Insotel Club Cala Mandia

We had a mixed experience at Insotel Cala Mandia. The first night we arrived at reception around 1am, when we tried booking in we found out our booking was not on their hotel system. The two guys on the night shift were flapping and having a bit of a mare. For nearly an hour we liaised with them showing proof of our TUI booking and payments etc, still they were being difficult to get some sort of sense from them. Felt like we were going to end up on the street. After speaking to TUI online helps, someone rang the resort and they gave us a room for one night only and had to be back at reception at 9am to speak to management and TUI. My wife and son anxiety was through the roof. Not able to sleep knowing if this can be sorted. At 9am we went back to reception with our packed cases, we spoke to Rocio, who was wonderful and reassured us all is ok, her and the rep with square it up. Finally a little while later they confirmed they have our booking proof from TUI. So not a great start.. The resort was beautiful and lots of pools to choose from. We stayed in block D which was like a ghost hotel. Not many people over our side. The room was nice and the view to sea was amazing!! Air conditioning worked great. No complaints about our room. The pool at block D was nice and the food was ok there with good choices in the morning and for lunch. We did spent most of our time walking 5 minutes down the road to the main resort and using the main pool and restaurant there which was nice setting and a friendly atmosphere. Dinner meals at block A main resort were crazy busy, lots of options though but the food was barely warm and pretty mediocre, that was a big let down for me. The staff were taking your plate away as soon as ate your last mouthful, due to needing to turn over tables as it was very busy. There were a few amazing members of staff but also some right miserable ones mainly on the bar that didn’t want to greet you or have a conversation. I recommend the spa / massage place we brought a package and it was amazing! Also totally recommend Dragon Buggy down the road. Amazing excursion for 3 hours we fully enjoyed it! Be aware of the mozzies they are out in force, my poor legs got targeted a few times. There is a pharmacy across the road that has mozzy spray that will help protect you. We did love our time there, but like the beginning we had a not so great ending, we had a transfer pick up for 2:40am, we asked if we could be picked up from block D by the resort shuttle and when the time came no was there. The receptionist at block D was nowhere to be seen but left his computer and everything on and logged in!! We rang the bell a few times and rang main reception but to no answer. So we had to push all our cases uphill for 5 minutes to the main reception to check out and await our airport transfer. So a bit poor again from the resort staff. I have rated this place a generous 4 out of 5. The food massively let the place down, some of the staff were miserable. The resort, spa, and waterpark / pool facilities were all fantastic our son enjoyed it. And not to forget the lovely beach next to the resort. I do recommend here but there is some improvements needed. I think we will go back again.

This was a last minute getaway for us as a family of 4, with 2 teens. The hotel has some really Good facilities, but the management and maintenance of them isn’t great. We usually stay with the Riu chain of hotels, so it’s natural that we will compare against them, in a similar price range. Firstly, the good: Plenty of pools and a great location near the beach, with some great views. The shower was always hot and good pressure and the tennis courts and football pitches were a hit with my boys. The food was decent. Nothing amazing, but decent. Now for the areas of improvement: 1. Our garden family room was very dated and in need of upgrade. The cheap laminate flooring was past its best and I caught my toes in it several times over the week. The bath in the bathroom was stained and discoloured and the kitchen area was showing a lot of wear. The walls were very thin too- I heard everything from the rooms around us 2. Maintenance is a general issue around the grounds. The fence in front of our garden room was falling to bits, there were damaged light fittings in the outdoor areas and the whole hotel just felt a bit dilapidated and in need of a refurb. The rope swing was out of action and missing parts. There were two nights where the outdoor lighting to our block wasn’t on and we had to negotiate some tricky terrain in the dark. 3. Flies. Flies everywhere, especially in the snack bars with uncovered food and dishes piled up waiting to be cleared to the kitchen. There’s a need to provide covers or enclosures for the food in the open snack bars. 4. Bar staff. I don’t think I saw a member of bar staff smile all week. I even spoke in Spanish! But no smiles from anybody! The Animation Team were very friendly though, which was appreciated. 5. The queues for meals. This is the first hotel I’ve ever had to queue for a restaurant. There were several days during our stay that we queued for up to 20mins. In the rain too! It’s frustrating, as this hotel has so much potential to be brilliant, but it’s falling short on the details. If I could give it 3.5 stars I would.

Second last night of holiday and thought I would post a review of how things have went for a family with an older child. Rooms - booked a family room in Block A. Beds were comfy after we had asked for a topper and some extra pillows. Reception will always help with this if you ask. Cleaners are amazing and work in every area all day. Food - Good choices for each sitting. Lots of varied themes. Fresh meats cooked to order. One coffee machine better than the other but it’s easily sussed out. Bar - Ask for the branded drinks and Prosecco. It’s no problem at all for the bar man. Pink Prosecco at dinner each night - lovely touch. Entertainment staff - while not for us and older son at night, they all work incredibly hard to make sure everyone is having fun. Both husband and son loved the pool activities each day. Guest Relations - David is an absolute superstar. Nothing is too much hassle and great knowledge of the area and the best things a family can do. Pools/Beach - Pools are cold but fine once you are in. Flumes are a great addition - even for the big kids. Beach is beautiful and gorgeous water. Would definitely return.

We had a lovely time at the Cala Mandia resort and having stayed at lots of all inclusive resorts would definitely recommend it! Customer service was excellent. We had a minor issue and David the customer relations manager was so helpful, he fixed everything and could not do enough to make sure our stay was perfect - thank you 🙏 The resort is very child friendly and inclusive for our autistic child (6 years old). There is loads to do. Beach is a short walk down directly from the hotel swimming pool. It’s not too busy. It’s in a cove which was perfect as our little one could not elope. Water is crystal clear and warm, lovely sand. There are loads of pools, not heated but perfect for us on a sunny day. Splash park is great for small kids while not being overwhelming. Only one exit which made it so much easier for us. Outside playground also secure with fences and gate, high quality with loads of space and apparatus for different ages. Hotel rooms are spacious and there is a child lock on the hotel door which was a game changer for us so little one could not escape. Large double bed room and separate living room apartment style gave everyone a relaxing space. Little ones favourite place was the inside “Insi Playroom”. It was secure with movable soft play bits, rockers, bean bags, sensory boards and lovely indoor climbing frame. We went in 3 times a day after every meal to decompress. The games arcade was also enjoyed as it was not too loud or over stimulating like many other places. Food was fantastic. We are all picky eaters including little one with wide range of differing tastes. We all found something lovely every meal and there was so much variety never felt samey like some AIs. Tips for quiet mealtimes - late lunch is at 2.30pm and it is super quiet with a reduced range of food but still has the main things including chips, nuggets, pizza, soup, salads, veg. Come early 6.15pm for dinner and families are let in earlier to beat the queues. Breakfast was quiet each day. Inside seating is also quieter and no queue. Loads to do every day we were spoilt for choice and didn’t want to leave after our 11 night stay. Strongly recommend and will likely be back next year!

I don’t know what hotel some people have stayed at but it’s not this one! Those who moan about the food must be the fussiest eaters in the world. We have stayed at hotels all over the world and enjoyed our stay here. We stayed for 10 nights late September into October. We stayed in an area A family room, loads of room for us. No issues with the room, had everything you would need. I wouldn’t want to be in area D, we walked there one day and I wouldn’t want to do that all the time. Food-really nice, loads of variety, we didn’t get bored of it. The kebabs were great. We went to the Italian which was good, massive pizzas. Never waited more than a few mins for a table and we were a party of 7. They could have cleared tables quicker at times. We paid to go to the burger place, again really nice Drinks were good, all branded stuff, cups could have been bigger. could have done with a bigger range of cocktails and maybe not all crushed ice ones from the machine. It got busy in area A most nights but after the mini disco it emptied out. There was another bar behind the main Buffet which no one really used so we went there for chilled out drinks. Entertainment- was average, kids mini disco was pretty poor, shows after were decent. The sports bar was a let down, some days the bar in there wasn’t open so you had to go to the main bar to get a drink. We wanted to watch the England games but they didn’t have them on. Entertainment in the day was good, lots of games going on. Good that you could just get your own soft drinks though. Pool- all fine, just about warm enough to go in, the water park was good for a few hours fun each day. We got the land train and bus into Porto cristo, a nice place, we had 2 good meals here. The hotel is a little dated in places, but we really enjoyed our time here. It’s not a 5 star hotel but you don’t pay 5 star prices so you get what you pay for. We were worried before we went after reading reviews on here and Facebook, Ignore the bad reviews!