Magic Robin Hood

We stayed as a family of four (2 adults and 2 children aged 15 and 6) in a Lion Heart Premium Lodge with the Ultra All Inclusive package. I relied heavily on reviews when booking, so I wanted to share our experience to hopefully help other families.

Overall, we had a lovely holiday, and there were definitely more positives than negatives. However, there are a few things I think future guests should be aware of.

The lodge

The biggest downside for us was the layout of the lodge. The top bunk was quite cramped, and neither of our children felt comfortable sleeping there. As a result, the children shared the main bed with me, while my partner slept on the bottom bunk.

The air conditioning, however, was fantastic and really appreciated in the heat. The minibar was also a good size and useful for keeping bottled water cold.

One major issue was the very thin walls. On most nights, we were disturbed by loud guests, including people making noise at around 2am. This really affected our sleep and was probably one of the biggest reasons I wouldn't personally choose to return.

Check-in and reception

Check-in could definitely have been better. We arrived at around 2pm, but our lodge wasn't ready until approximately 3:30pm. We weren't told where we could go to change while waiting, which would have been particularly useful after travelling with children.

We also weren't informed about the reusable cup token system or that the room safe costs €4 per day. These are small things, but they would have been helpful to know on arrival.

Unfortunately, we also found reception staff quite blunt on occasions and not particularly helpful. I tried calling reception during our stay but couldn't get an answer, which was frustrating when we needed assistance.

Housekeeping

Housekeeping was quite basic. The beds were made and towels were changed, but there didn't seem to be much actual cleaning during our stay. This is another area where I think the resort could improve.

Buggy service

The buggy service to and from the lodges was excellent and something we really appreciated, particularly with children. The only issue was that there didn't seem to be any available early enough on our departure morning, although this wasn't a major problem for us.

Pools and Premium benefits

For us, the Premium Ultra All Inclusive package was worth paying for. Having reserved sunbeds was a great perk, although there definitely weren't enough umbrellas around the pools.

The Lagoon Pool was our favourite, while the main pool felt very deep throughout, particularly for younger children. We also felt that the pools could have been cleaner.

One thing that really surprised me during our stay was witnessing families taking items belonging to other guests when they had been left around the sunbeds. I've travelled to many different places and have never witnessed this before. Obviously, guests should take responsibility for their belongings, but it was still very disappointing and something I felt was worth mentioning.

Food and entertainment

We enjoyed having a variety of restaurants to choose from. Lion Heart Restaurant was a particular favourite as it provided a nice change from the buffet.

The entertainment was excellent, especially the magic show, which the whole family enjoyed. The medieval show was fun too, although it was quite long and, as a very fussy eater, I didn't particularly enjoy the food. Soft drinks were included, and alcoholic drinks were reasonably priced during the show.

The included Aqua Natura tickets were a real highlight and definitely worth using. Having access included in the package added a lot of value to the holiday.

Tips for future guests

• Bring reusable water bottles so you can keep drinks cold. • Take pool shoes, especially for children, as the ground can get extremely hot. • Consider visiting the evening market in Benidorm Old Town rather than relying on the on-site shop, which we found quite expensive. • Taxis were easy to find and reasonably inexpensive. • Keep valuables and personal belongings with you rather than leaving them unattended around the pool area.

Overall

We had a great family holiday and there was certainly plenty to do around the resort. The entertainment, choice of restaurants, excellent air conditioning, Premium benefits and Aqua Natura access all contributed to a really enjoyable stay.

That said, I wouldn't personally return. The thin walls and late-night noise were a real problem for us, and the standard of housekeeping and communication at check-in could be improved. Reception also wasn't as helpful as we would have expected.

The resort has a lot going for it, but personally, I wouldn't rate it as a 5-star experience. For us, it felt closer to a 3–4 star resort in terms of service, cleanliness and overall standard.

There are plenty of positives, but I think it's important for future guests to have realistic expectations rather than arriving expecting a true 5-star experience.

Avoid at all costs – definitely not the family holiday we expected

We have literally just left this resort today, and I feel I have to leave an honest review while everything is still fresh in my mind.

Unfortunately, this was one of the most disappointing holiday experiences we have ever had. The pictures online are nothing like the reality in my opinion, and if I had seen the resort as it actually is before booking, I would never have chosen to stay here.

€15 to rent one towel is absolutely ridiculous, especially when you need to accommodate for a large family. Majority of the resort is also completely card-only, which is something to be aware of.

Check-in is not until 5pm. Not practical when you're travelling with a baby and small children and have arrived early on the morning. What makes it worse is that you're expected to leave your suitcases in storage and if you need anything, get it out of your case outside. If you need to change to use facilities while you wait for your lodge you're expected to change in a toilet. Try doing that with a baby and young children after travelling and waiting around for hours. It certainly didn't feel like a family-friendly welcome.

The staff were another major disappointment. We found them to be extremely rude, with management in particular being very condescending when issues were raised. There was also a massive communication barrier, with very few staff seeming to understand English properly, which made trying to communicate even more frustrating.

There is no Wi-Fi connection in the Nottingham lodge and absolutely no phone signal from the minute you arrive at the resort. So you're essentially completely disconnected. I raised this with management and was completely shut down, apparently it’s my phone because I’m English 😂. However it’s not my phone because the WiFi worked pretty fine around reception area and the pool, but as soon as you get to the lodge it disconnects and we were left completely disconnected throughout the stay.

The entertainment was another issue. It didn't start until 10pm, which is ridiculously late if you're travelling with small children or a baby.

The food was extremely repetitive. It seemed to be pretty much the same food every mealtime, with a lot of seafood and very limited choices for children. The main option seemed to be chicken nuggets and chips. On most occasions, the food looked like it had been sitting out for quite some time and certainly didn't seem fresh. There is an app you can use to get pizza delivery from the resort, it allows x2 pizzas to your lodge. Limited selection, ham and cheese, margarita, tuna and vegetable pizza, again arrives stale not fresh. There is street food vans you can get food from which we used regularly, these include burgers, chips, kebab, hotdogs, waffles and crepes. We had to order food to be delivered to the resort most nights because the food is just appalling.

And then there were the flies. They were everywhere, around the food, on your food and landing on you constantly while you're trying to relax around the pool. Not exactly what you want when you're trying to enjoy your holiday.

Our lodge was full of ants, including ants inside the wardrobes. The bathroom was unbelievably small. I'm around 11 stone and could barely turn around in the shower. Honestly, if you're much larger, I genuinely don't know how you'd manage in there. You can realistically only have one person in the bathroom at a time.

Housekeeping was another disappointment. The cleaners seemed completely overworked and didn't get to our room until almost tea time. The cleaning appeared to consist mainly of putting detergent down the toilet and mopping the floor. We didn't get proper bed changes or fresh towels as we'd expect.

There are also only three plug sockets in the entire lodge. We actually had to unplug the microwave in order to use the kettle because you couldn't use both at the same time. How this is considered sufficient for a modern holiday lodge is beyond me.

Most importantly, this did not feel like a family-friendly resort. Travelling with a baby and young children made many of these issues more difficult.

Would I come back? Absolutely not. Would I recommend it? Definitely not.

If you're considering booking this place, I would strongly suggest looking elsewhere. Based on our experience, I would avoid it at all costs.

We stayed in the Nottingham street lodges.