Petit Hotel Fornalutx

Websites can be very deceiving and this was a good example. Great setting and lovely gardens looking onto the orchard and surrounded by mountains. The hotel itself is like an upmarket hostel however. There are no full time staff and the place was empty a lot of the time. I complained to one of the staff members and she agreed with me that it was not satisfactory that there were never any staff around but said it was the "Director's" decision. Breakfast was so underwhelming we often missed it. It was a self service affair which involved sticking a cup under a machine to get a cup of horrible coffee and rooting around the kitchen to find a tray to bring the food out to the terrace. The most remarkable part was the orange juice - a basket of oranges and a squeezing machine to do it yourself. This would be fine at 1 star prices but we were paying 4 star prices for 1 star service. The pool is more of a plunge pool than a swimming pool. Only once was the jazuzzi hot enough to take a dip in - the rest of the time it was just luke warm. The proprietor of this hotel is so clearly trying to do everything on the cheap and takes no price in providing a service. It was a very disappointing experience all round and when we went to pay our bill we felt we had been completely ripped off.

My wife and I stayed at the Petit Hotel in mid-June. The village of Fornalutx and surrounds are wonderful, but the hotel does not stand up to the hype in its brochure, or on its website. The staff must take a lot of the blame for this. When you could find someone they were not that helpful. It appears that they all are just doing a job, and have no real reason to please their guests. Breakfast is a reasonable buffet, although they do run out of items if you don't eat early. The rooms are pretty average and poorly furnished. All the these considerations are weighed against a high room rate that makes the Petit Hotel very poor value for money. Not on my 'must return' list.

We stayed 8 nights at the hotel at the end of August. It is a tad too expensive, but on searching for similar properties in that area, it seemed about right. The breakfast was good and i loved the fact you ate outside. The hotel runs an honesty bar which is a good idea and reasonably priced. The village is really quiet, but we were after a get-away-from-it-all break and so it was perfect. There are a couple of decent restaurants but the Meditarranean cafe (which is so not a cafe!!) run by an english chap, was so good we went 3 times. There are local bars for a glass of beer or cava and typical tapas, all really cheap. There is no way to stay in Fornalutx without a car but it is only 10 mins from soller, which has loads of restaurants and about 20 mins from posh Deia. I would go back and actually think a 4 night break there would be great.

Stayed here for a week in September. We were a bit disappointed as the hotel wasn't cheap. Our room was very basic with little storage and air-conditioning was provided through a large plastic pipe which was pushed through a hole in the window. The garden was very pretty and the honesty bar was a nice touch - we spent many evenings after dinner with a beer or a glass of Cava on the terrace. The location is great and the village very pretty. All in all, quite a nice hotel but definitely not worth the prices charged. Elaine, London

If you are looking for an intimate hotel that overlooks mountains, is off the beaten path in a quaint little town surrounded by orange groves, then this is the place for you. Our room was very light with terrace style doors overlooking the back of the hotel which is lovely beyond words. I don't think the hotel has more than 10 rooms. The style is mediteranian and cozy. The staff is friendly. The rooms are equiped with airconditioning, radio, television and cable (although most programs are german). You start your morning by squeezing your own orange juice which is very sweet, much better than what we get in the U.S. Breakfast selection is wonderful with fresh fruits, breads, cheeses, meats, yogurts, etc... Coffee is delicious too. You can eat breakfast indoors or go out which is a must and eat at tables on the terrace. The back of the hotel has a nice pool, a hot tub, hammocks, lounge chairs, everything one needs for relaxation. The view, as i said, is amazing. The town of Fornalutx is small but very nice with a several restaurants all of which are good, a grocery store, bakery and various little shops. The breakfasts include several jams and if you like them, the grocery store sells it for a bit cheeper than the other stores and they are definitely worth buying for yourself and as gifts. This was the first time I ever ate kiwi jam and i'm hooked. It's a lovely area. My friend and I had a car so it was very convenient to zip from the hotel to the various beaches and towns.

An excellent small hotel. We have just returned following a three night stay at the Petit Hotel which was just lovely. I feel particularly moved to write this review following some of the other reviews which I read immediately prior to our departure and are somewhat critical of the Petit Hotel. Our standard double room was charming and stylish, it was well equipped and whilst it wasn't huge the size was perfectly adequate; the rooms are in an old Spanish townhouse. The staff at the hotel were unfailingly helpful and whilst some did not speak much English, this is a Spanish hotel! Breakfast was possibly the best I have had in a European Hotel comprising salami, cheese, eggs, cereal, fruit, croissants of numerous types, pastries, bread all freshly baked and home made jam, freshly squeezed orange juice and excellent coffee. The hotel is perfectly located in a small village within walking distance of Binaraix and Soller meaning that we hardly used the car during our stay. The only criticism I would level is that there is no tourist information in the hotel which would have been helpful.

I was very impressed with this hotel's website but in reality it is not all it seems. My wife and I had a junior suite at 190 euros per night which includes an average buffet style breakfast but that is all you get. No tea or coffee making facilities in the rooms you have to buy from a machine. No staff on site after about 8.30 - 9.00pm!! We recieved a lookwarm reception on arrival and were less than impressed with our suite. We had bottled water provided free some days but not others, we did not have any towels another day and no toilet paper either. The bathroom floor is so hot you can hardly stand on it and it is extremely small to have shower in. There are many loose tiles on the floor which move when you walk on them and we also had a hole on one of the panes of glass in the window. We discovered that the hotel has four parking spaces in the local car park but they try and keep it secret from you unless you ask them they will not make you aware of this facility. I asked and managed to get the use of a space for one day but it seemed a bit of an effort for them. The breakfast area and the garden are all very nice and if the weather is good then most of the issues I had will seem relatively minor but be warned this Hotel in my opinion is not value for money.

We’ve stayed at the Petit hotel in Fornalutx many times over the last few years. If you want a romantic, peaceful, laid back holiday this is the place to go. Don’t expect everyone to speak fluent English, don’t expect easy parking if you’ve got a car – it’s a village, space is limited! The Petit hotel is within walking distance of all the local bars, restaurants, shops and banks. The staff do their utmost to make your stay enjoyable. You get clean towels and your room cleaned every day – extra towels are available for sunbathing or whatever, Jacuzzi, sauna, swim – all available in the garden of the hotel. This is rural Mallorca – not Magaluf – it’s safe, it’s quiet, there are limited choices in what to do – but the scenery is magnificent and the people of Fornalutx are charming and friendly. Don't expect everyone to speak fluent English, but everyone will try their best to give you what you want and make your stay special. Go to the Bella Vista – Tolo & Michelle’s restaurant – for ok food, superb views, good service and clean toilets. Go to Bar Deportivo in the plaça and get a ‘taste of Mallorca' - watch the world go by, good service, reasonable prices from the best barman in Mallorca - Migeul. C'an Antun's restaurant (the first on the left as you come into the village from the 'high road' gets rave reviews in all the tour guide books - for better service and the same quality of food, go to the restaurant next door, you can't go wrong - only two restaurants side by side, think it's called ~Es Tores. Don't go to Cafe Med in the square of Fornalutx - it's over-priced and nothing special. If you're looking for something different to eat - explore Puerto Soller, you can get a lovely meal at Ses Oliviers on the bay, a great curry at the Indian restaurant beside the beach, a good Chinese meal nearby also. Soller too offers different choices - the main shopping area has a good selection of restaurants - we've tried a few and would recommend them. If you do decide to go to Fornalutx, please don't tell too many people how much you enjoyed it - too many tourists would spoil the experience. One tip . . if you want to see the island, hire a car. You need to go to the port or to Soller for public transport.

A great little hotel in a nice village. Top floor room was elegant and comfortable. Breakfast buffet was superb - especially the machine for squeezing oranges into fresh juice. It was also nice that some items (ie pastries) were left in the breakfast room so you could help yourself during the day. There were a few niggles however. A towel put out for replacement was taken but not replaced during our three day stay. Despite the room being cleaned on a daily basis, dirty glasses were left each day and not cleaned. A coffee machine was place on the first floor for guest's use which was a nice touch, but it was rarely filled with water. Parking in the village was very difficult, even in November, so it must be a nightmare in the summer. Apparently the hotel has some garage space but we were not made aware of this until we arrived and all the spaces were already booked for the duration of our stay. Despite these niggles I would stay there again. They were disappointing but not so bad as to ruin our stay. Beware the swimming pool though - its unheated and was freezing when we were there!

We stayed at the Petit Hotel for 3 nights and 4 days in early September in the junior suite overlooking the pool and mountains. We loved the hotel's understated yet luxurious ambience and the careful design that had gone into creating that (including the fantastic artwork by Mallorquin artist Ana Mascaro-Vives). As well as the fantastic setting and stunning views we liked: the honour bar with a great stock of wines and drinks; and the "open all hours" garden with hammocks and lanterns which was perfect for star-gazing. However, whilst someone had put a lot of thought into these things what lets the Petit Hotel down is the ongoing attention to detail. Things like our room only being cleaned (and towels changed) once in our 4 day stay and the buffet persistently running out of items towards the end of breakfast mean that we would rate the hotel as only above average. The staff at the Petit Hotel seem to be part of this problem - apart from one lovely man who, despite his poor English, managed to be more helpful and charming than the rest of the staff team put together! We enjoyed our stay at the Petit Hotel but left slightly frustrated in the knowledge that it could have been so much better with a little attention to detail and focus on customer service.