Ferien- und Freizeitpark Weissenhäuser Strand - St

Our children, who are 5 and 7, spent a whole day happily going between the slides and pools at the Badeparadies water park. We could also walk to the beach in just a few minutes, and there were plenty of things to do together on-site, including playgrounds and mini golf. We stayed five days and four nights in one of the Ferienwohnungen during the summer holidays. The apartment was spacious, well equipped, and convenient for our family. We had a great time and are already looking forward to returning next month for our son's birthday, as he specifically asked to celebrate here. It felt like a lovely place for both family fun and relaxing.

After travelling back from Scandinavia, we thought this would be a nice place to stop and finish our holiday. The photos looked promising, with a water park and lots of appealing facilities, and we were willing to pay the price for a pleasant stay. Instead, it was crowded, mostly with German guests, there were no parking spaces, and the bungalows were extremely dated. The mattresses were rock hard, and almost everything cost extra, including €100 for a day of swimming. Shocking. The location gets three stars from me because it was near the beach, though not right on it. I can't recommend the park. Skip it. I arrived in the evening and wanted to cancel right away, but was asked to speak to the service point the next morning, so I left early. Nothing was resolved. I didn't even get a proper checkout because the tourist tax wasn't refunded. After all the back and forth, I don't want that refund anymore. The reasonable solution would have been to let us cancel. The only person who seemed willing to help was the person in charge at the hotel reception. I contacted the park as soon as I realized that its Booking.com listing was misleading, but they couldn't do anything and sent me to Booking.com. Booking.com said they couldn't help because the park wasn't able to. The problem was the park's unwillingness to work out any solution once I raised it, before we'd even started the night. It wasn't specifically about the bed, since I hadn't slept on it yet. The first 100 photos showed services that were excluded, while only the last six showed the accommodation that was included. That's simply not a proper way to sell it. You show 90% of photos of what isn't included and 10% of what is. And €100 for a family swimming ticket for one day is a lot, especially when the pool was due to close early, I think at 3 p.m., for maintenance that day and the following day. In response to the park's explanation that it aims to show included services and extras clearly, and its apology and offer of another chance, I still feel it could have helped us on site. The service point chose not to. The park's claim that it keeps modernizing units while offering apartments with a classic character doesn't change that the apartment was dated. Booking.com called it a “Stylish bungalow.” Stylish is subjective, I suppose, and this one was stylish as if it were the 80s. I've never ended a holiday so badly. When I pointed out the problem on arrival, the response was essentially, “You should have read more carefully.” Rarely have I experienced such a bad park.

There's loads to do here, for kids and adults, indoors and outside. We found a big indoor playground, large slides in both the indoor and outdoor water park, plus horse riding, water skiing, archery, bowling, and plenty more. We used to cook in our Ferienwohnung each time, picking up groceries at the Edeka in the resort. More recently, we tried the restaurants and found their buffet amazing. We've also visited other indoor water parks, including that Dome near Berlin. The big plus at WS is the ventilation. It matters a lot, since we had serious breathing problems at the other place.

We had a great time. There are lots of family activities, and it's close to the sea, restaurants, and even an Edeka.