Club Palia Maria Eugenia

I am terminally ill and booked this trip to create memories. I specifically asked for a high floor room that was quiet. I phoned the hotel in advance to reiterate this and was told everything was in hand.

We arrived to be booked into the second floor of the premium block right over the evening's entertainment with a dodgy rippled floor. I had asked the receptionist to look over the notes to which she said there were none. I also referred to the phone conversation and again she said she had no notes on this. I offered to pay more to get the ideal room and was told no and that they could only offer us a third floor room. Third floor, overlooking the restaurant with the noise that comes with it. When I complained about the noise, the receptionist told me not to worry as all entertainment would finish at 11pm. She still didn't understand or took the time to understand that I needed a quiet room.

Since there apparently wasn't another option, we had to make do with an overpriced room overlooking the restaurant with a partial sea view.

There is absolutely nothing special about the premium rooms. In the bathroom there were 2 fans neither of which worked. We asked for them to be seen to and nothing was arranged. The shower tray overflowed every time we took a shower and house keeping on several days failed to give us enough towels to use yet alone put down on the floor to soak up the overflow from the shower. We had to go to reception to obtain more towels twice in the week we stayed there.

The vinyl wooden floor effect in the rooms is clammy which meant we had to walk around in flip flops.

With premium you get an enclosed area with bali beds and two pools where less than average snacks are served. In fact the main snack bar was much better. Once in the entire week, we had a man bring around banana milk as complimentary but when he got to us, he said sorry I only have one left when there were several of us sat together.

When it rains, they don't wipe down the bali beds to make them usable and when I asked if they had anything behind the bar so I could do it myself, I was told no, with no other solution.

Premium doesn't offer anything special. There is an adults only area right next to premium with 2 pools which is far quieter with bali beds and a great view.

If you are travelling out of peak season, the chill out bar is closed in the premium section which again, leads me to wonder what we actually paid for.

The food. It was either over or under seasoned. It was also over and under cooked.

If you're eating at the restaurant, make sure you get your dessert at the same time as your dinner because everything goes quickly and they take ages to fill up the stations again. On several occasions I asked if more food was coming as there were so many empty stations. Perhaps it was just that shift as by day 3 a new team had arrived and it was much better.

Themed dinners were poor and don't expect your food to be hot. I caught several diners reheating their food up in the microwave meant for baby food.

If you want sparking water in the morning, the machines in the restaurant were off.

If you wanted coffee or tea with your lunch or dinner, the machines were off.

We had to hunt down the machines that delivered the drinks and bring them into the restaurant.

All inclusive does not include spirits, that you will have to pay for.

You get one bottle of water in your room, tea with no milk and a coffee machine with no pods.

I've been coming to Mallorca since 1987 and have stayed at many 4 and 5 star hotels and resorts and this is one of the worst I've been to. It's ratings are almost on par with Iberostar Cala Dominges which is a few mins away and I can tell you having been there earlier this year that their standards are far higher. Their food is beautiful, there's no restriction on alcohol and the service was excellent. Most of all they had quiet spaces.

This experience was so disappointing on so many levels.

If you're on a budget and don't mind basic food and basic service, this is your place but I thought I had booked something exceptional given the reviews and it certainly was not. The biggest disappointment was that I had gone out of my way to ask for a specific room due to my illness and it wasn't acknowledged.

Honestly, this hotel is 2 stars at most. The beach around the corner is absolutely stunning and the views from the higher floors are beautiful. The bar staff and animation team were friendly, and the adults-only pools were a nice touch. Unfortunately, the positives pretty much end there!

The food was regularly cold, bland and disappointing, with themed nights that seemed to change very little. The cocktails were even worse just sugary syrup from a machine, so sweet they attracted flies, with barely a hint of alcohol what happened to bar tending🥲

We paid extra for premium access because the downstairs outdoor bar closes at 7 pm, leaving everyone queuing inside for drinks. We were particularly excited about the rooftop premium bar, only to discover it had closed on 1 October, a whole week before our stay, with no clear warning before we paid! When we complained, reception was not helpful and told us we should have asked if it was open. Apparently, guests are now expected to do their own detective work before booking hotel facilities!

Luckily the next day another more helpful receptionist offered us a full refund on premium in exchange for our premium wristbands

We ended up eating out and spending more time away from the hotel than in it!! (Porto Cristo is a gem with beautiful restaurants if you get stuck with the all inclusive buffet )

The location and beach are gorgeous, but unfortunately, the hotel itself lets the whole experience down. A beautiful beach with a hotel that makes you wish you’d booked somewhere else. Wouldn’t return, and definitely wouldn’t waste money on the premium upgrade!