Palma Bay Club Hotel

How this hotel scores 3 stars is beyond me.
The room was exceptionally small, no tea/coffee making facility.
Food was abysmal so bad my wife and I chose to eat out.
Entertainment wasn't even second rate.
Day reception staff were miserable and uninterested.
Will go to Majorca again but not to this hotel.

Stay well clear unless you like being mugged.
Dodgy hotel staff who allow "street sellers " to wander in and out of the hotel as they feel like. I say sellers but they actually look like members of the mafia and blatently harrass you in front of the manager who turns a blind eye.
Was mugged within 24 hours of arriving , yards from the hotel. Next day my phone was also stolen , which isnt surprising as the african sellers took a shine to it and constantly harrassed me for it within the hotel.
Theres no respite from the constnt harasment.
Hotel staff are not interested and neither were the local police.
Do not go there , and if you insist on ignoring the various warnings do not take your children there.
Another couple staying in the hotel witnessed 2 pick pockets within an hour . Theres something dodgy about this place , stay well clear,.

we stayed at the hotel palma bay for ten days, before we arrived we were slightly nervous as we had read bad reviews. although we had stayed
at the hotel before it was a few years ago, so were unsure of what to expect.
we were very impressed with our room, we were put in the acupulco block. the room was very spacious and we had a double bed.
the food was nice and there was plenty of choice, and there were a couple of themed nights in the restaurant. i found some of the staff in the restaurant slightly rude as they would only smile or acknowledge you if you were spanish half of the time.
the entertainment was not really that good as it only started most nights at half ten after bingo and childrens disco. and when the entertainment did eventually start it was not worth watching.
overall we really enjoyed the holiday and would recommend the hotel but maybe to go when it is 'in season' as we stayed out of season. we stayed 'in season' the last time we stayed there and found it to be excellent and the entertainment was brilliant.

For a last minute holiday if you are on a tight buget we found the Pama Bay Hotel fantastic value. Yes it can be loud and busy, yes it is a very large complex that attracts a vast array of europeans, German Dutch included. But for what we paid we had plenty of food and all the alcohol you could wish for (If thats your thing) and the staff are very friendly. One suggestion see if you can be put into the smaller Villa section of the hotel, very quiet and out of the way.

We lookeds forward to our holiday, myself and my 18 yr old special needs daughter. Everything was fine til we got to the hotel, went to reception and was given a map to show our hotel, which was supposed to be sahara or nubia which would have been fine, instead we were sent down the road round the corner to a hotel which wasnt even part of the complex, the ondina, reception was fine, given key and went to room. Well once out of lift on 4th floor it was like a rabbit warren of corridors, very narrow, we seemed to walk for ages before reaching our room. Opened the door and room was quite small but adequate, very small balcony which fortunately overlooke the complex so at least we had something to look at, as a lot of rooms just looked at another wall. Started to unpack, then went for a shower, did not work, even if it had I dont think would have been very good, so had to have a bath. Went to ask to be moved at main reception, said they could not without me ringing the tour operator, well I have rung sun4u from the uk and have been on ages waiting to speak to someone so I didnt want the extra expense of phone calls, so went back to hotel,asked for a room with a shower, they said when one came free they would let me know. The next day, taken to see another room with a working shower, well we couldnt have stayed there, as I said earlier, all we could see from the balcony was a wall, so we decided to stay where we were. The complex was ok, pools clean, plenty of sunbeds, not enough entertainment 4 our liking, crazy golf needed ripping up and starting again, big holes all over. Restaurant and food was ok, always something we would eat. If you are going here with sun4u, make sure before you go which hotel you are staying in. I would not book with them again.

me+my 2 friends all age 23 had a great time at the hotel, the food was nice, im picky eater but was always plenty of choice, i preferred chips every night, the room was cleaned everyday the cleaner was very friendly, some morning we would lie in after a late night and she would always come back in afternoon to clean it which was great. the hotel was very clean, each block had there own pool. the only grumbles i have is we had to go to the main bar to get drinks during the day. there were not many english but thats not the hotels fault, got to know some nice italians so had a great internacional hol

Absolutely amazing!
As someone already told, do not belive in the bad reviews!
The hotel service was great, everything was very clean and the food was more then enough at all time, and had a huge variety!
The 5 swimming pools were more then enough, with plenty space for playing and just enjoy the sun!
I went in a special offer too, witch as practically free! Basically in a two person trip, the second one was for free! therefore i recommend this hotel, as well the tour operator!

A totally honest review, covering everthing I can remember!
My Mum and I wanted a cheap holiday in the sun so we booked 10 days at the Palma Bay Club about 2 weeks before we flew. Booking the holiday was fine, as we were AOA I was really impressed that someone rang us on the saturday to tell us where we were going to be going on the Monday.
When we got to the airport everything went smoothly, although we had 40kg in 1 case rather than 2 cases so we had to do a bit of re-jigging but that was our fault-just a hint for other flyers! Another big hint-on the way out we were told 20kg each for cases and 10each for hand luggage BUT on the way back it was 20kg each for everything including jackets and handbags so we (and just about everyone in our queue) got charged.
The flight was fine and we landed in sunny Arenal a little early. Once we'd got our cases we couldnt see anyone with our names hold up (slight panic here) but we asked a lady who pointed us to the right desk. A lovely lady sorted all our bags into a nice, spacious taxi/people carrier. The transfer couldnt have been easier, she dropped us off just down from the reception and unloaded our bags. the ride only took about 10 mins.
Once at reception we did have to wait a little while to check in as we arrived at a busy time, we felt there could have been more recption staff but the one lady who was on reception was very nice.
We did have to wheel our cases a little way to our hotel (Nubia) but it was clearly signposted. The complex is split up into 4 hotels and ours was the furthest from the main complex. Honestly it was only a 30 second walk up a safe path to our restaurant (at the bottom of the complex.)
We were both very impressed with the food. The times were quite flexible for all inclusive and the food was also really varied. breakfast always included fruit, pastries, cooked brekkie, cereal, juic etc Lunch was my favourite as you had 3 choices BBQ, Fresh Pizza or the restaurant. Evening meals were also nice and there was a choice of wine or soft drinks. The snack bar was also very good, you could make your own toasted snawiches we were always nice if you had room! drinks: yes you could only get 2 at a time but they were generous portions. We never found the queues to be that long and platic glassess are a great idea-no worries about smashed glass then, they were 4 bars in total, spread out around the pools.
The pools were lovely, clean and not that cold. You did have to be up at a decent time to get a sunbed but we just bought some lilos from the shop incase we couldnt get any and only used them for 10 mins one day! I would also recommend going to the beach a few days-it is absolutely beautiful (walk up to the end near the marina.)
Our room: was on the small side and very basic however it was cleaned daily and we got fresh towels daily. We also had excellent air con-which we used at the weather was fabulous! There was some noise on our first night, but once my Mum had asked the to shut up lol they were fine. we mentioned this to reception the next day and they said they would put security there that night and they did as we didnt hear 1 sound. They also gave us a number to ring if we needed security again, which we didnt.
1 day our water did go cold, when we complained to reception again they were very poilte and the problem was fixed asap.
Entertainment: was pretty good really, there was alsorts going on in the day and staff were so friendly all of the time. The mini discos did get a bit dull for adults BUt there was some good adult entertainment- cool and the gang were fun and myself and mum won the quiz! haha we did however most nights get plenty of free drinks then head into arenal to either hole in the wall (great irish pub) or the sportsman (fab english, kareoke bar) where we met some good friends and got totally drunk every night! The hotel did have a large mix of nationalities and brits are in the minority however no-one was rude or anything we just liked meeting other brits in the eve. The sportsman does a mean roast if your missing english grub!
Arenal has some nice shops and bars and the market is worth a visit. We also had a day out in palma-only 1euro on the bus-the church there was amazing and the marina was lovely. I also went to the water park with some german friends id made over there. The waterpark is definately worth a visit- just take your own food/drinks as expensive and dont be conned into paying to hire rings there are free ones which dont take long to wait for. A really fun day out!
A few more hints- weigh your case on the machine in the reception before going home and get a safety deposit box. If you have any problems if you speak politely to the staff they will endevour to help you. Dont go near the potatoe guys. Treat yourself to a crepe from the front-yum!
To sum up- for a great price we had a nice holiday in the sun, 10 days was perfect for us and we really liked arenal. We would use this hotel again but would maybe request a room above the accapolco restaurant as these were lovely ( we made some friends who let us use their room to get ready on our last day.)

1 reader found this review helpful

A REVIEW YOU CAN BELIEVE!
First of all, DON'T listen to any of the bad reviews on this website as in all honesty, they could not be more wrong! We are a couple in our twenties who got a last minute deal and were VERY VERY happy with what we got!
We arrived and after reading the reviews as you can imagine, we were pooing our pants...but as soon as we got out of the taxi a Spanish local very kindly pointed us in the right direction to reception (not that we needed it because it was well sign posted :) ). So here's our contrasting opinion on what some people wrote about this resort...
RECEPTION: Very friendly; spoke very good English and were very helpful especially when we managed to lock ourselves out of our room! Check in and out couldn't have been more smooth.
THE ROOM: We stayed in The Copacobana block of appartments and found it to be very clean and tidy. Our room consisted of a nice double bed, wardrobe with draws, 2 bedside tables, a television, a simple bathroom and a spacious balcony. The room also had air-conditioning. The maid service was very good as our room was made up every day with new bedding and towells.
THE FOOD: Really don't understand what the HELL people are going on about when they have complained about the food...we do not have a bad word to say about it as it was delicious every day.
Breakfast: cereal, fruit, boiled eggs, fried eggs, bacon, beans, sausages mushrooms, toast, croissants were on offer amongst much more...
Lunch: as well as a bbq (salad, spanish saus, chops, baked potatoes etc) and pizza bar by the pool, the buffet was again full of variety with plenty of pasta, meat (such as turkey, chicken, pork, fish etc) and some local dishes.
Dinner: As well as themed nights such as chinese and traditional mallorcan, yet again we had no problems with the food at all. If if you didnt like the speciality dishes that were offered there was plenty of more english type food to choose from (Pizza, chips , potato salad, meatballs etc etc.
Snack Bar: Running throughout the day between meals, which consisted of chips, potato croquets and other hot snack type food plus bread, toasted sandwiches and fillings such as ham, onion, cheese and tomartoes.
BARS AND THEIR "LONG" QUEUES: There was one main bar next to the entertainment stage which stayed open ALL day. In addition, there were TWO other bars nicely spaced out around the resort, which were normally quieter. As for the forementioned "long" queues, there were busier times than others, but any sort of queue got smaller very quickly as the bar staff were quick and efficient. We had no problems with queues what so ever!
ENTERTAINMENT: The entertainment program was fun and lively, with more than enough English to undertsand what was going on! During the day there were many activities such as table tennis and pool to keep yourself busy. There was also organised events for example; water polo and volleyball. The entertainment team were very friendly and polite when asking you to join in! If your the kind that just likes to lay in the sun and get that all important holiday tan then this hotel is the perfect place to do so as you have an option of FOUR pools to sunbath next to. Also the beautiful sandy beach is on your doorstep!
FELLOW HOLIDAY MAKERS: Yes there were alot of German and Spanish people, all of which were friendly and polite and spoke English to us when they needed to...so this was not a problem. By far, we were not the only English people staying at the hotel and didn't feel on our own at all...not in the slightest!!
Overall our expereience was great and the hotel and resort of El Arenal was just what we wanted. We found plenty of bars and restaurants to go to if you wanted to get out of the hotel for a night including two lovely english bars called THE BEACH COMBER and the Queen Vic.
We had a brilliant holiday and hope if you choose Palma Bay you will go there with peace of mind that you will have a good time!!...
UNLESS.......you are a rascist miserable old fart that should have gone to backpool!!

My daughter and I arrived at Palma airport and went to look for our transfer having paid £45.00 for a shuttle bus to take us to our resort, after 2 hours of searching for our transfer we were informed that Sun 4 U had cancelled our transfer. We paid 20 euros for a taxi to the resort, where we were dropped off it was a hotel block we couldn't enter, we found our way up a very steep hill to the hotels main part (with reception ect). Our hotel (Nubia) was situated a 5 minute walk from the bars, pools, resturant, reception and entertainment (in about 8 different languages so not worth watching). The food was not what we were used to recieving on our previous holidays before but it was only cheap so we didn't complain. Most nights between 2:00am and 4:00am we were woken up by noisy germans/dutch. This resort is NOT for British. The beach was lovely and Arenal is a beautiful place, but it is not a holiday for Brits. This is the first time I've ever booked a last minute cheap holiday and will not be doing it again.