This is my honest and unbiased review of my first ever Neilson activity holiday – to Messini Beach Club in Greece. I paid for the trip myself in full and have not been asked to promote the resort or the company. However this post does contain affiliate links, meaning that if you decide to book after reading this review, I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you.
In September 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, I did something I’d never done before. I booked an all-inclusive package holiday to Greece.
The idea of doing a package holiday would normally horrify me. I’m more of an adventure and wildlife girl: I’ve climbed Kilimanjaro, been on safari in Tanzania, travelled around Uganda, and even made friends with penguins in Antarctica. So the idea of forking out my hard-earned cash to go and get mind-numbingly bored on a beach, on my own, sounded pretty damn dreadful.
BUT. There was a pandemic on. Just about everywhere was on the red list (remember that?!). And then I found myself with a quiet period at work and the opportunity to have a week off – and at that point anything, any holiday at all, sounded amazing.
Coincidentally, that same week, I had dinner with a friend who suggested I might try Neilson active holidays. She pointed out that as someone who enjoys fitness and keeping busy, I might enjoy the range of activities on offer, and that with so much to choose from it’s unlikely I’d be bored.
Plus it was September, the British weather was doing its usual shitty thing; meanwhile in Greece it was still sunny and 30 degrees, so what did I have to lose?
This was on a Friday night. I did two days of research over the weekend, booked a two-week activity holiday at Messini Beach Club on the Monday, and flew to Greece five days later.
And here is my review of the experience.
TL;DR: I had a great time and would highly recommend it. If that’s all you need to know, just click this button to book now!
Neilson activity holidays: what’s included
When you book a Neilson holiday, here’s what you get:
- Flights from London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham or Bristol
- 7, 10 or 14 night stay, with departures four days a week
- Transfers by coach from the airport to the resort
- Room with ensuite
- Breakfast and lunch every day, and four dinners a week
- Water, tea and coffee (but soft drinks and alcohol cost extra)
- A huge range of activities including water and beach sports, tennis, cycling and fitness classes
- Swimming pool(s) and gym
- Access to the spa (but treatments cost extra)
- Kids clubs (if you have need of such things, which I didn’t)
Where is Messini Beach Club?
To be honest, I don’t think the location of a beach resort really matters all that much. As long as it’s easy to get to and the weather is nice, the point of this kind of holiday is to relax and enjoy the facilities, and possibly to venture as far as the nearest taverna or village. So I was much more interested in what the resort was like and what facilities were on offer than where in Europe it was.
But for those that like to know these things – and haven’t already looked it up – Messini Beach Club is next to the village of Analipsi and about 20 minutes’ drive from Kalamata, which is in the Peloponnese in Southern Greece.
It’s not on one of the Greek Islands, but as locations go it was pretty much perfect – situated on a warm and sheltered bay with a sandy beach, and surrounded by small, white-painted villages joined by quiet undulating roads that are great for cycling.
Messini and Buca beach clubs – first impressions
I chose to fly from London Gatwick, though you can also choose to fly from Stansted, Birmingham or Manchester. The flight departed painfully early; luckily I live close enough to Gatwick to be able to get a taxi there, otherwise I would have had to to stay the night nearby.
After a trouble-free flight taking 3 hours 50 minutes, and then a pleasantly short 20-minute transfer from Kalamata airport, we arrived at the resort. There was a bit of queuing to get our luggage and room keys, but it was all very efficiently organised and hassle-free.
My room was a short walk from the main reception and restaurant, past the main pool and next to the lawn area. As I wheeled my suitcase along the path everything seemed to be clean, well-maintained, and felt spacious and relaxing. Due to Covid the hotel was operating at slightly reduced capacity, so it was pleasantly busy but not annoyingly crowded.
Messini is right next door to another Neilson resort, Buca, which is smaller and adults-only. The two clubs share many of the same facilities including the gym, tennis courts and cycle hub, so you will come across Buca people during your stay at Messini.
I did have a wander through Buca to check it out, and if you’re considering Buca as an alternative there’s a bit more about my impressions later on.
Rooms at Neilson Messini Beach Resort
There are 180 rooms across two areas: hotel and garden. The hotel rooms are in the main building next to the restaurant and the pool; the garden rooms are located in a cluster of small two-storey blocks surrounded by lawns, closer to the cycle centre, gym and tennis courts.
I had a garden room on the upper floor. Because the resort wasn’t full, and possibly due to my very last-minute booking, I had a huge stroke of luck and was given a free upgrade to a ‘premium’ garden room, which was massive, with a big double bed, additional sofa/bed, big bathroom with a walk-in shower and separate bathtub, small balcony looking towards the sea, and a huge second balcony with a sofa and table, which is where I ended up spending a lot of my time in between activities.
I did get a chance to check out one of the economy garden rooms, which was similar in style to mine, just a lot smaller, with only one small balcony with space for a small table and two chairs, and a much smaller bathroom. The ground floor rooms are the same but have a small patio instead of a balcony.
During my second week in the resort I had to do some work – and was pleased to find the Wi-Fi reached my room and was strong enough for me to do zoom calls.
Read more: 11 Things To Do On A Thessaloniki City Break in Greece
Swimming pools
Messini Beach Club has one large 50-metre main pool, and one smaller kids’ pool right next door. It’s a decent pool and big enough to do lengths in, though as someone who enjoys ‘proper’ swimming I would have preferred a separate lap pool – or at least a couple of roped off lanes, so I could do lengths without having to dodge children and inflatables.
But it was good enough, and as I went outside of school holidays it was generally fairly quiet if I timed my swims right.
Surrounding the pool there’s a patio area with loungers for relaxing and sunbathing, and a pool bar next door selling drinks, snacks, ice creams, and dinner on the non-inclusive nights.
There seemed to be enough loungers to go around – certainly no towel-hogging microaggressions going on here, though maybe in non-Covid times when the resort is completely full that might be different.
They also didn’t blare out loud annoying music by the pool all day as they have in other resorts I have been to, which was a huge bonus – but again, I don’t know if that was a Covid change.
Buca Beachclub has a separate adults-only pool, but it’s smaller, so not necessarily better.
Read more: An Essential Active Beach Resort Vacation Packing List
The beach at Messini
Of course all Neilson holidays summer resorts have a beach! This one was clean and soft with golden sand. Loungers are provided but there is no bar or service out here, so for sunbathing most people seemed to prefer the area by the pool.
In the afternoons it did get quite windy – great for the sailors but less great for sunbathing, so again the pool area, sheltered from the sea breeze, was better for this.
Buca has its own separate sunbathing area a bit further along the beach, but it was exactly the same as this one, just child-free.
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Neilson activity holidays – timetable and availability
There’s a huge range of activities on offer – from tennis and cycling through to sailing, windsurfing, water-skiing, climbing, yoga, Zumba, aqua aerobics and more. On your first day you’ll be given a timetable so you can plan your week and sign up to things you want to do.
There are usually beginners’ water sports in the morning when the wind is lighter; tennis and cycling groups both morning and afternoon, and fitness classes at the start and end of the day.
We had to sign up for most things (rather than just showing up) and some groups did get fully booked, but overall I felt like there was usually enough choice and availability and numbers were managed well to make sure everyone got a fair go at doing what they wanted to do.
Tennis at Messini and Buca Beach Club
There are seven tennis courts, shared between Messini and Buca – so if tennis is your thing this is the place to come. The morning is for group classes, divided into green, blue, red and black – green being absolute beginners and black being the seriously good people.
Classes mostly consist of drills, practising different strokes or techniques, and then a game or mini knockabout at the end.
In the afternoon there are more group classes for those who couldn’t make the morning, and later they have ‘superdrills’, where you pay a small amount for extra, more focussed training, and then a social tennis session where you can just turn up and find someone on your level to play a game with.
I hadn’t picked up a tennis racquet since school, so I did green (beginners) for an hour most mornings. Sometimes there were too many people and we spent a lot of time standing in line waiting for our turn to hit the ball, and I can’t say my tennis improved all that much in the two weeks I was there, but it was a really fun way to get out in the sunshine and meet some of my fellow guests.
I’d imagine if you’re a bit better than me and you do social tennis games every afternoon, you’ll improve much more quickly.
Don’t forget to add sportswear to your beach holiday packing list!
Cycling on a Neilson active holiday
Messini and Buca share the cycle centre and are billed as being two of Neilson’s best clubs for cycling. They have a good supply of both road and mountain bikes of all sizes, as well as helmets, pedals, and associated gear, and you can either just grab a free bike and go off with a friend or do one of the guided group rides around the local area.
Like the tennis, these are graded green, blue, red and black for length and difficulty, and there’s usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Before we all started working from home I used to regularly commute across London on my hybrid bike, but this was my first time on a road bike, and I loved it. The roads around the resort are fabulous for a very average cyclist like me – with enough twists, turns, hills and descents to make them interesting, but not too painfully difficult.
The cycling routes pass through sleepy rural villages, farms, and olive groves, there are very few cars, and most of the drivers were safe and respectful.
My only (minor) complaint about the cycling was that the group excursions got booked up fast and there weren’t enough of them at my level, so I was only able to do two a week and I would have liked to do more. But if cycling is your thing and you’re confident going out on your own, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed here.
Read more: An Essential Neilson Holidays Packing List
Neilson holidays sailing and beach sports
There’s a huge variety of watersports to choose from: dinghy sailing, windsurfing, water skiing, wakeboarding, kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. The kit was well-maintained and the instructors friendly and knowledgeable.
Mornings are when the sea is calmest: that is when they do waterskiing, wakeboarding and beginner’s sailing. You’re allowed two free waterski or wakeboard tows a week; after that you can pay for extras.
For sailing, you can either do classes at various levels, or if you’re confident, just take a boat out. Those who are keen to learn more can do the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) level 1 and 2 courses free of charge.
There are also taster sessions for all the other types of watersports, or you can just turn up and give it a go any time. There are always people on the beach to help and an instructor in a safety boat in case you get into difficulty.
In the afternoon the wind tended to pick up, providing more exciting conditions for the more experienced sailors and windsurfers. I tried sailing, but after taking a few unscheduled swims (!) I decided I preferred the calm of the early morning stand-up paddleboarding and did that instead!
Gym and fitness
Messini and Buca each have their own fitness classes but share the gym, which is located next to the tennis courts. Inside there’s a workout space for group circuit classes, some weights and other equipment, plus a couple of workout machines (treadmill, elliptical, rower).
On top of this there are morning and evening group classes in a separate covered area by the beach, including yoga, Zumba and Pilates, plus aqua aerobics in the pool.
Overall I thought the instructors were good but the gym facilities were only adequate. They felt like something of an afterthought in a place where outdoor sports are the main focus – which perhaps is true!
I also thought the workout area by the beach, while in a great location overlooking the sea, was very run down and too small. The floor was uneven and the roof a bit leaky, so that one morning after it had rained overnight everyone got dripped on.
The yoga mats have seen better days too, so if yoga is important to you, you might want to bring your own.
I do think Neilson could invest a little more in this area, but with so many other activities on offer it wasn’t too much of a disappointment.
Ready to book? Click here to go to the Neilson site and bag your amazing activity holiday!
Neilson beach holidays: the food
This was possibly the highlight and also the most dangerous part of the entire holiday!
Daily breakfast and lunch, and four dinners were included – which involved an eye-wateringly huge buffet spread of fry-up, pancakes, fruit, cereal, yoghurt and pastries at breakfast, and for lunch and dinner a massive range of hot and cold main courses, sides and salads, plus vegan, veggie and GF options, and a tantalising dessert table.
On the three non-inclusive nights we could either have a choice of pizzas, burgers and salads in the beach bar, attend the weekly BBQ night, or head to one of the local tavernas along the beach. Though some people, possibly sensibly, simply took the evening off from all the eating!
Given the number of people and the range of dietary requirements they had to deal with, I think the restaurant staff did a fantastic job. One woman I met had some quite unusual allergies and the restaurant manager went out of his way to make sure she was well catered for.
And even with all the exercise I was doing, I managed to gain half a stone in two weeks, which says it all really!
Entertainment on Neilson activity holidays
At the time I visited there were government restrictions in place about outdoor parties/music, so some of the entertainment was cancelled.
The team did manage to put on a quiz night once a week which was a lot of fun and a great way to meet people, and on one of the other nights there was an excellent band playing covers of popular vocal jazz and swing hits.
But apart from that it was pretty quiet; people either tended to go to bed quite early, tired from the day’s exertions, or sit up drinking in the bar. I’m not sure what the entertainment is like in non-Covid times.
The Spa
Messini Beach Club is also home to a spa/wellness are with a team of therapists offering a range of treatments including massages, facials, hot stone therapy or manicures. You can book these in advance to save money on the in-resort prices. I didn’t try the spa, but several people I met said they had been and thought it was excellent.
Excursions from Messini Beachclub
After all my worries about getting bored it turns out there’s pretty much zero risk of that – but if you do get tired of the endless activities, there are also daily excursions (at an extra cost). Choose from a day trip to Kalamata city, a hike round a nearby lagoon, rock climbing, a trip to an olive farm, or the one that I did, a visit to the ruins of Ancient Messene with dinner afterwards in a local taverna.
I’m a bit of an archaeology nerd so I absolutely loved the chance to visit this stunning ancient Greek site – I’d never heard of it before and was blown away by the magnificent amphitheatre and stadium. It was a lovely evening out and great to meet some more of my fellow guests and have a change of scenery.
Read more: The Best Ancient Ruins In Turkey And Where To See Them
Kids club
Messini has a kids club offering activities for children from 2-17 years old, plus a creche for younger kids. Though as a child-free solo traveller I’m afraid I didn’t try any of it out, so can’t review this part, sorry!
Being a solo traveller at a beach resort
So how did I find it going to a beach club on my own? As you might imagine, I was a little worried that I’d be a bit bored and lonely, but it turns out that wasn’t a problem at all.
It was quite easy to get chatting to fellow guests at the various activities, and at lunch and dinner there was a ‘social table’ where you could sit if you wanted to meet other people.
There was something slightly awkward about sitting there on your own like a no-mates waiting for someone to take pity on you, so I tended to wait until another person had sat down and then joined them!
I also kept a look out for other solo travellers or groups who were clearly not couples, and then approached them to say hello. And even though the majority of the other guests were couples or families with young kids, everyone was very friendly and happy to chat.
Most people stay a week to ten days, but I was there for two weeks, so sadly this did mean saying goodbye to a lot of the lovely people I met, but with four arrival/departure days every week, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to meet new people during your stay.
As for being bored… I really wasn’t! Although I barely left the resort for two whole weeks – unheard of for me! – I managed to find plenty of things to do and people to hang out with. It was certainly a very different style of holiday from what I’m used to, and I don’t think I’ll give up the adventuring going forward, but as a relaxing break in the sun away from work and the Covid chaos, it was spot on.
Neilson holidays staff
One of the absolute standouts of my Neilson active holiday was the staff. Even though the resort had been closed for a long period during the pandemic and many of them were young, newly arrived or inexperienced, they were all, without fail, the most pleasant, helpful and enthusiastic bunch I’ve ever had the pleasure of coming into contact with.
The tennis coaches were full of energy from morning to evening, and the bike team were charming and very knowledgeable. And all the staff were utterly delightful and happy to spend their evenings hanging out in the bar with random solo travellers like me.
If staff are resentful and miserable this can really rub off on the guest experience – but nothing could be further from the truth here. Neilson clearly run a happy, well-trained, dedicated ship, and it shows.
Messini Beach Club vs Buca Beach Club
So if you’re an adult without kids, is it better to go to Messini or Buca?
Being adults-only, Buca is quieter, but it’s also more expensive. And yet the two resorts share many of the same facilities – so you get better value for money if you go to Messini.
I went during termtime, so the only children there were very little and were mostly in the kids’ club or the creche all day. So apart from a bit of a screaming in the restaurant and a few inflatables in the pool at the end of the day, they really were very little bother.
If you’re travelling during school holidays then it would probably be a very different story and I would definitely go to Buca, but if you don’t have kids I can’t think why on earth you would do that!
Conclusion: Messini is bigger, so there are more people to meet, it’s a bit cheaper, and the pool is bigger. So as long as it’s not school holidays, I’d go there again.
Neilson or Mark Warner?
One of the first decisions I had to make was to choose between Neilson Active Holidays and Mark Warner. I even googled ‘How to choose between Neilson or Mark Warner’ a bunch of times trying to decide.
Both have very similar offerings: beach resorts in sunny European destinations with activities included, though they include different meals. Prices are similar (though when I booked Mark Warner actually had slightly better last-minute deals).
They attract the same sorts of people (mostly middle-class couples and families, with a smattering of singles like me). So really, you could almost toss a coin and be happy either way.
One thing I did note though, is that when I spoke to people at Messini Beach Resort who had done both, they all said they preferred Neilson. Though perhaps if you go to a Mark Warner resort, you will find the same thing in reverse. Brand loyalty is a wonderful thing! Â
The Neilson holidays booking process
This was really the only part of the experience where I felt Neilson slightly fell down. Perhaps it was because of the pandemic, but it was next to impossible to get anyone on the phone. And when I did, after listening to tedious hold music for more than an hour, they were not all that helpful.
For example, I wanted to make sure my room had a double bed, rather than two singles, and the customer service agent was vague about whether this might be possible but said they would put my request in, and then they never did. But this was swiftly resolved later by the excellent and very helpful hotel manager at Messini, so it was all good in the end.
Don’t let that put you off, though, because from the moment I arrived at the airport everything ran like a well-oiled machine. And hopefully this review will have answered all your questions, so you can just click the link below and buy online, saving you the hassle of sitting on the phone for ages.
While I would definitely go back to Neilson again (hopefully by now they’ve improved their call wait times!), next time I might also look at similar companies like SNO, who despite the name also do beach holidays, and can help you choose between all the different clubs and brands.
Neilson’s cancellation policy
The other thing that you might be concerned about before booking an expensive holiday like this one is whether or not you’re going to be able to cancel if life takes a wrong turn.
During Covid, Neilson, like many companies, relaxed their cancellation policies to give you much greater freedom to change your booking at short notice. Things are changing all the time, so check out their regularly updated Travel Updates page, or for more information you can find their full booking Ts and Cs here.
Other reviews
And if you don’t want to take my word for it, here are loads more reviews from other satisfied customers.
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Convinced? You should be! Just pick a button below to head to the Neilson Activity Holidays site and start your adventure!
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