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Which Neilson Beachclub Resort Is Best For A Summer Holiday In 2024?
There are eight Neilson Beachclub resorts around Europe. Most of them are in Greece, but they also have classy beachside resorts in Croatia, Sardinia and Fuerteventura. 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 in 2020.
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...
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:
- Neilson Alana Beachclub in Croatia for all round good value and if you love tennis
- Neilson Messini Beachclub in Greece if you love cycling
- Neilson Buca Beachclub if you're travelling alone or as a couple
- Neilson La Pared Beachclub if you want winter sun
If you want to hear how we reached that conclusion, please read on...
Neilson La Pared Beachclub is an excellent choice for winter sun...
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...whilst Neilson's Alana Beachclub resort is a good value all-rounder for families
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Which Neilson Beachclub is best for families and children?
Most Neilson Beachclubs are ideal for family holidays, if you can afford it. However, they don't all offer kids' clubs and childcare.
The other six 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 (£390 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.
- Neilson Buca Beachclub 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.
- Neilson La Pared Beachclub in Fuerteventura allows children to stay at the resort but doesn't have a kids club or any childcare.
The other six 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 (£390 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 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 Neilson Beachclub Resorts in November 2023 and came up with this ranking from highest to lowest scoring:
So, what can we conclude from this splurge of numbers?
According to customer reviews, Neilson Cosmos Beachclub is the best Neilson Beachclub as of November 2023, 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 and Spain 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 and Neilson Messini Beachclub.
There aren't as many reviews for Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub and Neilson La Pared Beachclub but we managed to find customer scores when they were used by other holiday companies, including Mark Warner Holidays.
We added together the TripAdvisor scores and the Google review scores for the Neilson Beachclub Resorts in November 2023 and came up with this ranking from highest to lowest scoring:
- Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - 9.8/10 (4.8/5 on Google reviews, 5/5 on TripAdvisor)
- Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - 9.6/10 (4.6/5 on Google reviews, 5/5 on TripAdvisor)
- Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - 9.3/10 (4.8/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor)
- Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - 9.3/10 (4.8/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor)
- Neilson Buca Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece (adults only) - 9.3/10 (4.8/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor)
- Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub, Rhodes, Greece – 9/10 (4.5/5 on TripAdvisor, 4.5/5 on Google reviews)
- Neilson La Pared Beachclub, Fuerteventura, Spain – 8.9/10 (4.5/5 on TripAdvisor, 4.4/5 on Google reviews)
- Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - 8.3/10 (4.3/5 on Google reviews, 4/5 on TripAdvisor)
So, what can we conclude from this splurge of numbers?
According to customer reviews, Neilson Cosmos Beachclub is the best Neilson Beachclub as of November 2023, 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 and Spain 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 and Neilson Messini Beachclub.
There aren't as many reviews for Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub and Neilson La Pared Beachclub but we managed to find customer scores when they were used by other holiday companies, including Mark Warner Holidays.
Neilson's Cosmos Beachclub gets outstanding reviews...
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...as does Neilson Vounaki Beachclub in Greece
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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 2024 (outside school holidays), early August 2024 and mid-September 2024.
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. We also couldn't include Neilson La Pared Beachclub as it's a winter sun destination.
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. We also couldn't include Neilson La Pared Beachclub as it's a winter sun destination.
Lowest price available for a week in mid-June 2024 for a family of four:
Lowest price available for a week in early August 2024 for a family of four:
Lowest price available for a week in mid-September 2024 for a family of four:
Let me attempt to summarise this huge list of numbers. Based on our limited price comparison:
Of course, we just looked at three sets of dates but it's a starting point.
- Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - £3293
- Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - £3549
- Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - £3589
- Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub, Rhodes, Greece - £4253
- Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - £4413
- Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - £4437
Lowest price available for a week in early August 2024 for a family of four:
- Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - £5772
- Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - £6597
- Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - £6685
- Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - £7357
- Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - £7709
- Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub, Rhodes, Greece - £7709
Lowest price available for a week in mid-September 2024 for a family of four:
- Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - £3293
- Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - £3805
- Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - £3813
- Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - £4413
- Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - £4541
- Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub, Rhodes, Greece - £4893
Let me attempt to summarise this huge list of numbers. Based on our limited price comparison:
- If we add the prices together to make an average, then we can conclude that Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub and Neilson Alana Beachclub are the cheapest Neilson resorts.
- There are two mid-priced Neilson Beachclubs - Neilson Messini Beachclub and Neilson Vounaki Beachclub. The difference in average price between these two is about £250 over a week.
- Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub was more expensive than the rest. On average, it costs about £1000 a week extra for a family of four to stay here compared to Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub.
Of course, we just looked at three sets of dates but it's a starting point.
Neilson's Levante Beach is one of the more expensive Beachclubs
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 Neilson resorts have plenty to do, but there is some variation in the number of activities on offer:
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.
All Neilson resorts have plenty to do, but there is some variation in the number of activities on offer:
- Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - 15 activities in total (particularly good for tennis and rock climbing)
- Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub, Rhodes, Greece - 13 (particularly good for swimming pools)
- Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - 12 (particularly good for mountain cycling and rock climbing)
- Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - 12 (particularly good for water skiing and wakeboarding)
- Neilson Buca Beachclub 12 (particularly good for tennis and rock climbing)
- Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - 10 (particularly good for road cycling)
- Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - 7 (particularly good for windsurfing)
- Neilson La Pared Beachclub, Fuerteventura - 7 (good for surfing and 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.
Neilson Messini Beachclub ranks quite well in our league table of activities...
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...but the winner for activities is Neilson Alana Beachclub in Croatia
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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:
So, if you want to cut down on travel time, then you are best to pick one of the Neilson Beachclub resorts in Croatia or Sardinia rather than Greece (although you had probably worked that out already if you own a world map)
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:
From nearest to furthest from the UK:
- Neilson Baia Dei Mori Beachclub, Sardinia - 3 hours 5 minutes
- Neilson Alana Beachclub, Croatia - 3 hours 15 minutes
- Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - 4 hours 10 minutes
- Neilson Buca Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece - 4 hours 10 minutes
- Neilson Vounaki Beachclub, Paleros, Greece - 4 hours 15 minutes
- Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub, Rhodes, Greece - 4 hours 50 minutes
- Neilson Cosmos Beachclub, Vassiliki, Greece - 4 hours 50 minutes
- Neilson La Pared Beachclub, Fuerteventura - 5 hours 15 minutes
So, if you want to cut down on travel time, then you are best to pick one of the Neilson Beachclub resorts in Croatia or Sardinia rather than Greece (although you had probably worked that out already if you own a world map)
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')
Neilson Baia Dei Mori is the closest resort to the UK
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 as an example we found that a week in mid-September 2024 at Neilson Cosmos Beachclub was £3293 whilst a fortnight was £4429. That means you're only paying £1136 for the second week. That's £40 per person, per night for the second week which is 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 2024 at Neilson Vounaki Beachclub in Greece was £4437 for a family of four whilst a week in early August 2023 was £7709, a difference of £3272. 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 £4864 if you flew from Bristol Airport or £4544 if you departed from Edinburgh Airport. That's saving of over £300. 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 greatest number of rooms with 221 rooms and cabins, whilst Neilson Messini Beachclub has 180 rooms. Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub has 240 rooms, but only half of them are used by Neilson.
- 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 Neilson 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.
- Neilson La Pared Beachclub in Fuerteventura is Neilson's winter sun resort.
Conclusion - which is the best Neilson beachclub?
I've narrowed it down to two Neilson Beachclubs that 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 lower to mid-priced option. It's particularly good if you like rock climbing or tennis.
The other at the top of my list is in Greece Neilson Messini Beachclub, which is particularly good for cycling or rock climbing.
Some other conclusions:
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 lower to mid-priced option. It's particularly good if you like rock climbing or tennis.
The other at the top of my list is in Greece Neilson Messini Beachclub, which is particularly good for cycling or rock climbing.
Some other conclusions:
- Neilson Cosmos Beachclub gets the best reviews (actually, it gets almost perfect reviews) and it's good value. However, 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. 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 Buca Beachclub is obviously the one to choose if you're travelling alone/with friends/as a couple as it's Neilson's 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.
- Neilson La Pared Beachclub is the obvious winner if you want a holiday during the British winter. It's a winter sun destination which has hardly any rain and averages 18-25 Celsius degrees all year round.
- Neilson Levante Beach Beachclub is the newest resort. It has a very good range of activities and it has six swimming pools. However, it's also one of the more expensive Neilson resorts.
Note: Neilson Portomyrina Palace Beachclub, Neilson Aeolian Village Beachclub, Neilson Mar Menor Beachclub and Neilson Retreat Beachclub in Greece are not currently available to book.
