GRUPOTEL PLAYA DE PALMA SUITES & SPA

Without a doubt the best hotel I have stayed at abroad and beats a lot of spa hotels in the UK too. The food was amazing, every night. Fresh fish and meat being cooked to order, lovely salads, tapas, everything was hot, fresh and beautifully presented. The staff were friendly but professional. Rooms were lovely and clean, spacious and well equipped. There’s a mini kitchen with fridge, microwave and hob in every room with plenty of utensils. The spa is really good - better than a lot of 5 star spas I have been to. Lovely staff, everything spotless and super facilities. It was so hot outside though that we didn’t use it a lot. The 3 pools are lovely and we didn’t really struggle to get sun loungers even in July. The Bali beds are nice if you fancy a day in the shade. 100% recommend this hotel and would return. The only negative is that everyone was German. Maybe it was the time of year but we couldn’t really make friends or chat to anyone else and it was rare to hear another British voice. The resort is also very German and we didn’t go down to the promenade at night because of this. Lots of German groups of men / boys so it wasn’t really our thing. We didn’t feel unsafe just wasn’t our thing. The beach is lovely if you like a day there and during the day there are a few souvenir shops. We took buses and taxis to Palma and to Fan Mallorca mall for shopping. Not too expensive maybe 25 euros to palma. Entertainment at night - a few singers who were not too bad. The bar was nice and quiet. Supermarket 2 mins away for water etc and petrol station just past that when it’s closed for cold drinks.

The hotel has a lot going for it. Located about a ten minute walk from thevbeach it’s on the outskirts of a rough area full of loud music and bars and next to no decent restaurants. Which is fine because the standard of food quality and presentation makes up for it. It has two Olympic size pools - one of which is adults only. There’s a really excellent indoor pool and spa and you get your towels here too - they give you a voucher for towels on arrival. When finished you hand back the towels and get vouchers for the next day. The outside pools have rules which on first sight is good to see- no swimming after 18.00 )as no lifeguard) and no diving. We dined about 8pm and every night there were people swimming. People took no notice of the no diving rule- on one occasion right in front of the lifeqursd who did nothing about it. I would have given the hotel a 5 if it hadn’t been for the fact that if you have rules, you need to monitor them and take appropriate action when transgressing. The other odd thing was that breakfast is in one restaurant and dinner in another. Actually the rooftop restaurant has great views Breakfast is also good with tea/coffee offered at the table. The staff were well trained and efficient. As soon as dishes were done with it was cleared away. Another put off is that you can hear the boom boom music from the Taurus Park. We were thankful we were not staying there. We booked a superior suite. It was not as good as it sounds but adequate. There’s a separate area of the hotel called Prestige- which cost more. I would pay the extra. Also odd numbered rooms in our block did not get the evening sun Ther is a kitchenette with a good sized fridge. Yea and coffee in the room but not always topped up. Our room was not cleaned one day but the Manager was superb and rectified straight away. The tv channels were dominated by German Channels. As you drive thru Playa de Palma there are loads of German Beer Halls and lots of rowdiness. As luck would have it there’s no need to worry just stay in the Hotel Grounds as it’s enough

Second time visit. Excellent indoor spa and gym facilities in particular and delicious breakfast. Would stay again

This is a lovely hotel, spread out over 2 different areas with 3 swimming pools including the rooftop pool and an indoor spa with another pool, large jacuzzi and gym. One of the pools and the rooftop pool are adult only. It was so peaceful and relaxing. The suites are a nice size and we had booked a premium suite with balcony and pool view. Positives: Amazing breakfast buffet with plenty of choices, hot drinks served to your table, fresh warm pastries, eggs cooked fresh, Cava available each morning. Staff were very lovely Bed linen and towels were a very good standard Cleaning of apartment each day to a high standard Kitchenette in room with a decent fridge that kept items cold Swimming pools were very clean and very large Negatives: Our mobile phone was taken from our room, we left it on the table and when we came back on day 2 of our stay we realised in the evening that it had gone, we searched everywhere. I don’t think for one moment the cleaning staff took it, I think unfortunately when they clean your suite they leave the room door propped open and if they are in the bedroom, they wouldn’t see if someone came into the room and removed it, you can see everything in a room when you walk passed. First time something like this has happened to us, so lesson learned, we should have put it in the safe. We did report this to the reception staff but they did not seem overly concerned or even understanding what we were saying. I also reported to the Tui rep who made a report but she said you will find it when you pack or go home, which we didn’t. 2. As we visited in June, the hotel is situated in the very lively Arsenal end of the resort and not Playa de Palma as the name suggests. There is loud music coming from the surrounding hotels and when we went down into the resort which is about an 8 minute walk it was actually awful, large groups of men everywhere just drinking early in the morning, all day long, noise coming from all the bars with loud music etc 3. No nice restaurants nearby to eat an evening meal, just all fast food, kebabs etc 4. At the weekends the hotel did get a lively clientele, again large groups of young men and some groups of older men, drinking and being very loud but luckily they are off out in the evening. I wouldn’t rule out this hotel in the quieter months as it is really nice and a high standard just would not visit again in party high season.