Alua Illa de Menorca

Location Good location from the airport. Transfer took approx 30mins. Sea front was a 10min walk (N.B. It is not a tourist beach area however you can take a shuttle to another beach - ask reception for further details). There is a small supermarket and restaurant approx 5min walk away. Generally the area is very quiet. Cleanliness Overall, cleanliness was good. Room cleaned daily and new towels given when placed on the floor. Only hand wash, shampoo and shower gel were included in the room so be prepared to bring all other toiletries. Due to the bins in the toilets around the hotel having a rotating lid, and not just an open bin for example, the hand towels ended up on the floor throughout the day. Bigger and different style bins would easily fix this issue. The tables next to the sunbeds were clearly not cleaned everyday as there were sticky stains on most of them at the start of each day from the days before. H&S The decking slats outside around the pool were broken in many places. Many boards needed screwing down or replacing. Due to the high winds, many parasols blew over several times throughout the week. Upon investigation, the screws to keep the poles in place on the umbrellas were not tight and the bases were not heavy enough and wide enough to keep them secure. The lifeguard spent longer picking up the umbrellas than watching the pool. If an umbrella fell on a small child or on someone's face there would have been a high risk of injury. On the last day, they had laid all umbrellas down, which was good, but also made the area into a slight obstacle course. Food & Drink The food was average. Options were limited and quality of food was low from using low/cheap quality ingredients. The paella, stews and breakfast options were nice however. The puddings were incredibly repetitive and some were very watery and very sweet. It was clear the lemon flavoured desserts were flavoured with very artificial lemon flavouring which was not enjoyable. There was a lack of clear and accurate labels on all food with no allergen information. For example, labelling a variety of different cakes as 'cupcake assortment' or 'meat paella' rather than specifying the exact main ingredients. This could be potentially fatal for someone with a severe food allergy. The drinks were abysmal. Considering we had paid for AI, we were expecting a wide variety of freshly made drinks such as a mojito with the actual ingredients, however we received a mojito flavoured, incredibly sweet syrup premix. This was the case for all cocktails and juices. When we asked about this, we were told if we paid we would get a 'real drink'. When we asked for an iced coffee at the pool bar every morning, we were simply told 'no' and they gestured to the instant coffee machine. We had to wait until the afternoon for a new member of staff who happily made us one. We also want to thank Andrea at Jumper Bar for making us one on our last few days with a smile! Unfortunately our main drink for the duration of the holdiay was water as this was the safest option! Staff The best part about this hotel is the animation team. They try really hard to get as many people involved in the activities as they possibly can, which can be challenging at times when people don't want to interact. We enjoyed all the activities we took part in including darts, shooting, aqua fit and karaoke etc. Richi's aquafit was great, we enjoyed the latino vibes! Ray was a lovely animation manager, Zac was fun, chatty and friendly (who could both speak perfectly in English as well as many other languages) and Bruno, Tom, Noah & the team were all lovely and made our holiday. There is clearly a difference in training for some reception and bar staff as we received different information about the same thing several times which was very frustrating. No continuity in information. Entertainment There was a range of activities throughout the day led by the lovely animation team. The evening entertainment varied from a low quality ABBA duo, to a talented Latino artist and an energetic performance from Ella Bella. Karaoke was fun and many people participated. Ray clearly knew his audience and catered to the mainly British and older audience. Extras Towels - We have never been to a hotel where you have had to pay €10 deposit for a beach towel for the duration of a stay, let alone be charged €1 every time we wanted a clean towel. This is ridiculous in our opinion. Gym - Basic gym with the essentials, would be great if there were more than 2 treadmills as 1 was out of order. No cleaning products to clean the equipment, a basic necessity for a gym and a few more yoga mats would be useful. Pools - Main pool was lovely, a gradual decline so there was a range in depths which was great. There is a smaller/child friendly pool which was another alternative if you wanted to sit down in the water. There was enough sunbeds also so no need to reserve. Jumper Bar - The best area of the hotel facilities in our opinion was the sports area across the way from the main hotel. You can collect ping pong bats and balls/golf clubs and golf balls from Jumper Bar to use when you like. There are Padel courts, tennis courts and a boules green also which you can ask the staff about for further details. The atmosphere of Jumper Bar was chilled, modern and relaxing. We would highly recommend spending time there. Overall would not return but Animation Team made the holiday for us.

Food very poor. Some reception staff rude. Good location and clean rooms. Would not go back. Not accommodating for English customers

Had a great week here. Check in was fine. Room was fantastic, overlooking the sea on the 4th floor. Restaurant area was clean and tidy. Loads of space . Food was fine. Pool area was lovely. Always able to find a sun bed. Snack bar was nice and pool bar was good. Drinks were good. Never had to queue. Quiet resort with just a couple of bars and a restaurant on the front. Ha

Myself & my wife, together with or eldest son and daughter in law, spent a briĺliant week (13th to 20th June) at this Hotel. We were welcomed by the very pleasant and polite Reception team and allocated rooms on floor 5 at the back of the hotel. Our balcony had a lovely view of the whole sporting complex to the left, the car park and wooded area in front and the sea to our right. It got sun early morning till about 10:30 am, and 4:30 - sunset. The room itself (501) was a good size with ample storage for clothes etc. It contained a fridge, air conditioning, tv, free safe and tea and coffee making facilities. The bathroom was of ample size and had a bath with shower over, a hair dryer and shaver point. Good quality towels were also supplied and changed on request. The restaurant was spotlessly clean, with a pleasant decor, and provided a very good selection of good quality HOT and cold food at every mealtime and tables waitered very efficiently by pleasant staff. Outside is a good sized stage and seating area withe good entertainment every evening. The main swimming pool is a very good size with an adjoining bar and snack area. Over the road is the sporting complex which provides football, archery, flat and crown green bowling, putting, petang and shooting. There is also a pleasant clubhouse providing drinks a snacks afternoon and evening. I have a recurring blood pressure problem (syncope) which can cause me to collapse and this actually happened late one evening. Everyone was very helpful including my Family and in particular Mandy, a member of the Reception staff who is a long standing ex pat. and Eduardo who is an assistant Manager. . Overall this was an exceptional ally good holiday, at a very good price at brilliant Hotel.

We stayed here for week it is great hotel and the staff are amazing rooms are cleaned everyday nothing is to much trouble from the reception team through to the waiting staff . The animation team are great especially Richi who was so friendly and accommodating and the lady were fantastic . The only issue we had was with other animation person called Bruno he thought he could do what he wanted and was rude when he was asked to turn the music down as to loud round pool he even told us go move somewhere else no apology what so ever very rude , happy to have music on but it not Ibiza , he even asked when do we leave . Other than that food excellent , hot tasty good choice . Location is great . Definitely will come back