Zafiro Menorca

Myself and 3 other ladies came for a group long weekend away and had the most enjoyable time possible. The lunchtime snack bar cooked fresh delicious meals and the poolside bar served the most amazing cocktails in glasses not plastic cups (when sat in cafe area). We lounged at the poolside and each day had fun taking part in the daytime entertainment. The pool was spotless and we spent the day sunbathing using the hotel beach towels. The room was exactly as pictured in the brochure, very clean and modern. The restaurant served delicious breakfasts with freshly made omelettes which are a must, with an endless choice of food and drinks. The evening meal was always superb with so much choice and freshly cooked meats sliced for you. There was so much to choose from that I’m sure even the fussiest Of eater would find something. The evening entertainment was varied and suitable for families, always good fun. The cocktails in the bar were also to high standard which you could expect to pay £8-£10 each in the U.K. The staff were all very attentive and friendly. There were two swimming pool play areas for children, a park, bouncy castle and day and evening entertainment which all the children there appeared to be enjoying.

After reading other reviews I am surprised how they found the hotel etc so good. We arrived on 13th October for 1 week with my mother & 5 year old daughter. There were a few good points but sadly these outweighed the bad. Unfortunately the surrounding area was closed from the end of September and there were only 4 restaurants open at the Marina when we arrived on the Saturday and they were all closed by the Tuesday. The room was clean although it wasn’t cleaned 2 days during our stay which we were unaware. The food was awful and the hotel had no butter, no apple juice, lukewarm food and they had no tea either. The drinks were included with dinner and the option of soft drinks were Fanta lemon or water. The hotel was due to close the day after our departure and it was very apparent that they didn’t replace stock. The desserts each night were the same and sadly no choice. The bouncy castle was good for my daughter however when it rained it wasn’t dried and my concern over the damage in the playarea wasn’t fixed. I have attached pictures. The entertainment if you call it that went on until 10.30pm each night and although our room was in block 4 a good distance away we could hear the singing word for word even with the doors/windows closed. Sadly the holiday was awful and Jet2 were do good that we were able to change our flights and come home early. We will certainly never be back.

Let’s get the negatives out the way. Prior to our visit with friends and our children we requested well in advance (4 months notice) that we would like 2 rooms next door to each other. Once we checked in we found out we were both located in block 3 but not neighbouring rooms. We voiced our disappointment with the member of staff, who showed very little empathy or wished to discuss any resolutions to the matter. We requested too see the manager of the hotel as the level of service was poor. Manuel the manager was very understanding to the matter and understood. He showed us 2 swim up rooms and initially advised that the cost will be €400 per room!! We negotiated a rate of €200 per room for the remainder of our stay (12 nights). We spent the other 2nights in block 3. This is the other negative points. The rooms, they are small, the kitchen especially is ridiculously small. We are not large people and even we struggled to move around. The main bedroom images are deceiving too, little room to walk around the beds. And for some reason there is a massive wardrobe as you walk in the room. There was no need for this as the wardrobe in the bedroom is sufficient. The shower room however is great. And if you are located in block 3 please be aware if you like sleep be prepared to be awoken in the night by a refuse collection lorry reversing down the road and the emptying bottles which happened on the 2 nights we weee situated here. In Block 1 you don’t have this problem. However you do hear people moving around and scrapping of furniture on the floors if located downstairs. The area outside the hotel is very rundown close two the 2 supermarkets and looks very deprived. However going the other way to the marina is very nice. The positives. The entertainment team. Andreas, Christian and Simon are quite simply ledgends. Our boys loved the programme the entertainment team ran in the daytime and the evenings mini disco & acts were great for the kids and adults. These guys were quite simply brilliant. I just hope Zafiro appreciate them as much as we did. The swimming pools are great too, a little cold probably because of time of year we travelled however a welcome relief when very warm. Sorry another negative, a number of the male lifeguards do like to sit and look at their mobile phones when they are meant to be looking out. One even sat on top of the pirate ship, probably to get better reception. Whilst in low season and not many guests I can understand maybe being a bit bored, but if this was hieight of summer I would of been livid. In a nutshell this hotel is not a 4 star. A 3 at best, if self catering be prepared to pay over the odds for food & drink. Zafiro seem to only care about all inclusive clients & not self catering. We did have a great time but will not be going back.