Hotel Palmasol

the room was also small & not enough hangers ( Apx 7 for two of us) We enquired about upgrading but couldn’t get anything for 2 nights. Subsequently once we were in & settled we found the noise was not so bad from the road / stairs / lift & I think this was aided due to the day starting later ( pool opened at 10am) & meal times were staggered. The beds were extremely comfortable & I would go as far to say the most comfy we have had on holiday.

Cleanliness: the cleaners were fabulous, very cheerful. Attended each day to make beds , fold towels etc & these were also changed when required.

Entertainment: The first week, we found the entertainment staff directed their attention to the many Spanish in the hotel, this wasn’t a problem for us as we didn’t have children with us & as adults can make our own entertainment. Andy stood out & seamed to interact more with the English, this maybe because he was more confident with the English language. Not a complaint just an observation. We saw a fabulous violinists & tribute to Ill Divo, these sang in Spanish & English & were a delight to see.

Restaurant/ Bar: restaurant times were staggered ( understandable due to the current situation) the 10-11pm meal time was a little late for us so we ate out a few times but no complaints, as a whole the food was very good, reasonable selection & something for everyone. Staff very pleasant & accommodating. The pool bar, staff here were great Jose, Angels, Francesca particularly stood out, Always had a smile & a chat & were very good at remembering the orders. Overall - had a lovely stay & if we did visit Benelmadena again we would definitely consider Hotel Palmasol.

I must comment though that there was no hand soap in either bathrooms so we ended up having to go to the local shop and buy our own. Although the apartment was fresh and clean it was very big and bare. The cleaner came in and made beds but she didn’t sweep the bedroom floor or bathroom floor and didn’t change our bedsheets all week, fresh towels were provided every day though. Our room must of had bad drainage as when we would come back in after being out all day our room would absolutely stink which was very unpleasant. The shower and taps are also salty water, so I don’t recommend drinking the tap water!

The complex is very spread out over a large area and you do have to do quite a bit of walking to get from your room to the reception or restaurant or pool which we didn’t mind but anyone with limited mobility maybe would mind.

There are 4 pools at the hotel, one thing that was quite major to me was that you aren’t allowed floats in the pool so no lilos/rings or anything, which I couldn’t understand why??? the main pool which is a really big pool and is generally very busy with lots of sun beds (not the best sun beds or comfiest I must admit!) this pool was most Convenient for us as it had music, the bar, snacks and entertainment. There is a smaller pool by the chill out bar which also has snacks and drinks but there are literally 10 sun beds here so if you want a spot here you have to put your towel down at literally 6am! There is also another pool with wooden decking which we never used again due to lack of sun beds and no music/ bar for atmosphere. There is also a kids pool which has a couple of slides but again not much atmosphere here and it’s quite a distance away from any bar which isn’t ideal if you are thirsty.

All the staff were fantastic and went above and beyond to make sure everybody was having a good time. The entertainment team are fantastic and always so happy and provided a variety of entertainment every night.

There was a good range of all inclusive drinks provided however no cocktails included and bar staff measurements were sometimes a bit ridiculous, they get to know what you drink though and some evenings I was arriving at the bar and they had made my drink before I’d even asked which was nice. All inclusive drinks stop being served at 2300hrs but you can buy drinks until 2345hrs.

Now let’s talk food! Breakfast is served at 8am-10am with a mix of continental and cooked breakfast. There was a really good selection to choose from. Lunch is served at 1pm-3pm and dinner 7:30pm-9:30pm and was both a bit hit and miss, you had standard cooked meats but overall found there wasn’t an awful lot of choice there was always salad available and pizza / pasta / chips if you did struggle to find anything to eat, my friend is a vegan and she did struggle and ended up eating really basic and sad meals most nights. There was small selection of deserts available but are not labelled clearly. There was always fresh fruit. fresh drinks & coffee machines available Overall the restaurant was clean and tidy and they kept on top of the food and we’re always ready to replace something as soon as it ran out. There is also a beer and wine pump in the restaurant where you can pour yourself. They are very strict in the restaurant about wearing masks you literally can’t stand from your table without a mask cos there is one guy in particular who will be on you like a rash telling you to put your mask on.

There is no shop at the hotel you have to walk 10 mins to the spar shop which sells most things plus souvenirs. There is a free daily shuttle to the beach but if you aren’t a massive beach lover i wouldn’t recommend it as it’s super busy and costs 15€ for a sun bed all day. The Cala D’Or town is right next the beach and has lots of shops and restaurants

Also the hotel does covid tests for 30€ and pool towels for 10€ deposit and 1€ to get a fresh one.

Overall we had a good holiday here, there are many good points but also a few bad. Hope you find this review helpful! 😊 this hotel is well deserving of 3 stars and could quite easily make it a 4 star by making a few adjustments

Thank you to all at hotel Palia for a lovely week away.