More Traveller Reviews of Hotetur Belsana
DON'T GO THERE !!!!!
from Laughable
I've just got back from a weeks all inclusive at the Belsana. It was a late deal and fairly cheap and having read some great and some bad reviews before going, I thought I'd reserve judgement until I got there because some people moan about everything and anything. How wrong was I. It was awful !!!! I went with my 76 year old mum and 2 boys of 15 and 11. We we're given 1 bedroom in the hotel approx 11 ft square (even though I was told it would be a 1 bed apartment). It had 4 beds squeezed into it that were so close that we had to climb over each other to get to the bathroom! There are quite a few english staff in the hotel so there was no mistaking what my complaint was regarding but they basically don't give a damn. By the way, everyone I spoke to that week was making complaints so it wasn't just me. Unless you get up at 7.30am, don't ever expect a sunbed at the pool as I didn't get one all week till after 4.30pm. One day I didn't even get a plastic chair to sit on. The food was awful, all processed rubbish and so salty and over cooked that it was unrecognisable some days. If Jamie Oliver thought school canteens were bad I suggest he samples the Belsana cuisine. By the end of the week I was forced to purchase soft drinks from the local shop because the ones at the hotel tasted of soapy water. Even my kids wouldn't drink them. Mostly there was no water dispenser working in the dining room and when it did, it left scum marks and salt residue on the glass. Any food, and I stress it was a very limited choice, that was ordered from the snack bar at the pool took between 45 mins and 1 hour to be prepared - for a burger I ask you! There are permanent queues for the bar, once I waited 20 mins, the entertainment is pathetic and the activities are a joke. Archery is a bit of old tarpaulin hung on the wire fence outside. The hotel has beautiful views but do nothing to enhance them. There is a scratty bit of gravel, broken wire fencing to keep your kids from the rocks below ,1 park bench and 4 plastic garden tables and chairs outside and this is the only outside space provided for you to sit in the evening. Mostly we had to sit on the gravel or drag chairs out from the function room. It was either that or sit in 90 degrees heat inside with screaming kids and 5000 watts of light bulb. If you enjoy bad working mens clubs and crap food, do come along to the Belsana as I'm sure you'll love it but if you don't, my advice is to pay a few quid more and go somewhere else. The Vistimar hotel next door is beautiful by the way !!!
Mixed Feelings
from lubybell
We have just returned from a weeks holiday at the Belsana. Our kids (10, 7 & 6) absolutely loved it. We enjoyed the holiday but there were some problems with the hotel. We stayed in the apartment block. The apt was large & spacious with a great sea view. However there is an ongoing problem with the water. We had a burst pipe one day which flooded our room & the two next door & left the whole block without water for 3 hours. The water was also off the next day for a couple of hours. Other people complained of having no hot water although ours was okay. Also if you have a pram make sure you contact the hotel to ask for a low floor as there are 3 floors to this block & no lift. There was also some problem with the drinking water at the bar & in the restaurant. On several days it tasted strongly of chemicals/ salty & was undrinkable. We ended up buying bottled water from the shop to take into our meals with us. They seemed to struggle with the amount of people who were there too. It was the school hols but they should staff the place accordingly. It was a struggle to get a table in the dining room at times & they kept running out of things. All the tables were also only for 4 people & as many familes were 5 or 6 it was like musical chairs at times. Towards the end of our stay it was starting to get into sunbed wars. If you weren't by the pool before 9 you had no chance!!! On the plus side. The evening entertainment was geared towards kids & ours loved it. All we wanted was a nice lazy week with enough for the kids to do. This was certainly it. We weren't restricted to 2 drinks each so that seems to have been sorted out too. The food was okay, we all found something we enjoyed. Porto Colom is lovely. Very pretty and although not exactly a lively resort it wan't as quiet as I imagined after looking on here. There was plenty to keep our kids entertained. The hotel has spectacular views out to sea. The beach was lovely, although it was a long walk back in the scorching heat. We really enjoyed the trip on the glass bottomed boat, well worth it. Take a walk to the square if you fancy a change in the evening. Trampolines, bouncy castles & rides for the kids & live music & several bars, restaurants for the adults. I would definitely recommed the resort but perhaps not this hotel. However if you have already booked or you can get a cheapo deal as we did then just go with an open mind as it isn't that bad & you will enjoy it.
You got what you paid for
from Lupton
arrived with 2 kids (11 & 9)given a room that was only suitable for 2 adults ( 4 beds along 1 wall with no spaces inbetween each bed)complained and was offered another room 2 days later still very small but we could just about manage As for wardrobe & drawers forget it only equivalant to a single wardrobe and 2 bedside cabinets (most of our clothes had to stop in our suitcases that had to be left on the balcony because there was no room to store them anywhere in the room (good job it didn't rain) FOOD good breakfast after the first couple of days the food started to deteriate probably because it was getting busier you had to wait nearly 15 mins to get a drink in the evening staff busy having breaks and talking Only 2 entertaineres and on their days off there was nothing for the kids to do Joel was good with the kids but the Mini Disco got a bit boring same songs each evening If you require a CHEAP HOLIDAY this would probably do for you Burnley LAncs
our stay at belsana
from A TripAdvisor Member
arrived in belsana for a week, was given a 1 bed room apartment ,refused it as we had 3 kids ,6 suitcases,there was no lift,it was on the 3rd floor. offered a ground floor apartment the next day, air con leaked, leak in toilet , leak on balcony and it stunk.also no hot water. refused again,after getting quite upset and angry,we then were offered 2 separate rooms in the hotel block, wow what a difference ,clean, tidy, hot water ,excellent. food was gorgeous,every thing you could thinkk of catered for everybody,kids adults & vegies. the kids entertainers were excellent, markku and joel . alex the barman was so good with the kids. not enough on for adults on a night on some nights. plenty for the kids. no laundry service as stated. nothing in porto colom ,it self but if you want too laze by the pool all day its great. we did have a great time,after everything was sorted out . very helpful staff maids do a great job too ,rooms very clean ,fresh towels everyday.
loved it
from karenEssex
we had a weeks holiday at the belsana, in june this year the whole place was very clean always clean towels. the foood was brilliant lots of choice and loads of it, plenty to drink, not to sure about the entertainment was quite boring, the staff were very friendly and pleasant. the beach was lovely and only ten minutes away. i would advise people to use the air con at night like we did and not leave windows open or you get bit to death. the price we paid on the net for our holiday was worth it.
Never Again
from A TripAdvisor Member
I went to hotel belsana for my 21st birthday(5/6/06) at the beginning of June! The hotel is in the mddle of no-where, with not many shops around! The entertainment in the evening was CRAP! During the day, hotel entertainer Marcu done a couple of activities, come 8pm, u got 25 mins worth of a "kids mini disco" followed by bingo and a quiz! Luckily for me and my group, we spoke to the bar-men ALEX! such a lovely bloke, good with the kids aswell! He made our holiday for us. We even went out with him to a local pub called the "Beez Neez", was the best night throughout the holiday!!! Everyone loved ALEX!!! Im keeping in touch with alex via email, Im definetly goona go back to mallorca, but to a different part, and only to see ALEX again!! Everyone that knows who im talking about will know wot I mean!!!
good
from nova1966
was worried about some of the views i read before travelling to porto colom, staying at the belsana was enjoyable, the staff were great, very helpful, food was good, cant complain for the price we paid. I travelled with my 17 yr old daughter and was a bit concerned but it was good, buses were near to hotel to travel to other locations for more shops and markets. reviews i read were nothing like we witnessed, can only say again how good the staff were... well done belsana.
give this hotel a miss
from A TripAdvisor Member
Just got back from 2 weeks at hotel belsana. We were 2 families of 9 in total and placed in the near by appartment block. These appartments are dirty and unsafe, we had no locks on the patio doors the floors were never cleaned and the balconies were thick in sand/dust. We had no hot water to shower and on occasions no water at all. Bedding should have been changed twice a week this was not the case and we had to complain to get out bedding changed. You have to queue at the bar for a drink every night with a restriction of 2 drinks per person, as a party of 9 ,5 of them being children we complained and was served our drinks in paper cups for the rest of the night. The outside area is dirty full of tab ends ,bottles, glasses and dog dirt where locals walk their dogs through to foul everywhere, this is the only outdoor area to sit at night and for kids to play. Food is good and dining area clean. Pool area has loads of sunbeds but only a few parasols. At the pool bar you can get chips, bugers, toasties and ice creams. Not alot at resort but a nice beach about 15min walk.
We enjoyed our stay!
from A TripAdvisor Member
Booked this holiday and then was rather concerned by some of the reviews I read on the Internet – having just got back from the holiday, I felt that I had to have my say. Stayed at the Belsana from 17/06/06 – 22/06/06 and we really enjoyed our stay - it's a lovely location in a quiet resort. Room had sea views out towards the lighthouse. Having travelled with a 17 and 19 year old I was a bit concerned that the lack of evening entertainment may be a problem, but there are plenty of bars in Porto Colom and we spent some pleasant evenings, relaxing as a family in the hotel and at some of the bars. Considering the cost of the holiday, the accommodation was perfectly adequate, clean and comfortable – food, again perfectly acceptable and the chef very obviously tried to cater for the 'meat and two veg' people as well as those of us who like to try something a little bit different. As someone who has rather sensitive digestion, where previous mediterranean holidays have made me very unwell and desperate to go home, I'm happy to say that I had no ill effects from my stay at the Belsana at all - so I was very happy! Yes, the bar was busy at peak times, but when you have 70+ rooms and unlimited local alcohol if you are all inclusive, then it's hardly a surprise. We stayed in the hotel rather than the apartments and I was aware that there was a problem with the water supply to the aparthotel the week that we were there - however, from what I witnessed, the staff were being as helpful as possible and offering people access to hotel rooms or use of the shower facilities at the indoor pool whilst the problem persisted. There are quite a few english staff working there - and we found that all the staff were friendly and helpful. So, all in all, it depends what you are looking for - we found it to be a very relaxing place to spend a few days. Pay Pay Bar is worth a visit - friendly English owner and very nice Sangria. The glass bottom boat from the harbour was a nice way to spend a couple of hours - the coastline is spectacular.
Not the worst but not the greatest
from JulesStockport
Porto Colom is quite fishing village so for those looking for lots of nightlife then this isnt for you. However if you want to chill out and relax then it is. There are a few bars, restaurants and shops but not much else. We stayed at the Hotel Belsana which was a 3*. The staff were friendly enough, lots on English people working there, the food was excellent, couldnt fault it, the place seemed clean enough although we spoke to many people who had experienced some problems but we didnt. The All Inclusive drinks were a slight problem for some also, you were only allowed 2 at a time which as a couple was ok for us but if you were in a bigger group or a family it caused problems. We met a lovely couple with a child and if we went to the bar we had to go three times!!!! The staff were quite slow in serving so there was always a queue. The pool area was lovely but only 9 parasols to the whole area so if like us you burn easily you need to get there for 9am when the pool opens to grab one. There didnt seem much for children to do, there was a kids disco in the evening for half an hour then either a small show or Bingo. They had one pool table and 2 video games - thats it! All in all though we had a pleasent stay , we booked a few trips with the hotel (be warned they dont give you much info, on one trip we were collected at 2pm, the driver took us right past where we were supposed to go so they could divert us to a Pearl Factory and an Olive Factory noone on the coach knew about it, it was so they could get us to spend more money, we didnt get to our designated stop till 5pm!!!!) as much as we had a nice time, if you asked me if I'd go again the answer would be no.
More hotel photos
stayed 10nights 9/08/11 hotel not as expected all inclusive where we have been befor incuded afternoon tea /coffee and late snacks there was none here only cup of tea avlible in restrant with breakfast also bar but we like tea with meals food awfull compared to other... more