"The Seth 55 Hotel, Santo Tomas & Menorca itself added up to be the most relaxing holiday we've ever been on.
The hotel is set into a wooded hillside at the back of the resort with a stroll of 2 or 3 minutes down a gently sloping road, to get to the beach and the nearest restaurant with rooftop cocktail bar above (definitely go there for the sunsets). The nearest shops (supermarket, car rental, souvenir & holiday items plus a nice bar/restaurant with a cigarette machine) are half way down to the beach.
The hotel itself is very modern with perfectly kept greenery, it is spotlessly clean everywhere & all the chairs / tables, paths, sunbeds etc are in perfect condition. The spa & gym are again very well kept. There's a nice pool bar serving snacks with a shaded lounge and smoking area at the back. The evening bar serves out onto a raised poolside patio (where the nighlty musical entertainment was held) & also into the spacious lounge, next to the reception area. The buffet restaurant was large, with generous opening times for meals and although we never struggled to find a table, it does get busy at times. The food was good & plentiful, although we did feel it didn't quite meet the standards of a four star establishment. There were more than enough sunbeds & parasols around the pool, we found them easily at any time of day. The pool is really long and again in great condition. Speaking of pool, there is also a pool table in the shady poolside lounge.
We were in one of the swim up suites, so the room review relates to those only. We had a lounge & a bedroom that can seperated off by sliding doors. The large lounge had a solid sofa bed and two armchairs with a coffee table, a standard lamp and a large side board, with a table lamp, under the television. There was a kettle, pod coffee machine, fridge (half size) all set in a tall housing that also held the coffee, tea bags & sugar that were topped up daily. We were also given a litre bottle of water each day. The decent size wardrobe (housing the free safe) was nicely tucked away at one end of the lounge opposite a full length mirror and, to the side, even a shelf to store your bags & cases, with another shelf below. There were loads of electrical sockets around the suite.
The large bedroom had two large singles beds pushed together, they were comfortable and you had a pillow menu to choose your favourite firmness. There was a second television above another handy side table with drawer & shelf units either side of the bed(s). There was also a chaise lounge & another standard lamp at one end of the room.
The again large bathroom had twin sinks, a double ended bath with shower, a separate (large) shower with rainfall & wall mounted shower attachments. Hot water was always available. Shampoo, shower gel, conditioner & body lotion were all provided, as was a set of scales & a hair dryer. At the back the toilet with bidet were in a spacious frosted glass cubicle.
We heard virtually no outside noise, nor noise from other rooms once we were in the suite with the doors all closed and the aircon kept the room at a very comfortable 23°.
The generous terrace could be accessed by patio doors from either the bedroom, or the lounge had a low table with 2 chairs and a bali bed beside the nice size dedicated pool. Beach towels were included. We did find it amusing that all the balcony & terrace lights came on automatically just after dark and went off again, bang on 10.30pm. We would have liked some control over maybe a dimmed terrace light for later in the night.
The housekeeping standards were excellent.
Before travelling we did believe there was also a separate a la carte restaurant at the hotel but whilst it appeared there may once have been one, it wasn't operating when we were there.
There was a courtesy room with shower & toilet for you to use after checkout & you could get beach umbrellas & towels from reception. A laundry service is available. Car parking at the hotel is €5 per day but there is free parking a minute away. We cannot say enough about the hotel team, with special mentions to the pool bar guys, particularly Alejandra who was especially warm & friendly & the maitre d at the restaurant whose name escapes me. They all encouraged me with my improving Spanish as did everybody we came across around the whole island.
Santo Tomas could be renamed Setho Tomas as Seth had at least two hotels, two beachside restaurants & a huge number of villas & apartments around the resort which was clean, peaceful & relaxed wherever you went. The beach was long & sandy with 2 sunbeds & a parasol available at a day rate of £25 euros (we believe there was also a half day rate, too) but go early as there weren't very many. The bay slopes very gently into the warm shallow water. There is a smallish 'family fun zone' in the middle of the resort that was keenly priced. It is a low key resort with a handful of bars & restaurants, as well as 2 or 3 supermarkets & 2 or 3 car rental places, all along the one minor road that runs the length of the resort. From one end to the other is around a 10 to 15 minute walk & you can then take the coast path through to Son Bou. We used Autos Pons Ferrieries to hire a car (with the yellow signage) for the second time, they had very well priced cars & it was hassle free). There is a lovely tree lined walkway behind the beach that then becomes a promenade halfway along, that runs the length of the resort.
Buses run fairly regularly to both Mao & Cuitadella & the road network is in good condition a gets you easily to other resorts, places of interest & the 1600 odd ancient sites.
We've been fortunate enough to travel to many places, over the years & like to visit new places but Seth 55 & Santo Tomas is one of only 2 places we absolutely have to go to again."
