Reviews of San Jaime Complex, Son Bou

We stayed in apartment 59, zone 5 which was very close to reception and as a result my wife was regularly woken at just after 7 by noisy maintenance workers arriving and leaving in there vans. Sometimes you’d hear holiday makers leave or arrive by coach quite early. I guess that could be more of a disturbance with more people and noise in full season. The people staying in apartment 66 complained about the noise of the swimming pool pumps and moved there mattresses on to the front room settees to sleep there. Reception had said they would move them if they wanted.

There was a bus stop for Mahon just outside reception as well as opposite zone 4. Beware if using the local bus service though, one or two drivers did leave around 5 minutes early. If you miss the 9 O’clock bus the next one is 10.30, so it’s a long wait.

The apartment had all the facilities you really need and we thought it was slightly better than Turkish 4 star. We did take the half board option one day as it was just 16 Euros for breakfast and a three course lunch OR dinner. You could order anything on the menu, and as a steak alone was 15 Euros, it worked out a lot cheaper taking the half board.We agree with a previous report though, the food was not that good (steak was fatty and grisly. Lamb chops nice, but very thin and not a lot of meat). The breakfast was poor with very runny baked beans and bland frankfurters. I’m afraid all in all it wasn’t even worth the 16 Euros.

Reception were always helpful, friendly and polite. We didn’t hire a safe as it was 15 Euros a week. We’re not slow walkers and it was a decent 15 minute walk to the beach for us. Longer if it was really hot.

Had a real problem with flies on arrival and killed 12 within 3 hours of arriving at the apartment. Although they weren’t as bad after, there were plenty of them. A local told us flies weren’t a problem in the peak heat, just towards the end of September and October. No mosquito’s or ants though.

GROCERY SHOPPING The supermarkets in Son Bou have similar prices and no one stood out. If you want to do a decent size shop it’s worth getting a bus to Eroski in Alaior, where we found more choice, a bit better quality fresh veg and prices between 20-40% cheaper than San Bou supermarkets. If you are hiring a car it’s worth going to Mao and on the outskirts you’ll find the Pologiano industrial estate and Hipermarket Clement and a large Eroski close by. Both will save you a fair deal on your shopping outlay. There is also a Lidl close to Ciutadella.

CAR HIRE It would definitely have been better to book car hire before going. Thomson advertised it as £40 for 3 days. Over there the cheapest was Rent A Car Balmes Menorca (next to Kit Cat Bar), which was 95 Euros. Betacar, Avis and Europcar were 120 Euros. If you want car hire for a longer period you could try poppycars.com which appears a great deal.

RESTAURANTS We thought Arthur (9/10) was the best quality and value at 12.50 Euros for the 3 course menu of the day. The lasagne starter was a main meal size and good quality, However, their burger is best avoided, as is their Cappuccino which is only half a small cup after the cream has melted. Tried Casa Andrea and that too was really good food at around 16 Euros for menu of the day and a drink. Atalis was good food as well for 12.50 Menu of the day. Did have a bacon roll and chips at the KitCat bar, which was taken from the Compostella menu they have. It turned out to be a really nice baguette rolls and chips with quality bacon, well worth 3.50 Euros. We did find Son Bou the most expensive place on the island for most things. Other towns often had menu of the day from 9.50 Euros, while it was a 12.50 Euros minimum in Son Bou.

MONEY EXCHANGE The hotel rate was 1.18 the 2 weeks we were there. We couldn’t find many places anywhere to exchange money. Thalassa travel office was the best in the Commercial centre with rates that varied from 1.19 to 1.21.

All in all while the accommodation was good and S'Albufera des Grau Nature Park was a highlight. Three other couples we spoke to said they also would not return to the island and a waiter I spoke to said visitors had been declining over the last 4 years. While the Euro is so strong this is certainly an expensive place to visit.

Where do i start? Arrived at reception to be unappologetically told our room wasn,t ready with a 3year old in tow wasnt a good start,a rep asked "were we sorted" told her had to wait at least an hour "oh ok see you later" and off she trotted.an hour and a half later our room was ready!! We were greeted firstly by the smell then about 50 flies,our daughter started crying to go home,the kitchen belonged in a museum along with the grease and grime covering the cupboards,our self catering appartment had 2 saucepans and an old wooden fork!!curtains had stains on them,as did the picture hanging on the wall! We opted for a two bedroom,couldnt let our daughter stay in her room as the bedhead was positioned RIGHT next to a two pinned socket,just right for curious little hands!!

The beds were possibly more uncomfortable than a bed of nails.

Bathroom obviously refitted but still managed to smell,bathtime would start at 4pm in the hope the bath would be a quarter full by 7pm.tatty towels.

The playground near us (zone 4)was on a par with a scrapyard exposed chunks of concrete below climbing frame everything rusted and dangerous,funny enough our daughter never asked to go again!!

All this aside the worst aspect of this holiday was the people from reception,waiters,bus drivers,shop assistants i have never been amongst so many ignorant unhelpful uninterested people,in view of how EXTORTIONATELY EXPENSIVE everything is,a hello thankyou and goodbye would make it slightly more bearable,prices in restaurants were ridiculous for the mediocre food that was almost slung at you,our daughter asked for VEGETABLES by day 3! which we tried to concoct in our "self catering appartment" we should of started at the same time we were running the bath,it would have been quicker using a cigarette lighter than the cooker.

Beach fantastic.

you could catch the train runs every 45mins?to beach or you could walk, save your money to pay for your next meal ,same applies for sunbed and parasol hire!

Entertainment for children non existent,a few dodgy 1euro rides outside most restaurants that take your money and dont work.entertainment at night started 9.30-10pm too late for young kids and from what we heard not child friendly.

Weather was lovely thankgoodness,the thought of trudging round the few shops and annoying the staff by being in them or sitting in grotty appartment staring at stains and flies if weather had been different filled us with dread.

On return no rep turned up to see us on coach just a moody bus driver.we glimpsed 1 rep the whole week!!

I read reviews before we went could someone tell me if there,s another SonBou because im sure we weren,t at the one i read about?

as the comment below........great relaxing place, lovely pools, verty family orientated..............really funny because there was about 4 sets of twins in the complex when we were there...1st sept to 8th nice staff...............would def, go again

Well, where do I start arrived monday night about 10ish got droped off outside the complex on the road zone 3. (HUGE COMPLEX!)Went straight to check in and was told i was in room 93 yes quite away away...3suitcases a child and pram it was a struggle no help from reception even though i kindly asked! The Room was very basic and not modernised throw back from the seventies!!by morning we were invaded by ants!! We attended the welcome meeting and the rep kindly got us moved to a pool view this made our stay abit better....My daughter who is 3 years old loved the kids club and never missed a session probably for the best as not much going on around the complex and probably son bou itself! Bare in mind the kids club only ACCEPTS 16 KIDS FOR THE WHOLE OF THE COMPLEX YES NOT GOOD WHEN YOU GO IN THE SUMMER HOLS!Not Much in the way of deciding on were to go best to eat as not a wide selection and wat there were was VERY EXPENSIVE! The Beach was gorgeous and we would rate 10/10 (about 10 mins walk)Great for kids (nudist Beach little furtha up Be Warned!) overall we did enjoy the weather The Beach & Pool but would not go back again!

We were falsly misguided by the brouchure as the pic shows zone 5 swimming pool and layout which is further up in the complex and is very quite

We also found the staff were very ignorant and rude and a good morning or hello goes a long way to say the least!

overall rating for the apartment 4/10

and we cannot understand how people go back year after year!

Hope you find this reveiw Helpful....

Just arrived back from san jaime apartments, and it was fantastic.



I have twin boys and they loved it and they are very hard to please. The thomson kids club was great and they girls working there were great with them.



I would recommend the las dunas resturant, food is lovely and the staff are very friendly.

The KIT KAT bar is the best, the staff are brilliant and make you feel so welcome, its like an extended family. It is highly recommended by me, my bloke and my twins, we didnt want to leave. Up the ammers Clive, lol!!!



The beach is lovely to, the sand is white and the sea is warm, beautiful.



San Jaime is lovely to, staff are friendly and helpful.



Will definately be back, a must holiday for families.

Just got back yesterday (3/9/2008 and we had a great time, this was our first time in menorca and we really enjoyed it.



We requested an apartment in zone 5 which we got and was very pleased, we liked this zone as it was away from it all and about a 15 min walk to the beach.



the apartment is basic but has everything that you need. we hired a car out for 5 days and is well worth doing, we got to see the island whcih is lovely.

We only went for a week which was just right i think, i think we would have run out of things to do if we was there any longer but it is a small islang so that should be expected.



we went to both water parks wich were a good day out, we prefered the one in cala blanes more than the other but both very similar.



Complex nice didnt see alot of it as out all the time but apartmnet clean and had everything needed.



The beach was great watch out the the nudists my 15 year old daughter was so shocked.



all in all a great holiday and complex and the weather was brilliant.

We are a family of 4, with 2 kids aged 13 and 10. Stayed in a privately owned 3 bedroomed villa in zone 4. Vey spacious, brand new furnishings, loads of storage. Very well equipped, couldn't have been happier with it when we walked in!

Only downside was no air con, and with an exceptionally hot 2 weeks from July 25th, we really could have done with it. Tried to book portable air con units from Reception but none available, but did manage to get 2 additional fans, which helped a bit.

The complex itself is excellent, fab large main pool and 2 slides, lovely grounds, very quiet and relaxing, beach 15 mins walk away. Good evening entertainment etc.



Had to pay for sunbeds around the pool (5E each) but if you take a couple of beach mats and your own umbrella, you can use those. We had no idea you could redeem the 5E ticket against the waterslides, no one told us, we could have saved a FORTUNE!!

Subeds on beach were 14E for 2, plus 5E for an umbrella, so we bought 2 cheap mats and just paid for the brolly each day, great!!



Eating out was disappointing and our main bugbear - chips with everything, not cheap and pretty average, so instead, we ate in several nights and sat on our lovely shaded verrandah with a bottle of Sangria (food /drink supplies from the well stocked supermarket) and used the cash saved to pay for 3 days car hire, which was fab, as by the end of the first week, the kids were itching for something to do other than beach, slides and pool.

There are 2 beach cafes at Son Bou, these are much better than some of the restaurants in the town and you get the bonus of watching a beautiful sunset at the same time for free. They also do rolls, baguettes etc throughout the day, either to eat in or take away. At nighttime it was always relatively quiet (we never had to wait for a table), which surprised us as it was a beautiful sea view setting and the food was excellent too!



Drove to a Spanish Fiesta (El Mjhorn Gran - excuse spelling), recommended by very helpful staff in Reception, who provided map etc, which was absolutely FAB. Genuine Spanish celebrations, if you get the chance go, it is well worth it. Also went to Cala Galdana (fab beach and horseshoe bay with restaurant set into the rocks, over looking the sea), and Cala'n Porter (our favourite - fab beach, fab setting and far better restaurants (less chips!) which were much more reasonable than Son Bou.



Overall we had a fab holiday (the beach and sea are to die for). We are returning next year, but probably not Son Bou. Either Arenal de Castell (where we have been before and can get a property with air con and there is a fab restaurant overlooking the bay called Sa Gavina which is SO reasonable!) or Cala'n Porter, for the reasons stated above.

Party consisted of 2 adults (ages misplaced..), and 3 kids (7,3,2yrs).

We have just come back from 2 great weeks at the San Jaime Complex. It seems from the other reviews that the general consensus is if you are after a good quality 2/3 star family holiday in lovely spacious surroundings, then this is the place to go...and I couldn't agree more! Obviously everyone has an opinion based on their own holiday experience so here is the family Stewarts :-



We were put in zone 5 by the pool, aptmnt appeared recently refurbished with ceiling fans in each room and its own hot water supply. The ceiling fans did their job (was 30c every day..), while we never ran short of hot water. Big fridge freezer was already 'on' when we got there so the aftersun and beers were soon chilled....



Zone 5 is the furthest from the resort centre at around 15mins walk but by no means a hardship as strolling through the paths and gardens of an evening was a joy. All the aptmnt blocks are set amongst palm trees and large grassed areas perfect for the kids to play in while mum and dad pack the beach bags, get ready for dinner etc. Zone 5 also has its own reception, pool (probably the smallest of the 3), and restaurant/snack bar. The pool is open between 09:30 and 19:00 with free (limited) sunbeds.

BUGBEAR - The sunbeds were unlocked at around 09:45 however the queue for them started at around 09:00!

Take our advice, go to the Club San Jaime pool in the middle of the complex. This opens at 10, is a much bigger pool (with shallow kids area), has a large grassy area around the pool to lounge on or pay 5eur for a sunbed. The sunbed ticket can be redeemed against 6 rides on the 2 waterslides next door so our kids were more than happy. We did hear people moaning about having to pay for the waterslides however we found that kids 3yrs and under were free and if you were nice to the girls who checked your ticket they would would let you have a few free goes each time, happy days! As others have mentioned, Club San Jaime is also where the adults entertainment is held in the way of tribute acts. All were very good with most getting the audience up and dancing by the end of the night. There is also the obligatory kids games room with a few arcade machines, air hockey etc where they can hang out when Elvis gets too much for them.



Zone 3 is nearer the resort centre and also has its own reception, pool and restaurant (all bigger than zone5). Here the kids entertainment was run between 20:00 - 21:00 (disco, games etc, puppet show once a week), followed by Bingo, quizes and games for the adults.

BONUS - we found that if you bought the halfboard tickets from either of the receptions (16eur adult, 8eur child), by far the better restaurant was The Garden Restaurant in Zone 3. Here you could pick any 3 courses from the normal menu (kids aswell), all of which were excellent and worked out considerably cheaper than paying for the meal individually. I notice from other comments that the kids menu's available were a little limited (chips with everything..), this was true however I didn't see many kids complaing over a 'lack of cabbage' and after all, they are on holiday too!



Son Bou itself is very nice, beautifull beach with a warm crystal clear sea that remains 'waste high' for at least 50m. Nudist beach at one end but apart from the usual exhibitionist pensioners, nothing to be too worried about. I would say the further into the resort you go the better the quality of restaurant you will find. The first few you come to (from San Jaime) being quite busy but average while further into the resort Casa Andreas and Restaurant Boni were excellent (both could be found upstairs in the the main resort 'block'). As for the 'chips with everything..' argument, stick with the daily 'specials', in my experience they were always excellent and did not once come accompanied with chips....



We travelled with Thomson who also ran the kidsclub. This was open 5 days a week for 3-14yr olds split into 3 age grps. Ours were in 'Tots' (3-5yrs), and 'Team' (6-9yrs), with Tots running in the afternoon for 2 hours and Team in the morning (I think the older grp ran late afternoon..). There were also 3 evening sessions a week for all ages between 19:00 - 21:00 for a 3eur chg. Both our older kids thought the club was excellent and went to every day/evening session available.

BUGBEAR - Although very good the clubs were limited to 16 places per session so this generated the usual queuing scenario to ensure your kids got in. According to the reps this was due to the size of the kidsclub room limiting the amount of places but still annoying given the amount of families there.



Think I have written enough (!) for you to get the 'jist' of the place so to sum up I would say if you are a young family looking for a mid quality holiday in a nice, clean, safe and relaxed atmosphere, then this is the perfect place to go.



Enjoy!

Just got back from 10 day's holiday in Menorca, stayed at San Jamie Complex in Son Bou. Excellent facilities for families, we have four children ages 6, 4, 3 and 1, perfect place for the kids, large pool areas, lots of well maintained grass areas, apartments clean and adequate, lots of on site facilities, good nightlife entertainment. About 5 minutes walk from the beach. Recommend to anyone.

well what can i say menorca is beautiful son bou has plenty to offer our apartments were reasonable but are still in need of a litttle updating. we did have a few problems but reception were excellent quick and efficent in sorting everything out. what i would say is it was expensive our children 17, 15,10 so whatever you normally bring on holiday you should double it this was the feeling of most families we spoke to.After reading some reviews before we went we did find arthurs, bonis restaurants good to eat at and reasonably priced. the kit kat bar is good and especially if some football matches dont want to be missed the owners are really friendly and hard working. overall our holiday was good we would return to menorca sometime but maybe not this complex.This complex is suitable for families with small children , well maintained and quiet after midnight except for the sprinklers.

Just got back from San Jaime in Menorca and had a superb holiday. We were a family of four, with two daughters aged 7 and 4. We were joined by our friends which proved great with 4 adults looking after the children. After reading many reviews, we asked to be accommodated in the zone 5 (as most complaints about accommodation were for zone 3). Our apartment was right next to the swimming pool, which was great. It was clean and adequate. It is true that there aren't enough sun loungers but there's plenty of grassy area around the pool to put your towels on. What we also liked about zone 5, was that apart from a 15 minute kids disco, the main entertainment was in the Zone 3 or 4, so you had a choice of having a quiet evening or not. It is worth a mention that if you have small children and are accommodated in a large complex of apartments, it may be slightly noisey as we experienced for a couple of nights. If one apartment is having 'fun' all night, everyone else will hear that. But most of the nights all we heard was grass hoppers and frogs from the field by the beach, which was lovely. Otherwise, the weather was great, the sea turquoise and warm and no jelly fish around! We were warned about the parasols being expensive to rent, so brought a beach tent with us. However, 3 or 4 people leaving offered us their parasols. We rented a car in the mid of holiday, and visitied different beaches, the most beautiful being the coves of Cala'n Porter and Cala Galdana, but it was also nice to get back to our lovely long beach. We were warned to book a car in the UK which works out about 100 Euros cheaper. Ciutadela is definitely worth a visit, only 25 min away from the complex, as well as the port in Mahon. Whole Menorca was just beautiful, clean, with cliffs, coves, pine trees and nice people both English and Spanish. Not trying to be too snobby but there weren't many 'chavs' around, although tatoos must have been very much in fashion few years ago...The only negative thing was that Menorca was very expensive. If you are on a tighter budget, bring as much food from home as possible. Just as an example a box of cereals was around 4.50 Euros. However, we did a big shopping in a hypermarket in Mahon, which worked out much cheaper than shopping in a local one. If you don't like cooking, the restaurant on the complex offers half board for 16Euros adults and 8Euros children. Having the upstairs apartment, we didn't see any ants, although mosquitos are definitely there. The beach is about 15 minute walk, probably best to walk through the other zones which offer more shade than walking by the road. Just to mention, some apartments are right by the road, so it is worth checking where your apartment is if you have small children.

Overall, fantastic 2 weeks and would definitely go back to the same complex, probably same apartment.

just got back and can't wait to go again. we stayed in zone 5 and it was fantastic. every night there was a tribute act at the main part of the complex. fake that were by far the best, they are so fit! il divo voices had the most amazing voices. the only let down was elvis, he really should leave the building. all the staff are polite and try their best to do what they can for you. it was a bit expensive to eat but at the moment everywhere is! the appartment was great, always cleaned and tidied. the cleaner around the pool always says good morning when you have to queue early for your beds, which was the only bug bear. the train to the centre is a good idea and runs till quite late. it's very easy to use the bus service and very reasonable. i have read some bad reviews about the complex and wonder whether people went to the same place as us, my boys are 17, 15, and 13 and even they had a ball. only bit of advice, watch out for the sprinklers.

My wife and two boys aged 6 and 10 stayed at the San Jaime complex for a week in early July and on balance had a great holiday. We moved from the first apartment we were given in zone 3, into a better located one in zone 4 on the upper floor. The accommodation was basic but acceptable. The beds were OK, the bathroom clean enough and plenty of equipment in the kitchen.



The apartment had balconies at the front and rear with a large clothes drier. The front overlooked the palm trees in the gardens and the back had views of the gardens and villas on the hill side. Laundry was changed mid-week when the staff came into the rooms during the morning. Despite the warm nights, the ceiling fans did an adequate job keeping the rooms cool enough to sleep. Ants were not a problem in the apartment, only one or two appeared on the balcony occasionally.



The San Jaime (pronounced San Hymee) apartments complex is quite large and divided into three zones: 3, 4 and 5. There are pools and restaurants in zones 3 and 5 owned by the complex management. Here the sun loungers are free, but as reported elsewhere there are too few for the size of the complex. Between zones 3 and 4 is a small block containing a laundry room, scuba diving centre, kids club and bakery. There is also a privately run medical centre which charged 50 euros for an appointment.



Further along is a small square with a supermarket on one side and the Club San Jaime pool and restaurant on the other. This is the nearest pool to zone 4 and probably the better of the three. However this is run by separate management to the apartment so there is a charge for the sun loungers. The Club San Jaime also serves slightly better food, but to be honest you need to look elsewhere for quality. At 10pm every evening the restaurant hosts tribute and variety acts. By 11pm it has all finished and the complex is relatively quiet.



A road train runs in the mornings and evenings around Son Bou and stops at the beach. The alternative is a lengthy walk if you are staying in zone 5. Once again, sun loungers and parasols need to be paid for. There are also a few small bars in the dunes. The beach itself is as you would expect, clear water and golden sand. The nudist area is too far away to be a problem.



Menorca is a beautiful island in many places, and I would recommend a visit to both Cuitadella and Fornells. We also visited the water park in Calan Blanes. The trips Thomson organise are very expensive and it is cheaper and better to hire a car to get the most out of your holiday.



I would also recommend checking the apartment first before carrying your luggage to it. We were given probably the worst located accommodation on the complex that overlooked an Irish bar and a bowling alley. We asked to move and so had to return all our suitcases to reception. However, from there a van took us to the better apartment.

Just returned from a great family holiday at San Jaime Apts. Overall, it is perfect for families with children under 10 years. Our boys, age 7 and 4, loved it and for the adults - it is a very sociable atmosphere (we met some lovely people!). Thomson were excellent and well organised. OK, things you should know before you book:

1. The apartments in Zones 4 and 5 are a much better standard and there is far more flat space for kids to play safely. (When we arrived we were allocated an apartment in Zone 3, nearest to the resort centre/beach, however we asked to move as our apartment was facing onto main road with no space for kids to play. We were moved to Zone 4 the next day. As a result I can tell you that the standard of the accommodation is quite shabby in Zone 3.)

2. Eating out in Son Bou itself is expensive and the food overall is really much the same in all restaurants - chips are everywhere! We could not find a traditional Spanish Restaurant. However, the apartments are well equipped for cooking simply (and cheaply) and supermarket and bakery on complex are good. (TIP: take washing up liquid, travel handwash, scourers and plastic cups for the kids).

3. The 3 pools on the complex are all good - you can use the middle pool (within Club San Jaime) and just lay towels/lilos on grass so no need to pay for sunbeds.

4. The entertainment on every night at Club San Jaime is very good - really varied and aimed at the whole family. However - it starts really late - not until 9.45pm each night. So no good if you like to keep the kids to a routine bedtime. Zone 3 does a puppet show on a Saturday night at 8.30pm which was very good too.

5. It is really worth taking a trip to Mahon. Only 2.5 euros each way on local bus and takes about half an hour. You can take a trip on a glass bottomed boat (25 euros for whole family) lasts an hour and is a real treat.

6. The beach is stunning - take lilos to lie on - the sunbeds are now 17 euros per day!

In sum, a great choice for a sunny family break.

We have just got back, and we went half board, eating at the 11gonderlire, it was absolutly awful, There was no change in the menu the whole fortnight it was the same in the morning to night time. The food was so salty i nearly gaged,i complained a few times, but no-one under stood what i was saying, The broushure stated we get 1 free drink with evening meal, but failed to say you have to buy the first drink. its your 2nd drink that is free. You do have a choice of 2 resturants to go to, but the gardens is even worse. Every one but every one was complaing about the food. Other than that the appt was great. Basic, but clean. The walk to the beach is a long way a good 15 mins, there is no short cut. We were in zone 5. Prices on the beach were hurendous 11euros... yes 11 euros for 1 sun bed and 1 brolly. Most people buy a brolly and sit on the lovely beach. The complex has great evening entertainment, for all. kids had a good time and there was plenty for adults as well. You need to know it is very expencive in menorca. Lots of familys were complaining about prices. Wont be going there again, even thou its a beautiful place.