ben walker

Review of Aqua Sana,Longleat

A group of 8 of us spent a weekend here to celebra...

A group of 8 of us spent a weekend here to celebrate a friends birthday, and what a great weekend it was! We stayed in the 4 bed chalet, and whilst they are a bit basic they have everything you d need to make a good weekend. The lounge is easily large enough for 8 people and the bedrooms are comfortable enough, although the configuration is always 2 doubles and 2 twins. Two fridges provide enough room for plenty of food (and drink!) and cutlery and crockery is all very good, and there is a cafetiere for you coffee addicts. One issue is the oven however, it s a gas model with out a fan and takes a long time to cook anything, and normally burns the bottom and leaves the top raw! So bear this in mind.
Activities wise there is always something you could be doing, but obviously the majority of these come with a cost. We did the high ropes challenge with zip wire, and this was great fun. If you have done a go ape course you know what to expect, but with this one there is only one route, but you don t have to clip yourself in and out. The harness is very comfortable too. We also did fencing, and whilst fun you do get very warm and the time goes very quickly so maybe not the best value for money. Field archery was also a lot of fun, and takes about an hour and a half. Most of our time though was spent in the pool! There is so much to do it there, with the rapids, flumes, speed slides, wave pool, lazy river, plunge pool, hot springs and jacuzzi beds there was always something to do. This was so much fun and you could spend hours here.
Food wise there are a lot of options of what you want to eat, but planning ahead is a must. We had a table booked at Las Iguanas on the Saturday and saw many people turned away because they hadn t booked. Other places that were walk ups only (pancake house) had waits of roughly 45 minutes. There are so many places to eat though that you ll be able to find somewhere. The sports bar was fantastic with so many screens to watch different sports. There was a huge games arcade next door to keep the children (and big kids) entertained.
Layout wise, the venues do seem a bit more spread out than Elveden which we ve also been to, but even so walking from the Jardin du sports to the subtropical paradise probably took about 20 minutes, but with a very steep hill in the middle. There is a land train you can take, but the timings of it never seemed convenient. I would definitely recommend picking your chalet, we had 134 and found it very convenient, right next to the car park and 5 minutes walk the venue, but everyone will have their own preference. Overall, we had an awesome time, and if you can get a group of friends or family together then you ll enjoy it all the more!