If you’re envisaging men on horses riding through the forest with spears and armour, you’d be right! Accept it’s not the forest they’re riding through, it’s the sandy shores of Costa Blanca’s Benidorm. Even the entrance is trussed up like a castle, appealing to all fairytale lovers.

On arrival you can be assured of a swift check in service, and a ‘nothing is too much trouble’ buggy ride, luggage and all, to your lodge.

Now excuse the series of photos you’re about to view as I took them after I’d thrown our luggage all over the place! (It had been a long day) You can get the idea of what to expect when staying the Sherwood area of the ‘forest.’ It’s just above budget standard but it has everything you need to make for a great adventure. Including a roof adorned with fake ivy, unsure how keen I am on that, but you can’t say these people don’t make the effort to claim authenticity.

The room is a double bed and two singles separated by a large wardrobe partition, it has a small but adequate living area (a sofa, microwave, minibar and a kettle) and and en-suite bathroom which is a shower, WC and basin. It may not sound much but when you’re spending the majority of your days poolside or lapping up the other many activities that are on offer, it’s really all you need.

Having said all that, after the first few days we noticed the noise at night becoming a problem. You are super close to the main entertainment area here, and it’s noticeable. Lots of shouty drunk people heading back after the music finished at 1 am!!

Great if you’re here for a booze up, but for a young family maybe not quite as ideal. With that in mind we decided to upgrade to a Lionheart lodge, complete with outdoor jacuzzi. Was it worth the money? Absolutely. A stunning haven of amenities in a quiet corner of the resort. Lots of natural light and your very own balinese bed on private terrace.

So that’s it for the lodge and comfort now let’s get to the pools shall we?

Top pool, has a large pool with a smaller toddler pool, complete with slides. We spent most of our time here as it was quieter and easier with Ciara to keep an eye on her. The pool temperatures whilst not warm seemed bearable.

The main Dragon Pool, complete with waterpark was amazing, but absolutely bloody freezing. Even Shaun who is usually fine with bombing straight in, said he couldn’t enjoy it because of the cold. A shame really but maybe that’s just the time of year we chose to come? Early June may not suffice if you want a summer long heating process. Either way you can rest assured you will have plenty of options. If you really want to push the boat out, you can hire a day bed, and will be served wine of your choice on arrival to the beds accompanied with fruit kebabs. However I didn’t personally find this necessary as everywhere poolside is lovely and the all inclusive bar means the booze and ice creams are free anyway.

So, food. It was all inclusive and as with all inclusive buffets it can get repetitive, that said it was a decent all inclusive, plenty of fresh meat and fish with an array of accompaniments to choose from. I was pleasantly surprised. With the ultra all inclusive you can also order pizzas to be delivered to your lodge. We did this on our last night and it was lovely eating out on the terrace.

The entertainment wasn’t amazing in my opinion as it was very ‘Spanish attempt Robin Hood’ but I’m not a medieval fan anyway. The kids disco didn’t start until 8 and I found that a little late for Ciara aged three, maybe for older kids it would be fine. Having said that our lodge was so nice we spent a lot of evenings there anyway. The tribute acts were good from what we heard and there was something for everyone.

All in all I would highly recommend as a place to visit.

Close to all Benidorm has to offer (10 mins by cab or the resort do a free shuttle bus) For the three of us in June it cost £1300 for the full shebang including the upgrade. I’ve looked at the same week for next year and the upgraded lodge is available for £1100 so can be done cheaper. Minimal spending money needed when you’re there. If I was rating the resort I’d give it a solid 4 stars! We will definitely revisit.

For Benidorm first timers you must visit Levante Beach for the day, Tapas Alley for food day or night & Mundomar for a brilliant family day out with live dolphin and sea lion shows.