Camping De Molenhof - Familiehuis 10 Personen

I had a calm, sunny swim, and in September the pool was nearly empty. I enjoyed the tube slide and swimming in the 25 m indoor pool, which is 1.40 m deep. The building, including the changing and toilet areas, was clean and in good condition. The changing room, showers and toilets are small for a 25 m pool with a tube slide, and there are only a few small lockers. It seems set up mainly for resident campers rather than day visitors, though space wasn't an issue on my visit. I put my bag and valuables in a small locker for a 1 EUR deposit. As usual in the Netherlands, the shower area is shared by men and women. My paper day ticket cost 4 EUR and covered only the pool, so there was no kiosk or restaurant service in that area. I travelled from Bielefeld to Oldenzaal by train with the 49 EUR/m Deutschlandticket, then cycled 10 km to Camping Molenhof. The reception staff speak German, which was great. It was a mild, pleasantly warm September day, sunny most of the time. The retractable roof was closed and the pool hall was nicely heated. On hot summer days, the roof can be opened and the pool hall becomes an outdoor pool. Reception told me the retractable hall is about 15 years old; before it was built, the pool was a regular outdoor pool. A great upgrade. The tube slide is normally off, with no water running. A sensor switches the water on when you go upstairs to the start of the slide. There's no pool attendant or lifeguard inside, so you have to work out for yourself that the sensor starts the slide water. Without a lifeguard, unlike at many other Dutch pools where they often have a whistle, swimmers need to behave sensibly. They did on the day I visited.