"Where do I start? Firstly, I never leave reviews; however, I feel it’s only fair that people know what they are dealing with before coming to Sol Barbados Hotel in Magaluf. We are the type of people that make the most of situations and don’t have super high expectations so I’m gutted that this is our experience.
We took our 3-year-old son on holiday for a week. This hotel has so much potential, and we were excited, but it ended up consisting of us catching the worst virus.
My wife got ill on the fifth night of our holiday, and several other people also became ill that same night. She was so ill that I had to phone a doctor to the room. While our 3-year-old slept, I tried to call reception seven times with no answer to ask them to phone a doctor ASAP, but after getting no response, I had to leave her alone and go downstairs. They told me they were busy at 11pm, despite there being no guests at the desk.
She felt faint, and I asked what I should do in an emergency, to which they replied, “Phone reception.” After previously getting no answer, I knew that wasn’t an option. They then didn’t seem confident while giving me the emergency number for an ambulance, and they actually gave me the wrong number.
The doctor who attended was great and confirmed my wife had an illness that was probably caused by contaminated food or a contaminated surface (although the manager tried to tell us this wasn’t possible).
The hotel manager contacted me personally to ask for the doctor’s report while insisting it definitely wasn’t the hotel causing the issue, when it clearly had to be. So many people were ill.
They sent us up “tea and toast,” which consisted of stale, untoasted bread and boiling water in a dirty cup. This hotel uses reusable cups, which should be applauded; however, they don’t clean them properly, and we had to swap many dirty spoons and cups.
They then sent us and other guests an apology note and glass bottles of orange juice, which needed to be opened with a bottle opener that we didn’t have, so we couldn’t drink them. It was almost like they never properly thought anything through.
My son then became ill and woke up being sick in the early hours of the morning we had to come home. We phoned to ask for new blankets, only to be told we had to collect them from reception as no one else could help. Even though the manager confirmed they host over 1,000 guests, having only one or two people available in the middle of the night is just crazy.
If you’re a single parent, you would have to either leave your child alone or keep the sick-covered blankets. This was so traumatic, as you can imagine.
He then spent time in hospital after being admitted when we went to A&E because his vomit was green and he was dehydrated. Being on holiday in another country with your family becoming ill is a mother’s worst nightmare.
Secondly, this hotel has strange rules. The pools (including the kids’ pool) don’t open until 10am and you cannot sit on a lounger before 10 either. They put a fence around the pool and don’t actually start taking it down until about 10:20am. They would argue that they open one part of the fence, but what if your child gets into difficulty while you’re sitting on the other side of the pool, blocked by the fence?
This opening time is also late for children who wake up early. The pools are unbelievably cold. Such gorgeous pools were sitting empty because of the temperature, and everyone was commenting on it.
We did try to make the most of the pools, but every 20 minutes our boy had to come out because he was shivering. The staff were also very abrupt and rude at times, especially when it came to opening and closing the pool. It “shuts” at 6pm, but they start closing it off around 5:40pm.
The only staff member we found lovely was a lifeguard called Dalphine. She was very kind to our boy and very good at her job. The room cleaning staff were also nice.
Thirdly, the times for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and entertainment are not child-friendly. Breakfast doesn’t start until 8am, which isn’t ideal if you have an early riser. Dinner doesn’t start until 6:30pm, and we never got to see any entertainment because it took place after dinner, which finishes at 9:30pm, by which point our boy was exhausted.
The hotel uses reusable cups in exchange for a token, and you can’t have two drinks at the same time. One day, I wanted both a juice and a water, but I had to empty one drink out before getting the other. It all just felt very restrictive and unnecessary.
The ice cream machine was also broken daily, meaning we couldn’t use that either, which left us with a sad toddler.
Lastly, we went all-inclusive but had to spend the last three days getting food delivered to the hotel to avoid eating in their restaurant. The manager assured me the food was “safe” while my wife and toddler lay ill. Maybe the food was fine, but the doctor said it was more likely bacterial, so I couldn’t take the risk.
We noticed the hotel also changed the cups to paper cups after seeing our doctor’s report, but only during mealtimes. When I asked for a paper cup outside of mealtimes, I was told there were none available, so I had to go to the shop to buy water to avoid any risk.
As a family, we are absolutely gutted that this was our holiday experience. It was a holiday that was much needed, and it’s turned into a nightmare.
I wrote this review so people are aware of the virus and the restrictions, since I doubt the staff are informing new guests. If you know beforehand, you might be a little more cautious or plan ahead. I would never recommend this hotel to anyone."
