Royal Palm Resort and Spa

I was very disappointed with this hotel. The configuration is poor with the need to get sometimes two/three lifts depending upon where your room is located. If you want to visit the heated pool or beach the same applies, with walks between the lifts. The top pool is not heated and whilst there are plenty of sun beds the pool was cold. You need a car to get anywhere from this hotel or get a taxi. €12 to the nearest town each way as the main road goes past the hotel and then the taxi has to double back to drop you off. We booked a sea view room with balcony. Agreed you could see the sea if you went to the balcony edge but otherwise the view was one of a cleared building plot next door. It seems there are lateral sea view rooms too but we have had it confirmed we were in a sea view room, so felt we were mis-sold. We had to have an engineer fix the air con and the maid/cleaner kept leaving the balcony door open a cm or so (difficult to see) and so the air con wouldn’t come on. The A La Carte restaurant was very good and we had an excellent waitress there. And some nice meals. Takeaway pizzas are also available from this restaurant. The staff (waiters and buffet staff) in the buffet restaurant didn’t always speak English and sometimes it was difficult. No restaurants nearby unless you go to other hotels, but the road and pavements are “damaged” so uneven and not good for those with any mobility difficulties.

Great location. You can take a walk on the beach to the nearest town. The rooms are very spacious and the buffet style breakfast is excellent

I stayed at the Royal Palm Resort & Spa as a solo traveller in July 2026.

Overall, this is a beautiful hotel and I genuinely enjoyed my stay. The room was spacious, comfortable and exceptionally quiet, allowing me to sleep very well every night. The spa was the highlight of my holiday, and the pools, gardens and sea views are stunning. The hotel itself is peaceful, well maintained and ideal for relaxation.

Most members of staff were also excellent. They were friendly, professional and welcoming, and they contributed greatly to what would otherwise have been an outstanding stay.

Unfortunately, my experience with two members of the restaurant staff significantly affected my overall impression of the hotel.

On Wednesday 1 July, while waiting to be served in a very warm restaurant, I took a few sips from my own bottle of water because I was simply thirsty. Instead of politely explaining the restaurant's policy, one waitress immediately began shouting at me in Spanish, apparently assuming that I understood everything she was saying. I only speak a few words of Spanish, so I did not understand most of what she was saying. Although I did not understand the words, her tone was clearly aggressive and confrontational, and other guests also appeared surprised by the way she was speaking to me.

She later returned with a translation on her phone explaining that outside drinks were not permitted. I immediately accepted this and simply replied, "Okay." She responded curtly with a dismissive "Vale" before walking away.

Even if I had unintentionally breached the restaurant's policy, I felt that the response was completely disproportionate. A polite explanation would have resolved the situation immediately without embarrassing a guest in front of other diners.

Immediately afterwards, I heard her speaking loudly with a colleague and referring to "la chica". Although I only speak a few words of Spanish, I recognised the expression and believed she was referring to me because it happened immediately after our interaction. Throughout the evening she was also shouting across the restaurant to colleagues, including loudly calling for "Yousef", creating a chaotic atmosphere. At one point she aggressively threw and slammed table mats around my table, which I found intimidating.

Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. On Friday 3 July, another waitress approached my table while I was still in the middle of eating my dinner and asked me to pay immediately for my bottle of water before I had even finished my meal. Just beforehand, I had again heard her speaking with the same waitress involved in the Wednesday incident and once again heard the words "la chica". I found it unusual and disrespectful to be interrupted in the middle of my meal in this way.

I also noticed that the second waitress was consistently extremely loud. After dinner on Friday evening, I went for a walk around the swimming pool, which is located near the restaurant, and I could still hear her shouting from there. Throughout my stay, I did not notice any other waiter, waitress or guest behaving in this way. In a hotel of this standard, I found this level of loudness and lack of professionalism surprising.

I am a Black woman travelling alone, and I found these repeated interactions particularly upsetting. The two members of staff involved were two middle-aged white waitresses. In contrast, every other member of staff I encountered during my stay—including the male restaurant staff, reception staff, housekeeping and other hotel employees—was polite, professional and welcoming. Because of the repeated nature of these incidents and the way I was treated, I was left feeling singled out and wondering whether my race may have played a role.

I want to emphasise that these experiences involved only these two members of staff. Everyone else I met throughout the hotel was courteous, professional and a credit to the resort.

The Royal Palm Resort & Spa has so much to offer. The facilities, spa, location and overall quality of the hotel are excellent. It is therefore particularly disappointing that the conduct of two members of the restaurant team overshadowed what would otherwise have been an exceptional holiday.

Although I felt that these repeated interactions were intended to embarrass or intimidate me, they did not prevent me from enjoying my holiday. I remained calm, continued to enjoy the hotel's excellent facilities and simply observed behaviour that I found unprofessional and unnecessarily confrontational. In my opinion, this behaviour reflected poorly on those two members of staff rather than on me.

I am sharing this experience in the hope that it will be taken constructively and that appropriate training and supervision will ensure that every guest is treated with courtesy, professionalism, respect and dignity, irrespective of their gender or the colour of their skin. Every guest should feel welcome, valued and able to enjoy their holiday in a respectful and professional environment.