"Great location and beach — but Magnus didn’t feel very “premium”
We stayed for 6 nights on a last-minute holiday, booked only a week before travelling. There are definitely some positives to this hotel, but unfortunately, for us, the Magnus experience didn’t quite live up to expectations.
👍 Pros
Fantastic location & beach
The beach is easily one of the best things about this hotel. It’s only around a 5-minute walk away, is well signposted and is absolutely beautiful. There are also loads of restaurants, bars, shops and excursion options along the way. If I’d known how much was available nearby, I probably would have booked half board rather than all-inclusive.
Great waterpark
The waterpark looks fantastic and is well organised. It’s definitely a big hit with children.
Good entertainment
The entertainment was better than expected, with a kids’ disco followed by good adult entertainment, including bands, magicians and other acts.
Excellent Magnus restaurant
The food in the Magnus restaurant was superb, with plenty of variety. The only thing lacking for us was a better selection of berries and fruit for the children.
👎 Cons
Magnus didn’t feel very premium
We were Magnus guests and, apart from access to the restaurant near the Bali beds and having a room overlooking the pool, we didn’t feel there were many noticeable benefits.
On arrival, we weren’t given information about towels, the safe deposit, Magnus restaurants or priority service at the bars. We also received no welcome drink and nobody offered to help with our bags to the room.
Pools opening at 10am?!
This was one of our biggest frustrations. The pools don’t open until 10am, which seems very late for a family hotel when children are often awake and ready to go from 7am.
The pools also weren’t the cleanest, although we did see lifeguards regularly going around and cleaning them.
Very strict pool rules
No food or drinks are allowed around the pool — not even on the Bali beds or while sitting with your feet in the pool. This really irritated us. We ended up having to stand away from the pool area and quickly drink our drinks like naughty school children!
Room was disappointing
We had a Magnus Suite, but unfortunately the room let the hotel down. The bedsheets were grubby and the shower head didn’t sit properly on the wall.
We also had the room cleaned halfway through our stay, but the cleaning appeared to consist mainly of mopping the floor and making the bed. For a Magnus room, we expected more.
⭐ Overall
For us, this felt more like a 3-star family/kids’ hotel with a fantastic location rather than the premium experience we expected from a Magnus stay.
The beach, location, waterpark, entertainment and Magnus restaurant are all big positives. However, the room quality, lack of information on arrival, limited Magnus benefits and some of the pool rules really took away from the experience.
Would I stay again? Yes — but purely for the location and the beach. I’d just have different expectations of the hotel itself next time.
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐"