Sunday 15 July 2012

The Hotel Condesa de la Bahia in Alcudia: A review

Back in June we discovered a gem of a hotel in Mayorca for our family holiday.  I drafted a review.  In fact I drafted a series of posts about the hotel, the resort and various towns on the island.  Why didn't I post them?  Because word has got out about this particular hotel and we were struggling to re-book for next year.  But now we have our reservations for next year confirmed and so I can happily get sharing with you, my loyal readers.  Keep the secret though, eh?

It's the first time ever; and I mean EVER; that we have even considered re-booking the same place for a holiday.  No matter how good it's been, we've always considered that there are just too many places to see too waste a holiday returning to one.

The Hotel Condesa de la Bahia in Alcudia, Mayorca, changed our mind.  It is a great hotel for families with young children like mine (Ages 6 and 3 respectively).

From the clean spacious accommodation, to the perfect splash pool and slides.  From all the food you could possibly want, with ice cream included, to a perfect location right on the gorgeous beach.  This is a resort that I highly recommend.

The Pool Area




The pool area was spacious, well designed and with plenty of sunbeds to accommodate guests. The management were running a new system whilst we were there.  Their staff were reviewing the use of the sunbeds through out the day.  If you were absent from your sun bed for more than 2 hours your towels were moved and kept for you to collect.  The system worked well, as there were many people that were previously doing the old "put the towels out at 7.30am and don't come back until 11am" trick.  It's a highly irritating trick for those of us down at the pool with excited children at 9am, looking around at towelled sunbeds and no folk insight.


There were enough sunbeds, as there was never a moment where you couldn't find one empty but for a towel, so the 2 hour rule worked really well.  Amusingly there were often uncollected towels left at 9pm.  We wonder whether those people even realised their towels had been moved!  I find the reservation of sunbeds highly irritating if it's for any longer than a short break for lunch, so I welcomed the new rule.  It worked really well for us.

And frankly; just look at that pool!  Do you see the palm trees behind the pool?  That's the beach that is.  The beach!  Right next to the pool.  It's actual sand (not shingle) and the water is only about 30 centimetres deep for a long way.  It means that the waves are small and perfect for little ones to jump about in.  It also means that the water doesn't come and in out much with the tide, so you can sit right on the very edge of the water and not need to keep moving your towel.  Perfect.




Accommodation

The rooms are perfectly adequate, clean and spacious.  We did have a problem when we booked, as the pictures on the Thomson website were misleading, and we initially thought we were getting a family room that had a separate lounge. It turns out that was a Suite.  But that really wasn't a problem as we were rarely in the room anyway!  Here are my pictures of the room we did have.

The sofa bed actually extends out and converts to a double bed at a consistent height, so the children slept on that, leaving a spare bed (on the right) for us to basically keep my clothes as the storage space isn't great.


I would suggest that you anticipate keeping many of your clothes inside their case, as there isn't enough wardrobe or storage space for a family of four's clothes.  I'd also say that, if the children were older, we would have started to struggle a little for space.  But; as it was, it was perfect for us.

The fridge was great to keep water bottles and snacks cool once you've retired to the room for the night.  You don't need much as you can basically eat and drink whatever you like all day on all inclusive. (see below) 

The bathroom is lovely to look at, but the glass sink wasn't very practical for those with a small family as it is just the right height for them to walk into.  Having said that, our girls managed to avoid an accident as we ensured to keep the door to the bathroom wide open so they weren't squeezing in.

The bath was amazing!  It had jets, and was really comfortable to lie back in, so I enjoyed a lovely spa bath one evening.  The children also loved it, as their bubble bath increased 10 fold!

We also had a balcony, but must admit to only using it to dry clothes.  We were going to sit out in the evening on it, but leaving the door open let the insects in at night (we are a bite-ridden family), so we kept it closed, stayed inside and enjoyed the air-conditioning; and as a result limited any bites to the minimum.  Had we had a sea view room we may have been more inclined to sit out.

All in all, the room was just right.

Land view from our balcony

The Food


Then we come to the food.  We went all inclusive and I wouldn't bother doing anything else.  This management team know what all-inclusive actually means.  Any time of day you can order any drinks or food that you could possible want.  There are official mealtimes for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the main restaurant, but in between those times you can eat in the smaller restaurant overlooking the beach, or if you just fancy a burger and chips (though how you'd need any more food I don't know) you can order at the new burger bar next to the splash pool.

All drinks are included (unless you want some very particular specific brand) and plenty of different fruit juices and slushies are available, as well as everything from wine, to sangria, to Sex on the beach cocktails.

I have more pictures of food than you can imagine, so here's just a little selection.  Fish, beef, chicken, pork, a different paella every day, rice dishes, vegetables and more salad that you can possibly imagine; and that's before I get started on desert.  Safe to say I put weight on!







To conclude....

I cannot recommend this resort enough.

The management team did a grand job coping with a short power cut during our stay.  The restaurant opened later than usual, about half an hour after the power was back up, but the food on offer was no less impressive.  There was a little less choice than usually, but huge trays of sandwiches then also appeared.

In the power cut the corridors were dark around certain corners between the back up lighting, and the staff immediately went through the hotel wedging open internal see through (glass/plastic?) doors with small shower gel bottles so that you didn't walk into them.  These doors were usually open anyway, so you wouldn't have known to look out for them.

They also went to great lengths to apologise for any delay.  As if it was their fault the power was out!

They certainly knew what customer service actually was.  To take the time to actually apologise.  It was the manager stood by the restaurant door apologising.  The manager.  I take my hat off to him.   



A fortnight all inclusive for a family of four at Condesa de la Bahia, booked with Thomson and flying out from East Midlands Airport in June 2013 would cost approx £3,500 (including Thomson's on line discount). Prices during school holidays rise to approx £5,000 in August.  That's if they have any rooms left.


17 comments:

  1. Wow, this looks amazing! Thanks for linking up :) We went all-inclusive a 2 years ago and despite my fears of eating the same old food every night, it was great and we enjoyed THE most relaxing holiday ever!

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    1. Relaxing is THE key word there. Until you don't have to do it you don't realise how much time and effort goes into shopping for food, planning meals , cooking the food and washing up after the food. All inclusive is like having a maid, butler, cook and cleaner all rolled into one!

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  2. it looks fabulous. Sadly, it's camping for us again, but if we ever deicde to throw in the towel and do a hotel, I will remember this one!

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  3. I am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for visiting. Feel free to browse. :-)

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  4. Going here with our DSs aged 3 and 4 in a few weeks time. Looks great! Was it easy to get bottled water?

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    1. Hi. You will have a great time!

      You can easily buy bottled water from various shops along the road from the hotel, and then once you need to refill them, use the water taps in the restaurant at breakfast! You'll find the tap along side the juice and coffee machines. That's what everyone was doing.

      You can also get unlimited cups of water from the bar (but they won't refill your bottles there!).

      I hope you have fun. Watch out for further posts on the area due up on this blog over the next few weeks. I'll be writing about Alcudia and Soller, both worth a day trip.

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  5. Hi there, we are off on Tuesday to this hotel, after reading reviews it sounds amazing, but past couple have been a bit worrying, can you confirm on the all inclusive basis whether there is a fridge and kettle in the room, I am a bit of a t-pot and love a cup of tea before going to breakfast, so if we have can take tbags etc from home, thanks for your info above it does look amazing..

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  6. We'e going in 3 1/2 weeks with our 18 month old. Can't wait.
    Is it a long walk to shops/port etc?

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    1. You hit shops fairly quickly within a couple of minutes of leaving the hotel. But these are the sort of beach style shops you'd expect along a beachfront, i.e. selling beachwear, buckets and spades, Lilos, soarers, towels and the obligatory football kits. There are some with touristy bits like Flamenco dresses, and jewellery and the odd shoe shop, all with 10 minutes. For proper shops and the port you can't really walk, unless you have a good hour free. I'd jump on the bus, every 10 mins or so, from just along the main road. Out of the hotel entrance, turn right towards the main road (away from the sea), then go either left or right for a bus stop on your side of the main road. Get a bus to Alcudia town. It's only a short trip. You'll need to get off earlier for the port, and you can't see the port from the bus, so you'll need to ask when to get off. Have fun!

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    2. Thanks for the response, much appreciated. Another question, may sound silly, but not been abroad with LO before. Do they have highchairs readily available at meal times, or would you recommend taking a travel seat? He's a little monster if not strapped in at meal times :)

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    3. There are high chairs available! They are the wooden style. fine for us, but if he's a fidget, and your travel seat is light and small, I'd probably take it. If Little Miss George had been that age I think I'd have felt more comfortable with our booster seat- it was one with its own straps for the child, that strapped onto a normal chair, but that you could add to a wooden high chair too if you wanted, to give better strapping!!

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  7. Great post. We are off to this hotel next week with our 6 year old son,2 sets of friends with children. Seems after reading your blog this hotel is going to be perfect for us.I did have some concerns about location but after reading your blog no more concerns.Hope you have a great holiday there this year. Thanks so much for the helpful information you have provided. Lydia

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    1. No problem. I am glad you found it useful. I hope you have a good time.

      :-)

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  8. we have just booked all 3 of us under £700 for 10 days 18th oct school hols i hope the weathers ok lol

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    1. I hope you enjoyed it! (PS. Sorry for the crazy delay in replying. For some weird reason I've only just been notified of your comment! I'll get reviewing my site notifications straight away. Apologies!)

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  9. Hi, Sorry for the delay in replying. I'd recommend Alcudia for families. It's a lovely town with plenty to do, and the beaches are beautiful. I can't comment about bird watching I'm afraid; it's not something I know much about; but I'd definitely recommend a stay there. The hotel I reviewed above is just outside Alcudia, along the coast. It means you can't walk into the old town, but it's less touristy, and you can easily jump on the regular buses that go by outside! I hope that helps. Good luck and enjoy your holiday!

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