Iberostar Club Cala Barca Hotel

8 readers found this review helpful

We have just returned from Cala Barca. We were a group of 7 with 3 children, 18 month old, 7 and 8 year olds. Whatever the other bad reviews say ignor them!!
The complex is beautiful, set amongst trees and on a cliff with 6 pools and your own beach. It was very busy but as the complex is spread out it didnt feel busy during the day. However at times it was difficult to get a table to see the evening entertainment. For us the evening shows were average, we've seen better, so it didnt bother us that we didnt see all the shows.
The complex is extremely clean, food excellent (for all inclusive buffets) and with a choice of 4 restuarants you never go hungry. The restaurant staff did their best but they didnt like it if you wanted to put table together so our group of 7
could sit together, we did this several times and was told "its not possible" but they couldnt say why, so we moved the tables anyway!
The staff are friendly and the entertaintment team work very hard. The kids clubs are great with a lot of different activities.
The accomodation is spacious and very comfortable.
Yes there are a lot of other nationalities but that didnt bother us at all.
The sunbeds do get taken early about 8.30am in our experience, you need to get up early to put your towels down!!
The beach is a small cove and rocky. Pretty cove, good for snorkelling. There is a glass bottom boat trip that goes from the cove, worth doing escpecially sliding off the boat into the sea at the end of the day.
We had a great holiday, would recommend this complex for families.

13 readers found this review helpful

We returned from Cala Barca on 28/06/2010 and I would not normally write a report of this nature regarding a holiday however, I have read other reports and feel that it is necessary. Other reports have criticised the fact that the resort is predominantly German, which is most definitely true but that is not a problem in the slightest. We actually watched the England v Germany world cup game and despite England being a shambles and being surrounded by about 300 Germans, the experience was a good laugh. If people don't want to meet foreign travellers, they should stay in England and do their moaning there!!
This resort offered everything that a family could possibly want. We are a family of 4, with daughters aged 17 & 2 who both absolutely loved it. The food, accomodation, entertainment and level of service were all excellent. There was never any issues regarding a language barrier as all of the staff we spoke to spoke fluent English. The staff put on entertainment for all levels throughout the day and evening and were extremely friendly and easy going. The place is spotless however, there are lots of flights of steps around the complex, which, for some, could be an issue.
Only downside was that we had to get our towells on the sun loungers by 10am otherwise the Germans would literally have taken them all!!
We were gutted we only booked for 1 week and will be going again.

On A Recent Trip To The Location, The Hotel Appears Nice From Reception Until It Appears Full Of Plastic Chairs With No Room To Move, The Pools Are Squashed With No Sunbed Space Available. There Are A Number Of Pools Although Space Still Appears Limited. The Food Is Very Poor And It Seems All You Can Eat Is Chips During Your Stay. The Restaurant Is A Basic Food Hall Which Is Constantly Very Noisy With Children Running Around. The Staff Are Attentive When You Need Them But Their English Speaking Is Of A Minimum And It Is Obvious That They Favour The German Population Over Any Other, It Felt Like A Holiday To Germany Rather Than To Majorca. The Positive Side Was That Cala Dor Is 5 Minutes Away So You Are Able To Get Away From The Hotel When You Want. The Beach Is Very Dirty And Full Of Rocks.. Not Very Good For Young Children. A Selection Of The Apartments Are Based Around A 5 Minute Walk Up A Hill, With The Bar Not Opening Till The End Of Our Holiday It Meant Us Walking Everytime For An "All Inclusive" Drink. The Entertainment Was Good Although Still Being Squashed And Pushing Your Way Through Germany For A Seat To Watch It. The Childrens Entertainment Isn't Much Apart From A Few German Songs And A Dance. I Don't Know How It Can Appeal To Be A Child Centered Complex As They Don't Have Much To Offer. Overall I Wouldn't Recommend The Hotel As It Has Nothing To Offer Other Than German Rudeness And Alot Of Plastic Chairs.

Location and surroundings beautiful. Accomodation clean but in need of updating. Food good Poor reservation system for booking in restaurants for evening meal. On two out of six evenings our reservations were mixed. Attitude of staff on these occasions was poor and a complaint to reception gained little. Staff would not even make eye contact and we were given the impression that our word was doubted.
The location is not suitable person disabled persons or those with mobility difficulties.
Sunbeds were not available on beach and we felt this would be something which would enhance the beach.
Ice cream or ice lollies were not freely available to all inclusive guests. Ice cream was available in some restuarants at limited times. These items are normally available ad hoc in all inclusive deals.
All in all a good holiday but customer care does need to be addressed.

4 readers found this review helpful

Just returned from our second trip to this hotel and we were equally if not more impressed! We took a risk, our first vist was 7 years ago and booked through an agent our boys were only small but we really enjoyed it. This time, a last minute independently booked flight, we diceided we'd go to a place we'd experienced before and it turned up trumps. Yes it is very multi-national but not just German: Italian; Dutch; Spanish and English. Our boys, now 11 and 8 mixed well in the kids clubs and as well brought up children they don't have pre-misconceptions and made great friends with others from Holland, Germany and England. Children have a great way of communicating and over come language barriers - love of sports/games does help! Do not go here if you expect self catering accomodation - it is set up for all inclusive but with added benefit of a fridge (unlike some hotels). Very well kept, great services, well spoken English. There are lots of choices as to where to eat with a fantastic selection. Great for kids who have varied tastes and wishes of eating at different time! Very good value for money given the Euro at the moment. All inclusive but never ever rowdy. We've seen quite a bit of the island before and the sole purpose of this 9 day holiday was to relax, we didn't (on this occasion) feel the need to leave the resort. Great selection of pools, good beach (with bar/food). There is an alternative beach reached by road train or short walk where you can hire pedalo's etc but not part of the complex and so expect to pay for drinks etc when you are there. As far as safety for kids etc, yes there are lot's of steps and pools but small children must be watched 24/7 no matter where they are - if anything it's adults that need to watch their step or their vino intake! Highly recommended by family of four chilled laid back Northerners who will definitely go back.

2 readers found this review helpful

Honestly, read reviews about this hotel before we left and I have to report back and say that this hotel is excellent. We will be rebooking but for 2 weeks next year. Beach is great. So much to do on site. You can go scuba diving (at a cost), horse riding, loads of sports. It really is excellent. Lots for children and even the teenagers seemed pleased with what was offered on the site. Lots of people we met have been there many times. Location is fantastic. If you dont want to be too far away from the main area, email the hotel and ask to be located close to the restaurants - thats what we did. Food was great and plentiful. Of course you will get the odd day that you dont like something. Main area for food, pizza place does food too, as well as Italian and Mexican (which is situated on the beach). We had a few flies in our room - but hey your in a hot country - take some spray! Mozzies - no problem with these until I went to the beach in the evening - so be warned. Cleaning good - asked for extra pillows and got them within 10 minutes. You cant check in til 2 - so bear this in mind. Lots of drinks on offer. Cake and coffee in the sports / tv room between 4 - 6p.m. Evening entertainment could sometimes be a bit boring but we met loads of people to chat to, so didnt seem too bad. SUNBEDS - RIGHT HERE WE GO. The good thing about this hotel is that they are chained together until 10a.m (saves the getting up really early). A TIP FOR YOU. When you get up, go down and get some of the white chairs and place your towel on the white chairs. Place the chair in the space in which you wish your bed to go. At 10 you will see everyone hanging off the sunbeds ready for them to be unchained. It is better for 2 of you to get your beds. One each end and thus no one can get it out of your hands. We got a bed everyday without force, so good luck. The pools are fantastic and are not fresh sea water but have chlorine. WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS HOTEL - DAMN RIGHT I WOULD. We booked through Travel Republic and saved quite a bit of money. Any questions just ask nearlyforty@hotmail.co.uk

Do not go here if you are British unless you can speak fluent German. No offence meant to our German holiday makers but whilst we were there we only saw another 8 British families 6 of which were at the welcome meeting This hotel is 7km from Cala Dor it is surrounded by fields and nothing else. The food was terrible we lived on pasta all week. The entartainment would have been enjoyable if we could have understood the language. Thank goodness for the train which left from outside the hotel to take us to Cala Dor which is really beautiful. Dont leave any valuables in sight as we had items stolen from our room but at least the thief kindly locked our door with a key as they left. And dont bother complaining to the rep because hes not bothered either.

1 reader found this review helpful

We just returned from another fabulous holiday at Cala Barca and am so pleased we decided to return there.I was a little concerned reading a recent review about the pools looking different from last year as it was commented upon as there was no bridge or islands in the pools. I asked a member of staff about why the diving pool had been filled in and also about the removal of islands and bridges over the pools, they said it was because some older children had jumped irresponsibly and had hurt themselves, therefore they removed them.I must say that they kept the aesthetic beauty of the pools and if you hadn't visited in previous years you would never have noticed the difference.
The staff truly make this resort a wonderful place to visit, from the very warm greetings from reception staff to the guys collecting glasses from the pool area.There was never a queue at any of the bars and the hotel is kept spotless, you never have to ask for a table to be cleared.
The animation team, yet again, outstanding.This year we went with my 21yr old daughter and sons aged 13 and 5, myself, husband and my mother.There was always something to do, whether you wanted to try your hand at archery, rifle shooting, horse riding, salsa lessons, or one for the English, Bingo! The majority of the guests are German, but other nationalities were represented including the Swedish, Americans, French, Italians and Spanish. British people were very definitely in the minority which never bothers us.
The entertainment team have vastly improved this year with new additions to their team.We saw a couple of fabulous shows and were always able to find a table no matter what time we had dinner.Again our favourite restaurant was the Mexican restaurant on the beach, drinking a glass of wine watching the sun go down, quite beautiful! The other restaurants are lovely also, and there are only a couple of hours in the day when you can't have a meal or a snack.
One of the services which isn't advertised is that the sunbeds are locked of an evening and are only released at 10:00am the next day, thus avoiding the awful race to reserve sunbeds.This is positively frowned upon at this resort, as it should be! Everyone queues up at about 09:50am and waits until they have been unlocked.A level of decorum is definitely expected and if you sunbathe by a pool expect to get wet as the children will be jumping in! Again we expected this and it didn't bother us at all.
We have never returned to the same place twice as we always say that the world is too big. However, we were not disappointed and were extremely happy to be given the rooms we requested. If you don't want to have a room far from the main restaurant areas you should email Iberostar requesting you stay on the same side as the restarants/sports areas as the resort is built around a bay, horseshoe shape and it can be quite a hike from one side to the other.
The beach is in a lovely cove, very private with a beach bar, lots of places to sunbathe.
Once you are there it can feel rather remote so plan carefully, although there are always lots of excursions on offer.
As a family who, quite honestly can be very critical on holiday, we were very pleased to return to Cala Barca and whole heartedly recommend this hotel to not just familes, but to anyone who wishes to relax, enjoy wonderful service in an environment free of people who bathe in excess.(There are no drunken people singing at 02:00am).
The staff all speak English and it is very much appreciated if you make the effort to learn a couple of Spanish phrases.
At a time when it is considered we are not getting much value from the Euro it is refreshing to know that you can still have a wonderful holiday in Europe if you choose wisely.

This hotel is a death trap for young children you can never take your eyes off them in case they go over one of the many drops at the edges of the pools which are on 3 levels. there is a huge drop into the pine wood onto the beach which has a rail around but the rail has big gaps that a toddler could fall through, This hotel is ready to be updated renovated or pulled down and started again, the many paths, paving slabs have huge cracks in them and have been painted over with very nice green paint above and around the hotel grounds which are very very slippy when wet. The pool area looks nothing like the pictures on the internet there is no bridge or stepping stones. We spent most of our time around the toddler pool placed just above the huge drop to the childrens play area, as I said railed off but the rails very wide which children could fall through. The childrens play area is in the shade but too much shade with the breeze from the sea it can be very cold. The beach is small and the sand has lots and lots of stones in it and is surrounded by rocks. However the staff are excellent and the childrens club staff really look after the kids our children where too young. we were sold this holiday on the premis of it being a family hotel, we met a travel agent who had sold this holiday to herself who said that indeed the brochure needed bringing up to date. If your children are sensible and not too daring then this could be the holiday for you as the entertainment is very very good. but if you worry about your childrens safety and they are adventerous there are lots of accidents waiting to happen at this resort.The pool area is none too clean, we did try to shame the staff into cleaning one evening by swilling and brushing the toddler pool area but they just laughed at us. This is also a German dominated resort which is not a problem but if you only have one child could be a problem making friends with the language barrier

Had a good time though this hotel is what the reviews say, you will not meet many English.
So don’t do what the Brits usually do and moan to each other, do as what will be done to you - be rude push in and hover for seat at night you will enjoy it more.
The all inc is excellent we have been too many all inc across world and this does rate as one of the best, 1 tip order a picnic every day then you will all ways have bottled water for the room.
If you are coming here I would recommend a car as you are out on a limb, local buses will take you to where you want to go but it is slow and tiresome.
But if you were like us we just wanted to chill for the week and we did entertainment was very good with the animation team working overtime.
Another tip if you are coming here look at the cheap web sites to book like travel republic on the beach as you will almost half the price to that of a travel agent.