Neilson Reviews

This review refers to a trip to Buca in July 2023 I m a long time Neilson returnee this being my fifth trip to Messini or Buca and something like my 13th to a Neilson Beachclub always travelling as a couple or with family I m primarily a sailor and cyclist so won t comment on the tennis This was my first return to the world where everyone wears Garmin sports watches and Oakley sunglasses since Covid and it s apparent that things are changing but not the watches and sunglasses The staff remain excellent both those locally employed or from the UK with the very occasional exception see below The general gym running exercise programme has been significantly expanded However on the beach Neilson no longer seem to have RYA accreditation which is a great pity as the family have in the past gone from ab-intio to level 2 qualifications The replacement of the courses with casual workshops in a retrograde step the lack of structure means that there is less learning progress but more significantly one doesn t get to build the same sort of friendships with other holidaymakers My son commented that the beach staff didn t seem as technically knowledgeable as in the past They need more guided bike rides particularly in the blue red range The staffing ratio policy seems odd with two staff on a six person blue ride and only one on a red with a dozen guests The latter was particularly problematical as one will inevitably get a range of abilities on such a ride in the heat the guide did not allow the lantern rouge enough time to hydrate and recover before moving off again The ride became increasingly spread out the guide had to hang back as the rear guest got slower and thus two people missed a turning guide comment there re adults so they can find their own way back then when a rider came off and had a minor collision with a local s car road rash but no damage to the car the guide was nowhere to be seen in the appreciable time that it took to sort this out On another trip the group was expected to wait outside a supermarket while the same guide popped in to do some shopping Lastly if I want to hear from the staff that the state of the NHS and everything is the Tory s fault I ll go and see an Alexi Sale or Ben Elton show not on a guided bike ride Buca s breakfast and lunch provision remains excellent with a good range of cooked and fresh food and brilliant waiting staff The evening offerings sadly don t match up there is now only la carte dining on offer four days a week and a buffet like the other Neilsons on two nights The la carte food is ok but not of the quality that one would expect for the price The ingredients are fresh but preparation leaves much to be desired and too often dishes have obviously been standing on a warming plate for far too long soggy crispbreads and fried items and dried edges on meat It s worth noting that Buca is not an adults only club one might think for some of the blurb but in the school holidays at least mainly populated by teenage families Lounger provision round the pool is adequate and the bar staff impeccably attentive there did seem to be a few refugees for Messini appearing around the pool on occasion especially at 16 30 when the sample cocktails arrive The flight was typical of a low end package operator which is not I think where Neilson sees itself and it was a relief to get through the airport onto the transfer which is delightfully short and very efficiently handled As many others have commented I m not sure what the architect was thinking when the rooms were designed with the transparent bath lavatory room and the lack of storage You ll be living out of your bags or using the chairs for clothes The linen is well past its sell by date the provided towels and robes being decidedly threadbare The biggest change intangible but key to why Neilson had so many return customers in the past is the atmosphere around the resort this started to become apparent at the welcome meeting which was a shadow of its previous self the general manager s brief was a mass of times and information delivered at breakneck speed with no paper or electronic backup The main source for the activity programme is now an app but this was not working for a day or so of my stay They do provide a printed copy but in font too small for their printer to reproduce in places but nothing written on the hotel accommodation front of house type information The lack of apparent structure to the evening events beach meant that these were poorly attended and lacking in oomph Combined with the elimination of courses there was a much less social atmosphere and the feeling was of a much more routine hotel holiday than Neilson s previous where one would meet other and make new friends through the events and courses

We returned to Messini in August 2022 after enjoying our holiday last year in 2021 The good news is that we experienced the full Neilson experience this year rather than the Covid-restricted version of last year Food options were better and excursions opened up again But My son and many others reported that the Surf Squad kids club was boring this year and that the nannies were not a patch on last years excellent group Attendance to the club was clearly low so they should have tried to combat that imo We were expecting my sons experience to match last year with the calibre of nannies I d be interested to know if this year or last year is representative of what we can expect In general some of the Neilson staff were unenthusiastic and didn t go out of their way to create a great experience for the guests I m fact many in my opinion looked like they cared more about having a good time in their Neilson staff groups often leaving guests to it while they chatted in groups on the beach Randomly and worth noting is that on one day at the tennis club and because of a clerical error they shifted the whole days schedule at the tennis courts without informing guests whom had out their names down for activities Everyone was turning up just at the end of what they d looked forward to participating in including myself The staff didn t really seem that bothered about it Not all staff were like this of course The bike staff are excellent all across the two weeks we were there going out of their way to make everyone feel comfortable and have a great time The bike rides were a standout part of our holiday Finally a plea to Neilson Please please try and do something for single parents to meet each other and socialise I struggled to find other single parents to chat with and sit at meals with I met with one single parent who had been there a week like myself and had become so upset with having to sit alone for all the meals that she was at the point of crying in her room We did eventually meet after a week by random chance and we got along really well What a shame we couldn t have met earlier Neilson say there is a social table at meal times I consider myself gregarious but with not one person on the table it takes a hell of a lot to just sit alone on a social table fearing that no one will sit with you All it takes is a simple list at reception to put your name and contact details on or room number for people to meet up in a place not on show to everyone Or even an event held for single parents to meet A check box on booking would be great too To say you d like to meet others and you re happy for Neilson to share your details with others Please If the single parent experience doesn t change for me you ll have lost a customer I m afraid

This was our first holiday with a 16 year old girl and 19 years old boy Overall whilst expensive this was an awesome holiday we all thoroughly enjoyed it especially my daughter and my son and I have come back with a first windsurf qualification The hotel and Neilson staff were superb and the kit excellent and loads available most of the time Great food room and tutoring on the kit Our main issue was during our windsurf sessions 3 out of the 4 sessions our tutor was pulled away with the safety boat to help out other groups or individuals in trouble 2 sessions were cut in half and we were left as a group of students on paddle boards in the middle of the bay for an hour with no safety boat anywhere near us I know this happened to my daughter in her 16-17 year group too which I was not happy about This is poor service from a teaching point of view but more importantly indicates very poor safety on the water as a sailing club member this is an accident waiting to happen I complained and was assured we were safe etc when clearly the safety boats were all struggling with many issues and were small dot s in the distance Privately I was told this was an ongoing issue with lack of staff the staff there were all superb I must reiterate that was being dealt with but it is dangerous to allow clients on the water without adequate cover regardless of any issue Minor grumbles were the toilets in the main bar weren t very clean in the evenings as well Overall though as I say very impressed would check better safety standards have been implemented before going back

Booking was nice and simple but as soon as we paid we were directed straight to trust pilot without getting any confirmation details

Just returned from Levante Rhodes with mixed feelings This is our third time here and it s wasn t the same The resort is shared with another company and this year Neilson guests were definitely in the minority The flights both sides of the holiday had long delays but I can t blame Neilson for this perhaps time to change flight agents The resort is lovely and the hotel staff and Neilson beach and tennis staff were amazing Rooms and food are good However queues and more queues all the bars had long queues and few staff They have now introduced a new system to book a tennis court or play paddle you had to rebook every day with booking opening at 8am and guests starting to queue at 7 30 Wakeboarding and water ski ing was the same but with a weekly booking so difficult if you were only there for a week My son really enjoyed paddle but trying to get a space was ridiculous and by 8 15 most sessions were full Some guests not Neilson were booking lots of sessions and lots of spaces They have also introduced sun bed rules where before 10am your towels etc can be removed if you are not with them This is a family activity holiday with a 10 min walk back and for the main hotel At 10am the Scandinavians merely came down and covered 15 sunbeds with towels and left them Club was also disappointing they mixed the two older clubs Tag and Waveriders 14-17 years and it just didn t work my son who has always enjoyed club totally dipped out He said the activities weren t like last year no boat trip or kayak across to the bay and the meal out was at the fast food place in the town Taking photos of himself with a member of staff as an activity is not what a 16 year old wants Last year the club leader was motivated and enthusiastic disappointing Not much in the way of evening entertainment again very different from last year Really missed a club photographer and unable to get pictures of family out on the water All in all I think we would look for a Neilson only resort if we decide to go again

Baia dei Mori SardiniaLikes As usual Neilson excelled at the activities Particularly tennis with Sam Ryan Jeremy providing first class coaching in fact probably the best we ve experienced after 10 years with Neilson Beach team also great Dislikes 1 Food Baia dei Mori is probably good for meat-eaters but not so good for us veggies By the end of the week we were sorely fed up with salads for lunch and very limited options for dinner Someone told us that fish is very expensive which is why there was probably little of this in the buffet 2 Accommodation The rooms are very basic and not to the standard we ve enjoyed at other resorts Cleaned daily Room wasn t ready on arrival 3 Non-inclusive nights We had 2 bad experiences and one good Our advice to others would be to visit the nearby pizza restaurants avoid the over-priced Shardana do not take the coach trip to Porto Ottiolu a modern purpose built marina with no character If you do take the coach trip it costs 20 euro each in cash 4 Local area Don t expect quaint villages with character at least not nearby It was explained to us that Sardinians fled to the hills from the coast to avoid pirates obviously a long time ago Almost all properties seem to be very modern Not wishing to finish on negatives we did enjoy our stay but only because the activities countered the negatives It wasn t the best expeience we ve had with Neilson but it won t stop us booking again just not at Baia dei Mori

Staff were great as was equipment and food My daughter loved the TAG club which was so good I rarely saw her However the accommodation was disappointing Felt like I was back on holiday with my parents in the 80 s Specifically very poor wifi in the room per front desk no second key available like really Perhaps get one cut continuous ant infestation in room had house keeping come by on night one and then just used the kettle to boil water and do it myself going forward does Italy not have any ant traps location of room meant continuous traffic w kids cutting across patio a thought plant some bushes telephone in room never worked and wasn t fixed very basic furniture in room the beds were very comfortable though which was functional for a beach holiday but would have at least expected a seating area inside and which given no where on the resort to chill quietly in the evening was a real downside ended up doing calls back home from the restaurant in the evening but no where to sit and read put some couches there perhaps and the pool bar while fun wasn t a quiet place to read with music and kids roaming around Overall the accommodation draw backs were surprising Not sure if I ve grown used to the standard of all inclusive s in the Caribbean but I would have expected better for the cost

I ll start with the positives - fitness facilities are fantastic CrossFit style workouts that push you as well as the standard offering from Neilson and thr instructors were great The kids club is 5 and our littles 3 and 6 had an awesome time getting active We ve stayed at several neilson resorts before and love the set up We were however disappointed with the room we were assigned which was opposite the area where evening entertainment was on 4 7 nights of our stay Unfortunately this meant having blaring music or a compare on a mic booming into our room until 11pm When we raised the issue with the Neilson client services manager he didn t offer any solutions or compensation at all and we were met with a simple - we are fully booked response Also the Neilson don t have the resort exclusively the resort is shared with a Scandinavian operator so the clientele is mixed We were woken up at 2am with load younger guests being noisy on several occasions All in all we are leaving more tired than we arrived and likely will be back to Neilson but not to Levante

Baia dei Mori Firstly the Neilson beach social tennis and bike teams were as ever excellent They are thought let down by a below average quality of food way below that of previous Neilson experiences in different resorts The food was tepid most of the time key items ran out and were very slow to be replenished What was there was fairly tasteless bland and lacking in variety Turkey in various guises 3 time in a week fish poor Not the Italian food experience promised on the website in fact other than pizza why you get everywhere and kids type pasta options didn t feel like Italian food Very disappointed if this is Neilson lowering their previous excellent standards we won t be coming back In addition the restaurant shuts at 9 so if you want to go a little after the queues have died down tough as they have normally runout The last nights paella strange choice for Italy had run out bar a few cold end bits by 8 45 A shame as the resort and staff bar restaurant are a credit to you Neilson A special mention to Michelle and the beach team and Sam and the tennis team Oh and one last thing look after you staff a little better who do you such a credit and provide them with sunscreen

Great activities and the staff really are outstanding It is a shame that the company policies and management do not keep up with the standard of the staff - having 3 non inclusive nights during our week long all inclusive stay plus having to pay for all of our drinks on top has made our holiday really poor value for money when you take it all into account Our accommodation was okay and the activities were great but dissapointed by the money-making and lack of value since covid