Just back from a week at the hotel staying as family of 3 with a 3.5 yr old.
The pros
- Beautifully maintained property
- Great size room, nicely appointed as well noted (we were in a garden room); superb, silent air conditioning with no cold spots
- Breakfast is great with every conceivable option
- Country club is great and perhaps the best option for those with kids as it is quieter, has proper cabanas, sauna etc; the food was also surprisingly good value at the cafe here
- Valet service always very prompt
The cons (bearing in mind the price point)
- As a non-beach property on an island with 00s of beaches you really need to be on point with all facilities...unfortunately, the PH isn't quite...they have made a mess of the pool in that (1) it has a concrete lining rather than blue tiles in 99% of the world's pools (much better aesthetically and functionally IMO), (2) it is very shallow (a water regulation issue?), (3) you can't see anything while in the pool - surely with a blank canvas and on a hillside pitch they could have made it with a view over the rolling hills? Instead, you are surrounded by deckchairs/foliage (4) could it have been made using sea water instead? With so much beige/brown around in the buildings, the concrete pool just fades into the property. A major missed opportunity...
- Storage poorly thought-out for rooms of this size...only 4 small drawers to put away folded clothes
- We only had two 'special' requests during our stay: (1) queried whether they had any OTC medication for an upset stomach...they didn't, perhaps this is standard practice these days but they did not know of a pharmacy nearby and had to start a google search, (2) I asked if some sand in the boot of our hire car could be brushed out on day of departure, they said 'no problem' but when we went to collect the car they said housekeeping was 'too busy' (in mitigation, we only gave 45 minutes notice on this)
- Restaurants. We used the Tapas restaurant several times and the Balearic once. The Tapas is fine but is a little over-complicated in approach. It is reasonably well-priced but after two visits, I think most will have had enough. Balearic was a major let down: we had a paella Lobster/Prawn dish for 2 which was long on shell, short on fish...(guessing around 100 grams of fish between us for a 50EUR dish)...we complained but were told in simple terms that we were wrong. What they really need here is a restaurant that serves very high quality meat and local seafood dishes...cooked/grilled simply...way too much focus on fine dining and we ended up feeling our best meals were in Palma (Can Bordoy House and Gardens + 1 other)
- Guests v Kids. This thread has a lot on the subject...there were very few kids around while we were there and all were well-behaved (save kids will always make more noise when around water)...there were a couple of dirty looks thrown our direction at the main pool when I was teaching my son to swim (very few seem to choose the adults pool area where they would be insulated from this)...so we preferred the country club after Day 2
- Atmosphere. Maybe the property needs time to bed down but there is a general lack of atmosphere here from the bar with no music, breakfast area with outdoor piped music which you can't make out/sounds a bit like supermarket music but on poor quality outdoor speakers. They did have music one night which improved things but they need to work on that aspect
A note on beaches: don't bother with the Canyamel beach nearest the hotel; Cala Mesquida is 15 mins away and is very good but parking can be a challenge; we also went to Sa Colobra beach...2 hours away through amazing, twisty mountain roads...best make a day of this as you won't want to rush the drive for passenger comfort/take in the scenery.
We tried Restaurant 44 per above suggestions but on day we were there the kitchen was partly closed (due to the heat) and they were only doing salads so we ate elsewhere. Lastly, we had dinner at Porxada de Sa Torre which is a couple of miles away...beautiful setting and nice local food.
So, would we go again? I booked using cash and points giving an effective rate of around £250 per night or so...at this price, it is well worth it and I would happily return. But at asking booking engine prices I would not.