"We stayed 7nights all inclusive 2adults 2children 20th-27th May via Tui in Room 1010. We had previously stayed at Zafiro Menorca last year and could not fault any aspect of the stay, hence us re-booking with this reputable hotel chain this year.
On arrival, after approx 1.5 hours on a coach, check-in was very easy and welcoming. Benet gave us our wristband which is also you room access key, and this is scanned to enter the restaurant or at the bar so they know what board basis you are. You are told to use the app; to which I admit is very user friendly and gives you so much information over the standard leaflets you’d usually receive at other hotel chains.
There are 5 blocks all situated from the left exit of reception in sequential order. We were in block 1 (1010 - ground floor facing the tonga hotel/park). Upon arrival, we were left champagne in a bucket of ice as it was also our Honeymoon, having recently married in April. The rooms as we knew had been refurbished and the decor was beautiful. Tiled floor, excellent cool aircon, a cold fridge, a powerful multi shower (overhead or hose option), his/her sinks with matching mirrors, huge comfortable bed, 2 wardrobes, 2 x tv’s, spacious lounge, balcony/terrace with access to both lounge and bedroom, microwave and kettle facilities. The sofa turns into a double bed for the kids. There is also a safe which is €2.50 per day. Very easy to use and clear instructions. You will absolutely love the rooms. The hotel is immaculate.
There is beautiful outdoor space and lush gardens surround the pool areas. To the left of the hotel is a pool area with 4-post beds (looks for both adults and families as we seen mixed at this pool but we didn’t use it). There is another pool of similar size as you walk further down. To the right is the bubble pool (1-1.2m deep) with a bridge leading to the other half of the pool/wet bar with waterfall. There is a very small baby pool in the corner. Then you can go up a small hill to the upper of the waterfall section which is a 1.5m pool. My daughter (7) liked this as she could swim under quite a lot. There is also a pool which is partially for some rooms and also for all guests. My daughter loved this too as it was close to the pool bar, pirate ship and bigger/deeper pool. The centre far end near the large water slide is the pirate ship with multiple slides for all ages at just 0.4m deep. This was lovely for walking in when hot. You can use hotel pool towels and these are available mon/wed/fri from the lifeguards. We used our own. Next to the pirate ship is the park and games area (bouncy castle and 1 trampoline). You then walk up past the stage, restaurants, main evening bar back towards the reception. There is also evening trampolines 6-9pm at €5 per 10 minutes cash only. My daughter loved these and was on them every night. Try not to leave it until after 8:30pm as can get busy and can miss the slots available. There is also a huge football pitch near this. Indoor pool/jacuzzi/ sauna gym cinema etc underneath reception. Mini club and mini golf. Given all the facilities we could not fault the variety of options on offer to make this a 4 star hotel. Looking around the area other 4 star hotels look poor compared and look to lack variety like Zafiro. It is absolutely tailored to kids under 10. I didn’t see many teenagers from 13 upwards … most were younger kids.
The animation team are fantastic although we didn’t use them too often they were friendly and the club dances of an evening to end the shows were really encouraging and nearly all kids got involved. The evening entertainment was hit and miss. Some nights it was the same old, other nights more appealing such as the kenyan dancers and the acrobatics. I would suggest some improvement to evening entertainment as it just cuts off after the kids dance around 10pm (understandably for families) but I think some lower toned music could still be played. Its almost like kicking you back to your room when the bar is still open! Noise level was fine even surrounded by a few other hotels we never encountered any loud noise or issues from 10pm onwards.
On AI basis you get to eat at 3 restaurants of an evening (ensure you download the app straight away on check-in and click resturants and then reserve your slot as they are first come first served). There is a steakhouse, italian and mediterranean (pool bar) available. You can only eat once in each (so 3 times if you are lucky to reserve all 3). Luckily we managed to. The blackwells steakhouse wasn’t the best, the actual seating area was immaculate and of beautiful decor. You get a nice welcome drink and the soft drinks come in glass bottles so a bit more classy. The starter was nice (chicken strips with sweet chilli) but too much food for a starter so I would suggest getting 2 different starters so you can share. The main was were it fell down for me. The chicken burger was terrible - it stated KFC but it looked like the underneath of my flip flop on a dry stale bun. I got the california burger which was pink inside (which is ok to eat) but I like mine well done so it just put me off. The chocolate fudge cake was lovely. The staff were friendly in here and we asked for kids meals to come out with starter knowing how long they take and they were happy with this.
The Pool Bar evening A La Carte was outstanding. It was nice to be outside, the setting was beautiful. The blue glass plates made you feel like you were in the Med. It was just perfect, little table lamps. Unfortunately as we had the kids with us they found it hard to sit still so it took some of our enjoyment away but it was quite an intimate setting and a lot of people looked happy eating here. The garlic king prawns starter was incredible. However it was far too much for a starter so some advice to cut down on portion size, smaller and no compromise to quality. The main we had the chicken breast with veggies was succulent. You can choose pepper or chimichurri sauce to go with it as it did dry up a little bit during eating. Only 1 chicken breast is needed with more veg. 2 chicken breasts was far too much and both me and my wife left a full chicken breast. We didn’t order dessert as we had a bit of a wait for our main. Only a small mix-up but he seemed to think we’d already eaten the main as I had to ask where it was but we think another table got our order. It was a bit confusing. However they were apologetic.
La Tavola was definitely joint favourite with the pool bar. I ordered the cod fritters with garlic but they were a bit strange. I ate a couple but I wasn’t sure on the taste. It was a bit too much of garlic and not enough cod. The sauce was also strange - like a mango curry. My wife just ordered the main - pinsa piccante which was a flatbread cheese & tomato with salami and very spicy sauce. I had the filetto di manzo. I asked for well-done…this was possibly the best fillet of steak I have eaten. It cut like butter and it was cooked to perfection. It was still pink-ish in the middle so I would ask for well done for sure! There was some side gravy and veggies to complement.
The pool bar for lunch was also a la carte and you could eat there every day as much as you wanted to order. I tried: chicken quesadillas, chicken bao bun, katsu chicken (spicy and needs more rice than veggies in that), chicken burger, napolitan pizza, brownies. The kids had fries with chicken strips. This food is fantastic and it really makes the hotel earn its 4 star status.
However, on the 4 occasions we ate at the buffet of an evening, we really thought it was below average, and it hurts me to say this as I absolutely love the hotel and its facilities but the buffet restaurant needs some serious attention to both food quality and variety. I also think glasses need to be bigger I found myself constantly having to go back to top up my glass. Food choice was just boring. It was the same food almost every night. 1 night I counted pork dishes along the counter on 5 occasions. The entracote steak was never cooked right it was all quite rare. The chicken was sometimes a bit over done and ended up thin/crispy. I never got to the dessert but that was the biggest queue so I’d assume everyone was filling up after a rubbish meal. For the money we paid and the quality we expected more was required in the buffet selection. For kids, every night without fail needs to have chips, chicken nuggets, pizza, a rice or pasta dish, onion rings or some sort of side (they did have corn on the cob), burgers as a basic starting point. My kids just struggled to eat and given it is tailored to families I thought it was poor in this aspect. The breakfast was “ok”. I just ordered omlettes fresh to the plate. The chef was very friendly. Sausages were like normal breakfast sausage but then they changed to small german type not sure what happened but the others disappeared after day 1. They had hash browns, bacon, poached fried scrambled eggs, beans, pancakes, cereals, fruits etc. It was a “standard” breakfast nothing fancy or over-the-top.
Drinks of an evening seemed an issue and a few of the staff had attitude. Luckily I diverted away from the miserable ones and found some bubblier characters “hello family” was the welcome from a lot of the nicer staff. You do have to wave the menu in the air to get attention to order to your evening table. Then there is a bit if a wait but it beats waiting at the bar, oh and tell them you want it in a glass as they gave me a cocktail in a plastic kids cup then didn’t like the fact I actually moaned back about it.
I would recommend the hotel but possibly on a SC/HB basis due to the issues we encountered at the buffet and the time it took to order drinks. It would have been better with a self service machine for soft drinks to cut down the need for staff to make these and the queues would also then be cut short. The table numbers would be better illuminated or with some sort of neon so bar staff can see better to delivery drinks. I would also suggest adding drinks to order on the app once signed in as this would again reduce the need to have bar staff walking around taking orders. Most guests had a smart phone to play Kahoot so this would be welcomed.
The beach is a 10 minute walk. Turn right out of the hotel entrance. Come to the main road and cross it to the path alongside the wasteland/park area between the 2 hotels. This will take you down to the next road, turn left and cross over the 2nd zebra crossing with Aldi in front of you. Then walk down the hill and keep going. This will take you down to the main shopping area, you will see the beach in front of you. This is nice and breezy to walk and it does cool you down. The area is really nice. Market day is on a Friday morning - not a lot mainly clothes and some local foods/souvenirs.
We will book with Zafiro again however I am not sure I would return to this hotel for the price we paid I expected the food to be the standard we received in the a-la-carte restaurants all stay. If you can match that standard and quality then I would happily return! The kids loved it and most families seemed be happy. You are treated like family by Zafiro. It was also getting busier due to the half term week so whether this may have impacted the speed and quality of service."
