Hipotels Playa de Palma Palace

We had a standard double room with pool view. The view was excellent with a view of the pool and the ocean. We were a family of 3 with a teenage daughter who slept on the sofa bed, which was a little narrow and perhaps more suitable for a younger child. The food was excellent with an wide choice both for breakfast and dinner. The staff were all very friendly and helpful and particular attention was taken to the current Covid-19 situation, all staff wore masks and regularly used hand disinfectant, customers weren't required to wear masks but everyone did and there were masks in the room when we arrived. Thanks to Oscar, our dining experience was even better, always with a smiling face (despite the mask) and a warm greeting each time we visited his section. Beverage prices were very reasonable and the quality was excellent, both in the restaurant and hotels bars. The pool is very large and there were plenty of comfortable sun beds (unfortunately we still had the usual towel reservations of sun beds from early morning despite the fact that some weren't used until late afternoon)

My wife and I live in Denmark and booked a last minute break to celebrate our 1yr anniversary to this hotel once the lockdown eased. Hotel is amazing, it’s clean, modern and has brilliant facilities such as pool bar, lobby bar, roof bar, small gym, spa and spa treatments. Which I appreciate that COVID has changed the world the hotel has done amazing to set up so they can open there were a few things that I felt lacked given the 5 star status. It could be me just being picky and I am 100% sure that as the hotel continues to adjust these items will no doubt improve and my wife and I would come back and stay here. The staff appear to cater for German guests more as in they can all speak a good level of German but some, especially the service staff struggle with English, however my Spanish is non existent so I shouldn’t complain. Some nights, as we went half board, we had finished our dinner before being able to grab the attention of staff to get drinks for the table be that water or wine. The cocktails are also a little inconsistent e.g. the tequila for margarita or Long Island has an aniseed flavour. This could be because the spirit isn’t a premium brand or the mixologist mistakenly used ouzo or similar. Breakfast always offered a great selection including freshly cooked eggs - scrambled, poached, omelette or fried. Dinner again was superb, had a grill station for meet such a freshly cut steak, rabbit, lamb, chicken and they also had a fish station for whole fish, prawns, fillets etc. Evening entertainment was also quality on the roof bar, heaven, with live music and table service.

We stayed their in week 28, we had 2 rooms - a Junior Suite + a standard room. Hotel is nice, decor and maintance - looks almost brand new, so no complaints here. Service offers is on paper also, what expect in a 5 star hotel ( Rooftop bar, restaurant, pool ares with service, fitness, SPA etc). So from that point of view, its also what you would expect. I have stayed in many 5 starts hotels around the world, so I know the main reason you chose a 5 stars instead of a cheeper 4 stars hotel, is that you what to be serviced and taken care of in every way possible, and thats my big issue with this hotel - below are just a few of the things we experienced doing our 6 night stay 1) Breakfast was a nice "buffet" but do to Corona with foodstations (eggs, bread, fruit, juice etc). Everyday you have to stand in line and wait 5 - 10 minutes on every station, simple because their was not enough people - so you can forget about having a nice relaxed breakfast with your family, as somebody is always staring in line. On top of that we experience more than once, that they ran out of fresh orange juice....really in spain, land of the orange...just staying 2) Cleaning ladys did not speak a single word of english, and that lead to our worst experience . After breakfast we came back to our room to change for the pool. Door was closed, so we went in. We saw that the cleaning lady either did not finish og forgot some of her cleaning equipement. She knocked on our door, and spoke a lot of spanish - I said she could come in, but she did not want to do that. I manage to understand she would come back. Maybe 10 minutes later she came back, and this time she wanted us to leave the room, I said no - and again a lot of Spanish in an angry tone. I even told her "No Habla Spanish" several time, and I said in a clear tone - that she could not come in, as my wife was without any close. She made the decision to violate our privacy and just enter, as my wife hide her selv behind a door, I had to tell her - NO NO and finally ask her to get the F... out of their. I few minutes later a guy from the reception called, and I gave hime the same explanation - he said, it should never had happen`t and promise to get this to the mangement..... After an expense like that, I would expect to hear something, nut absolute silence 3) Pool service, or the lack of it. 1 - 2 guys sometime came, but most of the time - you need to get your own drinks from the Pool bar. And no snack food at the pool, so again you need to go to the pool bar, which buy the way has the worst chairs I have ever experience - And it closes at 4 PM 4) They had these BALI beed, witch you have to pay for - thats okay, like that most places. But if you do, you normally get some extra service, attention, extra towel etc - but absolutely nothing. We could not get an extra towel, even I said we needed it as a pillow, on day 3 or 4 they they came with the pillows, who was supposed to have been their from day one. No reservation sign on the bed, and as nobody was checking if you actually has bought the rights to be their, we had to discuss with other guest (which had not paid to be their) that those beds where ours We also had to ask to get the shade mounted, and it took them half a day 5) Lifeguard at the pool did not speak any english, and you where not allowed to play in the pool... 6) No aircon in the fitness room, no towels, and no water 7) Dinner in the hotel restaurant, no ala carte - just the wait in line food station buffet...No thanks, so we did not eat their once, as I hate buffet....If I wanted to stand in line, I would have chosen a 3-4 stars option with all inclusive 8) The day we checked out nobody asked us, if we enjoyed our stay, if they had asked - I would have told them al of this in person, in stead of putting it into a public review Our family had a nice 6 night stay in Mallorca, so non of this spoiled our vacation - but we did not get the 5 stars experience we paid for, and expected, based to the very good rating the hotel has (I wonder how). So based one that our recommendation would be not to chose this hotel, if your are used to stay in a 5 star hotel - you will be disappointed, as we did.