"Rooms & maintenance
First of all, Balmy Foresta is considerably older and more dated than the polished photos on the website suggest. The renovations of the “villas” appear to have been done rather hastily and without much attention to detail. During our stay, we noticed:
- patchy silicone and paintwork in the bathroom;
- no hooks for towels;
- a lamp missing its lightbulb on arrival;
- miniature shampoo bottles that were only half full;
- a loose decorative cabinet door covering the fridge; and
- a balcony that looked as though it had not seen a broom in quite some time.
None of these is a major issue in isolation, but together they give the accommodation a rather poorly finished and insufficiently checked feel.
We did not see the rooms in the main building, which are advertised as the more affordable accommodation option, so I cannot comment on their condition firsthand. Other reviews mention inefficient air conditioning there. In our villa, the older air-conditioning unit in the master bedroom cooled the room sufficiently but was very noisy. The unit in the children's room was considerably quieter, although also less effective at cooling.
Rules & safety
There are numerous signs setting out strict rules—for example, no reserving sunbeds with towels, no feeding the stray cats, no glass around the pool and no smoking in certain areas. Unfortunately, enforcement appears to be virtually nonexistent, which rather defeats the purpose of having the rules in the first place.
The most concerning example was the lifeguarding at the waterslides.
The most concerning example was the lifeguarding at the waterslides. During one specific incident, I observed the lifeguard on duty wearing earbuds and scrolling on his phone. At the same time, children were repeatedly ignoring the clearly stated rule that only one person should use the slide at a time, without any intervention from him.
When it was my little son's turn to go down the slide, I sat on the edge of the pool only after he had started sliding, so that I could get into the water quickly if necessary. Ironically, this was the moment the lifeguard suddenly became attentive and told me not to sit there—while continuing to ignore both the unsafe use of the slide and his own distraction. I explained that I was watching my child because I did not feel confident that he was doing so. I subsequently spoke to his supervisor, but unfortunately the language barrier and apparent lack of understanding of the broader safety concern meant that the conversation went nowhere. For a family resort, this is an area I would strongly encourage management to address.
Service & restaurants
Staff overall seem to be trying, but service quality is very inconsistent. Even fairly basic requests can become surprisingly complicated.
A few examples:
- iced coffees could be unexpectedly difficult to order;
- beverage menus list drinks that are not actually available at the restaurant using that menu—for example, mixed drinks at the Garden Restaurant;
- with one exception, our meals never arrived together;
- on two occasions, part of our order was simply forgotten.
One small but telling example involved another family. I watched a father try to order plain French fries for his child, without any seasoning. What should have been an extremely straightforward request turned into a rather comical odyssey involving several conversations and attempts to clarify what he wanted. In the end, he still did not get the plain fries he had asked for. It did not affect us personally, but it rather neatly summed up the occasional disconnect between very basic guest requests and what actually arrives.
On another occasion, I ordered two dishes. One arrived promptly, while we continued waiting for the second. During that time, a waitress walked past our table several times carrying what appeared to be exactly the dish we had ordered. When I asked whether it might be ours, she dismissed the question rather abruptly and continued walking around trying to find the guest it belonged to.
Eventually, unable to find anyone to claim it, she left the dish sitting at the order window. I asked several times about my missing order and specifically whether that dish might in fact be mine, but between the language barrier and visibly overwhelmed staff, it proved impossible to resolve. The whole episode was rather baffling: the food appeared to have been prepared and was physically right in front of us, yet still could not make its way to our table.
That said, we did encounter two or three genuinely excellent members of the service team. Élodie in particular stood out very positively.
Food options outside the main buffet become repetitive fairly quickly and lean heavily towards fried food and burgers.
Wellness & facilities
The same inconsistency extends to some of the resort's other facilities:
- Laundry: despite the stated next-day return, it took three full days for the hotel to locate and return ours.
- Massage: the “deep tissue” massage was far too gentle to reasonably be described as deep tissue.
- Yoga: the classes themselves were short but otherwise fine, but they repeatedly started late. On one occasion, a session was postponed by an entire hour without advance notice; we were only told while already waiting for it to begin. Even on holiday, parents often have to organise childcare and activities around small windows of time.
- Gym: around a third of the machines appeared to be broken or faulty during our stay, and the heaviest kettlebell available was 8 kg, making the equipment fairly limited for anyone who trains regularly.
Kids, grounds & location
There are definite positives. The common areas are lush, green and generally well maintained, and the hotel's location is genuinely breathtaking.
The children's activities throughout the day are fun, creative and well suited to roughly ages 3–10. There is, however, more screen time than I would personally expect from a kids' programme—including films such as K-Pop Demon Hunters—and the indoor children's area had a noticeable urine smell during our stay.
Overall
Balmy Foresta works best if what you want is a very uncomplicated family holiday where you can switch off, let the children enjoy the activities, spend time by the pool and appreciate the beautiful surroundings. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting exactly that from a holiday.
However, I would not come here expecting an exclusive or particularly polished resort experience. Attention to detail, consistency of service, cleanliness and proactive hospitality are simply not at the level that the website and presentation of the property might lead you to expect."
