Holiday Village Viva

When I read the comments of other people on the site I was really worried about going to this place. We really enjoyed our holiday with no complaints about the complex. Our only complaint was the weather, it rained most of the week so there were no battles for the sunbeds.
The complex itself was very clean, it seemed everywhere you went there were people cleaning. All staff were really helpful in anything you wanted. I do feel you have to have kids to come to this place; my two loved it from the kids club to the evening entertainment. The bar staff where amazing to watch, so fast, I know people complained in some of the other reviews but I felt they were great and you never had much of a wait for a drink.
I would certainly go back to another holiday village while my children are young.

We booked all inclusive for 7 nights, 2 adults and 2 children aged 13 and 10.
Rooms were fab, modern, bright and clean. We didn’t have a problem with ants but my Mum did in the apartment next door.
Holiday Village was set in beautiful gardens.
Pool was absolutely freezing, this was my first sun/beach holiday where I did NOT get into the pool. This is the chance you take when you go in October; weather not so good, 1 sunny day, 1 rainy and the rest cloudy with a few scattered showers. No problem with sunbeds as no one used them until our very last day, then I would say only 35% used.
Didn’t use the Caribbean Grill as this was the poolside bar converted and the evenings were not that warm to be eating outside, the Italian is in the main eating area which is cornered off, no dim light just full light and no atmosphere. Food in general was good, and plenty of drinks on tap.
Games area was abit poor, as you can imagine, after a whole season the pool tops were scratched and dirty and the air hockey didn’t have much air.
Main bar area and entertainment was always busy, dread to think what height of summer would be like, as we felt we had to get there in plenty of time to grab a table in October!! Kids disco was good, Bingo was great (I actually won 120 Euros, so well worth having a go) evening entertainment could have been better, but they were a really great team who did there best. Evening snack's I must say was a joke, cheese & Ham triple sandwiches from 9pm, every night, no other variety or a choice for vegetarians. The same thing again and again.
As we had not had good weather the kids used the indoor pool, which is really not suitable as it was small and had so much chlorine in it.
Can not advise on kids clubs as mine never went to them.
Walk down to the beach is 10 minutes away, (not the best surroundings to look at while walking down to the beach). Market day is Friday, make sure you barter for anything you buy as nothing is priced.
Would I go again, yes, but reading the other review's, not in school holiday's!

First holiday with our 2 and 8 year olds. Glad we went all-inclusive so the rug rats could get something from the buffet and if they didn’t like it, get something else.
The kids clubs was a godsend for the 8 year old who went to all of them. As for the 2 year old she went to the crèche a couple of times and was well looked after.
The room was clean and spacious. The food varied enough for the week we stayed.
During the week it became very busy with having to hunt down sun beds. Waste of time trying to get around the pool, which was fairly clean, but it was better on the grassed area.
Beach is 15/20 mins walk with pushchair. Kids enjoyed the evening with the staff doing a fantastic job of entertaining them while you got 30 mins to have a semi quiet drink. Good selection of drinks, queuing was a bind but not that long.
Don’t think I would go in school hols.

Majorca, C’an Picafort, Holiday Village Viva
15th –22nd Sept 2007-10-07
Reading the other reviews it obviously depends on when you go and on what basis. In September with self-catering we had no problems and thought it very good. Being there without our children or grandchildren probably gives us a different experience than many.
We found the complex to be clean, our apartment spacious and clean, and the staff pleasant.
No problems around the pools with sunbeds at any time. Lots of toddlers around but that’s no problem for us. Staff try hard though agree evening entertainment leaves a lot to be desired.
Being self-catering we eat breakfast and generally lunch in our apartment. We did eat in the Complex Restaurant the first night paying 32 Euros for 2 with bottle of wine which was OK, food was good, no complaints but prefer to eat away from hotels.
Generally we walked down to the centre and found plenty of reasonable restaurants along one of the main streets (Avinguda Josep Frias), in particular the Monaco.
Resort is pleasant and compact. Beach excellent, gently sloping into the sea giving shallow waters for kids.
Would we go again, probably but we would definitely only go self-catering and not during any school holidays.

Just returned from the Holiday Village in Can Picafort. First off, the sunbed issue which was reviewed was not a problem, the hotel was full and yet there was plenty of beds available. We put our towels out a 8.45 on our way for breakfast, got the same spot every day.
The Village itself is very well maintained, always cleaning and "pruning" going on. This merited its 4 stars. The Apartments are a fair size, which suited me, my wife and 14 month old. Clean with a/c which worked, mini kitchen which helped to store milk etc for the babe.
If I had a gripe about the village it would be the pool, very very cold. Would give you a heart attack if you had a dodgy ticker!!!
The mini splash park was excellent, started around 10.30 for an hour then ran every other hour.
On the whole the food was very good, the wee man is not a picky eater but he had no trouble eating the various foods on offer. We did take some supplies with us but in hindsight we really didn't need to. For the adults the food was very good, a good and varied choice every day, remember its buffet so some food might not be steaming hot all the time, but unless that bothers you then its not a problem. Two themed restaurants, Caribean Grill and the Italian, we only done the grill and its was very good again.
The entertainment was very good as well, always got a good laugh every night, usual kids disco etc. Our wee man loved, fell asleep quite the thing after the disco and slept right through all the noise in the show bar(s).
Any bad talk of noise from roads is absolute rubbish, it cant happen... the village has 4 roads round about it, 1 is a mini main road the rest are side streets and not much goes on, even the mini main road is quiet (very). Some people say avoid block 3/4, well we got block 3 and heard no noise.
We would say to request a top floor of the 3 high as it means you won't get anyone moving chairs about etc. On the whole we would come back in a flash. Primarily a family village so not really suited to younger child free couples (there was some moaning about the noise of the kids) LOL
5 min walk to beach, supermarket on site, okay price wise and sells lots of British brands, pampers etc. If you could pick this village up and drop it in the Caribbean, then it would merit its 4 stars even more.
Oct 07 ages 32, 26, 14 months

My family & I have just returned from 1 week All-inclusive. This holiday was brilliant! The sun was shining the Holiday Village was beautiful.
First of all I have read some of the disgusting comments from other holiday makers, some people are just never happy what ever they receive and would always find something to moan about! I myself am very fussy and I could not fault this holiday!
When we arrived we were met with a beautiful reception area and then went to our lovely room, which was spotless!
The next morning we went down to a fantastic breakfast, everything you could imagine. Then from 10 o'clock you could go and get other food, if you were hungry and also lots of various drinks.
Then we sunbathed by the gorgeous swimming pool, the water was cold, but you soon adjusted to this when you were in there.
The evening meal was varied and there is also something for everybody. Just ignore the fussy comments from other people!
The Italian restaurant & Caribbean Grill were fab! You were treated like royalty and the food was lovely!
The nightly Entertainment was funny and my children loved it. There are also a huge variety of drinks on offer, and the Supermarket was very handy, selling all your essentials.
The staff were brilliant and work very hard!
Please do not be put off by the horrid comments and I would fully recommend this holiday to anybody. Would definitely return!

We had a great time but we have a 2-year-old daughter. Take my advice if you don't have kids then this complex is not for you, unless of course you love other people’s kids.
We had no problem with sun beds which I can only assume is a peak season issue. The complex was very clean and well managed however we are relived we didn't go "all-inclusive" as the food at the pool bar was interesting and not in a good way...the burgers were transparent...very strange.
We didn't experience the food at the other restaurants but judging by the feedback we received from other people the quality was poor. My major gripe with the whole complex was the lack of personal service. You queue at the bar like you are waiting for a bus and the drink is then poured and thrown at you as they expect everyone to be all inclusive...oh just for a laugh ask for a cocktail as they actually press a button on a dispenser rather than mix in front of you. If you remember the Spain of 15 years ago then you may shed a tear.
Don't start me on the Coffee...
Can Picafort is a good family resort with the normal Majorcan holiday resort meat salad and chips/jacket potato combos on offer with good friendly service. Walk down towards the port for some lovely views and bars, quite a walk but worth it.
We had a great time and would recommend the complex for a family but judging by the other comments probably out of season and self-catering.

Hi, have just returned from 7 days at the Can Picafort Holiday Village Majorca, with my partner and 13 month old son. We decided to go self catering - and to be honest this was a wise choice.
There is a buffet and also two 'themed' restaurants Caribbean and Italian, I think. Buffet looked boring and very expensive if not staying all inclusive @ 20 euros each! The two restaurants – well, we both had a pizza which was cold and watery in the middle and was only cooked for two minutes I think. The range and quality of food in their eateries was bad and I would be unhappy if I had booked all-inclusive. Also you lose a lot of 'service' when all inclusive- drinks are rapidly poured and thrust in to your hands and food is very 'fast-food' and will quickly stodge up the hardiest arteries!
We bought a box of cereal for brekkie, made sarnies for lunch and ventured down the beachfront for dinner every night which was nice, and the stroll 10 mins max burns off all the beer and food. You can get a nice meal at Horatios or Miami Restaurant where you can get really good fish and chips with salad and garlic bread plus drink (0.5 litre of wine, beer or soft drink) for only 7-8 euros, nice view and friendly staff!
TV in the rooms is poor with only CNN or SKY to watch in English, all the rest is German or Spanish. Our toilet also smelt all the time, nice showers though. The food situation is our only real gripe about the place, the staff are friendly, the grounds are exceptionally pleasant and well maintained, most areas are clean, and the pool was sufficiently warm and good for babies/toddlers as its only 1 metre deep so this makes it easy to take them in.
Evening entertainment was dire but kids stuff (crowsfeet island) was very good especially 'the mimic man song!!’ - just drink plenty of alcohol and then hit the sack early! Transfer from airport takes 45mins to 1 hr. I can imagine the place is busy during peak season, when we went in Sept there were always sunbeds available and no rush for food. All in all a nice break and a place I would visit again if I went back to Majorca.

Just come back from the Holiday Village Viva. We ended up going here as a very last minute deal I knew at the time that it isn't the sort of place that I would pick to go to but as it was a 2nd holiday would make do.
The actual village was really nice, beautiful grounds. The apartment was lovely, spacious and clean. The swimming pools were the coldest that I have ever been in, really struggled with the food, unless you like pork/veal or hake you will have to live on the salads! I also had an upset tummy for a few days. The drinks were good, great variety.
Entertainment wasn't good, although the entertainment staff worked hard; the other First Choice reps didn't really put themselves out at all. We booked to go on the Pirate show, although the show itself was really good be warned that it is a 1 hour journey to get there followed by a horrendous queue of at least half an hour to get in! We were seated upstairs and to actually see the show I had to twist my body to see which resulted in terrible back ache and a bad neck.
We were told we would also have our dinner included, but be warned eat before you go we got 1 piece of chicken, 1 sausage a few wedges, also trying to get refills of drinks (no beer included) was practically impossible. Bearing in mind that this trip cost each of us 56 euros it was not cheap!
The worst thing about the holiday was the vast amount of children there, it was more like a kiddie’s hotel, all meal times were a complete nightmare children crying and screaming. The outside of the dining room was just awash of buggies I had to take a photo as I just couldn't believe it! Even though there were notices up saying not to take buggies into the dining room there were loads, making it really difficult to walk around.
We expected quite a few toddlers but there was also lots of teenagers given that it was the end of summer holidays this was quite a surprise, I found it really hard to get onto the PC's as the teenagers were constantly on it playing music really loud chatting to friends!
If you've got children then this is the place for you if you haven't then stay away, I have still got the ringing sound of crying and screaming in my ears!

I and my husband and two children aged 10 and 7 years have just returned, and may I say it’s the best complex we have ever stayed in!
The food was excellent, rooms fantastic, hotel staff and first choice staff were fab, entertainment 10/10, cleanliness was 10/10, kids clubs were out of this world, ( meant we had a holiday too).
We never heard any complaints in the 12 days we were there, and would advise anyone to book, we have already booked for next year!