Senator Port Mahon

"We do not feel that the Senator Port Mahon is a four star hotel and falls short of the standard we have come to expect from Jet2. It was not worth the money we paid to stay bed and breakfast. There is no wow factor or homely touches at this hotel. It is very lack lustre with a drab walls and furnishings throughout, and a lack of comfortable seating in the bar area and on the large terrace. It feels like a corporate inner city hotel where business people come to stay for one or two nights. The photographs on the website portray a much brighter hotel than it actually is. Our reason for choosing was because of the Colonnial character but it is such a pity that it doesn’t have light bright welcoming Mediterranean colours, Spanish charm or local artwork on the walls to reflect the island’s history and make more of the large terrace. The main points for our opinion are listed below. There was a charge of 30 euros for the safe key – we have been used to a digital safe at no further cost. There was no information in the room about the hotel whatsoever; times of breakfast and dinner, fire escape route etc or information about the resort; options for getting to the harbour or going into town, siesta etc and the Jet2 brochure in reception was lacking in that respect. We had to ask at reception for a shower cap which was poor quality and the first one was faulty. We had to go down to reception almost daily for either milk or sugar as none was left. There didn’t appear to be enough staff in the dining room at breakfast to attend to replenishing drinking glasses and cereal bowls, or the hotel didn’t have sufficient of either items. Very often guests were stood around waiting, particularly for glasses, and then a few wine glasses were issued which did not fit under the juice dispenser and had to be tilted forwards, to give only half a glass. Very often the glasses smelled like they hadn’t been washed properly. There were problems with the hot drinks machines, either breaking down or running out of ingredients causing queues. The chocolate had run out one morning and we were told ‘Maybe tomorrow’. The cereal was in small sealed bags and was a choice of poor quality muesli, fruit & fibre or cornflakes. The muesli and fruit & fibre contained a lot of crushed powdery bits and the fruit was hard. The only nuts available were walnuts. The choice of artisan seeded bread for toast was very lacking, with baguettes being the only thing on offer after 9.15am, apart from standard sliced white or wholemeal.­ There were large notices about not taking food from the restaurant or filling bottles with juice which felt like a telling off. In room 101 there had obviously been a problem with the shower tray at some point because the skirting had left the wall in the entrance passage way and there was a water mark. The bathroom door frame was swollen at the bottom and the brass door plate was tarnished and green at the end where it had been affected by water. The sliding door bounced back when closed leaving a gap of 2” affording no privacy when using the toilet. The black bathroom fitting had paint missing and looked rusty in some places. The corners of the bathroom needed more attention when cleaning as did the bottom of the shower door and screen. The seal on the bottom of the door was split and hanging down. The bottom rim of the waste bin was chipped and rusty. The terrace was an unwelcoming, uncomfortable place to sit whilst watching entertainment on white plastic chairs. Bar staff lacked the experience to served cocktails. We had two lots of Pina Coladas from two different members of staff; the first contained so much crushed ice it was impossible to suck any of the drink up through the straw and the second tasted as though it contained no alcohol at all. The staff were all friendly but didn’t look particularly happy at their work on some occasions. The corridors feel dark and gloomy not helped by the filthy lampshade in one place outside the lift. We were informed on arrival that there had been a cancellation that morning and we were offered an upgrade to a room with harbour view for a staggering 500 euros extra. We would have been most disappointed had we done this and the room had been the same standard as room 101. We feel that if the weather had been inclement we would have preferred to stay in our room rather than sit in the featureless drab public areas."

"Beautiful hotel with fantastic view over the harbour. Lovely friendly helpful staff. Peaceful pool area with plenty of free sunbeds and towels. Outside seating for drinks and food etc. Rooms were spotless. Plenty of towel and bedding changes. Mini fridge with water. Lockable safe. Most importantly large walk in shower and excellent hairdrier."

"My second visit. Overall, I had a really lovely time here. This hotel has come under the Senator umbrella since my first visit 12 months ago. Positives first Many long serving lovely staff still there I felt the quality and choice of food has improved Hotel very clean We had a lovely sunny harbour view, in the new block Negatives I had to pay to use the room safe, free last year Room was extremely basic considering the extortionate price paid The comfortable sofa seating on the patio has been replaced with uncomfortable cheap plastic dining tables and chairs. I had particularly enjoyed sitting here after a day out and about. The deck chairs and round beds are no longer there. The whole patio area is rather sparse and it’s an opportunity missed to create a lovely relaxing space. There is nobody keeping an eye on the pool area during the day. If umbrellas blow over, they’re left. Loungers all over the place and only tidied up at night time. I felt the check-out experience was rather unfriendly, staff should remember we are paying customers and without our custom, they have no job."