We picked this hotel out of the Thomas Cook Belgium brochure, 1 week all inclusive (we did not get the option for bed&breakfast or half board, because I'm not a fan of all inclusive). There was little to find on the internet in terms of reviews as it was just newly renovated in winter season 16/17 and so we took a wild guess when booking this hotel. The pictures looked OK, so we booked for the last week of July.
We opted for a higher floor, the rooms 6-9 th floor, as they are slightly more expensive, but you hear less the evening animation and have great views, so worth paying that little extra.
it is a hotel with great potential, too bad they did a lousy job on the renovation. It could be really beautiful, they did not use the opportunity, they just wanted to have it open for the summer season. This hotel could be a really great place, but it's missing some things to be a 4* hotel. In my honest opinion, 3* would be a correct rating. Therefore I did not feel we got value for money to be honest.
Postives:
- all rooms have sea view - wonderful view (nice coastline here)
- clean hotel
- spa: indoor pool / sauna / hammam
- roof top: there are 2 Jacuzzi's and 6 sun loungers here, great to hang out during the day (*but there's no bar here during day, so cannot get any drinks)
- friendly staff , great waiters, reception, housekeeping (Maria from reception is the best! and so is head of housekeeping)
- breakfast: great breakfast, even though almost every day the same, you have great variety. A lot of options for food intolerance gluten/dairy free - have rice milk, soja milk, almond milk...)
- pool/beach towels available (although with deposit)
- bath robes and slippers available on request
- very practical bathroom with great shower (unfortunately badly finished during renovation, which is sad to see)
- pillow choices
Negatives:
- empty minibar in the room - i thought this was an all inclusive resort, so at minimum 2 small bottles of water a day should be included, but you can buy those at the bar for 1€ each - this is ridiculous. Water is basic thing for a 4*.
- you have to pay for pool towels to be changed (1€ to get clean one)
- you have to pay to use the safe?? unheard! i travel all the time and 4* hotel should not ask to pay to use the safe... this is so 80-90's...
- hotel Management: the German lady, whom I assume is the hotel manager, is visible and invisible at the same time. She's 'around' but does not seem to see the problems; she stands there in the restaurant but does not see there is not enough staff to refill food, glasses, plates, clean tables during lunch and dinner service. Every single day they ran out of glasses, plates, etc. She was then either standing there doing nothing, or eating at the same time as the guests (which I find inappropriate btw).
- All Inclusive: only between 10:30-23H for drinks, only food options until 21H, so if you get back late from an excursion, you can no longer eat at the hotel (we had this 3 times) and there is really not much around the hotel, so you would need to take taxi to Cala Ratjada then
- location: although it is very beautiful area, with splendid views, there is really nothing in Font de Sa Cala. For restaurant/bar/nighlife need to go 4 km further to Cala Ratjada, which is not great either (very focussed on Germans: wurst, pizza, pasta, burgers and beergarten) but has some nice bars (euforia and noah which have good music and tapas and cocktails). If you want to go for an evening walk after dinner and see nice shops and go for a nice bar, you're not in the right place in Cala Ratjada.
- food: no variety, we only stayed a week and we had several dishes 2x or 3x during that week. Food quality is mediocre, seems they use only deep frozen vegetables, which they don't season. So, watery overcooked vegetables, overcooked potatoes, no seasoning, soggy fries, ... The deserts are great.
- Drinks: limited options for drinks under the all inclusive formula, and low quality alcohol (e.g. very cheap gin, very cheap wines from the tap - even red wine is cold (?!)
- hotel recently been renovated but they seem not to have finished yet as they came in the room a couple of times to fix/do things and it's a mediocre renovation, sadly, it seems to be done in a rush and bad quality.
- bed mattresses! we did not sleep much, we first thought it were the pillows but no.
- no double beds, only separate beds... very annoying, as they are no 'fixed' so they move and as a couple, you cannot sleep in 1 bed. They should make them up as 1 double bed for couples.
- elevators: the new elevators are HOT, no airco. The old ones have not been renovated, 1 is broken btw and there's no paper saying it's out of service.
- animation is a disgrace: this was done by a German guy, who is rude to non Germans, saying we should not come to a 'German hotel' and had gone somewhere else, he obviously forgets there are children at the hotel and should behave accordingly, not walk around in a string, or dress up as drag queen half of the week and not flirt with every man he crosses. In short, his behaviour is very inappropriate and not in line with the hotel category either. Also, his animation is very 90's and even the older generation thought so.
- roof top bar: should be open all day
- beach / pool: for a hotel on the beach, I was negatively surprised you don't offer sun loungers on the beach. These need to be paid for separately. There are not enough sun loungers at the pool, so the hotel should come up with a solution here (and quality of sun loungers is very poor), there are hardly enough sunbeds for half of the rooms.
- pool bar / snack bar: very very basic and be careful here, as we ate here twice and got sick twice as well. The conditions here are not optimal. Food stands there all afternoon and after 5PM they start putting the food (incl. cakes) for the BBQ at 7PM already, in the heat). Anyhow, it's always the same: burgers, sausages, pizza...
- hotel lobby bar: most unattractive bar ever (inside I mean); so if it rains - like it did 2 days when we were there - you need to sit in a smelly lobby bar (I think it's the air conditioning) which looks like a cheap cafeteria.
recommendations:
- put more staff - these people work like crazy long days and need to be everywhere. If the hotel is full, there is not enough waiting staff.
- change animator
- there are not only Germans here, many Belgians too and there were Italians too, so please be cognizant of this when preparing food, animation, etc. You only seem to accommodate for the German taste and requirements.
- alcohol: Spain has very good inexpensive wines, and you are serving none of them. Also, you only serve sweet cava, please leave the the option
- room: they are not large but space is being well used, but very 'ikea' style. I truly recommend that they build in some drawers in the wardrobe as there are none to put stuff like underwear and swimwear. Invest in good bedding please! Minibar: at least put some water please. In the shower, there's nothing to put your shampoo/soap (in case you don't want to use the hotel soap hanging in the shower on the wall)
- opening hours of restaurant: closing at 9PM is to early, maybe foresee snacks in the bar after 9PM then, because if people leave on excursions they might get in later. Also, Germans eat at 7PM sharp, Belgians don't... but again you say this is a German hotel...
