Cala d'Or Playa

"We have just returned from a 10-night stay at this hotel, which was our second visit, having first stayed here in 2024. We knew after our first visit that we would return, as the hotel offers so much entertainment for children. Being a smaller hotel also means that the children get the opportunity to build lovely friendships with the entertainment team as well as with other children staying at the hotel. I’ll mention both the positives and the few little negatives so you can get a real feel for our experience. 🎉 Entertainment Team I have to start with what makes this hotel so great for us: the entertainment team. They genuinely go above and beyond and are incredible with the children. The mini discos were my little girl’s absolute favourite, and the energy the staff put into them even when it’s absolutely boiling hot is second to none. I would particularly like to give a huge shout out to Miquelangel for his amazing energy, passion for what he does, friendliness and, most importantly, how incredible he is with the children. He also makes sure the adults are involved in the fun, which creates such a brilliant atmosphere. Ismael and Lucia were also both lovely with the children. They were fantastic at helping the kids get involved, making them feel comfortable and were great during the daytime activities. There was also another lady who started on our last day. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get her name, but credit to her she got involved in everything and had such great energy! Quite frankly, I would say this hotel is rebooked because of the entertainment team alone. They are such a credit to the hotel and I really hope their hard work and dedication are recognised. They have a bouncy castle which they bring out during the day and on some evenings, which the kids absolutely love, especially during the daytime when the entertainment team spray them with water! 😂 There is also an act every evening after the mini disco, including magic shows, illusions, reptiles, acrobats and more. We thoroughly enjoyed these and they provided some great entertainment for the whole family. They do also have a list of actives from Monday - Sunday all day time and nighttime so you know what time slots everything is. (T-shirt painting, bracelet making, treasure hunts, cookie making.. to name a few) 🏨 The Hotel The hotel itself is situated in what I would class as a prime location. It is tucked away enough that you don’t have all the noise, but everything you need is still within easy walking distance. The receptionist was very friendly and welcoming when we arrived, and we didn’t have to wait for our room even though we arrived early, which was great. Before travelling, we emailed to request a room that wasn’t on the ground floor and, if possible, with a pool view. They responded quickly and said they would do what they could, although they did explain that the pool-view rooms were fully booked. It’s worth noting that the pool-view rooms have a different booking arrangement and, unfortunately, you can’t book them through a Jet2 package. From my understanding, they need to be booked directly through the hotel. If these rooms were made available as part of the Jet2 package, we would happily have paid the extra for one, as they really are in a prime position. That said, we were given a top-floor room, which is what we prefer, and we also had a side view of the children’s pool, which we really appreciated. The hotel itself is very clean and tidy. Even the public toilets were spotless every time we used them. There is also a washing machine and tumble dryer available if you need them. We didn’t use them, but it’s a great option to have. You can also borrow an iron from reception for €5, which is refunded when you return it. 🛏️ Room The room itself is on the smaller side, but it was absolutely perfect for what we needed. We spent very little time in the room because there was always so much going on around the hotel or plenty to do outside. Towels are changed every other day and, from what I understand, the bedding is changed every Thursday. On the occasions when we needed extra towel or bedding changes, these were done the same day without any issues. One slight negative was that when we first entered the room, it didn’t feel as though it had been thoroughly cleaned. However, this was a small issue and the positives far outweighed it. The room comes with a hob, microwave, fridge, toaster, kettle, cutlery and utensils, so if you are planning to self-cater, it is very well equipped. There is also a hairdryer in the bathroom, which was actually decent so you can definitely save some suitcase space by leaving yours at home! The shower was lovely. I normally look forward to getting home to my own shower after a holiday, but I will genuinely miss this one! The beds can be made up as a double rather than two singles on request, which we asked for, and this made the bed much more comfortable. We all slept well. The only thing I would love to see improved is the amount of hanging space. There is a large rail, but you only get a handful of hangers. Having more hangers would make much better use of the available space. The sofa pulls out into a sofa bed, which both of our children slept on perfectly well. There is a TV in both the main room and bedroom, with CBeebies available if you need it! The air conditioning was incredible. It continued running even when we weren’t in the room, which, travelling in August, was an absolute lifesaver. Coming back to the room and being hit by that lovely cold air was honestly one of the best feelings! 🏊‍♀️ Pool Area The pool area is another big positive. There are two medium-sized slides which both of my children loved (aged 6 and 4), as well as two smaller slides for toddlers. The main pool is also a great size, with the deepest part being around 1.2m. They didn’t have the pool crocodile obstacle this year, which we were really excited to experience again. Instead, they had a walk-on-water mat, which they got out most days and which was great fun every time! I would absolutely love to see a water obstacle brought back, like the crocodile one, as this was such good fun. The sunbed situation is probably the biggest frustration — although, to be fair, this seems to be the same at almost every hotel! There are rules against reserving sunbeds, but unfortunately these are largely ignored, with many beds effectively reserved before the pool even opens at 10am. The lifeguard does monitor this and puts notes on towels, but there were still lots of occasions where all the sunbeds were taken while only a handful of people were actually using the pool, which was slightly frustrating. We didn’t play the game of getting up at 7am to reserve a sunbed. Instead, we took our pushchair down each morning and hoped to get at least one sunbed for our towels — and generally managed okay. I had seen previous reviews mentioning a lack of parasol, but perhaps this has changed since those reviews because I thought there were more than enough parasols. They are also very large and provide a good amount of shade. I’d say there were around 8–10, which covered the full area of sunbeds. The pool floor area can be very slippery. We had pool shoes for the children and they didn’t slip once while wearing them, but on the day they didn’t put them on, they did slip. I would definitely recommend bringing pool shoes for children. Overall, the pool area was lovely and perfect for what we needed. The kids absolutely loved it. 📍 Near the Hotel There is so much on the doorstep of this hotel. At the top of the road there is a supermarket and an Indian restaurant, which is amazing. You then have a large entertainment area with trampolines, go-karts and two big bouncy castles with moving-mouth slides — all very fun for the kids. From there, you can either take a right and find another entertainment area along with restaurants and cafés, or turn left at the Indian restaurant and walk straight into the main town. There are so many restaurants in the main town that I couldn’t even begin to give you a number! We went into the main town a couple of times and everywhere we ate was great. We genuinely never had a bad meal. We particularly enjoyed a pirate-themed restaurant and a Mexican restaurant both were delicious. There are also plenty of shops, including clothes shops, perfume shops, jewellery, makeup, hair and beauty, sweets and much more. 🏖️ Beaches There are two lovely beaches close to the hotel: Cala Gran and Cala Esmeralda. Both are beautiful cove beaches, but Cala Gran is our favourite and is only around a five-minute walk from the hotel. The water is lovely and clear, and you can see fish swimming around as well as crabs near the rocks. They’re both beautiful places to spend the day. ❤️ Overall All in all, this hotel has won our hearts all over again. Since our first visit in 2024, we have constantly raved about this hotel, and we have come home feeling exactly the same way we did after our first stay. There are a few small things that could be improved, but for us, the positives massively outweigh the negatives. The location, facilities, pool, cleanliness and, above all, the incredible entertainment team make this such a fantastic family hotel. We would absolutely return again and really hope to do so in the future. A huge thank you to everyone at the hotel especially the entertainment team for helping make our holiday so memorable! ❤️"

"We had a lovely stay at Hotel Apartamentos Playa Cala d’Or. From arrival, we found the welcome warm and the apartment very clean, modern and well equipped. It had everything we needed for self-catering, including a small fridge, hob, kettle and microwave. We picked up pastries from the nearby shops each morning and made sandwiches for lunch, but ate out every evening. The apartment was cleaned every two days and towels were also changed every two days. The only slight negative was that the towels are quite well worn, with some threads coming away, so they could probably do with being replaced. Pool area The pool area is very well kept, with plenty of sun loungers, although you do need to be organised to get one. We went down before 10am and had no problem finding loungers. At 10am, the lifeguard carries out her checks and gives warning cards to loungers that have been left unattended. If you don’t return within 30 minutes, belongings are removed and the loungers are freed up. These checks continue throughout the day. We found the lifeguard to be fair, hardworking and very good at keeping the pool area tidy and making sure the rules were followed. No inflatables on her watch! There is a different attendant at weekends, when things seemed a little more relaxed. You will also need your own parasol if you want shade around the pool. We bought one locally for €20. Some guests leave theirs behind and pass them on, and there is a stash in a black box near the stage. Families and entertainment I would say this resort is particularly suited to families with younger children, probably around 0–8 years. It is very popular with families and there are lots of activities and entertainment throughout the day. Our children are 11 and, although they still enjoyed themselves, they did feel a little too old for the hotel compared with the younger children. The entertainment is good and does try to accommodate different ages. Food and drinks The food available at the resort is fairly average – chips, sandwiches, pizza etc. It was fine for a quick lunch, but we felt the quality was quite low for the price, with food starting at around €7. Drinks can also be on the expensive side, with soft drinks around €4.50. Location The location is excellent. Cala Esmeralda and the fruit man are around a 5-minute walk away, while the centre of Cala d’Or is around 10 minutes away, with loads of restaurants and places to eat. We used Mercado supermarket, which is around a 0.7-mile walk away. It had a much bigger choice and better value than the smaller local supermarkets, with fresh salads, a hot counter, drinks and everything else we needed. The only downside is getting a taxi back if you’ve done a big shop. We found it very difficult to get a taxi, so be prepared to carry your shopping back! Overall Overall, we had a good stay. The apartments are clean, modern and well maintained, the pool area is tidy and well managed, and there are plenty of activities and entertainment. I would particularly recommend it for families with younger children. For families with older children or teenagers, you may find they outgrow the resort quite quickly."

"We have just returned from a 10 night stay and had a fabulous time! Check in was very quick and we were able to get straight into our room on arrival which was great! We stayed in block one room 13. The room was nice and spacious! It has 2 sofas with mattress style cushions to use as sofa beds (no pull out beds) we moved these cushions into the main bedroom with us so our toddler could sleep in our room. The bathroom was clean and had everything we needed. Although the shower went onto the floor but nothing a towel couldn’t resolve. The pool area was good but busy as expected for school holidays. Quite a few of the sun loungers are in need of an upgrade I feel and also there are only large fixed parasols in certain areas so most guests had bought their own beach umbrellas to use which isn’t ideal really…. Also the sun beds are so close together so unless you get beds on the end your sat right next to a stranger with beds touching which was slightly uncomfortable. I’d say you need to be up by 8/8.30 to get a sunbed however the lifeguard was very good at removing ones reserved and not in use when she started at 10am. The pool is shallower than where we have stayed previously so was more child friendly, but in turn did get very warm so not much of a way to cool down… around the pool is very slippy many adults & children fell and hurt themself whilst we were there. Textured tiles should be used in my opinion. Nicole (lifeguard) however was absolutely fantastic a real credit to the hotel. She was friendly, attentive, kind and professional and helped quickly when my little girl fell and cut her knee. No inflatables are allowed apart from swimming aids which we knew before arriving but some were left dissapointed. The entertainment team do an amazing job and are always full of energy they were all great special shoutout to Juan who we all loved! The area for the mini disco and entertainment was a little small in my opinion and it was a real shame the bouncy castle was never put up at night. It would be up some day times but feel it would have been an added bonus to have it up in the evening to keep the children entertained. The food round the pool was ok but we preferred to eat out. The drinks/icecreams were expensive especially juice/kids drinks so we tended to get a few from the supermarket up the road to have round the pool. 5 minute walk to a few restaurants and a further 10-15 min walk to lots of others and the main areas. Overall we really enjoyed our time here, I would return again."