Barcelo Ponent Playa

As one of the earlier reviewers said, Restaurant could not cope in peak season. We stayed from September 9-16 2006 and the hotel was full. Restaurant was completly disorganised except for the Saga guests later in the week, who seemed to receive preferential treatment and a different menu! The ground floor is almost on the beach which is fabulous. we were on the first floor overlooking the beach, although the view was blocked by a large tree. The restaurant was on the second floor and once the restaurant opened all that could be heard in our room was the constant scraping noises coming from chairs being pushed back and forth as people headed for the buffet and back. IT WAS RELENTLESS! If you must go ask for floors 4-7. It is a good hotel that is not run efficiently. What a shame. Would I return? No Way.

As asingle traveller I found this hotel brilliant. The food was excellent with plenty of choice although not too hot. Room was spotlessly clean, air conditioning that was on all the time, maid service on a daily basis, entertainment all day if required. Childrens hour at 8.30 each night, entertainers who were hotel staff were very good, two good shows during the week, flamenco and acrobats. Buy a cheap parasol and lilo from the shop opposite as getting a sun bed is almost impossible. Very international clientele, loads, of spanish, german, dutch, swiss, etc., so was sometimes difficult to find someone english to speak to. The entertainment staff all spoke english, but contrary to one of the reviews on this site, the people i spoke to there were unanimous in finding the hotel staff, ie waiters etc., very surly and most of the time only wanted to serve the spanish, germans, etc., however, the situation of the hotel was excellent, a few steps from the beach, little bars all around a wonderful shoppingarea just round the corner and being on my own i could walk around at ll.30 at night with no problems at all. Was a problem with jelly fish, sea nearly closed off during my week there and only paddling allowed. Sea trips good with swimming off the boat. All coves really nice there, and little train for three euros that did a round trip if you didnt feel like walking. All in all i would stay at this hotel again. plenty of lounge areas as well. Sue from sta ffordshire.

we have just returned from a wonderful 2 weeks holiday at the ponent playa. Hotel is lovely and clean , staff cant do enough for you. Food good even my 10 year old daughter enjoyed it. Diving school at side of hotel brill ! jean-claude is so friendly. Entertainment staff superb they worked so hard, activities all day long,water polo , volley ball, mini golf, etc. aero fun in the mornings not to be missed. Excellent location on the beach What more could you ask for? Superb holiday!

Stayed here for a week in June and the hotel was very busy for the time of year(especially with children and saga clients) No young coupls, not romantic but very good location, good food, good staff and overall enjoyable holiday. The pool appears to be big in the brochures but it small and does not have enough sunbeds me and my partner had to buy lilos to sunbathe on and people waited by the pool at 7 to reserve a sunbed which we found very amusing! use the hotel as a base to enjoy thre beach and would advise a hired car gorgeous part of the island.

I have just returned from two weeks at the Hotel Barcelo Ponent Playa. Its the second year in a row that me and my family have stayed there, and once again we had a fantastic time! First of all, the hotel is in a great location. Not too far away from the main town (approx 10 minute walk), and right on Cala Ferrera beach. The staff are all extremely friendly and helpful! Reception staff speak very good English, and we couldnt fault any of the bar or restaurant staff. They were always polite, cheerful, and eager to help! At times, the hotel was quite busy, and they all work so hard to make your stay enjoyable. The Maids are wonderful....they make your beds every day, and if you wish, will leave you fresh towels every day too. The Hotel is extremely clean, and the maids can be seen working all day on various tasks. The food was always excellent. I felt there was a wide choice for everyone, and considering the amount that has to be made for the vast number of guests, it was always of a high standard. Dishes are replaced before they are even empty, which shows that the staff are always on top of things. During our two week stay, we saw a lot of families and groups that we recognised from last year. Surely this goes to show how good the hotel is if people are returning year after year......... Hopefully we will be returning for our third time next year. If you are planning to stay at the Barcelo Ponent Playa, take the reviews with a pinch of salt. Some people just love to find things wrong...in their cases, they should holiday in England-maybe then they will realise just how hard the staff work aboad, and how pleasant and helpful everyone is. Afterall, we dont go abroad just for the sun......

We have just returned from Cala D’Or on 12th July and had fabulous time. The flight out was not so good with Fly Globespan due to technical problems but staff were great out and back. No delays thank goodness on return. There were 4 of us 2 adults and a 10 year old and our baby who is 19 months. We booked taxi which cost 76 p0unds to hotel from airport and paid 57 euros for return which we arranged ourselves with driver of taxi at rank across from hotel. Lovely air conditioned 7 seater merc and the driver would not let us carry luggage! Fab start to relaxing. The hotel Fabulous. Rooms cleaned every day, towels changed every day and our beds 3 times in the 13 nights we stayed. We can honestly say hotel is very clean, maids were mixed - ours very pleasant and talked to the kids as best as she could which they loved. The room was basic TV, three beds and the cot which we had removed for space. Space was fine, wardrobes and drawers ample. Coat hangers provided which was handy. Safe extra we paid 36 euros for 2 weeks but got 10 back on departure. Also phone which we completely disconnected as our daughter would probably call someone somewhere! Balcony was safe for kids and had the plastic patio chairs and a table. The room was air conditioned but not great. We found putting to heat and turning to 10 degrees provided lovely cool breeze. Take a Tesco card and keep in slot for your return and room will be ice cold after a hot day on beach! Fab. The food, great selection, all well cooked, warm and did change from day to day. Only problem was the provided lamb, veal, pork and occasional turkey and I am not too keen. But with salads and pastas and soups I always found something as did the kids. Husband enjoyed the veal or lamb steaks which were usually on. Breakfasts are also fab with great selection of anything you could want. Free tea coffee and juice. At night the waitress will take your order for the drinks which you pay as you leave. But you can take your own in we did a few times and no one questioned us at all. The pool was lovely, cool but not freezing and the baby pool was like a bath. Pool bar food ok and staff very friendly. You can have a massage on the terrace at the bar over looking the sea and beach which i recommend. She is lovely lady and very good. The beach is lovely, very crowded at times but sea really nice. Get snorkeling lovely fish but watch out there can be jelly fish. We took the boat trip from the hotel to Porto Colom, fab if you enjoy jumping in the sea just didn’t stay long enough for everyone. Went to Figueroa (think spelt correctly), nice but not much there. Don’t go on a Sunday! Cala D’Or is lovely 10 min walk away and not too hilly for prams or infirm. A taxi to the marina cost us 6 euros. Lovely walk around the boats but not much there either and quite a steep hill to the town I believe. Cala Ferreira where the hotel is lovely too. We enjoyed the steak house above the spar, fab but not cheap however it is much nicer than the one in Cala D’Or which advertise as the best. Also the duke of Devonshire was quite good. Proper English ham etc for breakfast and the evening meal we had was good too. We enjoyed and would return as our 10 year old is able to swim enough not to be concerned if he is out on lilo or boat or snorkeling. He also enjoyed jumping from the rocks which again is safe from where boat departs. Sea is cool and clear and no tides, although deeper than he could stand it was safe. Some nice boats would sometimes moor in cove too. There is a fruit man too who comes to beach with water melon, pineapples, bananas and coconuts. You wont miss him! Sun beds are expensive - 10 euros or so a day. Hotel only provides at bar overlooking beach and the pool is always crowded so good luck if you ant one. All in all we may go back and would return to this area and hotel if we did. We usually caravan in UK but treated ourselves this year to extra holiday. Loved the place but 10 nights enough. I would go back bed and breakfast not half board. If fussy eater in group i would suggest this too.

Got back today from the best Med holiday ever! This is the 5th time I have been to Spain/Majorca and what a difference. This resort is a class above the rest. We have had a magical time. Started by being sent in a taxi transfer from Palma (no such luck on the way back!) it is well worth the hour journey to escape the madness of Magaluf/Palma. We had an amazing room overlooking the beach and it was cleaned everyday. The towels were changed every other day although I don't think the beds were changed during our week long stay. Yes, the beach is tiny and crowded but the scenery is out of a travel guide and is stuff that I was considering going long haul to get. It really is paradise on your door step in comparison. I am a fussy eater and I always managed to find something to my taste such as pork chops, veal, soups, salads, pasta etc. The staff were very friendly and they could all speak English, French and German - even the entertainment staff would announce everything in every language. It was very impressive. There were 4 bars - one was overlooking the beach and it was a lovely setting for lunch and a drink. The poolside bar was nice for the early evening and then move on to the music bar which opened out into an outside entertainment area. This bar was decorated very tastefully. We didnt see anything going on in the other bar (Copacabana) other than our welcome meeting with the rep. This is classed as Cala D'or but it is just outside in Cal Ferrera and it is much more preferable than Cala D'or which was full of people trying to entice you into their restaurant or bar. There are sufficient bars and restuarants near the hotel without going too far. I have already looked at booking for next year - what better recommendation can there be - you will love it as did our 16 year old daughter and her friend.

Don't stay here peak season. Why? As good as the hotel is it only just about copes during this time. Can be very difficult to find a table and the whole thing can get quite competative and stressful. The beach next to the hotel is tiny. Beautiful but tiny. Off Peak no problem you will love it, but peak and you will have problems finding room to lay a towel! Oh and you'll need to get up at about 7am if you want to join the 'q' for the pool side loungers. Won't be going again. Palma Nova is a much safer bet....

We have just returned on Sunday from the Ponent Playa, and after reading other reviews saying negative things was more than delighted to find the hotel very very good for its star rating. The food is good we stayed half board, the breakfasts are wonderful, cereals, fruit, yoghurt, full english, cakes, bread, jam, honey, cheese and cold meats, if you cant find something there well I think you best go self catering. The evening meals are good, plenty of meat, vegetables, and if you want chips every night, then this is catered for. The salad bar is excellent, and the desserts very good also ice cream and fruit, glad we only stayed one week, put on loads of weight. Coffee, tea and fruit juice in the morning are included, but in the evening you have to buy everything even water as there are no drinks included with the meal. this was a bit of a problem as we like a coffee at the end of our meal, you either have to go to one of the bars, or like us go to the room and make one yourselves, no tea and coffee making facilities so take a kettle etc. The hotel is very clean, as are the rooms. The air conditioning didnt work propertly in our room this was not fixed and was a negative point, but we slept with the door open. I wish we had complained again, as we found out too late that other people had very good air conditioning. If you go ask for a room away from the entertainment as this is very noisy as the animation team seem to think the only way to entertain the audience was to shout at the top of their voices, the entertainment was rubbish, but we have come to expect that from hotels in general. The beach is very nice, a pretty sheltered bay, so it never has problem with undercurrents, they do have problems with jellyfish and lots and I mean lots of people got very nasty stings, but this could be avoided you just had to keep a look out on times when they were about, the sea is very clear its not hard to do. The beach is very crowded, but this is typical spain. They charge 10.5 euros a day for the hire of the sunbeds and umberelas we think this is far too expensive and like a lot of people bought a couple of lilo's to lay on and they also were great fun in the water, they are cheap comfortable and if you need shade they also sell umberelas so you can cut the cost down of the overpriced sunbeds, as it is a public beach the hotel has no influence over this, the hotel has sunbeds beside the beach, but not very many, and of course you could if you want spend the day at the pool, people start lining up to get a bed just before 8.00am the pool oopens at 8.00am. We would have no hesitation in recommending this hotel and would go back to this resort if we returned to mallorcia. The area has lots of shops, bars and restuarants but is not a noisy resort, it is situated on the Ferrera beach and its about a kilometer to walk to the main resort and shops of Cala d'or. Book it unless you are really hard to please you will love it.

I am just back from a week at the Barcello Ponent Playa. We stayed at this hotel 5 years ago and it was excellent. The rooms are still good for a 3 star hotel, and the hotel sits in a lovely location. However, the hotel seems far busier than i ever remember and the food has gone drastically down hill. The choice is poor, very repeptitive, they do not stock the food up properly, sometimes you have to ask for things, in general the food will not inspire you in any way, it is no better than you would get in a down market canteen. The worst of all is that the staff help themselves to the food prior to the end of service and if you like a late dinner or breakfast (around an hour before service is due to finish) as many of us on holiday do then expect to be sitting with a table full of dishes whilst the staff set up there own meals right in front of you, a practice i have never witnessed any where before now. The staff would rather set up for there dinners than attend to you while you are having yours. I would recomend trying another hotel in this resort, there are a few other nice ones where the staff may be better and the food much better, otherwise go SC.