Magic Natura Animal, Waterpark & Polynesian Resort

Butlins style accommodation which can’t be saved by the water & theme park!

We are a family of 3 (me my wife and 4yo autistic daughter) and as like most of the reviews on here the positives of the zoo and water park cannot excuse the lack of quality elsewhere in this hotel. Check in was ok, we were told that the lodge wouldn’t be available for a few hours and we would be texted when it was and they did so. However the attitude of the reception staff was poor, gave a bad impression from the off which is not what you want to see. Also the staff didn’t mention that to get drinks around the pool you needed a card which was technically your deposit for the cup. We went up for a drink and kept being hassled for the card so eventually figured it out but again hassle when wasn’t necessary We had a 2 bedroom lodge (which we upgraded from the 1 bedroom lodge our JET2 standard holiday gave us) but it was a low quality butlins chalet really. If you looked closely it was poorly constructed, chipped flooring, mouldy shower joins and wafer thin walls as people have mentioned The complex itself has 4 pools but all of them pretty small and pretty cold (it was 24-28 degrees so manageable-just). The water in the splash pools was too cold for our daughter, they really need to warm it up a bit. The food wasn’t quite as bad as people are making out and we have been to a lot of 4.5 trip advisor rated all inclusives. Breakfast was superb but lunch and dinner were only just adequate. The theme nights were just token gestures as were the a la carte restaurants as Italian was low quality and exotic meats had pork and lamb which are definitely not exotic, I expected to be able to taste something completely different. The earliest meal time was 8pm which is too late for kids (this is a kids hotel!) and I think the latest was 10pm which is ridiculous imo This leads into entertainment being too late as it has to be after people have had a chance to eat and relax. It starts at 1030 so no chance for us as it was a stretch for our daughter to wait for food let alone wait for 1030. It cannot be a family hotel on this basis imo. The drinks were good, premium pink gin a highlight but make sure you ask for the premium as the inferior product will be given otherwise! The location of the hotel isn’t great although of course they have the zoo and water park on site which are both brilliant fun, we even got to see deers being fed whilst being in the middle of them which was surprising and a great memory. It was €10-€11 into Benidorm which has a very nice beach (levante) but we did ironically find the part which didn’t have big stone slabs right at the start of the sea. Be careful if you get on the free bus as the first trip it took us right to centre of levante beach and next time took us to another hotel close to a separate beach and then went off to magic Robin Hood without levante beach drop off (only €10 back from there to levante but stressful still as didn’t know when would stop!) The bar staff were appalling, favouring the Spanish guests and looked like they didn’t want to be there. We complained and to be fair this was remedied but you shouldn’t have to complain in the first place The main positive of this holiday was the price as due to covid it was £1350 for all of us but I checked and in 2022 it would have been a shade under £2000 for same of time of year and this is definitely way too expensive for the quality you receive (inc 1 “free” kids place). Our daughter thoroughly enjoyed the holiday as there was lots to do and we definitely enjoyed the fantastic weather (met office said 4 days of non stop rain which is never occurred so just don’t bother looking lol). I wouldn’t go back unless the price was cheap as I can withstand most things if our daughter is provided for (although meal and entertainment times are a real sticking point still).

Ok

We stayed at the beginning of October in one of the Bali lodges with hot tub the accommodation was fantastic! mini fridge stocked every day and branded drinks at bars also you could take wine/fizz from the restaurants back to the room , the zoo and water park is great definitely made our holiday! Now to the negatives! Check in was awful around 1.5 hours hardly any info given and everything in the pack you get was in Spanish waited about 1/2 hour for a buggy to the room only finding out after the room is directly opposite the reception and could of walked there! Would be nice if we were told ! You are given times for meals , the food isn’t very good and the restaurant is more like a canteen dosent feel like your on holiday, not many snacks to choose from through the day , hardly any entertainment round the pool, the pools are small and freezing and you are not allowed any inflatables or balls in them so very boring ! Night time entertainment is none existent, we usually look forward to getting dressed up at night on our holidays going for dinner watching a show ect after the second night we just went back to the room after tea or got a taxi to Benidorm, even though it was stated we got to eat once in the pizza restaurant we were refused after a lot of arguing and me showing what our info said we got to eat there … at lunch, nothing opens till 10/11 so after our breakfast (our slot was at 8) we had to wait around either till the pools open at 10 or the zoo/water park at 11 , overall the price we paid was good and worth it for the zoo and water park but if they weren’t there it would be a let down, what would make it better is a bigger nicer pool with entertainment and the restaurants upgraded with better food and a night time show!

Thieves

I left my iPhone in lodge, as soon as I realised I used Find my phone app, which is very accurate, it showed it in lodge, I called reception and explained. They said they would ask cleaners. It then showed on the map that it was in reception, I called and told them and they said it wasn’t there. I sent pics via email, no reply, I assume they also must if turned the phone off Obviously it’s my word against there’s, but please see pic that shows last location of phone as my proof