Neilson holidays... worth the £££?

[Badgerama]

Hi,
Thinking of booking a Neilson holiday this summer. Have any of you been on one? Are they worth the extortionate price? The reviews look ace. Kids are 12 and 8 so would be in different kids clubs which is a shame and I can't see a way around that. Do all the kids there disappear into kids clubs during the day or if mine want to hang with us by the pool will there be other kids there too? Do you have to pre book the activities before you go? Thanks!

Yes, well worth it.

We go with Neilson every year and our girls, 8 and 10, love it. (Wtih extended family including 14 and 16 yr olds who also love it!) The kids clubs are flexible and there are usually some kids not in club most days but not will be in club. Ours generally prefer to go in as there are usually activities they don't want to miss. (Each night the staff put up a board with the next days activities so you can see what's coming up)

Any time in school holidays there will literally be hundreds of children so they are likely to find some great friends in the different clubs.

If they desperately want to stay together then they could do Hot Shots but that's an extra cost and much less flexible as they are working towards sailing and windsurfing qualifications, with more structured sessions.

Most activities you book at the welcome meeting; the staff for each activity will be ready to take your bookings. Most popular tend to be the water skiing and bikes - I guess because they are slightly limited. Re the ski tows you can only book one initially then book your other after you've done the first one - these are included. If you are really keen on that you can book a premium package.

Over the years we've done so many of the activities, there is literally something for everyone. But there are always people simply having a rest round the pool or on the beach. Each resort has it own characteristics, our favourite is Messini. Do you have a particular one in mind?

Absolutely worth every penny.
We have done neilson holidays since dds were tiny. Now all young adults and we still go.
When you add up all the meals, activities, actual teaching of stuff rather than "here's a paddle board off you go" times it by four people or in our case 6...it is very cost effective.
My dds were anti clubs until we found neilson and then they used to cry on the two mornings the club didn't run.
They learnt so many knew skills we'd never do at home, sailing for example.
And always made friends and had a ball.
But be prepared... Kids love it and do vanish with their new gang of friends so if your the type who likes everyone together doing stuff as a family all day on holiday you're probably not going to like neilson.
Majority of families do a bit of stuff at end of day.. Pool full of kids all playing and parents having a beer and chatting on the side.
Lots of kids eat with friends and kids staff too..
We used to ask ours to come sailing or play tennis with us.... And they usually wanted to go with friends.
Sometimes I had kids plus friends... ☺ Out on kayaks etc.
I'd highly recommend neilson if you are sociable, like the opportunity to try new activities, and have active kids plus you all appreciate being able to relax and have some time without kids.

We have done more than a dozen Neilsons, including their flotilla hols. Yours are at a perfect age for it. Dont worry about them being in different clubs - they will make friends fast. They don't "disappear" into the clubs - you will see them out on paddle boards and dinghies and water skiing, and in the pool, every day. Every single one of these holidays was declared "best holiday ever" by DD when we returned. Use the time to learn to sail and you can then take them on the Neilson flotilla holidays - which seriously ARE the best family holidays ever.

We had a bad experience with Neilson about 10 years ago.
We booked a full package ski holiday with them. Turned up at the airport to find out that they had neglected to book us onto the flight. Thankfully the flight operators, Thomas Cook, worked their best to get us on the flight as they could see we had a booking confirmation with Neilson. It wasn't the best way to start the holiday as we had an anxious time while this was sorted. When we arrived in the resort we asked the Neilson rep to check if we were booked on the home flight. He did one quick phone call and assured us that we were. Unfortunately he only checked with Neilson and not the flight operator. We arrived at the airport to face the same predicament. On telling the rep he just shrugged and walked off. The airport staff worked again to get us home, after another anxious wait we were able to board the plane.
Complaints to Neilson after got us nothing, not even an apology. We've never been with them again and now book everything independently.
As I said, this was a long time ago so maybe they've worked to improve their service. But it nearly ruined a holiday for us.

We used to do these when our children were pre school and they were fantastic. But I find for school holidays the prices are such that it's cheaper to go long haul. I can go to Mauritius for less!
Out of in what is everyone paying fir a family of 4?

I LOVE neilson holidays. We have done two - Sivota and Messini. Kids clubs are amazing and I particularly loved the tennis in Messini. I managed to play twice a day most days. The kids clubs at Neilson make all other kids clubs look naff. My boys were 10 and 12 on our first visit and they got to do some really cool stuff. They played games eg beer pong (but threw water at each other in stead of drinking beer), they had paint fights, they went sailing, paddle boarding, kayaking, played football, capture the flag, tennis, Zumba..... just non stop fun. We hired bikes one afternoon and just went out ourselves while the kids were in clubs. The kayaking in sivota was good - you could kayak to the next village and go for an ice cream. Messini was in the middle of nowhere.

However- the food is pretty good, not amazing. The accommodation is basic. The drinks are extortionate so the bar is very quiet in the evenings. The kids drinks/ ice creams are all expensive as well so our bill at the end was £££.

We’re not doing one this year but so suspect we will return in 2020.

I think they’ve started to prove themselves out for us

We used to do 1-2 per year but it is getting much more expensive- particularly if you have >2 kids and can’t fit in a family room

Kit is great and activity options amazing, but just too expensive for us nowadays