TUI MAGIC LIFE Calabria

We booked this at the last minute after Thomas Cook collapsed and our planned holiday to Corfu was cancelled. It was probably better than the one we had planned, the place is lovely, our room was clean and roomy, and with the air con on quite cool. The food is incredible, so much so that it's tempting to go up for seconds, thirds and fourths :) One sour note (literally), as many other reviews have pointed out the red wine is AWFUL... like vinegar, so stick to the white and rosé if wine's your thing. We didn't go on any of the excursions as from listening to other guests they involved three or four hours on a coach each way, although we did take the shuttle into Pizzo, which is a lovely little town - note if you want to go to the market on Thursday it's not in the town centre so take the special market shuttle (which we didn't do so we didn't get to see the market, but we enjoyed our time there anyway). Much of our time was spent round the pool fending off the very persuasive (but friendly) staff who wanted us to get involved in various activities. If you don't want to be pressganged into playing whatever game they've dreamed up that day the beach is a reasonably short walk away through woodland and is a great place to lounge for a few hours and watch the amazing sunsets. We got lucky with the weather as there were thunderstorms the week before we went but the worst we encountered was a couple of cloudy days. In brief, we really enjoyed our time there and will almost certainly go to another Magic Life resort for our next big holiday.

Lovely place well kept and very friendly staff. Would have been 5 stars but the wine was very poor. Worth going to the speciality restaurants which were both great. The private lodge was quiet and would suit those wanting a quiet relaxing holiday

We stayed here for a week as a replacement holiday or the lost Thomas Cook one in October 2019. I was a bit pessimistic pre-arrival as im not usually a fan of all inclusive but with only 3 weeks notice, we needed a holiday! We upgrade to the 'private lodge' area - note, i thought this meant we got a 'lodge' - you dont, its the usual accommodation block as everyone else gets, just decorated better and in gated area. You also get the pool, bar, toilets and resturant all yourselves with no under 16's allowed through the gate (when they actually closed). This was worth every penny of £200 upgrade to have this room. No screaming kids, no entertainers trying to entertain you, so parents disicipling their kids across the pool - bliss! It was October to it wasn't very busy with only around 20-30 people around the pool each day with space for about 150 sun loungers. Bar staff were very friendly and Alberto makes a mean Gin Martini. Highlight of the day usually consisted in guessing how many times the lifeguard would do his 'peacock' walk around the pool and then disappear for 10 minutes behind the screened corner area! Weather around the pool was 'still', sunny and around 27-29 degrees each day, bar Friday which was overcast/cloudy all day - not bad for October. Only other thing to note about the pool - its freezing! Once youve managed to get into the water, its ok and the shallow area on the far side (from the restrurant) is obvioulsy warmer, but its non heated - so its cold! Would i have enjoyed it more if it were warmer - yes, but the fact it was cold isn't necessarily a negative! Food wise - you can eat in the private restaurant or the main one, we found the selection greater in the main one so we ate dinner there several times but given our diet is that of Keto we managed to eat a lot of salad, fish and cheese etc so cant really comment on the rest of it - but it looked like a lot of choice - just dont eat pizza for every meal and you'll be good. Breakfast we always at in the private restaurant - omelette freshly made and plenty of cheese and coffee too! (plus no skids sneezing all over the food!) Entertainment - if you've ever seen an A-Level 'dance show' or play - you've seen the entertainment! Its in an outdoor amphitheater which is quite good, but the shows were basic (other than the aerial artist which was fun). think 'song, then dance, then song, then dance' and so on for each of the 3 shows but to different music or theme each time. Its watchable but not award winning. The band outside (de ja vu) were good although my only slight criticism was that a lot of the songs were sung in Italian and most of the audience were either English or German so not many people up dancing. Beach - the walk to the beach is great with a long path down there. Sun beds galore all with parasols. A bar, mini restaurnt, toilets and showers all available with loads of add-on activities if you so wish. There are activies in the forest also such as archery and boules and play area for the kids. There are even some hammocks in the 'chill out zone' to watch the night role in. Sun set is well worth watching on a clear evening. Weather was sunny in the day and hot - in the night though it got nippy and you defo needed a coat or jumper as once the sun went down, everything got very damp (high humidity) and so dress for evening with a jacket or some sort. Rememebr not to drink the tap water and go each day to get your 2L bottles of water from the Wunderbar - just grab and go from the fridge. We were polishing off 2 each a day as it was so warm. Queues are the bar were ok but they use an odd tonic for your Gin and Tonic in this bar, compared to the Pool bar - tastes better at the pool bar and in the Wunderbar there is some sort of lemon juice added to it. Pizzo - we took the shuttle bus to Pizzo once to the town and once to the market - personally, you can combine these visits as you get 2.5 hours on the market trip (plenty of time to mooch and get down the hill for the coffee in town and back up to the bus). There is a nice little beach to visit for a short time and plenty of cafes and places to grab a drink before leaving. The first visit we were there for 6 hours and it was a struggle to occupy some time - so off for some prosecco to wait for the bus. Gym - opens at 8am, but door isn't locked so i was in there from 7:15-7:30 most mornings - its clean and tidy and actually once of the best stocked gyms in a hotel ive ever been too (i travel ALOT for work). Not many pics on here of the gym so ive taken some! Staff - all very very friendly. Even the maintenance people would say good morning - rare to get such good service - a credit to Tui. Randomly they 'turn the room down' twice a day, once in the morning (towel change etc) and then again around 7pm so be prepared for a knock at the door if your showering! Would stay here again, but only once we've been to all the other sites first!