San Valentine Hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

what can i say this was the loveliest hotel we have been to.
we have a 2 year old daughter who loved very minute of this holiday.
we checked in late in the evening to be told a cold buffet had been prepared for us this was a lovely surprise as we thought we had missed out.
the rooms are lovely and clean and big enough to cope with a 2 year old charging around constantly. the rooms were cleaned daily by lovely friendly ladies.
the pools were fantastic 2 outside and 1 indoor so there was always something to do even if the weather was not great. there is a play area down the road that we visited daily.
all the staff were lovely with many speaking very good english and happy to help at all times.
there was a courtesy bus that ran regularly to the beach we walked it once down hill but never up it looked far too hard the bus stalled once when going u it is that steep.
the beach is lovely and clean with always plenty of space there are many pedal boats to hire if you so wish. there are many shops we visited which had all you could need.
the food at san valentin was brilliant always something for even the most fussy eaters and for those not so fussy expect to put on a few pounds!!!!!
we hope to return to this hotel it was that enjoyable not something we usually consider but this time we have been spoilt,and want to be again

The hotel was clean and most of the staff were curtious and helpfull.
For all inclusive (when you have paid up front) the food was very repetitive with limited snacks, drinks and ice creams, there was not much choice for vegitarians. For people who were paying on a bed and breakfast or room only there was a much wider choice of everything which did not seem fair.
The hotel is situated at the top of a hill it takes about 15-20 minuites to walk to the town which is okay down but exausting coming back up, there is a bus but this does not run between 1-3pm and does not run of a night time, so be prepared for a walk or stay in the hotel every night.

1 reader found this review helpful

A super hotel with the exception of evening meals. Very poor selection: great if you lived on salads and didn't want any meat with this.
Vegetables practically non existant at dinner: plenty available with breakfast - sprouts, broccilli!! Why is it we are subjected to chips with evening meals every day.
Puddings were fine with loads of fresh fruits, ice creams, jelly and 'cakes'.
The staff were very obliging and courteous the hotel was very clean and evening entertainment good.
Our week was spoilt by rain (no one can help this) apart from the evening meal we would certainly return.

2 readers found this review helpful

This was our fourth year in a row at the San Valentin, we have never had a complaint to make about the hotel. We stayed in one of the appartments but had half board. The apartments are comfy with adequate facilities, cleaned every day by friendly staff.
The food in the restaurant is of a good standard and the waiters and waitresses are very friendly and polite, in fact some of the staff remembered us from the previous years.
The entertainment in the evening is of a high standard, except for the nights when the entertainment staff do their miming to hollywood songs etc.
During the day there is plenty of entertainment and activities if you want to join in or you can relax around the pool or gardens.
It is advisable to hire a car as there is so much to see on this beautiful island, even though we have been six times tothe island we still find new places to visit. The boat trip around the harbour in Mahon is a must.
We have made alot of friends over the years at the San Valentin, many who have been going for 10 years or more.
We have already booked to go back in July 2008.

The hotel San Valentin is very nice, but the entertainment goes on all night. You cannot get an 'early' night, even if you try.
Everything else is great, there is a Kids club and a big pool, and the entertainmen is good.
Our room wasx spacious, clean with a good view of the beach. The reception staf are helpful and others are too.
Overall a great stay, walready ooked to go back!!

Me and my partner have just returned from a week’s stay at the San Valentin Hotel on a half board basis, and to be quite honest I can't understand anyone who has been to this hotel being told it is a 4* resort being anything less than deeply disappointed!
We travelled with First Choice and found the reps and cabin crew very helpful and polite. Once on the coach it was around a 20-30 minute transfer to the hotel.
When we arrived the reception staff were very friendly and helpful, we had been delayed an hour and a half flying out so by the time we arrived there was only 15 mins left until the restaurant for dinner closed, so we were offered a cold meat salad to be delivered to our room.
We were also offered a ground room floor which we were told were slightly larger and as compensation upgrade us to All Inclusive - we weren’t sure as we had only just arrived and we had specifically booked a room with a balcony so we decided to stick with that.
The room we had was clean, cool and we had our balcony - we were on the 3rd floor - unfortunately it was at the back of the hotel and below us was where the hotel staff would take their cigarette brakes, which wouldn't have been too bad had they of made not quite so much noise. Day and night. It was also where the bins were kept!
I would not consider this room to be 4* although it was clean it was quite basic, there was no fridge or mini bar so keeping any water cool was impossible, there was satellite TV but was a small portable with poor reception and as we flopped down on the bed tired from the travel the wooden headboard double smacked against the wall! We had a look and it wasn't fixed to the wall properly so I decided to roll up one of the horrible green rugs and wedge it between the headboard and the wall! Hardly 4*!!
I must say however that the maid service was excellent! Somehow they would see you leave your room - however late - and by the time you were back everything was done. In the hotel this was done every day (however as I understand it from a couple of other guest staying in the apartments this was done only twice a week and their air-con wasn't very good) the maids were also very nice and polite.
After we had dumped our bags we ventured down for a drink. The main bar which is where the "entertainment" is held, this also the family bar, - this wasn't really for us though although the children that were there were very well behaved. We went down to the adult only bar, it's small in comparison but much nicer and the staff (the same two ladies) were lovely and very friendly but for some reason this bar closed an hour earlier than the family bar, midnight! Also the adult bar doesn't open until 8pm.
Whilst reception, the adult only bar staff and the maids were all hospitable, polite and friendly the same can't be said for the rest of the staff. On our first evening meal in the restaurant or cafeteria as we called it (it really was a bit of a free for all!) the waiter came to the table and asked for our drinks order, I asked for a vodka and coke, he just wrote coke so I politely said that it was a vodka a coke I wanted and I was abruptly told "No, in the bar only" Ok! So I asked for a glass of wine again I was told "No, tonight no tomorrow not a problem" we could only order a bottle, by this time I was totally confused and ordered two bottles of water - which are just dumped on your table as the miserable staff walk past.
Not exactly the service I expect from a 4* hotel! However if you were All Inclusive you would be given wine by the bottle in the restaurant but they would only do it by the glass in the bar! So you could order 4-5 glasses but not a bottle!! Ridiculous! On another night we did order a bottle of wine to have with dinner, it wasn't that cold so we had the one glass that had been poured and after dinner took the rest with our glasses to sit outside the main bar.
My partner went to the bar to ask for an ice bucket, he was told "No, you have to buy a bottle of Cava" he explained we had just spent 13.40EUR on the bottle of wine in the restaurant, he came back empty handed, I couldn’t believe it! We were both losing patients, my partner went back up with the bottle of wine to show the barman, and reluctantly he gave us one.
Just the lack of basic manners and a friendly face constantly made you feel that you were putting them out. One morning we ordered a coffee in the main bar and was just grunted at by the barman! Charming.
We are not arrogant holidaymakers and would always speak Spanish (although limited) Please, thank you, how are you and when ordering drink & food wherever we could. The staff at the pool side bar were the same, totally disinterested and no manners, plus the food was horrible and overpriced - 26.00 EURO for 2 cheeseburgers, 1 portion chips and 3 large cokes (which were from the pump)! About £18-20! I nearly fell over, especially as I’m sure the burger was deep fried and there was also a regular ping of a microwave.
The pool area itself was lovely, clean and always a sunbed available with a smaller pool for the little ones.
Food times were also restricted even for people who would be paying, like us. Once the restaurant was closed the only place to eat was the pool bar which also stopped serving any food halfway through the day - There isn't even room service! Where did they get these 4*s from?
There is a little shop on site so we used to use that to buy our drinks from in the day whilst by the pool, although this would also close for siesta, but on a couple of occasions the drinks we purchased were out of date, one bottle of fizzy water was out by 9 months!
Outside of the hotel it’s about a 10-15 min walk down a very steep hill to Son Bou, (although there is a free bus service that the hotel run) there are a few restaurants all of which do pretty much the same thing and was disappointed when there were no Tapas bars, but the food we had in a couple of the restaurants were lovely’s would highly recommend the Mexican bar BOU HAI which is next the Chinese restaurant, it's excellent, quite big all under bamboo/straw roof with swingy chairs hanging from them and big Wicca chairs and intimately lit.
The cocktails are great to; they do a huge one called the Volcano, for 4 people. It arrives with fire coming out the top of the volcano, 2ft long straws, a mass of fresh fruit surrounding it and sparklers! Great fun!
This hotel is no more than a basic 3* and would never go back. There was no one big thing just the constant battle on the little things which just built up throughout the holiday. We were very disappointed as this was our first holiday on our own for 5 years and our first holiday in 3 years.
Be warned, if you have been to a 4* hotel before and had the wonderful service and holiday as you should, please don't go hear because it just won't happen!

I took my 76 year old Mother and my handicapped sister for a one-off holiday paying around £500 each, expecting to find a 4* hotel as in the brochure. We were so disappointed when we arrived as the room wasn't prepared, two beds for three people... not enough towels for two let alone three.
The air conditioning worked but wasn't cool enough no matter how far down you turned it. The floor in the bathroom was dirty and even when I tried to clean it myself it seemed to be ingrained. The hallway carpets were grubby and stained, there were broken tiles around the pool, which some little children did slip on - one went down a crack and we heard her head hit the tiles. The tables at the 'snack shack' were crumbling around the sides and grubby on top. And I have photos to support these comments. You needed a towel for the sun loungers which were also grubby, but don't expect to use the hotel towels as this is frowned upon by the management. You can hire towels for a 15 Euro deposit and then so much each. In fact, you can pick up a sheet detailing all the things you can hire, e.g. a kettle - yes that's right, no drink making facilities in this 4* hotel.
The restaurant noise level was on a par with being in a school dining room. The entertainment was sort of OK although if you didn't get in around an hour-and-a-half before it started you wouldn't get seats together for three of you. Even couples struggled to get seats together by the last half hour. And one night the entertainment staff put on a 'Hollywood greats' show and I really felt sorry for them - it was embarrassing.
The staff in the hotel were great. The Rep... thought it was a lovely hotel and wasn't really interested in my complaints.

We are a family of 4 (2 children aged 11 and 14) and absolutely loved this hotel. Had a one bed self-catering apartment set in the grounds of the hotel which was spotlessly clean although in need of some updating. The hotel itself is situated in a quiet area on the edge of Son Bou. Its about a 2km down hill walk to the beach but its worth it for the spectacular views across the bay (bit of a slog back up if you're walking and not recommended for those with small children). Son Bou beach is great with crystal clear water and a variety of water activities on offer and you can always find somewhere to sit even at peak times.
There is a free regular shuttle bus from the reception down to the town/beach which is great, although this can get very busy on occasions and disappointingly finished at 7.00pm which meant that if you went for an evening meal in the town you had to either walk back up or get a taxi.
The communal areas are all kept to an extremely high standard and all the staff we dealt with were friendly and obliging. We ate in the hotel restaurant on a few occasions and the choice of food was very good and of a high standard with dishes to suit every palate. The pool area is great and there is a covered area with table tennis, pool etc which the kids loved. The entertainment both in the day and the evening was good (except for the reps night) and varied.
Menorca itself is beautiful and would recommend hiring a car (as we did) to see the island as there are loads of beautiful beaches, historic sites, good shopping etc - in fact something for everyone.
Don't use the supermarket on the hotel site as this is very expensive compared to the supermarkets in the town.
Great hotel, plenty to do but not too over-powering and noisy, high standards all round - we've booked again to go next summer!

This holiday was really good! It was the best! Entertainment was on every night and there was a lot for young children to do!
I went in August and made about 20 friends whilst I was there aged between 12-17. We had a really good time - the entertainers made it really great watch out for the head entertainer Gio!! And Sandra and Louis too -- they were great always getting you involved!!
It’s quite expensive but it’s a holiday!! Staff were friendly made friends with one of the receptionists Teresa she was such a laugh!!
Coming back next year!! Well persuading the parents!!
Love Hannah (you might remember me if you were there)
Also look out for Jimmy he goes every year!!

THE HOTEL:
This hotel is beautiful and very clean, the receptionists and hotel staff/barmen/barmaids/cleaners are always ready to help if there is a problem, or they are needed.
The hotel is well designed i.e. where the pool/bar/restaurant/lounge /entertainment and reception area is, these areas are easy to get to and from.
SERVICES:
Although this hotel/apartments are up a great hill there is a private bus which is free of charge that travels up and down the hill (to and from son Bou where the beach/shops /bars/restaurants are) dropping off and picking up every 20-30 mins all day until 7:00pm . There is a shop/supermarket on the grounds .
ROOMS:
Cleaners come in to your rooms every day, the rooms are in good condition, and all the facilities are in good working order. The only down side is there is no fridge or kettle in the rooms which was needed at times - you have to keep going down to get drinks and bring them back to the room.
CLUBS:
They cater for all ages of children doing different activities all day in and out of the mini club (a big hut ) and sometimes do water sports ,and end with a mini disco at 8:30pm.
NIGHT TIME:
At night time they do the children’s mini disco to start off ,and then have an entertainment act from singers to acrobats. Then when the entertainments over there is background music until 12 midnight which is not late enough for people who want to stay up late and have a dance so there should be a disco after the entertainment until late0.
OVERALL:
Overall the stay at the hotel has been fantastic and I would recommend it to everybody, it has everything you want and need.