Siesta 1 Apartments

First time we had booked a holiday independently but it was a good experience and saved our group over £1,000. The Siesta is lovely, located at the back of the resort (about 15 minutes down to the beach on a hot day, straight out of the front doors and keep going). Our private apartment didn't have air conditioning (which we could seriously have done with), but most of the other apartments do. The reception was lovely and the staff were very helpful. Whilst we didn't book with Thomas Cook, the rep Johnny was extremely helpful when one of our children developed an ear infection. The hotel has a pub-bar which serves 3 course meals for 8 euros which are ok and it caters for kids very well, we also ate in the hotel restaurant (5 euros for buffet breakfast and 10 euros for buffet dinner). The food and staff there were lovely. The pool area is very nice and large and clean with lots of shade for the non-sun lovers. They also have a really nice kids/adults water play area which comes on every hour for 15 minutes from mid-day which is a good way to cool down. The pool area is locked on a night and doesn't open until 9 am when you will need to queue for a sun lounger (school holidays) although we never had a problem getting one, and during our stay about another 100 new ones were delivered! The Spar shop under the hotel is quite expensive but ok for the odd bottle of water and ice cream. Use the shops along the walk to the front - large supermarket which sells everything and has an exchange shop/ATM in there as well. We booked a trip to the Western Water Park with Thomas Cook (yes, it is cheaper if you go with No Frills, but expect to pick up EVERYBODY on the way and the children's prices with TC are excellent). It is a wild western themed water park with lots of rides for everyone and it really was a great day out. It also has shows, and the food isn't badly priced either. AVOID the Arenal Water Park - complete rip-off! The entry price is about the same as Western Water Park, however, when you get there you need to pay for a rubber ring (10 euros), otherwise you are just waiting forever (approx 20 minutes for a ring, and then you have to join the queue for the ride itself). You then however, have the responsibility of the ring for the entire day and if you leave it lying around whilst you are on a ring-free ride, and someone else takes it, if you don't take back the correctly numbered ring which matches the tag on your wrist, then you don't get your deposit back. The beach in Alcudia is lovely, long and wide and nice soft white sand, although the sunbeds and parasol prices are quite expensive. The smell - we smelled it about twice over a period of two weeks, smells a bit like drains but it wafts away very quickly and it certainly didn't spoil our holiday. Restaurants - we only tried a couple because we were very happy with the food in the hotel. Lunas Grill - we went twice - the first time was lovely (get there early) and we sat outside and really enjoyed it. The second time (because the first time was so good), we got there about 8.30 pm and it was full, so we ended up with a seat inside where it was very hot, smoky and busy, very very noisy from the show and the food and service were poor (the Lunas Special kebabs were very fatty and under-cooked and most of my party left them). Nobody asked what was wrong with them, just wanted paying. We were practically acosted as we left because another member of my party had got the money to pay and we were told very rudely to return to our table to pay. We were recommended the Tapas bar on the front (walk down past the Siesta almost to the beach and when you get to the main road at the bottom turn left and it's just round the corner). The Lucky Dragon Chinese retaurant is on the right as you get to the front. The food in the Tapas bar was lovely, air conditioned inside and nice area to sit outside. The staff were really helpful and suggested lots of different dishes and the food was fabulous. It wasn't one of the cheap 8 euro for 3 courses type places and for a party of 6 cost us 100 euros which included a bottle of wine and a paella which was heaven. I would probably say that was the nicest meal we had in Alcudia, and would definitely go back there again. All in all Alcudia is a great place for families, you can't do any better than the Siesta Apartments and we will definitely be back (although probably not in July when it was too hot!).

This is a very nice hotel in a great location. The rooms - a good size with kitchen facilities. Always clean and a good size balcony. No air con but fans can be hired. The Pool - a very nice pool surrounded by very nice gardens. The pool can get busy at times. The Resort - Alcudia is split in to 2 resorts, Alcudia and Puerto Alcudia. Main Alcudia is where Siesta 1 is, its mainly 1 main street which is 1km long, with the beach at 1 end and Siesta 1 at the other. The street has many bars, restaurants, pubs and shops. There is entertainment on in a lot of the bars. There is also a crazy golf cause and a nice bar/restaurant opposite Siesta. The resort has a lot of water features scattered throughout the streets which look great. Puerto Alcudia has a really nice port where there are many luxury yachts. Its more up-market than Alcudia which makes it more expensive to eat out there. There are less English at the port but its a very nice day/night out. The Beach - The main thing you notice is that the beach is massive, it stretches for about 7miles so there is always a space although it does get crowded the nearer you stay to the resort. As well as being a long beach it is really wide. The sea is shallow and you can go quite far out before you get out your depth. There is a small beach at the Port as well which is nice but not as good as the main beach. Excursions - Thomas Cook Reps Night was a great laugh, you pay 1 price and get food and drink all night (even on the coach on the way). Its good fun and the reps put on a great show with lots of singing and dancing. (only bad point is its held in Magaluf which takes about 1 hour by coach). Market - the market is a nice area to walk round even if you don’t want to buy anything, it’s very typically Spanish (the buildings not the things for sale). The market mainly sells your fake sunglasses and watches but there are a few stalls that sell more original ideas. Magaluf/Palma Nova - These are 2 resorts in 1 and offer great beaches, bars/nightclubs, restaurants, 2 aqua parks, go-karting and many more excursions. Alcudia is a very nice place and Siesta 1 is a great value hotel to stay in. If you require anymore information on the Hotel, Alcudia, Palma Nova or Magaluf feel free to email me: who_let_the_dingles_out@hotmail.com