Review: Hof van Saksen, Back For More!

We stayed at Hof van Saksen in February half term last year and loved it so much that we booked to come back again this year. We were lucky that our half term fell the week before the Dutch half term so the resort was very quiet.

This time we flew to Eindhoven with Ryanair as the flights were cheaper than to Amsterdam and we hired a car. The journey from Eindhoven airport to Hof van Saksen is about 2h20 and as we got an afternoon flight we decided to book a hotel half way to break up the journey. We found an absolute gem of a hotel in the stunningly beautiful, ancient city of Deventer.

The Hotel in het Huis van Deventer is a really cool and child friendly hotel slap bang in the centre of town and opposite the old church. It is a small, boutique hotel with funky furnishings (check out the kids beds!) and the breakfast was to die for.

Our “room” was in fact a 2 storey apartment with our own kitchen, lounge and 2 bedrooms (the beds were super comfortable). We honestly could not have been more delighted and we would highly recommend this hotel as a stop off en route from Eindhoven airport.

We arrived at Hof van Saksen early afternoon on the Monday and although our Farmhouse wasn’t going to be ready until 16h00 we were able to make full use of the resort facilities straight away. We headed to the indoor play and the craft academy where the kids let off some steam and got creative painting tulips and UFOs! There are lots of different Academies at Hof van Saksen and many are free of charge. Where there is a charge it is usually just a few euros to cover materials etc.

It was only a year since we last visited but during that time there have been some noticeable changes. The “Clip and Climb” area in the indoor play has been extended to include 4 new climbing walls and a climbing net. The walls are high enough to give the kids a thrill but they are completely safe in their harnesses and staff are on hand at all times. This activity is for children aged 6 and over.

The extension to the indoor play which we saw being built a year ago is now a kids activity room and a new Laser Tag area. The Laser Tag was €6 per person and we had a great time, it certainly got the heart racing as we darted between the boxes targeting our opponents! The week we were there it was predominantly preschool families and the activity room was used for things like a children’s disco with Bennie the Clown which seemed to go down well!

We also booked a few sessions at the Bounz trampolining centre and at one point had the whole place to ourselves! This is also a free activity. Amelie and Jonas had lots of fun bouncing together on all the trampolines!

The weather was sunny for the first part of the week so we spent quite a bit of time at the outdoor play areas, notably the one on the lake beach with the zip wire and the play ship. The water was chilly so Amelie and Jonas did very well to keep their feet dry on the zip wire!

We also enjoyed the Family Adventure Golf and tried our hand (feet) at the foot golf. The Family Adventure Golf was new a few years ago and is an 18 hole course which cost €6,50 per person. It’s a beautifully landscaped course with some easier and some trickier holes!

The foot golf is a free activity and consists of 18 holes dotted across the resort and a starting spot at each one where you kick your football from. We had such a giggle when we accidentally kicked our ball into the lake (oops). Luckily it was a windy day and so it quickly made its way across the lake and we managed to fish it out by the shore! The footgolf course is a great way to see the whole resort too.

There is so much to do at Hof van Saksen and that’s not even including the pool complex which we went to every day and made full use of the slides, rapids, Jacuzzis and the various pools. Amelie was very happy to be 8 this year as it meant that she could finally go on the Bombo. This is the largest indoor waterslide in the world and you can go down as 2 or up to 4 together. It drops you down quite a steep drop (it feels a bit like a free fall) and then you enter an enormous funnel and slide up the sides. It’s amazing!

We went a couple of times in the early evening too when it was already dark and it was a really memorable experience going down the outdoor rapids when all the twinkly lights were on and steam was rising off the warm water into the cool air.

As most of the families there that week had babies and toddlers the toddler pool was quite busy. However, the great thing about Hof van Saksen is that the main pool is a “vario pool” which means the depth can be adjusted so we often saw that the bottom of this pool had been raised to 40cm so it was in effect an additional children’s pool and there were toys and games thrown in to play with. Pretty cool I thought!

We had every intention this time of getting off site and exploring, given that we had a car this time, but we were so occupied with all our various activities at Hof van Saksen we only went off the resort twice. The first time we found a fab pancake house called Pannenkoekenboerderij Brinkzicht, just over a 15 minute drive away on the other side of the village of Rolde. This was a very popular place with a small play area outside (for little ones) and another little play corner inside. The pancakes were delicious!

Then on our penultimate day we hired bikes from Hof van Saksen’s very extensive bike rental place (seriously, they have everything: children’s bikes, adult bikes, tandem bikes, bakfiets, buggies, wagons, electric bikes and more!). The guy at the Adventure store where you hire the bikes from was extremely friendly and helpful and gave us lots of tips and info about cycle routes.

We chose a 23km bike ride and set off on the cycle paths which are just over the road from the Hof van Saksen entrance. We cycled through beautiful woodland to a cosy restaurant called Restaurant ‘t Nije Hemelriek which overlooks a small lagoon and is just a 5 minute walk down to a sandy lake beach.

We had a truly wonderful time at Hof van Saksen and I’m sure we will be back again soon. We highly recommend this resort for children of all ages. It is also doable without a car.

For more information about Hof van Saksen or to book please see below or drop us a line.