Boccaccio Hotel

Nice and clean hotel but it’s advertised as 4 star so...why do you have to pay for the Safe Fast WiFi The 4 poster sun bathing beds To wash the beach towels To buy a plastic glass to drink out of. (You get the euro back, but if you lose your glass you pay again) The worst white wine that you will ever drink, (the red was ok but I’m an ex sailor and I’ve drank some bad stuff in my time, so I will leave judgement up to you) and no wine glasses? You drink the wine out of the glasses used to drink juice. I know, best read that again. Had to laugh when the compare running the bingo stated every night that the prize was a drinks voucher to get a NICE DRINK from the nice bar in the hotel. This isn’t all inclusive, so the drinks didn’t suck. Although a small pool you could get a sun bed before 10 by the pool, after 10 you either had to head for the beach or use the veranda. The pool had a seat for lowering in people with disabilities which I thought was good. Something which I have never seen before. If you do go to the beach there are Chinese women who offer massages for 10 Euro. Really good. If you miss breakfast, there are always snacks in the pool bar. In general I thought the food was really good and there was never any issues in getting a table or queuing for food. Alcudia old town is worth a visit. A market is run twice a week. The harbour is also worth a visit. Approximately 20 min walk, then another 20 min walk to the old town.

I stayed here with my boyfriend for a week from 3-10 August 2019 to celebrate turning 35. We booked very late through TUI and paid about £750 each for an all inclusive break. This was approximately £100-£200 more than I have paid for two similar all inclusive breaks, so my review is in comparison to those. Arrival We arrived at about 4am on a Saturday morning and were greeted by a very friendly guy on reception. He could tell we were extremely tired, so didn't hold us up for long or overwhelm us with information, other than to let us know which bars were all inclusive. We were allocated room 128. Room Room 128 was just at the top of the stairs from reception, making it very easy to get to and from all the facilities. However, it could get quite noisy, as you are right by the lifts and main staircase. The view from the room was disappointing, as it overlooked a road and restaurant, both of which could be very noisy. However, we get that not all rooms can have a beautiful view and as mentioned, we did book very late. The room itself was very small but adequate. It was a twin room with the beds pushed together. This created pretty much a queen size bed, which also had incredibly comfortable mattresses and pillows with a couple of sheets for cover. There is a small wardrobe, which wasn't long enough to hang a maxi dress, two drawers and some shelves. Within this was the safe, which I was disappointed to find wasn't free. In a 4* hotel, this should be a given. A great feature was the little fridge, which had some complementary water and a bottle of bubbly (which was delicious). The TV worked perfectly and had some English channels (mainly ITV). The bathroom had a great shower with perfect pressure and temperature. They also provided some complimentary items like a shower cap, vanity kit and comb. Handwash and shower gel were in fixed bottles on the wall near the sink and shower respectively. Towards the end of our stay, we had to take the shower gel off the wall and put it in the middle of the shower for refilling, as they hadn't noticed it was almost empty on two occasions. A hairdryer is also provided, along with clean towels, shower mat and toilet rolls, as and when the room was cleaned. There is a chair in the room (which we put on the balcony, as it was just getting in the way), along with a pouffe (which we never used) and a suitcase stand. There is also a full length mirror in the room, which was handy. The air con was fantastic and an absolute saviour after a long day in the sun! Our room had a balcony with two chairs and a small table. There was also an ashtray if you're a smoker. The balcony door does reduce the outside noise a bit but not massively and part of the latch on ours was broken, so it didn't feel overly secure. There are lamps either side of the bed and also little reading lights. Switches for these, and the main room light, could all be controlled from the bed. You are given a room tag to hand on the outside of the door to say if you'd like your room cleaned or not. We opted to have it cleaned every other day to help with reducing our carbon footprint. The hotel is very keen on reducing waste, something which we both appreciated. The cleaners will knock on your door to see if you're there before entering. Food & Drink As a vegetarian, I accept that an all inclusive can be quite limiting. All food is self-serve. There are indoor and outdoor seating areas but indoors can get very warm. We never had any problem getting a table and didn't really have to wait at all for food. Breakfast - 8.00-10.00 I had a variety of beans on toast with hasbrowns and cheese, cereal, fruit, pastries, pancakes and churros (with chocolate sauce)! There is also full English, a variety of egg choices and continental options. I was delighted that they had sachets of decaf coffee, along with a variety of other hot drinks. The juice machine offers apple, pineapple and orange. It's a bit hit and miss, as some days it was so watered down it was horrible. They offer a gluten free section and also have a variety of milks for those who are lactose intolerant or vegan. Brown sauce is available in bottles and there was a bowl of something ketchup looking, but I never tried it! Lunch 1.00-2.30 They always seemed to have a paella, a meat or fish stew with rice, chips and some sort of other English food like chicken nuggets, hot veg, pasta, pizza and a great salad bar. There is a variety of puddings from fruit, little pots of things like mousse, cakes and ice-cream. Fizzy drinks, wine and beer are available here as self-serve. Dinner - 6.30-9.00 They have theme nights each night, which included Mallorcan, Texan, Asian etc along with pretty much the same stuff they have during lunch time. The added (wonderful) edition was the chocolate fountain with a variety of squidgy doughnuts! The cheese fountain for the nachos was a bit lackluster. Most evenings they had a vegetarian special. One night was spinach and ricotta cannelloni which was delicious. The following two nights was veg lasagna, basically spinach and ricotta cannelloni again but in lasagna format! The 'vegetable stew' was just boiled veg and one night it was roasted tomatoes with a bit of cheese on. Not the most inventive but I appreciate the effort. They offer some tapas style dishes which I only tried once. I have the feeling these are made up of leftovers, which is fine, as I'd rather the food be used. However, I picked up a 'potato salad in mayonnaise with crispy onions' (as it was labelled) one night which turned out to be full of tuna. Luckily I'd got my boyfriend to try it first. My suggestions for the food would be: Better labelling More inventive vegetarian options (e.g paella) Bars Make sure you collect a green token from reception before heading to the bar, as you need this to get a cup. We were not told this on arrival. They use good quality plastic cups to reduce on waste. We just kept hold of our cups each day, getting them changed at the bar, rather than collecting a token each time. The cocktail bar at the front of the hotel is not in the all inclusive deal but I hear you can get vouchers from reception to get discount. Pool Bar 10.30 - 23.30 I drank G&T and cocktails most of the week. The pina colada was delicious. Love on the beach, not so much. There is a notice on the bar telling you everything that is included in the all inclusive, so it's worth checking this first. This is the first all inclusive I've been to where you can't just pour your own beer and soft drinks from the bar. They also limit you to two drinks per time per person. This bar has a couple of chill out areas with a pool table and music playing. They also had some snacks for you to help yourself to but we never needed them. Hot drinks are also available from here. Chill out-bar - 18.00-23.00 Pretty much the same as above but minus the snacks! Also at this bar, you can help yourself to beer, wine and soft drinks, including hot drinks. Pool & Sunbathing There is a main pool and children's pool, both of which I thought were very small. We never sat around the pool, opting instead to use the sun deck, which was much quieter. We had no issues all week in getting beds and umbrellas. The only downside is that the floor can be boiling and you have to go up and down stairs, via the busy pool area, to go and get a drink. On one particularly windy day, a couple of the umbrellas came out of the stand, falling to the outside dining area below. Luckily, no-one was hurt. There is no music up here, which would have been nice. Despite the hotel saying it is strictly forbidden to reserve a sunbed, there were loads of towels out early each morning. Inflatables are not allowed in the pools. Entertainment The animacion team are small but great! They exude energy and work really hard. There are a few activites throughout the day but we never got involved. At night, they always have a kids hour followed by bingo (we didn't play) and then from 21.30-22.30, they have some form of entertainment. On the Wednesday, it was some silly quiz which was fun to watch, Thursday was Flamenco and Friday was some dancers who did a variety of dances from different countries. They were great. Beach area & bar The hotel has it's own area of the beach which consists of some sunbeds, bar and food. If you come out of the hotel and turn right, the beach is just a few minutes walk away. Once you get to the beach, turn right and over the small bridge and you'll see the bar on the right. There are a very limited number of courtesy sunbeds here and quite a few of them were damaged and need replacing. Make sure you take your cups or green tokens with you! The beach bar is open from 10.30-17.30 with lunch served between 13.00-14.30. Lunch was burgers, chips, spag bol and salad along with some fruit and cake. Again, very limiting for vegetarians but I had a couple of salad wraps and chips, which was plenty. As the food area is very small, be expected to queue for a little while. The sea itself is glorious and you can walk all the way along the beach to Port D'Alcudia, which is a much more touristy area. We went down to the beach early one morning to watch the sun rise. Check-out Check out is a midday. We were offered to pay 40 euros to keep our room for the rest of the day, as no one was due to check in. We decided not to, instead keeping our cases in a lockable cupboard, of which the key can be obtained from reception. Later that day, we were able to use one of the older rooms to have a shower and change before our transfer back to the airport at 23.00. I found the staff friendly and helpful and they also speak a variety of languages. I loved all the different chill out areas and the WiFi worked well throughout the week. On my birthday, the staff delivered another complimentary bottle of bubbles, which was a lovely touch. There were very few children, which was great for a childless couple in their thirties! There is a rep station but we never used it. They also have a massage service for 60 euros for one hour. Again, we didn't use it but there is a place around the corner that offers the same for much cheaper. The surrounding area has quite a few shops, many of them selling the usual tourist tat, and a number of restaurants. There is a little land train that takes you on a circular route around the area, at a cost of 3 euros per person. There is a stop right outside the hotel. It's not hop on and off, so you'd have to pay the fee for each ride. Also be aware that this doesn't take you directly to the port or old town, but will get you close, much faster than walking. Overall, I did enjoy the hotel but didn't think it was worth the price. However, I'd certainly come back to Alcudia again.