ROBINSON Club Apulia

We’d originally booked on a B&B basis at a mid-sized hotel on Crete, with the aim of getting some sunshine, seeing some ancient sites and eating at local tavernas. There was little choice from TUI when this was cancelled. We knew Club Robinson would be very different from our original choice, but we decided to go ahead and reset our expectations. Club Robinson is a bit like Center Parcs with sunshine, but with food and most activities included in the price. We enjoyed Center Parcs when our kids were young, and enjoyed Club Robinson with them now they’re in their 30s. Most importantly, the whole resort was set up very well for a Covid-19 world, so we felt safe. Plenty of sanitising stations, staff wearing masks, and guests mostly complying with the many notices. So, was the resort what we expected? * The Puglia resort is set in pine woods adjoining the beach. The well appointed rooms are in large blocks in beautifully planted gardens. * Although the resort is German-owned and most of the guests are German or Italian, many of the staff speak English. The staff are all very friendly and helpful. * The programme of activities and food options is published on the Robinson app, which you also use to make your bookings. You really do need a smartphone or tablet. * Most of the catering is buffet-style - but easily the best buffet food we’ve ever experienced. There is even freshly-squeezed orange juice (rare, even in the Med) and proper espresso-based coffee. * The pizza restaurant with table service is bookable for dinner. Pizzas were excellent, dessert is a decent tiramisu. * The trattoria at the beach is bookable for evenings, but not lunchtimes, both buffet style. There can be a queue at lunchtime, especially on sunny days, and the buffet can be a bit of a scrum. Bottles of wine and water are brought to your table, other drinks are collected from the bar. All included. * There’s a bookable BBQ evening at the piano bar, which is beautifully set under pine trees. Take insect repellent! Wine is chargeable here, and the food here was a bit disappointing. The steak here was nowhere near as good as the delicious beef from the ‘gala buffet’ the previous evening. * We spent most of our time on the sandy beach, which has plenty of loungers and is well staffed with lifeguards. We had a few days of off-shore winds, so the red flags were on show, when only paddling was allowed. * We enjoyed the introduction to archery and wished we’d organised ourselves to get slots in the ‘free shooting’ * We didn’t take advantage of the sailing, SUP or kayaks. These were chargeable, but reasonably priced. * The tennis courts are very impressive, and not very busy when we were there. Use of the courts and rackets is included, but balls need to be bought due to Covid restrictions. * Table tennis is played in the middle of the main bar area at programmed times. This is done in a social rather than competitive way! * The main bar area gets busy and quite noisy from piped music and, occasionally, boisterous children. This can make it hard to order your free drinks - especially when you and the barman don't share a common language, are both wearing masks, and have a perspex screen between you! That said, service is swift and efficient, and the drinks are good. * There’s entertainment around the pool each night, either a DJ or one of a selection of singers with backing tracks. I can’t recommend any of those. Most interest in them seemed to come from the toddlers ‘dancing’ in front of the podium. * On the other hand, a jazz guitar duo played at the beach and at the trattoria a few times. Real music - and top stuff too. * Unlike our only previous all-inclusive experience, the guests weren’t just there to eat and drink all day! There was no rowdiness. * We went in term time, so the kids were mostly toddlers and babies. I commend the parents for the behaviour of these children, especially at mealtimes. We only had one excursion, a half-day trip to Lecce with a walking tour. This was very worthwhile, and not just for the delicious Pasticciotto Leccese and gelato. The baroque old city and roman amphitheatre are well worth seeing..

We booked a week at Robinson Club Apulia after having two other September holidays cancelled due to covid. Although it was our third choice, we had wanted to visit this area of Italy, primarily to see the Trulli houses and other pretty towns. However, this hotel isn't the ideal base from which to see the area unless you are willing to hire a car and drive for miles. It's an all-inclusive resort miles from any town and we found most days there was nothing that we could do except sit by the pool and wait for the next meal time. That may be some peoples' holiday heaven but not ours, we like to see things. There was only one trip available (through the Tui rep), fortunately it was the one we wanted, to Alberobello where there are a lot of Trullis. We really enjoyed that day, the rest of the time we got quite bored to be honest. Also be aware that it's family-friendly, so if you're looking for a holiday without children running around, don't come here. Having said that, there was nothing wrong with the hotel itself. Be aware, though, that it caters mainly for Italians and Germans, so if you can't speak those languages be prepared to do a lot of pointing at the bar and buffet. Some staff do have good English, but they're mainly the ones at reception. The room was large and comfortable, food was excellent. We found the main restaurant quite busy and noisy though, so we ate mostly at the Trattoria near the beach and a couple of times at the pizza restaurant. You have to prebook your evening meal table for these venues in the morning (no charge) and the easiest way to do so is to download the app. The Trattoria also serves lunch and you can have breakfast there between 9 and 10 (no need to book for those, but it fills up quickly at lunchtime so best to get there when it opens). The house wine was really good, we mostly drank the white but also sampled the red and the rose. We didn't eat at the outdoor barbeque tables because you had to pay extra for drinks there, even on all-inclusive. Finally, just a couple of gripes/constructive criticisms. First, the breakfast tables were set with a knife and fork, but no spoon for cereal or fruit. To get a spoon you had to walk around the restaurant searching for one. They were at various points with signs saying "no self service, ask the waiter" but as the waiter often wasn't there we just helped ourselves. Usually to a teaspoon as that's often all there was. It wouldn't take much effort to include a cereal spoon in the cutlery packs on the tables. Secondly, mask wearing, I saw several staff members wearing them incorrectly, namely not covering the nose. Please could the managers educate the staff in correct mask-wearing?