Relax as hard as you like ….. Back to back watersports, spas, kids clubs, fine dining, stunning locations, luxury accommodation, superb service & classy guests – Whats not to like ??? 

I always swore an all inclusive beach resort wasn’t my kind of vacation,

I imagined a dreadful combination of 18-30’s “Magaluf-ers” in a Butlins/”Hi de Hi” environment (Brits of a certain age will remember the 80’s TV Show):

Bingo, Karaoke, queueing up for school dinner food in canteen-like dining halls, evening cabarets etc etc …..

…. that was until my sister decided to get married “Mamma Mia” style in Greece and suddenly ZZ & I found ourselves on an all inclusive Neilson family watersports holiday.

I have to admit I was totally wrong, ZZ & I LOVED every minute of it !!! (although Im sure its only because Neilson was a fantastic choice for our initiation – and NO I haven’t been sponsored by Neilson to say that !)

Everything about the resort, the staff and the other vacationers was classy, friendly and chilled out.

There was no pressure to join in  or feel obliged to do anything other than “Relax as hard as you like” a very accurate slogan for a Neilson holiday.

We swam across to another island in group excursions, kayaked to deserted bays around the coast for sundowner cocktails, mountain biked to the village, sailed along the coastline, experimented with Pilate’s balancing on SUP boards (well we tried) & took long siestas on comfy sunloungers on the beach under shady olive trees ….

ZZ & I added a premium wakeboarding package so we could wakeboard twice a day, a very wise decision if you want to waterski or wakeboard regularly, learn or improve your technique.

Although you can technically get a free “lesson” in the all inclusive package, the reality is that the speedboat slots are totally chocabloc & its virtually impossible to squeeze in a free class, as most slots are taken by the premium packages.

I even sneaked down to the spa for one of the best “DIY facial” sessions I’ve ever tried, a group of us were talked through every stage of a luxury facial, auto applying the most adequate products the expert recommended for each of our skin types, it was great fun & all while being served glasses of delicious Greek wine, we skipped out of the spa faces glowing 😉

As a single mom I would definitely go on a Neilson holiday again, ZZ Ninja Kid had an absolute ball at the kids club (open from breakfast until way after dinner), I was slightly apprehensive about “abandoning” him with the monitors so I could go off and relax/enjoy myself but actually he had such a great time he practically begged me NOT to pick him up until bedtime.

Mealtimes were another delight, I’m a very sociable person so eating & drinking for me isn’t just about the food,  the whole dining experience is important & especially the company.

Neilson have tables you can reserve for your group or romantic dinner but there are also a lot of “social” tables which are NOT (as I was expecting) for poor lonely/desperate singles, they are bigger tables where everyone just grabs a seat & mingles.

I met some wonderful people, singles & couples who were happy to eat while chitchatting about the days activities, it didn’t feel at all weird as I’d bumped into a lot of them throughout the week at various sporting excursions or just sunbathing next to them on the beach 🙂

I can’t wait to spend another week “relaxing as hard as we like” at a Neilson BeachClub !