Magic Pirates Island

"Resort overall Brilliant! Definitely great for kids. Especially the zoo and waterpark add on. (Unlimited access) Day and night entertainment great. Definitely recommend. It takes an army of good staff to keep this place going and lots behind the scenes. There's constantly people working everywhere too. Check in. Receptionist friendly and informative and even though we arrived lunchtime we found our room was ready. Golf buggy ride to the lodge was fun! Food Normally I roll my eyes at people complaining about all inclusive food because it's not the Ritz and you can normally find something for everyone. My husband is a breakfast fan on holiday but he didn't think it was great and the evening was ok. I had soup a few times and it was only just warm. We've had better all inclusive food. I think the bacon needs to be more cooked and less greasy. My husband said the beans tasted soapy and the scrambled eggs were like rubber. The salad bar would benefit from a selection of sauces like garlic, caesar etc. The restaurant would benefit from scoop ice cream instead of a freezer of ice creams. It will make a nice alternative to the little cakes you always get. The positives are. It's self service drink (no queuing) you can always find something to eat even if it's just beige food or meats and cheeses. And I think out of 10 breakfasts and teas we queued once to get in but it was a matter of minutes. My husband did order pizza several times which he liked. This is via the app. You have to have it delivered to your lodge and you are supposed to do it by 5pm that day but he was doing it days in advance, subject to availability. The themed restaurants. We went to the Italian, Mexican and The Grill (afternoon serving) we didn't do the rice one. Loved the Italian and the grill. Mexican wasn't great, but perhaps it's preference. Italian and Mexican are above the main restaurant (7 seas) the grill is above the tavern, but the captains table is the first floor, the grill is the roof. You book these via the app when you're ultra/ all inclusive plus. I'm not sure the rules for standard all inclusive. Service. (Queuing) The talking point for everyone. The first day in I was so annoyed waiting over 20 mins to get a scoop of ice cream (available from the kraken bar). It is a problem and needs to be ironed it. We found ourselves sometimes watching to see when it was low to go queue up. You should just be able to get a drink when you want and not queue for ages. The tavern is quicker though. Tips definitely bring a Stanley cup or equivalent. That's a game changer!! (Extensive research prior to going and recommendations from others made us take our own) Keeps things cold and hot and is like 2 pints so half the trips. The bar staff have no problems filling them up. It's not even about premium vs none premium, nor the staff. It's the process. You probably need 3 staff instead of 2. Self service soft drinks would be nice too. The food at the pool bar should be self service and they need to mix it up a bit. It's very boring the same thing and at only limited items (chips, burger, kebab, chicken nuggets, hot dog). You don't even get salad to even it out. I appreciate the restaurant is more for things like that, but not everyone wants to get dressed to go into a restaurant when they only want a quick bite to eat in-between sunbathing and pool time. One positive is the bars supply nuts, crisps and nachos, which is part of all inclusive. Rooms We loved our room. It has enough space you need. Yes the bunk bed space is narrow but it is what it is. Cleaned daily and overall immaculate. The cleaning team do a fab job. Tips take at least 1 firestick. There's a TV in the double room so you'd benefit from a 2nd too. (With HDMI extender as it's tight to get the actual fire stick directly into the tv) Washing up liquid and a sponge. Girls, the hairdryer is pretty good, no need to bring one. The storage is perfectly fine for clothes. 2 drawers under the bunk beds and a space at the end for hanging etc Cases can slide under the double bed. But that's based on 3 of us staying. The kitchen doesn't come with anything for self catering. Only a fridge, kettle and microwave. So no utensils or crockery. The fridge and tea coffee tray was refilled based on us staying as all inclusive plus. I personally took Yorkshire teabags as I'm not a fan of Spanish tea. Pools Brilliant!! The middle bit of the kraken pool is deeper so be aware of that. I guess the nets sort of help explain it's separate but it's not evidentally clear. The bouncy pillow and kids play area with slides is really good. Battleship. All the slides are awesome. The last place we went to had slides that were really slow, even children had to move themselves down on. Yes the floor is "uneven" it's just the slope effect of the "steps". If you take swim shoes and you know where to walk you'll be fine. I didn't think the floor was rough. It's only rough if you fall or get caught off guard. The lifeguards do like a whistle. But sometimes with good reason, if people did or didn't do things... They tried to stop my boy going on the tunnel slide a few times 3 or 4 days in and he'd been going on it with our supervision dozens of times. This is due to a height and multiple lifeguard saves (literally lifeguards jumping in to save children). Yes the water is 1.35m, but you need to take part responsibility for your own child. We didn't find the water cold. Normal holiday temp. It gets the shoulders but once you're in its fine. We took a scuba suit for my boy and he only wore it once, just because he wanted to. Tips. Hire towels. Save suitcase space. They are nice and big too. Refundable deposit when you keep the receipt. Get them from reception for €15 each. Waterpark Brilliant. Nice restbite for if your child is smaller, non swimmer and needed assistance in the pirate pool and slides as the waterpark kids section is all shallow. The sunbeds are free on the grey painted floors. Food and drink for pirate and natura guests is free from the tropik restaurant. The only minor issue we had is we were a family of 3, most slides are double ring (2 person)and our little one wasn't 1.20m. so that's worth noting when going. There are a few other slides you can go on though. We liked the size of the place (not too big) and how there was a few different kids areas, not just one. We really enjoyed going. Zoo One of the best zoos we've been to. The park is great too. We never watched any talks or shows though. Note. You cannot get free food or drink here. Onsite shop Doesn't sell "groceries", just snacks and toys etc" we got a pushpop, crisps and milk the first day and it was nearly €15. Games room. It was ok. Probably better if you know what you're doing haha. The games are in Spanish (I think you can change the language on PS but I didn't know how to on the arcade games) and our little boy was probably too young. I've heard many enjoy it though. Situated in the building next to the tavern, downstairs under the gym. Book on the app. Shows We only did the medieval show. It was really good. Definitely recommend. Transfer isn't included. You have to get a taxi there or pay for the coach at reception which picks you up at Natura. The show can be booked on the app. Benidorm You can get a taxi into Benidorm. I think I heard the bus takes ages. We booked through Uber, but there's other apps and also asking reception. It cost about €11 each way. Overall. We really enjoyed our stay. I'd definitely recommend it. Especially if you're a family. I think we'd return but we'd either go out for food a few times or go less than 10 days. Happy to try and answer any questions. I can't imagine I've missed much 😂"

"Just got back from a family holiday all in general really good the rooms very clean. Would like to thank Layla from entertainment team she helped us on our first day in reception and she was also amazing at night with the kids disco and games my kids loved her. There are lots of entertainment during the day we also enjoyed the game room. One negative thing would be the food is mostly the same every night but not a big issue. Definitely be back!"

"So generally everything was quite good. I think the pool food area is a bit of a disaster. Staff generally was lovely. Always got one or two that don’t look very happy. But I would like to highlight a special Sophia from the entertainment team Absolutely loved her My kids absolutely adore her and won’t stop talking about her. Sophia made out holiday so special, anything and everything we needed & always so bubbly and friendly making us all laugh and get involved in activities. Thank you darling. We will be back"