Hof van Saksen

Hof van Saksen is an award-winning holiday resort located in the natural beauty of the Dutch Drenthe region. The manicured gardens and pristine main buildings give an indication of the standards set at Hof van Saksen and the level of relaxation and luxury you can enjoy here. From sun-soaked terraces to spacious lawns and a beautiful large lake with a sandy beach, you are sure to have a wonderful holiday here.

What we really like is that special time slots are made for activities such as Bounz, the trampoline area, ensuring that even the smallest members of the family get quality time with the activities on offer.  Hof van Saksen offers fantastic academies for all ages and one particularly suited to young children is the arts and crafts academy. Children can walk in and explore the materials at any time of day, or join in for specific activities and get creative making things like decorating bird houses. Other academies on offer include hut making, archaeology, fashion, cooking and sports.

The large indoor complex houses a spacious (1000m2) soft play area with ball pools and slides and lots of things to climb on! This is ideal for children of all ages and toddlers have their own separate area to toddle around in! The soft play area has comfy sofas and a nice selection of drinks and snacks to keep you going. We absolutely love the new Clip and Climb walls which is one of the activities on offer at Hof van Saksen and are for ages 6+. See if you can get all the way to the top of the wall and hit the button! Fancy a break from the soft play? Why not get competitive in the family bowling area or with the new Laser Tag!

The heated indoor pool area has a fantastic “musical” toddler exploration pool with a little slide and jets and toys to splash about with. The main pool is a Vario pool which means the depth can be changed so the same pool can be used for length swimming in the morning and then be transformed into a 40cm splash pool with toys for little ones!

As well as the indoor pools which babies and toddlers can enjoy, there is also a heated outdoor pool which is the entrance to the family water rapids.  This is lots of fun! For older siblings wanting some thrills and spills there are 5 impressive waterslides including a super fast “speed slide” where you can reach speeds of 60km per hour! Hof van Saksen is very proud to have the largest indoor water slide in the world, the longest waterslide in the world and, brand new in 2023, the largest covered bowl slide in the Netherlands! ! Children over 1.20m are able to use these slides (You have to be 8 to go on the Bombo and the Presto).

For the adults in your group there is also a wellness and beauty spa with sauna, steam room and all the treatments you would expect from a high-end beauticians.

The Hof van Saksen beach area has a wonderful large sandy playground complete with a slide and an inflatable jumping pillow! And just across shallow water is an island with a wooden play ship. Children can climb through the tunnels to reach it or get across on the monkey bars! If you would prefer to spend a longer period lakeside then the beach hut has parasols which can be borrowed free of charge.

At the Al Fresco restaurant children up to the age of 3 eat for free and there is a children’s play area within the restaurant. What we think is great is that children have been considered in each restaurant type and even the snack bar provides pasta and noodle dishes in addition to the usual fried favourites. The stylish Grand Café and Italian Gusto restaurants also have Lego walls to keep the little ones busy!

The accommodation area is well designed and the houses all have a lot of space around them. There are even little playgrounds where children can come and play alongside their neighbours and you can view them from your garden area.

This is a car-free resort so you will be requested to park in a central area once you have unloaded your luggage at your accommodation. This provides a wonderful quiet and safe area for children to play. Should you choose to go car-free, you can get a taxi or bus from Assen train station which is just 15 minutes away from the resort.

Hof van Saksen was featured in the Guardian in March 2022. Click here to read the article.