Review of Neilson Messini Beachclub, Analipsi, Greece
The Resort
Messini is one of the newer Neilson resorts located in the beautiful Peloponnese on the south-west coast of the Greek mainland. The Peloponnese is the mythical heart of Greece, steeped in history, boasting an unspoilt patchwork of staggering landscapes, lush farmland, soaring mountains and scented olive groves. The Neilson resort is a handy 20 minute transfer from Kalamata airport, accommodating 180 rooms that are split between the main hotel and 10-room blocks scattered throughout the grounds. Despite the size, Neilson have succeeded in retaining the personal feel of smaller locations with garden rooms & activities spread across vast grounds giving a sense of space.
The grounds of the resort are very Mediterranean with meticulously maintained gardens and bright flowers across the resort. There is a small shop for essential items in the air conditioned reception, which is opposite the main restaurant that serves all inclusive meals. This opens out to a large bathing area, 50 metre pool and bar that acts as the hub of the resort. From here, paths either side of a large open grassy area lead down to the beach where all the sailing and windsurfing kit is ready to use. All of the garden rooms are spread across a further massive expanse of gardens on the east side of the resort. The nearest village town of Analipsi is about a mile walk or bike ride away, but as this only has one cafe (with the closest grocery shop 20 minutes drive away towards the airport) it feels quite remote.
The resort offers a full suite of activities spanning windsurfing, sailing, water-ski and wakeboarding, tennis, mountain biking and road cycling, fitness, swimming, sea kayaking, volleyball, stand-up paddle boarding, table tennis and basketball. There is also a Temple Spa offering a relaxation area and wide range of treatments to help you relax and unwind (but no wet facilities such as sauna, jacuzzi or steam room). Messini shares most of its sports facilities and classes with Buca, a sister adults-only resort next door that supports another 57 rooms at full capacity. The tennis courts, bike racks and air conditioned fitness suite are on the Buca side of resort to the east but still easily accessible.
Travel to and from Messini
Messini is served by BA flights from London and regional airports direct to Kalamata. The flight time is around 3 hours and 40 minutes. From Kalamata airport it is a short 20 minute coach transfer to resort which is over before you know it. During the coach transfer to resort you'll be required to complete a short tourist visitor card with basic information that is mandatory in Greece, so have a pen handy. There is a Neilson travel representative on each coach who welcomes guests and gives a short introduction to the resort on the way. Kalamata airport is very small and basic - there is a small cafe to refuel but that's about it.
When you Arrive
Room key cards are collected upon arrival which was a quick and easy process, clearly well practiced by the staff. Guests are given an hour or so to check into rooms and start unpacking before the welcome/activity presentation gets started. For piece of mind we recommend you put all your valuables in the room safe upon arrival. The safes work based on an access code that you set on first use, so no key is required. The activity presentation is given from the Pool Bar and at the end guests are given the opportunity to sign up for all the different activities over the course of the week. Our top tip is to prioritise your activities and go to the sign-up table for your preferred activity first - more on this under the Activities section below.
The standard "mix and mingle" drinks (a staple at all Neilson resorts, either on the day of arrival or first full day in resort depending on the timetable) offers solo travellers, sociable couples and groups the opportunity to meet some of their fellow travellers over a free cocktail. If you miss mix and mingle we've always found other guests to be very friendly and there is plenty of opportunity to get to know others during the activities or simply around the pool.
Rooms
Guests can choose to either stay in the main hotel next to the pool and reception/restaurant or a series of 'garden rooms' split into 10-room blocks scattered across the vast grounds on the east side of the resort. Virtually all garden rooms have a sea view to a greater or lesser extent with those set further back from the front looking between blocks in front to see the sea.
We would recommend garden room 549 as a quiet room (away for evening entertainment if you want an early night to wake up for the first activities - particularly important if you want to wake up for the 7am morning runs!) yet not too far from the beach, bikes, tennis courts and main hotel reception. Rooms in the main hotel and immediately adjacent to the pool are more "in amongst" the evening entertainment.
The decor is minimalist with wooden floors for practicality and everything you'd expect - a safe, tea and coffee making facilities, flat screen TV with limited UK channels and desk. Guests can pay about £60 extra per person for a 'premium' room with two balconies - handy for drying clothes - and a more spacious living area. There is a daily housekeeping service with fresh towels provided every other day or as required (just leave towels in the bath if you want them changed more frequently).
Food and Drink
As with most Neilson holidays, all breakfasts and lunches are included, along with four evening meals each week. On the remaining three nights, guests can choose to either go for a different dining option in resort or venture out to one of the local restaurants or tavernas (recommended at least once). The Messini restaurant is open-buffet style whilst the Buca restaurant is a la carte and table service. The Buca restaurant is on the first floor of a building next to the tennis courts and this extra elevation gives it great views if you have a table outside, as we did for our Buca evening.
There is always a good range of inclusive food at Messini with plenty to choose from. The resort clearly pushed the boat out with a delicious peppercorn steak on the last night that wouldn't have been out of place in a high quality restaurant back in the U.K. Desserts are always tasty with a good range of jelly, mouses, chocolate cake, tarts and fresh fruit every lunch and dinner. If you have a sweet tooth I'd particularly recommend the Turkish Delight!
The service from the Messini food and bar staff was first class, always friendly and attentive with the restaurant manager making a special effort to greet all guests and find them a table on the first day.
For the non-inclusive nights we would recommend both going to the Buca restaurant to order from the a la carte menu and heading out to the Phoenix restaurant which is 10 minutes walk from resort. The food at Buca is excellent and at 25 Euros per person for a 3 course meal (with main options including pasta carbonara, sword fish, steak and salmon), was reasonable value. The chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream seemed freshly made and tasted delicious. Families should just note that the restaurant is adults only.
The Phoenix restaurant is the closest taverna to resort, around 10 minutes walk away. The route is very safe but unlit so you need to be prepared to walk back in the dark and look out for the odd car. Phoenix clearly know what days are non-inclusive at Messini - we were greeted with a shot of cherry liquor and many other fellow Neilson travellers were there too. The garden setting with small pools and fountains is great and the range of food and service excellent.It's not unusual for there to be a few roaming cats at off-site restaurants in this part of Greece.
Messini offer a BBQ for 25 Euros per person excluding drinks on one of the inclusive evenings each week as another option.
Evening Entertainment
Messini do a good job of putting on evening entertainment on every non-inclusive night, with the highlight being a 10-15 minutes Messini Memories video capturing some of the best moments from the week on the Saturday. On other nights entertainment ranges from a movie night to "Messini's for Talent". Yohanna as the Resort manager took the lead on all of these and did a great job.
Activities
Windsurfing
Messini always has no or very light winds in the morning, gradually building up throughout the afternoon to up to a force 2-4. On some days - generally when it's very hot and the wind is onshore - the wind fails to pick up in the afternoon and on the water activities are off for all but early-stage beginners; this happened on 3 days over the course of a fortnight for us. Otherwise the wind is generally best for non-planing intermediates with planing conditions around 20% of the time (hard planing only if you're of a slight build and don't mind using a big sail). If windsurfing is your main activity you will probably find yourself wishing for a bit more wind quite a lot, but then again if you want a specialist windsurfing resort go to Vasilliki instead. If windsurfing is your main activity but you need an all-round resort, Portomyrina Palace would be my personal recommendation - check out the Holivity review on Portomyrina Palace.
The beach staff are all YHA qualified instructors and group tuition (five lots of 2 and a quarter hour sessions per week) is included in the price of your holiday. I found the instruction to be excellent (particularly when the intermediate group was split into two sub-groups to allow for more individual attention) but definitely ask lots of questions. It's hard to pick up all the steps in some of the manoeuvres first time around and instructors are more than happy to explain things again either to the whole group or individually.
As you'd expect, Messini has a big range of kit and a large number of the most popular board sizes. Sea conditions get moderate to very wavy when the wind is on-shore (most of the time). Combined with the moderate wind conditions, this meant beach and water starting were not possible on most days. Our top tip is to choose a board that is 15-20 litres larger than what you'd typically ride on flat seas.
Sailing
Messini has one practice friendly regatta and one main regatta each week. These are exceptionally well run by the excellent beach team with a large range of boats including Lasers, Picos, Cats and number of two-handed boats. Guests are able to reserve a boat for each race from 9:30am on the same day. Our top tip, particularly for the main regatta on Friday of each week, is to reserve your boat and rig first thing in the morning to make sure you get what you want. There are 20 lasers but a more limited number of radial and 4.7 metre sails and two-man boats which fill up quickly given they're for both Messini and Buca resorts.
Again, tuition is included in the price of your holiday with sailors split into groups for beginners, beginner-intermediate and intermediate. If you want to get out on the water but don't want to have to helm, Neilson offer joy rides on the catamarans which can be great fun if there is decent wind. Lots of credit is due to the beach staff who are really helpful in rigging boats, giving tips in and out of tuition classes and helping you take your boat off the water when you've finished sailing.
Water ski and wakeboarding
All of the water ski and water board tows are done in the morning when the sea is perfectly flat and there is very little or no breeze. Later on in the day the sea becomes more wavy and chops up a lot on days when there is a strong on-shore wind. Our top tip is to get to the front of the queue for water ski and wakeboard after the activity briefing so you're one of the first people to book your first tow. The very earliest morning slots are reserved for those who have booked a premium water ski package (6 tows for £150 at the time of writing) but you'll have the pick of the rest. If you're staying for 2 weeks you can book your first tow of the second week directly with the ski team before the activity presentation.
The ski team have a great range of water ski, mono ski, wakeboard and knee board and even a wake skate (think wakeboard but with no bindings). From my experience the tuition was top class with really helpful advice for people of all abilities. Staff are really positive and complimentary, which makes guests more receptive of the areas for improvement they recommend. Two tows per week are included in the price of your holiday with additional tows available to purchase at 37 Euros for 15 minutes. This is for 15 minutes of boat running time with the option of stopping half way through for a rest and to get tuition without digging into that time.
Tennis
Messini boasts 7 high quality astro turf tennis courts with top class tuition from the team of Adam, Josh, Charlie, Kirsty, Joy and Alice. Neilson' tennis programme was reworked by Mark Petchey (Andy Murry's former coach) a few years ago. The focus is now on improving with your existing style of play, rather than trying to teach you a whole new technique or completely different shots, which you're unlikely to adopt in the long run after coaching for just a week or two.
Groups are still split into colour rated ability groups following the same system as ski runs in the winter - green for beginners, going through blue, red and then black for advanced players. My top tip is not to be afraid to be bold and put yourself into a group that might sound beyond your ability based on the description. When I first started doing Neilson holidays the Black group was described as being for county standard players. Having done a dozen or so Neilson's I'm yet to meet a county player in one of the sessions! Red/black is often fine if, like me, you used to play regularly but now just hit on holiday and half a dozen times over the summer. Naturally it depends on who else is on holiday in your particular week and you may need to shuffle yourself up or down accordingly.
The coaches provide really helpful tips to each player. Social tennis is held from 5-7pm most days and gives a great opportunity to mix in for doubles with players of a similar standard. There is also the famed "booze and balls" - games with a tennis racket in one hand and drink in the other - one day each week and an American doubles tournament at the end of the week where green/blue and red/black groups are combined, culminating in finals matches on the last day.
Cycling
Messini have a huge range of both road bikes and mountain bikes. Staff are very friendly, keen to help you find the right bike and equipment and don't mind making adjustments a number of times when required (in my case to get SPD pedals tight enough). Both the road and mountain biking routes are the best I've experienced on a Neilson holiday - the lush, rolling, arable landscape is very scenic and on the mountain bike rides hills are interspersed with crossings over small rivers and flat sections through bamboo fields or olive groves.
Whilst there is a virtually endless number of bikes, the number of spaces on group rides is limited to make it manageable for the guides and safe on the roads or trails. Group rides do fill up, so sign up in advance. To help, guests may also choose to take route cards or a Garmin device (with stored routes) to do the various graded rides in their own time. Safety is made a top priority with the leader of each organised ride taking a first aid kit, mobile phone, replacement inner tubes and spare water.
Fitness
Classes on the timetable include HIIT (high intensity interval training), Zumba, Aqua, Boxercise and water sports conditioning. There is a good hilly 4.6km morning run loop, which sets off at 7am sharp (and has an extremely fast Strava beat time, set by fellow guests Jamie whilst we were on holiday) which is repeated each day.
There is a glass-fronted, shaded fitness studio near the tennis courts which provides a great place for a workout in what can be 40+ degree heat on hotter days. You're likely to have it to yourself as it's rarely used outside of the fitness classes.
Canoeing and SUP
Messini has a good range of one and two man canoes and stand up paddle boards which can be taken out at your leisure - there are no specific canoeing or SUP group courses or lessons.
Rock Climbing
Messini has a taller vertical climbing wall and lower bouldering wall (where you climb across) on site, which is handy and enjoyable. Sessions naturally need to be supervised for safety reasons. Guests who enjoy the climbing wall may choose to go on a climbing excursion outside of resort at a supplement.
Length Swimming
Whilst length swimming is possible, it's a multi-use pool used by families and those intending to relax too. If you want to length swim it's just a case of respecting other pool users and needing to swim around fellow guests now and again.
Other activities include volleyball, table tennis and basket ball which are available to use when you or a group of people fancy a game.
Temple Spa
At the Temple Spa there is a relaxation area but no sauna, steam room or jacuzzi. Whilst it's possible to help yourself to a number of trial products, the spa is really there to house the treatment rooms. Neilson have a team of highly qualified therapists at Messini, delivering a good range of treatments. A 30% discount is available at the welcome briefing for bookings made for between Sunday and Thursday (the last Friday and Saturday of each week are naturally more popular as the last days before guests return home, but this means the discount is not available on those days).
Excursions
The main excursion of interest for most guests is the trip to the historical site of the old capital city of Messinia set on the side of mount Ithorni. This is an amazing historical archaeological feature which hasn't yet been cordoned off to prevent that up close experience. A great trip for early evening when it's not too hot. Our trip included an evening meal at the local restaurant whose outdoor space overlooked the impressive ruins. The scale of the place is amazing and the location gives fantastic views across the surrounding area. Our top tip when visiting is to head straight to the stadium at the bottom of the site - it's the most impressive part by far and as there isn't tonnes of time allowed for the trip there is a risk of missing it if you hang around for too long on the earlier parts of the site. Overall, a brilliant excursion which provided some impressive culture to our holiday.
Kids Club
It can be a lot of work keeping kids happy on holiday. Toddlers have completely different needs from young teenagers, with different levels of supervision, mealtimes and so on. That's why Neilson have created a number of different children's clubs for kids of all ages - from cute babies up to cool teenagers. All of Neilson's kids clubs run six days a week and are packed full of fun activities, so kids are pretty much guaranteed to meet others of their age and make new friends. Meanwhile, parents can lie back and relax, but not too much, you could be out on the water or the tennis courts too!
Neilson understand how much you will appreciate one or two quiet evenings while on holiday, so offer supervised evening activities or sleep clubs for all children on 5 nights per week, 2 of which are included free of charge in the standard club hours. Safety is made a top priority with all teams being fully trained experts in childcare, as well as being people who love working with kids. We spoke to several guests with children who were very complimentary about the kids club service in Portomyrina, suggesting you can relax and be safe in the knowledge that your children are in very capable hands.
More details about the specific Neilson kids clubs for children of different ages is available here. The general idea for children that are old enough to do activities is that they'll do all the things the adults do but have much more fun.
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