Sandaya Alicourts Resort — Hotel in Romorantin-Lanthenay

An honest review |We are regulars at Les Alicourts and have been there for the last 7 years and recently return from staying on a lakeside pitch this Aug.||Sadly a lot of what has been written in the recent reviews is very true and I hope that site management do honestly take a look at what’s being said and take it up very seriously with the company owners Sandaya.|Alicourts is a 5* site and the facilities available run correctly make 5. They are charging 5 money, so it is such a shame that a lack of maintenance, staff and little things that’s should not be happening are pulling this amazing site down when owned by such a big company. ||Hopefully the below will help anyone wishing to go to alicourts and that Alicourts will take note of another mixed review.||Campsite(pitches) these are not being maintained anymore. The pitches and surrounding areas used to be immaculate, shubs/hedges all trimmed, grounds/grass maintained and pitches left clean. |Some of the lake pitches that customers paid premium price for did not have their own electric(because it was broken, for the whole of Aug ) and had to run their leads across the road to the pitch behind. This is not good enough and would take nothing more than a bit of care and maintenance to resolve. There are no excuses for the pitches to be how they are now in comparison to what they once were.|This isn’t rebuilding, knocking down and starting again. This is simple maintenance that’s expected anywhere you would stay and especially when on a 5* site charging £100 per night.|Our pitch had no problems with electric but it was overgrown and very sandy where nothing has been done in years to try to keep it in good condition.||Lake toilet block - This was closed all but 2 loos and 2 sinks.( it used to be a male side and female side, showers, loo and sink, plus a chemical disposal point) It is not the most modern of toilet blocks, but when cleaned and all up and running, It’s ok. It’s serves a purpose, the showers always used to be warm and the chemical disposal point was available.|Please reconsider opening the entire block back up! Something is better than nothing if Sandaya can’t find the funds to refurbish it. There are no excuses from a large company as to why it has been shut. If 2 loos and sinks are functioning then so can the whole block!||Main shower block - really lovely, but sadly showers most days were cold and a blocked chemical disposal loo was not cleaned for over 5 days. No excuses just poor maintenance.||Other toilet blocks - again no excuses to shut them or not repair lights. The facilities are there, find a way to repair, maintain and clean them so that guests can use them. The level of toilet facilities for the amount of guests is not acceptable. As already mentioned this is a 5* site. There should be more than enough toilet facilities.||Shop - really well stocked. Nearest supermarket is 20mins away so it’s very handy, just a shame that it’s let down by being Massively understaffed. People walk away because they can’t face the queues. Seems ridiculous as that’s money lost.||Launderette - probably one of the best I’ve seen except this year, so many machines out of action and just the same excuses of waiting for someone to fix it. Were not talking an independent small business struggling, were talking large commercial company that easily can get washing machines fixed! ||Take away - amazing menu, but why they can’t find a way to put all of the menu on the click and collect ordering service is beyond most people’s understanding. So it’s causes massive queues. Again easily resolved get more staff and add it all items to the ordering menu.||Restaurant - we managed to get a table but waited 2.5hrs. Food was lovely, really well priced. Just needs more tables and more staff or Sandaya invest in a second restaurant ||Aqua park and ski lift - this is brilliant, it’s just a shame that this year Sandaya decided to only open 2 sessions a day. Managements response, Saying that their trying to manage times and customer needs is rubbish. |I agree the morning session were never busy but You’ve gone to far the other way, so that now not all guests that want to have a go, get chance. |Bring back the 49 euro package, this was so popular and maybe sessions from 12 noon onwards. ||Bar and entertainment - |I think there a couple of issues, one being as everyone has already said it’s understaffed.|Perhaps if you opened back up the popular crepe shack and put the icecream and boba in there it would free the bar staff. I know how many times my kids were at the bar so I can see how this is causing unnecessary queuing for drinks.||The other being it now shuts at 2200.|Whilst this is great for no noise, it means the youngsters now have nothing to do except congregate somewhere, drink under age and cause trouble.||It wasn’t always ideal that the bar played loud music until 2300,(if it wasn’t your kind of music) but it did mean all teenagers and young adults (and old) were entertained. Which is why I now think it is noticeable the amount of youths partying until all hours around the park.|I can’t believe they’re being served that much alcoholic drinks under age as it’s impossible to get to many drinks due to queues!! ||Sandaya’s policy is quiet by 2300, so it would make sense to open the bar until that time.||There is security but it not always present. Understaffed I guess?? ||it is also a real shame that you have stopped the fireworks evening. This was the highlight of most customers and kids holiday. There used to be a beach party where all the kids brought glow sticks or latterns and walked round the lake behind the golf cart playing music, all families brought chairs or blankets to the beach and the evening ended with the fireworks display. Absolutely amazing! Now gone….entertainment just very bland, highlight is supposed to be a white party but the fireworks was better. ||All above are such minor issue that so easily could be resolved. |Alicourts is an amazing site with a lake, pool, bar, restaurants and so much to keep all ages entertained. Please start investing again to what is really important to your customers and not just new mobile home areas. Bring it back up to what it once was 5** one of the best sites in France. Act on your customers reviews!! ||We have booked again for next year in hope that these issues are listened to and action taken. If not sadly next year will likely be...

This was our third family visit to Alicourts and we had lots of fun, but we won't return until improvements are made. ||Positives:|- Fantastic setting, having both a fun activity pool area and a calmer beach/lake together offers loads of variety for all weathers. |- We had a Cottage Sologne which was clean and very peaceful with almost no passing traffic and reasonably well equipped. |- The slides in the waterpark are great and as we tended to visit 'off-peak' we never had to queue much. Although there is only a lifeguard at the top of the 2 long tube slides, the behaviour around the other slides was good and the lifeguards around the pool were quick to notice any risks and intervene. |- We found good behaviour of guests taking their towels to free up sunbeds when they left for lunch, so as we tended to arrive at the pool around 12 we always found a couple of beds freeing up. Likewise when we went back around 6 it was very quiet and a lovely time to use the pool if you have the weather. |- The restaurant was nice and reasonably priced, and the shop was better stocked than many we've seen (especially for fresh food).||Negatives:|- For me, being on holiday means cooking less! So I was disappointed that the Click and Collect for the Snack bar basically only included limited options from their menu and not the burgers/nuggets/fries the kids wanted. So we had to queue, which I expect in high season, but the stressful part was not knowing how long things would take as the kids got gradually hungrier! Also the restaurant no longer takes bookings so you have to show up and hope you get a table. One evening despite waiting until late hoping to avoid peak, we found both queues barely moving and had to bail out and go back for pasta at the cottage. They don't seem to operate the little shack doing crepes any more, which is a shame too.|- The main covered pool was visibly dirty and you could feel the slime on the walls. In general the pool area was in poor repair, the 'bridges' are slimy and moulding and felt very unsafe. I didn't see anyone cleaning in there at any time, compared to other places we have been.|- There are nowhere near enough toilets - and the ones at the bar have been closed! There was one single working woman's toilet cubicle a short walk away near the take away, but the lights in there didn't work making it impractical at night. Other than that it's a very long walk to use the camping toilet block - so much fun with a desperate 8 year old!|- The water activities are seriously under-available, I don't know why they only offer a couple of hours a day for the inflatable and the wakeboarding, I assume this is that they don't have the staff, but it was disappointing not to be able to use the wake cable as we have loved that in previous years. We managed to get a paddle board and a pedalo by booking several days in advance.|- The bar queues are long and slow moving, the system is mad. Bar staff have to leave the bar to go and serve from the ice cream kiosk/bubble tea stand. There are sort of 2 queues but it's luck of the draw if you're behind someone ordering 2 quick pints or 8 complicated cocktails. The bar staff were friendly and helpful when you finally got there.|- The new pedestrianised premium area is beautiful... but during our stay (nearby) we noticed groups of young kids being left totally unsupervised there, rampaging around making a nuisance of themselves (including smashing bottles for example). So your enjoyment of staying there would depend very much on your neighbours. ||Overall it felt like some money needs to be spent on this resort to restore the cleanliness, service and staffing levels you'd expect from Sandaya. The mad thing is, they could easily increase revenues if they just made it easier to give them your money for food, drinks...

This was our third family visit to Alicourts and we had lots of fun, but we won't return until improvements are made. ||Positives:|- Fantastic setting, having both a fun activity pool area and a calmer beach/lake together offers loads of variety for all weathers. |- We had a Cottage Sologne which was clean and very peaceful with almost no passing traffic and reasonably well equipped. |- The slides in the waterpark are great and as we tended to visit 'off-peak' we never had to queue much. Although there is only a lifeguard at the top of the 2 long tube slides, the behaviour around the other slides was good and the lifeguards around the pool were quick to notice any risks and intervene. |- We found good behaviour of guests taking their towels to free up sunbeds when they left for lunch, so as we tended to arrive at the pool around 12 we always found a couple of beds freeing up. Likewise when we went back around 6 it was very quiet and a lovely time to use the pool if you have the weather. |- The restaurant was nice and reasonably priced, and the shop was better stocked than many we've seen (especially for fresh food).||Negatives:|- For me, being on holiday means cooking less! So I was disappointed that the Click and Collect for the Snack bar basically only included limited options from their menu and not the burgers/nuggets/fries the kids wanted. So we had to queue, which I expect in high season, but the stressful part was not knowing how long things would take as the kids got gradually hungrier! Also the restaurant no longer takes bookings so you have to show up and hope you get a table. One evening despite waiting until late hoping to avoid peak, we found both queues barely moving and had to bail out and go back for pasta at the cottage. They don't seem to operate the little shack doing crepes any more, which is a shame too.|- The main covered pool was visibly dirty and you could feel the slime on the walls. In general the pool area was in poor repair, the 'bridges' are slimy and moulding and felt very unsafe. I didn't see anyone cleaning in there at any time, compared to other places we have been.|- There are nowhere near enough toilets - and the ones at the bar have been closed! There was one single working woman's toilet cubicle a short walk away near the take away, but the lights in there didn't work making it impractical at night. Other than that it's a very long walk to use the camping toilet block - so much fun with a desperate 8 year old!|- The water activities are seriously under-available, I don't know why they only offer a couple of hours a day for the inflatable and the wakeboarding, I assume this is that they don't have the staff, but it was disappointing not to be able to use the wake cable as we have loved that in previous years. We managed to get a paddle board and a pedalo by booking several days in advance.|- The bar queues are long and slow moving, the system is mad. Bar staff have to leave the bar to go and serve from the ice cream kiosk/bubble tea stand. There are sort of 2 queues but it's luck of the draw if you're behind someone ordering 2 quick pints or 8 complicated cocktails. The bar staff were friendly and helpful when you finally got there.|- The new pedestrianised premium area is beautiful... but during our stay (nearby) we noticed groups of young kids being left totally unsupervised there, rampaging around making a nuisance of themselves (including smashing bottles for example). So your enjoyment of staying there would depend very much on your neighbours. ||Overall it felt like some money needs to be spent on this resort to restore the cleanliness, service and staffing levels you'd expect from Sandaya. The mad thing is, they could easily increase revenues if they just made it easier to give them your money for food, drinks...