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Which Neilson Beachclub Resort is best for a summer holiday?

There are 11 Neilson Beachclub resorts around Europe. Most of them are in Greece, but they also have classy beachside resorts in Croatia, Sardinia, Italy and Spain. They're at the posh end of the family summer holiday market offering action-packed family-friendly beach holidays. Neilson Active Holidays has won several awards in the last few years, including Best Activity/Sports Holiday Company at the British Travel Awards every year from 2014 to 2018.

But which is the best Neilson Beachclub resort? We've looked at customer reviews, value for money, location, activities and travel time from the UK to reach our conclusion.

If you want the short answer and don't want to read all our waffle, I would start with:​
If you want to hear how we reached that conclusion, please read on...

Which Neilson Beachclub is best for families and children?

9 out of the 11 Neilson Beachclubs are ideal for family holidays, if you can afford it.

The main exception is Neilson Buca Beachclub which is for adults only. 

Neilson Cosmos Beachclub is a small resort compared to the others so it doesn't have a kids club for 16-17 year olds and doesn't have quite the same range of childcare (such as evening babysitting). It does have some childcare and kids activities though, so don't write it off completely.

The other nine Neilson Beachclubs all include childcare for 2-17 year olds in the cost of your holiday with several different groups so your teenager won't be stuck playing with playdoh with a toddler. If your child is under two then you pay extra for childcare (£300 per week at the time of writing).

But which is the best Neilson Beachclub for a family holiday? Keep reading more waffle and we'll narrow down the choice for you.

Which Neilson Beachclub Resort gets the best reviews?

All 11 of the Neilson Beachclub Resorts score at least 4/5 on TripAdvisor, but there is some variation in review scores.

​We added together the TripAdvisor scores and the Google review scores for the 11 Neilson Beachclub Resorts in March 2020 and came up with this ranking from highest to lowest scoring:

  1. Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - 9.9/10 (4.9/5 on Google reviews , 5/5 on TripAdvisor) 
  2. Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - 9.2/10 (4.7/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor) 
  3. Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - 9.2/10 (4.7/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor)
  4. Neilson Portomyrina Palace Beachclub, Lemnos, Greece - 9.2/10 (4.7/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor)
  5. Neilson Retreat Beachclub, Sivota, Greece - 9.2/10 (4.7/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor) 
  6. Neilson Buca Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece (adults only) - 9.1/10 (4.6/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor)
  7. Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - 9.1/10 (4.6/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor)
  8. Neilson Aeolian Village Beachclub, Lesvos, Greece - 9/10 (4.5/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor) 
  9. Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - 8.3/10 (4.3/5 on Google reviews, 4/5 on TripAdvisor)
  10. Neilson Airone Beachclub, Italy - 8.3/10 (4.3/5 on Google reviews, 4/5 on TripAdvisor)
  11. Neilson Mar Menor Beachclub, Spain 8/10 (4/5 on TripAdvisor. This is quite a new Neilson Beachclub so there were only a handful of reviews of Google reviews when we checked, so we've just used the TripAdvisor score).

So, what can we conclude from this splurge of numbers?

According to customer reviews, Neilson Cosmos Beachclub is the best Neilson Beachclub as of March 2020, but (as we'll see later) it is a very small resort with a smaller range of activities. 

The Greek resorts seem to get the highest scores with customers, with the resorts in Sardinia, Italy, Spain and Croatia all appearing in the bottom half (although 4/5 on TripAdvisor is still very respectable in my opinion).

It's worth noting that TripAdvisor only give scores in half-chunks, so Neilson Cosmos Beachclub appears to have a much higher score, despite having a similar score on Google reviews as Neilson Vounaki Beachclub,  Neilson Messini Beachclub, Neilson Portomyrina Palace Beachclub and Neilson Retreat Beachclub.

Which Neilson Beachclub is the cheapest?

For our (rough) price comparison we looked at the cost of a 7-day holiday for a family of four on three dates in June 2020 (outside school holidays), early August 2020 and mid September 2020. 

We searched for the cheapest room available including flights and transfers but didn't include any optional extras or upgrades. There is some variation about the day of the week that you arrive at your holiday. Where several departure airports were offered, we went for the cheapest option.

​Our price comparison didn't include Neilson Buca Beachclub as it's an adults only Neilson resort.
Lowest price available for a week in mid June 2020 for a family of four:
 
  1. Neilson Mar Menor Beachclub, Spain  - £2052
  2. Neilson Airone Beachclub, Italy - £2236
  3. Neilson Aeolian Village Beachclub, Lesvos, Greece - £2328
  4. Neilson Retreat Beachclub, Sivota, Greece -  £2364
  5. Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - £2648
  6. ​Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - £2676
  7. Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - £2792
  8. Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - £2800
  9. Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - £2888
  10. Neilson Portomyrina Palace Beachclub, Lemnos, Greece - £3331​

Lowest price available for a week in early August 2020 for a family of four:

  1. Neilson Aeolian Village Beachclub, Lesvos, Greece - £3928
  2. Neilson Airone Beachclub, Italy - £4312
  3. Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - £4504
  4. Neilson Mar Menor Beachclub, Spain  - £4556
  5. Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - £5396
  6. Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - £5464
  7. Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - £5880
  8. Neilson Retreat Beachclub, Sivota, Greece - £5916
  9. Neilson Portomyrina Palace Beachclub, Lemnos, Greece - £6212
  10. Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - £6344
 
Lowest price available for a week in mid-September 2020 for a family of four:

  1. Neilson Aeolian Village Beachclub, Lesvos, Greece - £2148
  2. Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - £2312
  3. Neilson Airone Beachclub, Italy - £2328
  4. Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - £2444
  5. Neilson Mar Menor Beachclub, Spain  - £2516
  6. Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - £2780
  7. Neilson Portomyrina Palace Beachclub, Lemnos, Greece - £2924
  8. Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - £3036
  9. Neilson Retreat Beachclub, Sivota, Greece - £3168
  10. Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - £3176

Let me attempt to summarise this huge list of numbers. Based on our limited price comparison:

Which Neilson Beachclub has the most activities?

As you may have gathered from the name, Neilson Active Holidays are all about swimming, watersports (sailing, water skiing, wakeboarding, kayaking etc), fitness classes, cycling and tennis. You aren't obliged to try out the activities, but you'll get the best value from your holiday if you do.

All eleven resorts have plenty to do, but there is some variation in the number of activities on offer:
  1. Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - 15 activities in total (particularly good for tennis and rock climbing)
  2. Neilson Mar Menor Beachclub, Spain - 12 (particularly good for road/mountain cycling and sailing)
  3. Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - 12 (particularly good for mountain cycling and rock climbing)
  4. Neilson Retreat Beachclub, Sivota, Greece - 12 (particularly good for water skiing and wakeboarding)
  5. Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - 12 (particularly good for water skiing and wakeboarding)
  6. Neilson Buca Beachclub 12 (particularly good for tennis and rock climbing)
  7. Neilson Portomyrina Palace Beachclub, Lemnos, Greece - 11 (particularly good for sailing)
  8. Neilson Airone Beachclub, Italy - 10
  9. Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - 10 (particularly good for road cycling)
  10. Neilson Aeolian Village Beachclub, Lesvos, Greece - 8
  11. Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - 7 (particularly good for windsurfing)

Most activities are included in the cost of your holiday at most resorts, but there are some extra charges for kitesurfing and rock climbing at the time of writing (see this Neilson page for more details).

We worked out the number of activities by counting up all the activities mentioned on the Neilson website, as well as swimming. The recommendations for which resorts are particularly good for certain activities come from Neilson themselves. 

Which is the nearest Neilson Beachclub Resort to the UK?

We added together the typical flight time and the transfer time to work out which Neilson Beachclub resort is quickest to get to from the UK. Of course, you need to allow extra time to pick up your bags from the airport and it depends on where you live in the UK as different resorts offer flights from different UK airports. But let's not make it too complicated...

From nearest to furthest from the UK:

  1. Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - 3 hours 5 minutes
  2. ​Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - 3 hours 15 minutes 
  3. Neilson Mar Menor Beachclub, Spain - 3 hours 35 minutes
  4. Neilson Portomyrina Palace Beachclub, Lemnos, Greece - 3 hours 55 minutes
  5. Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - 4 hours 10 minutes
  6. Neilson Buca Beachclub - 4 hours 10 minutes
  7. Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - 4 hours 15 minutes
  8. Neilson Airone Beachclub, Italy - 4 hours 40 minutes
  9. Neilson Retreat Beachclub, Sivota, Greece - 4 hours 50 minutes
  10. Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - 4 hours 50 minutes
  11. Neilson Aeolian Village Beachclub, Lesvos, Greece - 6 hours 10 minutes

So, if you want to cut down on travel time, then you are best to pick one of the Neilson Beachclub resorts in Spain, Croatia or Sardinia rather than Greece (although you had probably worked that out already if you own a world map). Neilson Aeolian Village Beachclub is the longest journey by some way, but there isn't much in it between the Neilson Beach club Hotels in Greece.

If you don't want to fly, there are two Neilson Beachclub Hotels which they reckon you can reach by car, as long as you can tolerate hours stuck in a car with children and have plenty of battery life on their tablets. We worked out the travel time from London to the resort via the Eurotunnel:

  • Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - 24 hours (includes getting a ferry to Sardinia, as well as the Eurotunnel at Folkestone)
  • Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Greece - 32 hours (yes, that's a day and a half of solid driving, so I suggest you'd need to make it part of a 'tour of Europe'

How can I save money on a Neilson Beachclub holiday?

Here are a few tips I've picked up during my research, I'll add other ones when I find them:
  • Two weeks at a Neilson Beachclub is often considerably better value than one week. It varies a bit but in one instance we found that a week in mid September 2020 at Neilson Retreat Beachclub in Greece was £3168 whilst two weeks was £3440 - that means you're only paying about £10 per person, per night for the second week which is extraordinarily good value considering you are getting food included.
  • Obviously you can save significantly if you are able to travel outside of school holidays but I appreciate that's not an option for most families. The difference in price is enough to make a parent's eyes water. When we checked, a week in mid June 2020 at Neilson Vounaki Beachclub in Greece was £2800 for a family of four whilst a week in early August 2020 was £6344, a difference of  £3544. Eek.
  • If you're willing to travel to a different UK airport you can save yourself quite a lot of money. In one instance we found that a week for a family of four at  Neilson Vounaki Beachclub in Greece was £2800 if you flew from Manchester Airport or £4076 if you departed from London Heathrow. That's a ridiculously huge saving of £1276. Thankfully, the Neilson website seems to default to the cheapest airport when there is more than one option.
  • There's an 'offers' page on the Neilson website which is worth a look.

Other notable differences between the Neilson Beachclub Resorts

  • Neilson Cosmos Beachclub gets the best reviews at the time of writing but it is also a very small resort compared to the others with just 32 rooms. Most resorts have between 100 and 180 rooms. The second smallest family resort in terms of room number is Neilson Vounaki Beachclub which has 93 rooms (almost three times as many).
  • ​Neilson Alana Beachclub in Croatia has the most number of rooms with 221 rooms and cabins, whilst Neilson Messini Beachclub has 180 rooms. 
  • Neilson Buca Beachclub in Greece is the resort just for adults, as we mentioned earlier.
  • Neilson Cosmos Beachclub doesn't include as many meals as the other 10 resorts. At Neilson Cosmos Beachclub  you just get breakfast included and then can pay for lunch and dinner at the onsite restaurant or dine out. At all the other Neilson Beachclub Resorts you get breakfast and lunch included every day, as well as four evening meals a week. So, you only need to find somewhere to eat three nights a week.​

Conclusion - which is the best Neilson beachclub?

 I've narrowed it down to four Neilson Beachclubs which I think should be top of your list for a family beach holiday:

Neilson Alana Beachclub in Croatia is a good value all-rounder. It offers the biggest range of activities, it's one of the closest to the UK, it gets very good reviews and it is a mid-priced option. It's particularly good if you like rock climbing or tennis.

The other three at the top of my list are all in Greece - Neilson Retreat Beachclub (best for waterskiing and wakeboarding), Neilson Messini Beachclub (best for cycling or rock climbing) and Neilson Portomyrina Palace Beachclub (best for sailing). There isn't much to choose between those three in terms of reviews, so I would pick based on price for the week you want to travel and where you live. For London airports, you can pick all three, for Manchester Airport go for Messini or Retreat. For Birmingham Airport, go for Retreat.

​Some other conclusions:
  • Neilson Cosmos Beachclub gets the best reviews (actually, it gets almost perfect reviews) but it is notably smaller than the rest so it doesn't offer quite the same range of activities and childcare. You also don't get as many meals included so you need to budget for that and it's about 1 hour 45 minutes further away than the closest Neilson Beachclub. It is known for windsurfing, so it's a good one if that's something you particularly want to try.
  • Neilson Aeolian Village Beachclub came out very well in our price comparison, but it's further away from the UK than the rest and it doesn't have such a big range of activities. Reviews are very decent though, so if you're on a budget but still want the experience of a Neilson holiday then it's worth a look.
  • Neilson Buca Beachclub is obviously the one to choose if you're travelling alone/with friends/as a couple as it's the only adults only resort. It gets very positive reviews and has a good choice of activities.​
  • Neilson Vounaki Beachclub is probably as good as the other three Greek Beachclubs mentioned earlier, but it was a bit more expensive in most of our price comparisons.

Other guides from the Holiday Park Guru

Holiday-Park-Guru-Don't-Blame-Us-Disclaimer: All the information on this page is accurate, as far as we know. However, facilities at holiday parks change so please check with the park before booking.