Zafiro Palace Alcudia

Last year we stayed at Zafiro Palace Palmanova and loved the hotel but not the location. This time we stayed at Alcudia and loved the location but not so much the hotel. Pool water, especially the kids pool was freezing cold, lots of kids shivering. The other pools were also freezing. We paid extra for a swim up room so we could relax while our toddler napped but unfortunately on one of the days they decided to hold a noisy spin class with bikes in the water right outside our room in the swim up pool which was not very relaxing! Food was really average, even the food at the al a carte restaurants. Most was overcooked and not hot enough. Service at the bars was sometimes slow. Kids entertainment started pretty late and there was a kids quiz to start using phones which rules out younger kids joining in. The kids entertainment was the same every night and could be better. I would possibly stay again but not all inclusive.

This was my second stay here this year (June & early September) so plenty of experience of this beautiful hotel set in lush, immaculately kept, gardens. Location is great, just a 5 min stroll into Alcudia's beach, restaurants, shops, busses, taxis etc. Definitely enough good quality eateries locally not to have to opt for All Inclusive. Loved the Old Town, a longer 20 min walk on pavements along a main road, with many more restaurants & some really nice independent shops. Very busy on Market days - Sun & Tues mornings - but well worth a visit & a return on a quieter day too. Firstly I'd advise that if you're not travelling with children then I'd look for a quieter adults only Alcudia hotel. There's a stunning one on the beach alongside the marina & the lunches we enjoyed there were excellent. This hotel is largely full of families so very noisy at pools & in buffet restaurant. In June there were lots of older children with many of the pools catering to them with slides, chutes, a climbing dome etc & daily noisy entertainment repeated in evenings until 10:30pm. In Sept mainly families with pre-school children, toddlers & babies. There is a raised decked area with a smaller adults only pool with generously sized daybeds some of which are shaded. Rooms are lovely, well serviced & well appointed, huge comfortable beds, plenty of wardrobe space with good quality wooden hangers. Plenty of hot water & well functioning air con & hairdryer. Nicely scented liquid body wash, shampoo & conditioner also provided. Lots of fresh towels daily. Chilled drinking water available free alongside lifts on each floor from which the glass container in your room can be refilled. The choice & standards of salads, fruits, juices, desserts & alcoholic drinks was good but hot food, less so. Main negatives for me were that: - food, even when ordered from menus, was very often lukewarm & the quality not always great. Meat & fish for example often very dry. - coffee offered in flasks at breakfast is awful. Coffee from machines at either side of buffet restaurant is better but invariably 2 of the 4 machines always needed restocking so unusable as out of coffee beans or milk. Rooms are equipped with good quality coffee pod machines & there's a small coffee shop off reception which I didn't use. - no pool dedicated to babies or toddlers. Our newly walking toddler could only play at the very corners of the kids splash pool as the edges slope quite steeply into deeper water making balance difficult. Pool footwear a must as concrete surrounds very wet & slippery. Instead we took him to the calm, shallow, beach where there are sunbeds, parasols with a small safe box (1 Euro); toilets & showers both free. We were never approached for payment. Were approached quite often with offers of massages! - the lift in our 3 storey accommodation block (1) was out of service twice in my last week long visit.

This was our first family trip abroad and I have to say we could not have picked a better hotel. It’s very much geared up for families - so if you want a quiet couples hotel I would say this isn’t the place for you. We hired a car and drove ourselves to the hotel - there is plenty of parking and it was easy to find. The hotel resort itself was busy but didnt feel cramped or overly busy. The room was spotless as was the rest of the hotel. The grounds were nicely maintained and as an early riser I would often see the cleaners at work in the restaurants, pool etc. The staff were all warm and friendly - the animation team in particular were brilliant. My 9 year old love them! Food - overall the food was really good. We did get a bit bored of the buffet sa went to the a la carte restaurants and as we had the car we took ourselves off to other places - Pollenca, Puerto Pollnca, Alcudia, Porto Cristo, Palma.. I really struggle to find any negatives - the only downside for me was we had smokers either side of our room and as a non smoker that wasn’t great. But i didn’t make the hotel aware of any preference up front and I wrongly assumed it would be non smoking so that’s on me. We will definitely be back in the future.

First class friendly service throughout hotel,we were B&B and found buffet breakfast topnotch, hotel is perfect for family holiday of all ages, rooms spotless and cleaned daily

Review We had a really amazing time overall and had a lovely holiday! A few things could definitely be improved though. Cleanliness- * Unfortunately, not quite up to the standard we expected. * Stones/bits in the pool, dirty loungers and floors never cleaned around the pool. * Outdoor paths didn’t seem to be cleaned/hosed regularly either. * hit and miss with the cleaning of the rooms, we found toe nails and talc on the floors in different areas in our room on arrival. Pools- * The bouncing pillow rules were very confusing. The printed rules say under-8s can use it with an adult, but adults were actually not allowed on it at all. So if you’re 16, 6ft 2 and throwing and knocking people off , then you can go on it. But if you’re a 5ft adult helping your young child up, then you will get whistled at and ‘told off’. *it would also be nice to have some music around the pool in the daytime, nothing too loud just something to give it a bit of atmosphere. Food & Drinks- * Standard all-inclusive food with plenty of choice. * No English bacon or sausages — for anyone wondering! * Drinks weren’t branded as advertised and cocktails weren’t the best. Local Area- * Alcudia beach is beautiful, especially further along the coast. * Lots of people selling things on the beach, which got annoying. * We preferred the Old Town as the atmosphere and shops seemed nicer. The local shops are very corner supermarket type stores, not nice little shops. Entertainment- * The animation team were AMAZING! * Honestly some of the best we’ve experienced. * The family Kahoot was brilliant and the evening shows were enjoyable (mainly for kids). Overall * Despite the negatives, we had a fantastic holiday and really enjoyed our stay. * A few things need improving, but the hotel, location and especially the animation team made it a great holiday.