implement a system that worked against larger groups, who would evidently be paying a lot of money to be there.

Mexico ranks among the top 10 most favored tourist destinations worldwide, Miguel Turroco, the secretary of tourism, shared in a Visit Mexico report in June.

The country's tourism industry saw growth of 5.5% in the fourth quarter of last year — almost double the growth of the country's GDP — according to Turroco.

Duncan Greenfield-Turk, CEO of the travel agency Global Travel Moments, tells me that all-inclusive resorts have "maintained their popularity" in recent years, though he noticed a general shift toward luxury-focused properties "as major brands like Marriott and Hyatt expand their portfolios in Mexico."

But for groups who want something different, he recommends renting a property in Puerto Vallarta or Tulum, which he said have "plenty of space and personalized services."

Overall, my family still had a good experience, and we appreciated that the resort addressed our concerns.

I'm not saying I'll never try an all-inclusive resort again, but I won't be returning to this resort or any others without a booking system.

Next time, I'll follow Greenfield-Turk's suggestion to rent a private property that can better accommodate larger groups.

The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences did not respond to a request for comment.

• UK royal staff decorated residences like Windsor Castle for the holidays.
• The British royals have a slew of famous properties, from Windsor to Holyroodhouse to Buckingham Palace.
• Buckingham Palace is being renovated — and we've not seen any photos so far of it being decked out.

The British royal family is getting in the holiday spirit.

It's a festive tradition for staff from the Royal Collection Trust to decorate the family's residences around the UK.

This year, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh were the first residences to be decked out with Christmas trees and garlands.

Take a look at all the festive touches.

In Windsor Castle, a 20-foot Christmas tree was erected in St George's Hall.

The tree was sourced from the nearby Windsor Great Park and will be replanted after the Christmas display closes.

For the first time, Queen Mary's Dolls' House is decorated.

The Queen Mary's Dolls' House in Windsor Castle was designed between 1921 and 1924 as a "gift to the nation" from Queen Mary following World War I.

The doll house — often called the largest and most famous in the world — replicates an aristocratic Edwardian home and has electricity, working elevators, and running water.

This close-up image shows a mini 1920s Christmas tree.

To commemorate its 100th anniversary, the doll house has been decorated for Christmas for the first time with a miniature 1920s-style Christmas tree and garlands.

Meanwhile, festive garlands were on the castle's grand staircase.

The staircase leads to the State Apartments, which are open for the public to visit.

A 15-foot-high Christmas tree stands in the castle's crimson drawing room.

A Nordmann Fir Christmas tree was erected in the crimson drawing room, which the royal family uses for official entertaining.

Photos of the decorations at Buckingham Palace have not been released.

Buckingham Palace is decorated — but there aren't any pictures available.

A palace spokesperson told Business Insider that imagery of the interior decoration hasn't been released since the palace is closed to the public.

They said there were Christmas trees, garlands, and other festive flowers in the palace, the official London residence of the royals.

The photo above shows an event on December 11 at the palace, without any obvious decoration.

The palace is undergoing a £369 million ($466 million) refurbishment, which will see the royal household closed to state visits until 2027.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh was also decorated with trees and garlands.

A 15-foot-high tree was erected in the Great Gallery, the largest room in the palace.

Here's a close-up shot of staff decorating the tree with baubles.

The room is adorned with portraits of legendary kings of Scotland.

Two 12-foot-high Christmas trees stand in the palace's Throne Room.

The Throne Room is used for receptions, state banquets, and other formal events.

Here's a closer look at one of the trees.

The tree was decorated predominantly with red baubles and ribbons.

In the palace's dining room, giant festive garlands are displayed.

Staff members can be seen adding the finishing touches to the display.

The table was set with sugared fruits and foliage.

Clarence House has also been decorated for the holidays.

The London residence, which remains the primary residence of King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, also got a festive makeover in the run up to Christmas.

The property was decorated to resemble a Christmas grotto ahead of an annual festive tradition.

The Queen welcomed children to Clarence House to help decorate the Christmas tree in the household's library.

Highgrove, the King's former family residence, was decorated with towering nutcrackers.

Highgrove is in the English countryside some 85 miles west of London.

The two nutcrackers, which stand at over 10 feet tall, have been placed outside the Orchard Room, the estate's dedicated entertaining space.

Inside, a Christmas tree has been placed on a table.

The tree is in the Ante Room and will be visible to the public who visit Highgrove's gardens during the festive period.

Garlands of dried fruit have been displayed on the windows.

Staff members can be seen decorating the tree beyond the windows.

The table in the garden room was decorated with tall candelabras and seasonal colors.

Staff at Highgrove Gardens can be seen preparing place settings in the garden room.

If we see more royal Christmassy photos, we'll add them.

• The United Arab Emirates experienced torrential rainfall and flash floods, beginning late Monday.
• Videos appear to show planes taxiing down flooded runways at Dubai International Airport. 
• Some blamed a practice to address water scarcity, but many meteorologists doubt that was the case.

Torrential rainfall pummeled the United Arab Emirates this week, resulting in flash floods that caused air travel chaos, closed schools, and deluged homes.

The rain began late Monday, flooding the UAE with more than half a foot (6.26 inches) of water in 24 hours, according to the Dubai Meteorological Office and cited by ABC News. That is more than two years' worth of rain in one day, the outlet noted.

There are claims that cloud seeding may have played a role in the flash floods. The practice sees planes inject clouds with chemicals that can increase rainfall. Scientists say it's unlikely cloud seeding caused the flooding, though.

One fatality was reported by police at the time of writing on Wednesday: A 70-year-old man died in Ras al-Khaimah when his vehicle was swept away in the flooding.

Flooding also occurred in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. In Oman, 19 people died in flash floods, according to local media.

Dubai International Airport — recently named the most luxurious airport in the world — said planes were diverted. Some services now appear to have restarted.

Unverified videos on social media appeared to show heavily flooded tarmac, with large passenger airplanes creating waves and taxiing through several feet of water.

The airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider about the videos.

"We advise you NOT to come to the airport, unless absolutely necessary," an airport spokesperson wrote on X on Wednesday.

They added that planes continue to be delayed and diverted.

An unnamed couple told the AP that the situation at the airport is "absolute carnage," with some passengers sleeping there or at the Metro station.

Dubai recieved more than 5.6 inches of rain by Tuesday evening, around the amount it typically gets in a year and a half, according to Sky News.

It marks its heaviest rainfall in 75 years, according to a WAM news agency cited by Sky News.

In a post shared on X, the UAE's National Centre of Meteorology showed the regions that have been most affected.

The UAE has been cloud seeding since the '90s

While images of extreme flooding can show the consequences of the climate crisis, this particular event may have been worsened by a direct attempt to play rainmaker — literally.

To address water scarcity in the typically dry country, the UAE started using a practice referred to as cloud seeding in the 90s and early 2000s.

Cloud seeding is a method designed to increase the amount of water that falls from a cloud. It involves identifying suitable clouds and then using aircraft or ground-based generators to introduce a chemical agent that facilitates the production of snowflakes.

Cloud seeding has been used in countries worldwide, including in western US states dealing with drought, like California, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, and Texas.

The practice has long been controversial, with critics dismissing it as an attempt to "play God" or being potentially harmful to the environment or public health. Scientists have not documented the harmful impacts of cloud seeding, and recent studies have suggested that the practice works.

Ahmed Habib, a specialist meteorologist, told Bloomberg that the UAE's cloud seeding operations contributed directly to the heavy rainfall that fell this week.

Habib told the outlet that two planes conducted cloud seeding operations on Monday and Tuesday and that seven seeding missions had been carried out in two days.

Flight-tracking data analyzed by the AP suggested that an aircraft affiliated with the UAE's cloud-seeding project flew around the country Sunday.

"For any cloud that's suitable over the UAE you make the operation," Habib told Bloomberg.

The UAE's weather bureau said no cloud seeding had taken place during Tuesday's rain, according to the National News. It did not immediately respond to a request by BI for comment.

Chris England, a weather producer at Sky News, said he didn't believe cloud seeding to be a reason behind the floods, adding that evidence of it working was "pretty slim at best." Tomer Burg, an atmospheric-science researcher, told the Associated Press that days before the downpour, computer models forecast several inches of rain.

"When we talk about heavy rainfall, we need to talk about climate change. Focusing on cloud seeding is misleading," an Imperial College of London climate scientist, Friederike Otto, told the AP. "Rainfall is becoming much heavier around the world as the climate warms because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture."

Despite warning citizens to remain home during the heavy rain, the UAE government's press office said they were "rains of goodness," as the country has dealt with a rise in heat-related illnesses and deaths that some hope can be alleviated by an increase in rainfall.

Schools across the UAE continued to be closed on Wednesday, and employees are working from home, according to the Sky News report.

Correction: December 5, 2024 — This story was updated to better contextualize speculation linking cloud seeding to flooding in the UAE. Many scientists say it's unlikely cloud seeding had a role in the flooding.

• Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is set to reopen on December 7.
• It's been more than five years since a fire devastated parts of the historic building.
• Take a look at new images of the restored cathedral below.

Notre Dame Cathedral, one of Paris' most iconic buildings, is set to reopen its doors on December 7, more than five years on from the devastating fire that ravaged its roof and toppled its spire.

Ahead of the reopening service, which will be presided over by the Archbishop of Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron took a televised walking tour of the cathedral, offering glimpses of the restoration. In a post on X, Macron shared a photo, writing alongside it: "Achieving the impossible together. That's France."

Business Insider has compiled some images of the restored building below.

A fire broke out at Notre Dame Cathedral on April 15, 2019.

The blaze destroyed much of the building's roof and brought down its spire. Fortunately, the cathedral's bell towers and main structure survived.

The subsequent restoration project is estimated to have cost more than $700 million.

France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, visited ahead of the official reopening.

Macron gave a speech to people who worked on the rebuild.

A reopening service is set to be held on December 7.

A Mass is then planned for December 8.

President-elect Donald Trump is set to attend the reopening ceremony on Saturday.

• NASA astronauts on the ISS share Thanksgiving plans in a video on X.
• Suni Williams and Buth Wilmore's return to Earth was recently delayed until 2025.
• NASA plans to bring them back using the SpaceX Crew Dragon in early 2025.

NASA astronauts living and working on the International Space Station (ISS) gave a glimpse into what Thanksgiving day will look like for them.

Commander Suni Williams and flight engineers Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit shared their Thanksgiving plans in a video shared to NASA's X account on Wednesday.

"Our crew up here just wanted to say happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family who are down on Earth and everyone who is supporting us," Williams said.

The crew shared plans to enjoy a holiday meal together and showed a container of food which they said had smoked turkey, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, and apples and spices.

In an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, Williams said they also had plans to eat apple cobbler, green beans, mushrooms, and mashed potatoes.

"Our flight control teams gave us tomorrow off, so our plans are, as usual, get up and workout, do the Turkey trot, watch a little Macy's [Thanksgivng] Day Parade, and we have a bunch of food that we packed away that is Thanksgiving-ish," she said.

In 1973, Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue became the first crew to celebrate Thanksgiving in space.

According to NASA, Gibson and Pogue had to complete a 6-hour and 33-minute space walk, while Carr remained in the control center with no access to food.

Thursday marks the 176th day since Williams and Wilmore arrived on the ISS after conducting test pilots on Boeing's Starliner space capsule.

The pair were originally supposed to be in space for eight to 10 days after arriving on June 6. However, their return kept getting delayed due to technical difficulties and safety concerns.

In August, NASA said Wilmore and Williams will be brought home in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in early 2025.

"Our mission control team and our management has always had an option for us to come home," Williams told NBC News.

"So yeah, we came up here on Starliner. We're coming back on a Dragon, but there's always been a plan of how we would get home," she added.

• A Chinese ship was seen near severed Baltic Sea internet cables, the FT reported.
• Germany's defense minister said the incidents were likely to have been "caused by sabotage."
• An unnamed source told the FT that Sweden is investigating whether China was involved.

Sweden is investigating the sighting of a Chinese vessel near where two Baltic Sea internet cables were severed, the Financial Times reported.

The first cable — a 135-mile internet link between Lithuania and Sweden's Gotland Island — stopped working on Sunday.

Later on Monday, a 730-mile cable carrying data between Germany and Finland was cut.

Boris Pistorius, Germany's defense minister, said on Tuesday that it was being assumed that the two incidents were "caused by sabotage."

"No one believes that the cables were accidentally damaged," he said.

A joint statement by France, Italy, Germany, Poland, and Britain had previously suggested that Russia was involved. However, China is now also being investigated.

Yi Peng 3, a Chinese-registered cargo ship, was traveling from Russia to Egypt when it passed the two cables at around the same time each was cut on Sunday and Monday, according to Marine Traffic data obtained by FT.

The ship was then followed closely by the Danish Navy, open-source intelligence experts told the outlet.

The Danish defense ministry said it was "in the area near" the Chinese ship in a statement on X Wednesday, amid unconfirmed reports that Danish officials had boarded the vessel.

Erin Murphy, coauthor of a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies report on the threat to undersea cables, speculated that China may be working in tandem with Russia.

"There have been questions about China's support or lack of opposition to Russia's war in Ukraine but if intentional, this is an aggressive step by a China that typically operates in the Indo-Pacific region," Murphy told BI.

In 2023, a Chinese vessel was investigated after dragging its anchor and damaging gas and telecommunications lines in the Gulf of Finland. China cooperated with the investigation.

In a joint statement on Monday, the Foreign Ministers of Finland and Germany said they were "deeply concerned" about the incidents.

"The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times," the statement said.

"A thorough investigation is underway. Our European security is not only under threat from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors," they added.

"Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies."

The International Union of Marine Insurance estimates that repairing damaged cables usually costs between $7 and $12 million.

It comes amid tensions between the West and China over its support of Russia in the war against Ukraine.

Representatives for Sweden's Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Marine Traffic, and China's Embassy in the UK did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.