Aja Strandhotel Bansin

“Short Break on the Beach”

Bansin is situated on the coast of Germany near the Polish border with miles of golden sand. There are good train and bus connections to other resorts in the region, Hamburg and Berlin. The hotel is a few steps from the beach and is in an excellent position. It has activities for children and a spa… more

Bansin is situated on the coast of Germany near the Polish border with miles of golden sand. There are good train and bus connections to other resorts in the region, Hamburg and Berlin. The hotel is a few steps from the beach and is in an excellent position. It has activities for children and a spa. The hotel is bright and clean, and the bedrooms very comfortable. The staff are extremely pleasant and helpful. We really enjoyed our stay there, particularly as the weather was hot and sunny. The one small issue was that the evening buffet dinner has changed this year and is labelled as 'Leichter Abendgenuss' - a light, cold dinner, which may be healthy but was a disappointment because on our previous stays, the full buffet dinner included hot items and was excellent. Nevertheless we had a great time and will return again.

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“Perfect stay - Kids felt special & respected”

My husband and I planned a spontaneous getawat on saturday morning.. we called the hotel to book and then checked in later the same day. Aside from being a bit confused about the street numbers as some of the numbers on the right side are actually for the beachside promenade down below.. (you need … more

My husband and I planned a spontaneous getawat on saturday morning.. we called the hotel to book and then checked in later the same day. Aside from being a bit confused about the street numbers as some of the numbers on the right side are actually for the beachside promenade down below.. (you need to drive to the end of the street to get there), we had a wonderful and polite check in. We travelled with our 18 month old son who felt very special because at the check-in desk there was a big soft "Captain Sharky" waiting for him.. and the front desk handed him his own welcome envelope :-) Once we arrived in the room, he ran straight to the kiddy cot which had childrens decor, a kiddy towel and the best part.. a gorgeous little yellow kiddy bath robe which he tried on immediately. The room was really large and spotlessly clean, with a huge balcony and ocean view :-) Moments later 2 staff arrived with a fruit platter for me.. as I am also pregnant my husband had arranged a special package as a surprise.... this included the fruit platter, a facial and a foot massage.. as well as a bag of products (goodies) for pregnant woman by "Bellybutton" which they gave me after my treatments at the lovely Spa. The spa staff were really sweet.. I felt totally relaxed. There breakfast (included) was sensational... wear your sun glasses and try to get a seat at the window wall to enjoy the water views.... Our son was given his own kiddy place mat, napkin and cutlery.... he felt VERY special indeed. There is also a private dining room for kids attached to th emain dining area.. a little "Captain Sharky" resteraunt.. it has toys and the tables are set up for meals (like in a crech or day care). Additionally, there is a <2 yr olds play room.. and for 2yrs and over there is a kiddy club. You can get all the kiddy things you need (eg baby phone, prams etc) from reception. Our room already had a baby change mat and nappy disposal bin on arrival (without us asking). The only negatives were the taste of the room service (service was very friendly though) and mini-bar .. oh an dthe fact that we had to pay and extra Euro8 per day for secure parking under the hotel (this should be free surely?). The fish I ordered for a late dinner (as our b aby fell asleep) was not that thrilling.. and my husband opened the mini bar to get some chocolate and complained that the note said he had to go to reception for it (not fun when you are already in your bathrobe). Our son insisted on going to sleep in his "kiddy bathrobe" which was very cute. We had easy beach access and had a great time there.. there is also a play area for kids just at the beach... All in all.. it was the perfect spontaneous get-a-way and aside from the mini-bar/ fish dinner that I was not fond of, it was really faultless. As a final few points for context, i've worked in 54 countries and spent 10 yrs in hotels so I am quite fussy... this was not "designer" or anything.. but somehow it was just perfect for a family and extremely relaxing... the little extras that treat children like special guests makes it fabulous for the parents to relax. They offer all sorts of services including baby sitting on request as well... and although there were many kids at the hotel they were never in the way and it never felt crowded at all. We never go to the same hotel twice however we're going to make an exception and go back to this one :-)

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“Good family hotel”

We spent seven days with the family, two kids seven and nine, in early June. The kids loved the place, in particular the indoor swimming pool since the weather was still very cold. There was also a pleasant children's club, although our children were a bit too old to go there every day. Also, it is… more

We spent seven days with the family, two kids seven and nine, in early June. The kids loved the place, in particular the indoor swimming pool since the weather was still very cold. There was also a pleasant children's club, although our children were a bit too old to go there every day. Also, it is a bit hard to reach going up and down through a long corridor. The beach is just across the promenade and invites for endless walks and ball games. For adults there is a good spa and sauna to relax after a day around on the island Usedom. They also have activities like Pilates. The rooms are spacious, bright and very clean, including the bathrooms. What is a bit irritating is the plastic cover on the mattress underneath the linen that makes you sweat at night: useful for small children though. The food is very good with a changing buffet, in particular offering different varieties of fish. They also offer decent a la carte food. Since the problem with hot buffet food is that it is nice only for half an hour, and we usually were late, we turned to ordering the main course a la carte from the kitchen. Like that we enjoyed the dinner. The bar was nice and the kids loved the non-alcoholic drinks along with our aperitif. Also, when the waiters in the restaurant learned about the birthday of our daughter, they had the table very nicely decorated. The interior design of the hotel feels a bit dated (and we heard that they plan to do some works). We felt in particular that there is no place that invites you to hang-out at night, or even during the day. The fire-place, the natural centre of any lounge, is oddly located in a corridor and was not lit despite the cold temperatures. The furniture in the bar area is strangely put such that you may end up sitting back to back with other guests. Also, the spa could offer drinks or tea and be made more atmospheric with little things like candles. Service is not consistently good, at times waiters lack attention - since it is a buffet they just bother to clear the tables not looking for guests that may want assistance. Another thing that was strange to us was the early times of all the fitness classes, much too early for us to take part. Still, the place is probably better than many others and we would recommend it to other people, in particular when traveling with smaller children.

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“Easter holidays at Travelcharme in Bansin”

We stayed at this hotel for 4 days over the Easter break. The location is very nice, right by a sandy beach and a long beach promenade. The hotel has good facilities for families with young children. Our room (which was a familiy room) was large with a lot of cupboard and drawer space. We did th… more

We stayed at this hotel for 4 days over the Easter break. The location is very nice, right by a sandy beach and a long beach promenade. The hotel has good facilities for families with young children. Our room (which was a familiy room) was large with a lot of cupboard and drawer space. We did think however that the service in many respects did not reach the level of a 5 or even a 4 start hotel. Service was very often not forthcoming and friendly as we have exprienced in other hotels of a similar level and price category. in particular, we found that reception staff were not helpful or forthcoming with information on the hotel and the facilities unless specifcally asked. For instance on arrival we weren't given any information on facilities and opening times as we have experienced in other similar hotels. At dinner time, when a table was reserved for us in the restaurant, we had to ask on each occasion to be provided with two highchairs or cushions for the seats. It made us feel uncomfortable having to ask for this thereby causing disruption around us when highchairs should have bee at our table before our arrival. We feel that significant improvement is required to the service and the attitude of the staff to make this hotel truly a 4/5 star hotel and justify the price tag of a stay. Note that non-German speakers (like my husband) may find it hard to make themselves understood. In terms of the childcare (which the hotel advertises it provides in the form of the kids club), the hotel advertises this to be from 2 years old. In reality, we found the childcare arrangements not to be adpated to very young children. If children were happy to stay at the kids' club there were carers there to look after them and a selection of toys. However, no effort was made to make the very young children feel welcome when they first arrived at the club each time. This we felt made the childcare arrangements not appropriate for such young children. To us there was a marked discrepancy between what the hotel advertised on its website and other promotional materials and what the staff on the ground actually practised. They also had a policy of not changing children's nappy and would call parents to do the nappy change. Naturally, after a nappy change our two year olds were not happy for us to leave again and staff would ask us to take them with us. The pool and sauna area is exceptionally clean (as is the rest of the htoel) but the pool is quite small for the size of the hotel and considering that it is shared between everyone (one pool only - it's also advertised as being the hotel's spa pool) and no tea or other refreshments are served in the sauna area. As a spa it was disappointing and during school holidays in particular the pool and surrounding deck chair area is probably usually crowded with children. We enjoyed being able to borrow bikes and buggies and the promenade and beach is ideal for walks and bike rides with young children. Food was good and we would recommend the dinner buffet. Overall an enjoyable experience but not the standard we expected on the basis of the info contained on the hotel's website and the price tag. We would recommend the hotel to people with young children but would point out these downsides.

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