"We stayed at Pickalbatros Jungle Aqua Park for 10 nights in October 2025, having previously stayed for 7 nights in 2024. We loved the hotel enough to come back, and there is a lot to love about it — but unfortunately, this time the negatives outweighed the positives for us.
The resort itself is beautiful. The grounds are absolutely immaculate and very well maintained, there are lots of different restaurants, the pools are lovely and, of course, the water park is fantastic. My son absolutely loves it, and the water park was one of the main reasons we chose to return.
We also went to the Neverland show this time and really enjoyed it. My 5 year old son wasn’t keen on the food served at the show, but the staff were very accommodating and allowed us to go to a nearby restaurant and bring food back in for him, which was really helpful.
The funfair is another great addition, particularly if you have children. My son loved it!
Food and drinks
Unfortunately, the food was probably our biggest disappointment. It always seemed fresh and was generally warm, but there was very little variety. Regardless of which restaurant we went to, the food felt very similar night after night. A lot of the meat was also very fatty, to the point that I couldn’t eat some of it.
The alcoholic drinks were also a real disappointment. I could really only stomach the beer. The soft drinks were absolutely fine, but the alcoholic options weren’t particularly enjoyable, which was disappointing on an all-inclusive holiday.
I was also disappointed that the ice cream bar underneath the main reception had been removed. We really enjoyed being able to pop down there for an ice cream on our previous visit.
The room situation
This was probably the most frustrating part of our stay.
When we stayed in 2024, we were given completely the wrong room and had to be moved the following day. Unfortunately, the same thing happened again this time.
We had specifically booked a bungalow with a partition and bunk beds. Instead, we were given a bungalow with two sets of single beds — so we didn’t receive either the double bed we expected in the main room or the bunk beds we’d specifically booked for our son.
The room was also one of the older bungalows and unfortunately wasn’t in great condition. There were missing tiles in the bathroom and, most concerningly, the kettle leaked water all over the electrical area when we used it. This genuinely made us question whether the room was safe.
The location of the bungalow was actually excellent, so I initially hoped we could just resolve the room issue.
I went to reception and explained that we had booked a double and weren’t happy with the room. I was told, rather rudely, that we would be moved and that we needed to have our bags packed and be ready to move at 2pm the following day.
So, at 2pm the next day, we had everything packed and ready. I went to reception to let them know we were ready, only to be told that they had no rooms available and that we’d have to wait another day.
I explained that I couldn’t stay in that room and wanted to move that day. I was passed between three different members of staff, all of whom were extremely rude, and each time I had to explain the entire situation again.
Eventually, I was told they had another room available, although it wasn’t the room type we had booked. I was taken to see it and it was a very nice room, but it wasn’t outside a pool as we’d wanted and it was right next to the funfair. I was worried about the potential noise, so I politely declined.
The staff then became annoyed with me. Eventually, they offered me two alternative bungalows in two different blocks. I simply asked if I could call my husband to ask which one he preferred. He said yes. The call took less than 30 seconds.
When I went back and told reception which block we’d chosen, the member of staff became angry and told me that he had already booked me into the other block and that’s where we were going.
It was the furthest block from everything, but thankfully the room itself was perfect, so we decided to stay there.
What really frustrates me is that this happened on both of our visits. Twice we’ve booked specific accommodation and twice we’ve arrived to find ourselves in the wrong room — and on both occasions we’ve then been made to feel like we were the problem for asking for what we’d actually booked.
The reception staff were, in my experience, the biggest let-down of the whole hotel. They were generally unfriendly and extremely rude throughout this situation.
I eventually complained through the TUI app and was contacted by someone from Guest Relations. They were completely different — incredibly friendly, professional and genuinely wanted to help. They even offered us another alternative room. By that point we’d already moved and were happy with the room we’d been given, so we decided to stay. It was just a shame that it took a formal complaint to receive that level of customer service.
The little things
Our experience with the other staff was much more positive.
If you tip the drinks waiter who comes around the pool, they really look after you. The same happened in the restaurants — we were given nicer glasses and the staff came back to check on us and offer top-ups more frequently. We always like to tip anyway, so we weren’t expecting anything in return, but it was a lovely bonus.
Our cleaner was also fantastic. He made beautiful towel art for us every day, which my son absolutely loved, and we were very happy to tip him regularly. 😊
Interestingly, in our first bungalow the cleaners also left us fizzy drinks in our room, whereas this didn’t happen in the second bungalow.
Senzo Mall
The nearby Senzo Mall is definitely worth a visit. It’s around a 15–20 minute walk from the resort depending on where your room is, and it’s really useful for picking up drinks and snacks for your room at much cheaper prices than inside the hotel. There are also places to eat, including McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut.
My son particularly enjoyed the children’s entertainment area, with soft play and arcade games. We actually went there on our last day to fill some time between checking out and being collected for the airport, and it was perfect for keeping him entertained.
Overall
I still really like Jungle Aqua Park. The resort is beautiful, the grounds are immaculate, the water park is amazing and there is loads for families to do. My son absolutely loves it, which is why we were happy to return after our first visit.
However, after two stays, I do feel that the same issues are becoming difficult to overlook. The food lacks variety, the alcoholic drinks aren’t great, the room allocation has been wrong on both occasions and the attitude of some of the reception staff was extremely disappointing.
For me, the hotel has so much potential and gets so many things right, but the customer service at reception and the repeated problems with getting the accommodation that you’ve actually booked really let it down.
We had a good holiday overall, but sadly I wouldn’t be rushing back for a third stay. We’ve actually booked to go to a different hotel for October 2026 purely because of this experience.
I’ve uploaded photos of the original room we were given before we were moved :)"
