Magic Robin Hood

We approached our holiday at the beginning of August with a degree of trepidation given some of the reviews on here, but for anyone in a similar position, fear not.

Admittedly, first impressions of the resort were not great. The outside of the buildings when dropped off by the coach look tired and in need of some TLC.

We were taken to our room in one of the many golf buggies that are available to request throughout the holiday should you be struggling (or simply not wish) to walk around what is quite a big site.

We had a Nottingham lodge and it was very 'compact', but it was clean, with a stocked fridge, towels and spare bedding. From reviews, we had been concerned there would be no wardrobe space at all, but there was a small hanging space in each room and then some small cupboards and drawers in the main bedroom and living area that we all shared. It was adequate for what was effectively 4 adults.

There was a nice outside veranda for all of us to sit together in the morning or evening before going for food - a table, 4 chairs, and a sofa - which was lovely. There was also a towel airer on the side of the building so no need to drape towels on the chairs and sides.

In terms of the pools and rides, these were great. There was plenty of room to swim in the main pool, if you wanted to. The 'play' area in the main pool was pretty busy all of the time, not least because that was the only place you could use a ball or inflatable, but it was not overcrowded.

The gates to all pool areas open at 10.00am, which avoids people getting up and immediately marking their territory with a towel. There was a small queue of less than 10 people on the few days that we went to the pool areas at 9.50.

There are loads of sun loungers, so you can always find a group of them together no matter what time of day you turn up. Sometimes we moved pools in the afternoon and there was still lots of space. There aren't a huge number of parasols, but there is plenty of shade from the trees, just watch out for the birds in them!

The smaller pool with the swim up bar is much more sedate. It’s a nice place to chill in the water on the water beds and there’s the small water activity area for young kids.

Throughout the resort there are Balinese sun beds that are exclusively for people in premium, which we were not, but here at the “marina” pool we found some available for anyone to use (far side from the MUGA entrance). You aren't allowed balls in this pool, though.

You aren’t allowed food by any of the pools. There is plenty of seating for you to eat your snacks right outside the pool area, but it will come as no surprise that people were smuggling food to their sun loungers where they could. Also, quite sensibly, no glasses are allowed in the pool areas, so you can either take drinks cups from home (which we did as we were forewarned) or pay a small deposit for plastic cups on your first visit to one of the pool bars.

The animation team do a fantastic job. We took part in archery, rifle shooting, water polo, water volleyball, darts, axe throwing, table tennis, sjoelen, bingo, the water mat and aqua spin. In the evenings we used the climbing wall and aerial activity. We were ultra-all-inclusive, so that also included the laser tag once. Some of the activities they separated into kids first, then adults, but there weren't too many adults/young adults interested in playing during the 10 days we were there.

The foam party was standard fair, but the paint party up on the MUGA was excellent, and completely free of charge unlike other resorts we’ve been to, although the mandatory wash down before you could leave the area took a long time.

For a deposit of €20, you can hire equipment to play crazy golf, footpool, football, table tennis and scooters for use in the skate park. Tip: to avoid being charged a transaction fee each time you use the app, either hand over €20 and get it back each time, or pay €20 to reception, who will give you a receipt you can use. We spent a decent amount of time on the crazy golf, which could do with some refurbishing, but it was fine for us.

We would have loved to have hired the padel and clay tennis courts, but this only seemed to be used by locals. The booth to book wasn't open at any point we were there and the number to call wasn't answered. Even our holiday rep said she couldn’t get hold of the organisers.

We watched the Michael Jackson tribute, which was very good. The downside was the main entertainment room (“Lady Marian Theatre”) gets very hot. For the most part, we sat outside, playing card games and listening to the music.

As we had upgraded to ultra-all-inclusive we watched the Medieval Dinner Show and Magic Afternoon Tea Show. Both are very good. The food isn’t amazing, but it isn’t terrible either.

There is supposed to be a teen disco and a pool table upstairs in the Lady Marian Theatre (confirmed by the reception staff when we showed them photos of both on the website and asked where to find them) but when our kids could find neither we asked the bar staff in the downstairs part of the theatre and they admitted that both were not available this season.

Our boys did enjoy the games room though which they could use twice under the ultra-all-inclusive because we had 4 slots. We also paid for them to use the VR Chairs in the Lady Marian Theatre room once, which they thought were excellent.

The food seems to be a source of complaint for many people, but I have no idea why. It was varied and of decent quality. It is all-inclusive, so invariably you have the odd kid that feels the need to dive in with their hands, or cross contaminate with spoons, but that is pretty standard on these types of holidays. There was plenty of fresh fruit and salad and never a queue for toast in the mornings. It was all kept replenished and the staff were working hard to keep it clean and tidy. I saw those with dietary requirements being well looked after.

During the day, there are food trucks that serve food and drinks. Tip: when you arrive, be sure to pick up a list of when these are open. Reception has a sheet but didn’t give us a copy until we asked about the pool table on our 4th day. There is an ice cream truck found at the front of the resort, which is a bit hidden away from where everyone is, but it is worth seeking out.

Near to the ice cream truck is a gin bar, which is not obvious if you don't know about it, but it is also excellent. I was particularly taken with their mojitos. The gin bar is only open at certain times on certain days though.

People have also complained on here about the delivery pizzas. We like a lot of cheese on our pizzas, but it is (again) difficult to know what the complaints are about. The pizzas certainly weren't "slimy" and, if they are a bit cold when they reach you (which ours weren't), then you have a microwave in your room!

A negative, which I suspect is the reason for the number of critical reviews, is the cost. This was not a cheap holiday! We had a good time, but because I didn't feel it was best suited to the ages of my children and their interests, it wasn't great value for money and is not somewhere we will return. We did, however, appreciate the effort of all of the staff and what it offered was largely as expected. I suspect that, because of the cost, there are better value for money holidays out there, but if you've booked and are concerned about some of the reviews I wouldn't worry too much. It was a perfectly nice resort and we had a lovely family break.

Horrendous

Just returned from Magic Robin Hood, to start with the positives, the facilities are great, waterpark, pools, and the lodge, (Sherwood premium) minor issues with the lodge, broken toilet seat, dirty used razor in the shower, lights not working, lots of ants and cockroaches.

The resort would be great and if we got delivered what was promised we would have had a great holiday however the running of this resort is horrendous, we travelled with a S.E.N. Child with additional needs, the resort claim to be “autism friendly” this statement is completely misleading. All but 3 members of staff that we dealt with were horrendous, this is not an exaggeration! We had to deal with issues everyday! When I asked the receptionist about the issues her response was…. “ they are only young employees who are only here for the money”

The food is horrible, in my opinion, the food was all frozen cheap nasty slop! The upgrade to ultra AI is not worth the money, the restrictions that come with the booking system is completely awful! The majority of staff seem so unhappy, the lack of air conditioning in the theatre rooms is terrible!

There is branded drinks but other than that it’s just cheap nasty drinks, the cocktails are all from pre mixed cheap bottles just poured over ice! The standards are nowhere near a 4star resort!

The resort is just badly run and managed! I had a dealing with the manager regarding an incident and I am still waiting on a call back from her for the outcome!

The resort has so much potential and we are not a fussy family when it comes to eating however the food is just horrible! If butlins or haven keeps you satisfied then you probably will enjoy this place but be prepared for nasty food and lots of restrictions! Do not upgrade to the ultra AI!

The receptionist team offer zero help and zero manners to guests! They tell you to download an app and figure it out!

Also if you have belongings with you at the pool be very careful, they allow day pass quests in and the pools become very overcrowded and so guests just help themselves to whatever they want from your bags!

Location was fine however ring your own taxi if the reception staff give you a ticket then the taxi costs more!

In general the atmosphere in the resort is bleak!