Palma Bay Club Hotel

3 readers found this review helpful

Excellent value just came back on 14 may 2010 ,BUT not many facilities open and lots of spanish pensioners, and short staffed. entertainment and food etc designed for them mostly, although mixed groups and nationalities and mostly VERY friendly, excellent breakfast but lunch/dinner not as good as usual( 6th visit)down to money/cost and spanish pensioners on a budget deal. BUT still enjoyed ourselves with a 6yr and 3yr old a lot as relaxed atmoshere and ideal pool area, and allowed to play with water pistols/dinghys/lilos etc. also nice grass area to play football, or sandy volleyball area to play football etc on , EXCELLENT VALUE , search for best deals as we went for £45 for four per day all-inclusive . so not right to moan just being real, good clean hotel, bedding made or changed daily. friendly staff but overworked and by the end of the day had enough, so rush to clear up etc. going again in september when everything open and warmer. VERY FAMILY FRIENDLY

5 readers found this review helpful

Just back from a week at concentration camp NUBIA,where do i start ???????..Well firstly the room was like a hostel room.The bathroom if you can call it that was small too small to turn around in.We stayed in a ground floor room near the main entrance to the building with shutters on the window,which were always closed at night as didnt feel safe to leave them open.All night we could hear suitcases being dragged to hotel,aslo heard everytime someone entered or left the building with a slam of the door.Wanted to see the surrounding area so decided to venture out on the 2nd evening,all excited myself and wife proceeded to look along the beachfront,where i can only dicribe being hustled and hastled by Morrocans trying to sell me all kinds of rubbbish,ie cheap watches ,sunglasses,and all other manner of rubbish where they wouldnt take no for an answer.So we decided to return to the main building of the hotel.Where upon we stumbled across bingo SPANISH style 7 or 8 different languages.(by the way this is the ONLY entertainment)
The food was OK always something to eat,would suit fish lover ,which im not but no real complaints.
The weather was spectacular as were the pools,I would reccomend the top pool as it was warmer.
I WOULDNT RECCOMEND STAYING AT THE NUBIA BUT I WOULD RECCOMEND ONE OF THE MAIN BUILDINGS.I DO FEEL I WAS MISS SOLD THIS SO BEFORE YOU BOOK PLEASE CHECK IF YOUR IN ONE OF THE MAIN BUILDINGS AND NOT ONE THAT IS DOWN THE ROAD OFF THE MAIN HOTEL AREA

6 readers found this review helpful

just got back from palma bay club it was very good we got put in gobi the only thing was we didnt have a balcony we are looking to go back again the food and drinks was also very good never went hungry we had an extended holiday because of the volcanic ash but that wasnt a problem it was local for beach and shops we was there for 11 days and we only had 1 day of rain

7 readers found this review helpful

hi, i have just returned from this hotel, and like most of you reading the reviews, i was totaly oh my god what have i done,im not easyl'y pleased, but i must say from i first walked into the reception,all the staff were very helpful, im a disabled woman in my 50s and with myself and my cousin, (who is also disabled)we had our grandaughters (aged 11-13)we were able to eat every day and our room was clean tidy, well kept,the maid was in every day. we ate mostly in the habana block but had drinks in most of the other hotels in the complex, there are a lot of swimming pools to this complex, and they are cleaned daily, if you need help and cant get anyone to help you look for a man named mani, or the girl on the reception in the habana, if you think that you should only eat in the habana, just tell them before you get you ai arm band and they'l give you a white one,dont be put off by the spannish or the germans, they dont bother anyone anyway, and if like us you are disabled, you can hire a mobility scooter for 65euros a week, we did and have had a great time, there's a pub called the hole in the wall, just at the bottom of the road if you want an english breakfast,

8 readers found this review helpful

excellent for young children, entertainers work hard to involve kids in all sorts of activities and evening entertainment is mainly for them. Food is okay to very good. Good selection. But remember this is not 5 star hotel and prices. Good location, but not suitable for less mobile as hilly complex and location. Not much happening off season but excellent in mid/high season. Rooms clean and tidy. Older teenagers will probably be bored . All inclusive package is excellent value. several pools nice one for tots. Good play area for kids . Football area. Good tidy complex. Large outside entertainment area, although in august would be too crowded . Lots of things to do in or around arenal area, i.r great mini golf park, good aquapark, beach train/bus . Good for transport and to travel about the island if driving. Short steep walk down to good beach, walk up/back okay for prams but not suitable for wheelchairs unless very strong/fit. been to this hotel four times and always had fun.

1 reader found this review helpful

This is 'complex' of 7 hotel blocks,only 3 of which are within a boundry wall. The Sahara,Nubia and the Gobi are a couple of minutes walk round the local streets.If you are Briish you could end up in the Sahara.This is little more than a hostel.The rooms are about 8x10 with a bathroom (only a shower)that is about aircraft size.The others were undergoing renovations ,but you still have to avoid passing traffic and bumper to bumper parking to get there.I asked to be moved to the main hotel but was told they were full,that was not true. There is no carpark only a patch of mud off a side street.Bar staff are polite and hard working. Drinks (only 2 per person each time)are served in vending machine sized plastic glasses,so several trips are needed! Nothing was useable despite there being no warning in the brochures. Pools were full of rubbish,a mini golf in need of complete overhaul,no tennis,and a very dangerous looking kiddie play area.No useable kiddie pool.We had no water for 24hrs but the guy behind the desk would not allow a room change because the manager was not available.No other responsible person was on site.The restaurant opens at 7.00 (if all inclusive)with the entertainment area in another hotel block across the street from the main complex.Food is well presented but little choice.There is no music until about 9.00 when a repetative 'happy' bingo song is played while tickets are being sold. The game itself lasts over 2hrs called in 4 languages. Then it's music for an hour then lights out and goodnight.

8 readers found this review helpful

I stayed at the Habana Bay hotel in the Palma Bay group. All of the hotels in the group are really close situated up a hill, 5 minutes walk from the beach.
The hotel itself was clean and traditional. The food started great but I was soon sck of it after the 4th day. There's not enough choice and it seems to cater mainly for Germans (Arenal is a German Hotspot!) The drinks were excellent. Branded beer, local spirits, cocktails, wine, sangria, soft drinks, hot drinks, etc.
The staff were very good but the other holiday makers weren't as polite. This was expected anyway after previous holidays with certain other holidaymakers....I'll let you make your mind up who I mean!
The room was tiny. It was a struggle to get to the balcony! There's a TV with 15 channels. 1 was English- BBC World News which can get very boring after about half a day! Lots of German and Spanish channels....
The area was ok. Not many bars and restuarants until you get to the beach although there was one (of only 4 British bars in Arenal now) nearby called 'The Hole In The Wall' which was great. Showed all of the football, served good food and the staff were very freindly. I know you don't go away for it to be all English but it was good to hear an English voice!
I can imagine the Summer months to be very nice there. The beach is very good with lots of shops and bars.
Overall, a good break and I would recommend it but don't expect too much from it. Afterall, it was only cheap and in the winter so I didn't expect much and actually had a good time.

2 readers found this review helpful

We stayed in the gobi appartments, part of palma bay club hotel group in el arenel.What a mistake!The food in this all inclusive hotel was absolutely terrible, there was very little choice & it was usualy cold when you got it anyway. Our room was very much on the small side but in fairnes it was clean and kept that way through the week, but the location wasn,t very nice at all, and on the last two days they were digging up the pavement right outside the appartments.The entertainment was absolutely terrible,bingo nightly preceeded by a bingo song played repeatedly time & time again,it was like having torture every night, then came the same recordings repeated every night as well, all in all pretty boreing.There was very little choice of drinks at the bar at which you could only obtain your drink in small plastic glasses 2 drinks per person so you have to repeatedly return to the bar, fortunately it was a quiet tme of the year[february]. The actual resort it,s self we found dissapointing it looked really tired & run down in general.All in all we had a very dissapointing holiday and all six of us couldn,t wait to return home[never been known before].My advice is to give this hotel and this resort a very wide birth.

31 readers found this review helpful

Just got back from a three day break at the Palma Bay Club Hotel. Got the all inclusive deal very cheaply, but when I read the reviews was panicking about going and to be quite honest, dreading it. However, we were put into the Habana block and there were three of us, the room was large and contained four beds, was clean and the maids came in every day.
The food was very good, I had been expecting pigs trotters and liver, but it was really excellent. We had a cooked breakfast in the morning and went back for seconds on the evening meal. Okay, the entertaiment was not so good, considering the amount of people that were there, but that is nothing unusual I find when going abroad. All in all we had a great time, okay you get what you pay for, but I would definitely go back if I wanted a cheap break, all in all very satisfied.

7 readers found this review helpful

Myself and my partner booked this holiday as a last minute thing! we booked on the wednesday and left on the saturday. My partner called Sun 4 U and sorted everything out, the woman said she would call us back before 10pm to confirm everything, 10pm came and went, we called back and there was no record of our booking! We both started panicking as we had given out bank details etc, the next day we were told everything would be fine as long as we re-booked there and then.
So after that little drama, we were all geared up! When we arrived at the hotel, we were a bit worried as it's in the middle of a 'shanty town' at the top of a hill which is a killer to walk up in the heat!!! We went into the reception and were told we could use the facilities until our room was ready. Fair enough! We were behind a couple who were told the same old story that they had no room and got sent to another hotel, as we were sat at the bar we saw the couple come back and they didnt look at all happy and who can blame them! the hotel they were sent to was an 18-30's hotel and pitch black with teens running round with no clothes on drunk out of their minds. they sorted that out and were given a room 10 minutes away, it was pitch black, no windows and tiny! another couple were given a room with no air con!
Our room was nice though, not huge but clean, we'd only gone for the week and barely spent any time in there except to shower, sleep etc.
The food wasnt brilliant either! If you like veal and rabbit then perfect but its not my thing! salad wasn't fresh so i stuck to chips. The bar was a disaster, 2 poxy plastic cups with a mouthful of ale! no thanks, the que was a nightmare as well, one night we had to endure an english woman threatening to 'knock a germans head off' she was absolutly out of her skull, which i dont understand because everything was watered down, no security about so no one did anything, but i may add, it was better than some of the evening entertainment! one night they played a music quiz which meant having to run to the middle of the patio to shout your answer! RIDICULOUS as there were too many tables squeezed into a tiny space, no one could get through.
More of a Germans hotel than English to be far!
Went for a chinese in one of the buildings and had a reaction to something they had put in the food, everyone was the same!
Not brill overall but we met some lovely people! Would go back to Majorca but not this hotel!