Reviews of Agua Beach Hotel, Palma Nova, Mallorca

Have just come back from...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Mrs J Walker

Comments:

Have just come back from spending a week at this Hotel, the room was reasonably clean, but could do with having a deep clean (public areas as well), as the front and back of the bathroom door had dirty marks and other dirty marks on the walls. Location couldn't be faulted. Was disappointed that there wasn't a fridge or hairdryer in the room which for a 3 1/2 star wasn't very good, it was the only time there hasn't been either in any three stars we have stayed in before. The dining room was too small for the Hotel as there were queues every meal time and only two girls clearing, relaying & seating people which when the hotel is full is a bit much. The food wasn't very good, not very hot and over cooked, breakfast was ok, you can't really go wrong with cornflakes and toast, but the cooked breakfasts looked over cooked. We ended up eating out on two occasions as we were fed up with eating salads. The entertainment was abit old hat, were no longer young enough for the night clubs neither are we old enough for Bingo!!The staff in the Hotel were very friendly and helpful as was the rep Clare. This Hotel will be one we will avoid in the future.

Well what a great hotel and fab...

Overall Rating:

10/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Miss C Davis

Comments:

Well what a great hotel and fab holiday! Food was delicious and lots to choose from! The reviews i read before my partner and i went were a bit disappointing but we were pleasantly surprised when we got there. The only thing i would point out is that it is'nt really a young persons hotel as the majority of people were over 60 and some were extremely ignorant and rude apart from two lovely couples we met. I am 30 years old and was brought up to have manners. Clearly some people forget theirs when they are on holiday. So all in all its a great hotel and room was nice and cleaned daily. Don't be put off from the bad reviews and enjoy!

Before leaving, me and my...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Ms Damage Big Damage

Comments:

Before leaving, me and my boyfriend were bracing for the worst: no ipod, or laptop or anything of value, and, believe it or not, we even packed sandwiches for the first day, seen that the food was described as something my dog wouldn't consider eating!

We were quite surprised on our arrival, late at night, on seeing that the hotel looked quite nice & clean, no grumpy receptionist, no yelling people or any othen nightmarish feature.

On waking up in the morning we have realized that we could see the beach, that was indeed just across the road, and was exactly what had been promised, and even more: clean sand, blue sea, and not crowded at all!

The room & bathroom were quite clean, the daily cleaning was more than satisfactory, the towels have been changed daily, and on one occasion the maids have left some extra towels without even being asked (hoorray!), the linen have been changed at least once, as promised.

The communal areas were cleaned daily as well, but what with sand and kids disseminating stuff around, they were far from spotless.

Also, some areas, namely the glass lift and the showers by the pool, looked like nobody had cleaned them in months, but, again, the standards were still acceptable.

The lift of the main building has been something of a mystery to us: it was clearly cleaned every day, but it stunk so much that we tried to avoid it whenever possible!

The food was not exceptional, but, again, it was quite good.

At breakfast there was a choice of sweet pastries, cereals, fruit and, of course, the traditional English breakfast.

I have to say that I only tried the latter once, and found it well below the standards of the continental breakfast, with reconstituted scrambled eggs that tasted like flour, and bacon that felt (and tasted!) like cardboard, but the other items more than made it up, so no big deal there!

Every evening there was a wide choice of food: at least one type of meat (usually two), fish, cheese, salads, desserts and fresh fruit.

We have never had to queue or wait to eat, and we were surely not asked to clean up the dishes, although the staff was so nice and helpful that we and many other hotel guests would do so spontaneously.

The only thing that didn't go down with us was the fact that we would be charged for the water (1.5 € for 500 ml): I believe that offering plain tap water for free AND a choice of bottled water and other drinks for a payment would have been more fair and decent.

The "italian" restaurant was another thing entirely: hidden on top of the other building it offers a nice enough sight, but the food was disgraceful, and what we saw (the cook smoking outside, and then grabbing pre-cooked pasta with his bare hands, without washing them was enough to make me choose to sit with my back to the kitchen!) was even worse!

I believe that saying that the "italian" restaurant only offered frozen pizzas should give you the idea of how the food was!

It's unbelievable for us that somebody might have found the food as delicious, maybe we have happened to eat when the chef was away on a holiday?!?

As for the entertainment, we did avoid it carefully, it just wasn't our piece of cake, with all the due respect for whomever has enjoyed it!

We decided to go for a taste of spanish life but, sadly, all the pubs, restaurants, venues, even supermarkets were british owned and run.

Essentially, Palmanova and Magalluf were a sunny version of the UK!

Thanks to one of the restaurant waitreses, though, we have found a pub and a club that were a bit more "spanish"!

A very nice holiday, worth the money spent.

Except for the last day: we were scheduled to leave with a "late flight", and should have left the hotel at 00.15 on Sunday morning.

Well, First Choice offers the "late check-out rooms" for these instances, shouldn't have been too much of a problem isn't it?

So, on our first day, we asked the representative how to book this essential service, and she said to ask the reception on the Saturday morning.

The hotel reception gave us the same reply on the first, third and sixth day.

So, when on the Saturday we have been told that they couldn't give us any room, and that we had to vacate ours by noon we were not exactly happy.

The reason given by the receptionist was that "all the rooms are fully booked and there is only one maid", that made us even less happy.

We were offered the use of a communal "shower room", but, let's face it, would you be happy to shower in the same place as every other guest so unlucky as to share the same hellish situation???

What has followed was a real nightmare: at noon the reception has started ringing people in their rooms, reminding them the time, and, basically, booting everybody out, and the lounge has filled with people complaining and trying to shove one more piece of luggage into the "luggage room" (a cubicle already filled with cardboard boxes and a TV set), bags, backpacks and other pieces of luggage disseminated everywhere in the lounge, a lady who has spent at least 14 hours laying on the only sofa of the hall, a group of girls that hadn't been told that the "shower room" would be shut after a certain time, and had to change in the toilet(!!!), and so on.

In all of this,Kathie, our rep was... well, we don't know where she was actually, we spotted her getting on a coach and she was gone for most of the day!

When we finally got hold of her, she tried to fob us off with ridiculous excuses ("why, nobody told you that the late check out room wasn't guaranteed?"), and she even tried to change what we told her when we asked to put down a complaint: I had to write the things that she had accidentally "forgotten" myself, when she handed me the pen to sign the form!

Of course, on our way to the airport, Kathie had found the use of speech again, and she has been very busy reminding us to fill in the customer questionnaire, and to give her an excellent score...

It's amazing how half day can make disappear the effect of a whole week of holiday, that had been very good up to then!

All in all, the Agua Beach is good value for money, a very nice location, with a wonderful beach just on the other side of the road (that is probably the reason why this hotel is rated as a 3 + stars instead of a 2 stars!), but don't expect the Ritz for the price of a B&B, and, if you want to fully enjoy your holiday, do not even dream of leavig with a late flight!

we booked this holiday as a last...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Miss C Walker

Comments:

we booked this holiday as a last minute thing, so when reading the reviews we was not looking forard to the hotel.



when we arrived we were pleasantly suprised it is a very large hotel.

luckily our room was in the main part of the hotel so we only had to take the lift.



the food was good each evening was something different, tend to get there early as it gets busy further in to the evening. breakfasts were repetative but were still able to find something we liked.



if you would like a large pool dont come to this hotel as it is very small in comparison to the size of the hotel. sun is on the pool majority of the day but your lucky if you get a place round the pool.



the location is excellent just over the road from the beach.

we found the further you walk in to magaluf the cheaper the water, snacks, alcohol and souveniers get.



our rooms was not cleaned everyday even though they should of been we had new towels everyday, beds were made most days.



rep was helpful, told us about excursions and gave us advise on which ones to go on.

we stayed in palma nova for 7 days and we did everything. by the end of the week we were getting bored. i would advise you to only go fo a week unless going to magaluf if you enjoy clubbing as there are plenty clubs and bars to choose from.

Just returned from this hotel we...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

mushy

Comments:

Just returned from this hotel we did not get the room that we paid for we paid extra money for a kitchenette that we could,nt use as it was so dirty, the room was in the annex of the building via a glass lift that was so dirty and had not been cleaned in months the food was not up to standard, luke warm under cooked and sloppy, back to the room it was dusty; smelt of cigarettes; bed linen was not clean; i do not believe this hotel is a 3 star we will not be going back and would not recomend it to anyone

just back from a week at agua...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Ms L Do

Comments:

just back from a week at agua beach hotel with my partner and 10 year old son, found the hotel clean and staff were very friendly, the pool was a joke it was very shaded and no atmosphere at it no pool side bar or snack bar beside the pool, the food in the restaurant was ok but they dont have a lunch menu just breakfast and diner, the italian restaurant that we could use as part of our half board on the 2nd floor was rubish no airconditiong in it sweat box service and food was crap,

the hotel is right beside the beach and the view we had was lovely, 3.80euro in a taxi brings you to magulf entertainment much better up there than palma nova.

nothing for kids to do in hotel

On arrival at 5 am, we were...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Mr LH Harper

Comments:

On arrival at 5 am, we were given our rooms (605 and 606) we got in the lift to the top floor which only went up to 5? wen we finaly found our rooms it was through the fire exit and up some narrow steps in the janitor cupboard to our own floor wich only had those two rooms on it. we put or cases in the two rooms and went to go out onto the balcony which didnt appear to be there, we had to climb out of a normal sized window over generators and solar panels to get on to our equivalent to a balcony (the roof) we literally touched teh agua beach sign. we put our head down for the night and went down to complain the next day, thankfully we were given better rooms with balconys.



After a few days only being teenagers on our first holiday we respected the rules and we went out and come back and only used the hotel for sleep and food, everynight we would coem back and the pictures and fir extuingishers on everyfloor had been dismantles and places in the middle of the floor, we got the blame and we were woken at 4 am to police bursting through our doors and harrass us. a few more days and they found the real culprit and evicted them but still not an apology was offered.



When we came to leave the rep was nto helpful at all, dont even know her name as she was that helpful, we had to tell her our transfer times to airport and she agreed showing she didnt know to much!also the baggage room was not big enough and people had to drag cases aroudn teh bar so they were safe, once vacating the room, there were no places to shower or get changed so we went home with no underware on and smelling funky from the pool.





We were asleep most mornings so we had our rooms cleaned once in a week but the once they did was more than satisfactory, The food for me as im a huge continental food lover was beautiful, not amazing selection but there was omething tasty everynight and morning but the italian rest on the roof on the new hotel block which is free is absolutely lovely, have never ttasted food like it. the entertainment at night was shocking but when magaluf has status like i does there isnt need for hotel entertainment.The pool was nice temperature which is suitible for people of all ages and half is in shade, perfect distance from beach as its is only 15meteres away, taxi rank 2 mins from hotel,



OVERALL 6/10

Well What a holiday from hell?...

Overall Rating:

3/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Mrs Wendy Harcourt

Comments:

Well What a holiday from hell? It was full of uni students and eighteen to twenties and if you want to sleep, forget it! They had no consideration for others and came in all hours drunk and very noisy, were sick on carpets, let off fire appliances and broke doors. On one occasion a broken drinking glass was found in the swimming pool. As for the pool, we could not even use it most of the time because it was full of air beds. All the rules that the hotel had made were ignored. Also, the hotel management would not even attempt to enforce their own rules ie people were allowed to enter the dining room in the evening in whatever they were wearing at the time - wet swimwear anyone?



The food was awful and the rooms were not cleaned to the standard it should be and the management did not care. The rep was not really very helpful until it was time to go home and all she (Katie) wanted was us to do was mark her score 7 out of ten. No way, more like 2 out of ten. On the morning of departure we spoke with a lady and her teenage son who the night before had been robbed. Somebody had climbed onto the glass lift during the night and got onto their balcony, entered the bedroom and stole the lads jeans containing 100 euros. The jeans were found in the mornng minus the 100 euros. What a lovely end (not) for this family. Shame on the lowlife that had carried out this awful act!!!



Well good luck to you if you go because you will probably need it !!

After reading all of the...

Overall Rating:

3/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Miss T Hayes

Comments:

After reading all of the comments on this site was very very scared about going here. However i went there in June and the weather was gorgeous, the beach was just outside the door. I thought the pool area was very good as it had half and half sun and shade. So if you was getting burnt you could go in the shaded area and when you wanted the sun just go in the sunpart. the only thing i felt was wrong was the flies that were in the pool. it was clean daily i believe but as i went in in the afternoon there were flies in from the morning. There was a seperate part to the hotel also as i did not stay in the main area of the hotel as you would find the reception area i was a bit down the road which i werent too happy about. However that did have a sun terrace which was handy as you were right below the sun all the time. There was also a seperate balcony where you could lie. that was good for going topless lol. we had in our room two balconies which was good. and a double bed with a fridge that only worked when you had the electric on. Big wardrobe. etc Really good. Bit smelly when i first got there but after spraying perfume it was fine as it smelt like cigarettes. It got really hot at night in the rooms as we were out for most nights and got in and then obviously put the air con on so it was ok. Overall i would say it was a great holiday apart from the flights being delayed 3 hours. was not happy!!! flight home was fast. Food not so good. we ate out everynight. Go for self catering if i was you. Save your money. It wasnt too bad but not my cup of tea....

after reading previous reviews i...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Mrs Carole Husk

Comments:

after reading previous reviews i was very worried about the hotel. i was pleasantly surprised. The rooms were spotless and the staff so friendly. The breakfasts were very good. I was not too keen on the dinner menus and found it very repetitive. We never queued fior dinner and staff were always ready to show you to a table

i would certainly go back to this hotel

My husband and I have just...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Mrs J Read

Comments:

My husband and I have just returned from a weeks stay at the Aqua Beach Hotel in Palma Nova. We found the hotel to be friendly, clean and very welcoming. All the hotel staff were very helpful and the food and evening entertainment was good. We would say it is probably more catering for the older guests, although there were a number of younger people who seemed to be having a good time.



The location of the hotel is very good being just across the road from the beach with lots of restaurants and shops closeby and a short walk to Magalluf.



We would certainly not hesitate to go back.

Overall the we rated the hotel...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Mr C Wharmby

Comments:

Overall the we rated the hotel as fairly good. We were fairly concerned prior to our holiday due to the reviews that we had read. Although their was one grumpy receptionist, the majority were extremely helpful. What is more the hotel and so were the rooms. The cleaners came everyday and were extremely polite and thorough. Also, the food was nice, with plenty of choice (including a nice free restaurant on the roof of the hotel) and the waiter/ess's were also very nice.



A few negative points.

1. On one day when they changed the bedding the bottom sheet had dried blood stains which certainly did not belong me nor my partner (however must be said that this was a one off and certainly did not reflect the overall cleanliness of the hotel

2. In the brochure nothing was mentioned about dining in the restaurant. However when we arrived it said that we were unable to wear shorts, which was all i had. This upset me a little as the waiter/ress's made a fuss about it until i made my feelings clear.

3. The pool area is extremely small is certainly very unsuitable for children.



However despite these negative points we were fairly happy with the hotels overall performance.

me and my partner have just come...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

May 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Miss L Charnell

Comments:

me and my partner have just come back from our 2 week stay at the aqua beach and we really liked it there the hotel was lovely the room was very nice there was just a few miner problems, and that was that we had no hot warter for 2 days both week and the food wasent really that good breakfast was ok but some of the evening meals wasnt that good or sometimes not cooked properly also having to cue up for dinner wasnt at all my kind of thing ive had better all inclusive to what ive seen half board also pool area dated. the staff were very good if you had a problem but above all the holiday was good apart from the weather on the first week we got there,and i would rather cater this hotel for the more older generation as it is more for them not for the younger couples.

palma novais a great place quiet if you like that kind of thing which we did but i won,t be commig back not for a good few year.

I stayed at this hotel with my...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

May 2008

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Mrs P O''Regan

Comments:

I stayed at this hotel with my sister in May this year.



The hotel was billed as 3+ but did not live up to even a 3 star. We actually were in the new block down the road, we had to drag our cases as there we were told there was no lift linking the 2 buildings. Our room was a good size, the bathroom was ok but did not contain any shower gel only soap, I did expect shower gel, I have stayed in 3 stars before and have had shower gel provided.



What was alarming was that there was no health and safety poster on the back of our room door, nothing to advise us of how to proceed should there be a fire. There was no "do not disturb" hanging on the inside of the door handle. Also no information at all about the hotel in the room which you would expect.



We also were plagued with mosquitos every night they seem to come in through the air conditioning (which did'nt work properly), we got severely bitten and were deprived of sleep most nights.



The food in the restaurant was absolutely dire. Dinner was served at 6.30pm we had to join a queue at 6pm to get into the restaurant and then had to queue again at the buffet (which in my mind defeats the whole idea of buffet). The choice was very poor more often then not food was re-heated.



There was a very small area in the lounge alloted to non-smokers, then was constantly abused by smokers, even the staff walked through here smoking. People were never told to move or refrain from smoking.



Altogether a bad experience.



Palma Nova it self is lovely resort and family focused.



Mrs P O'Regan

Well after reading some of these...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2007

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Miss L Dawson

Comments:

Well after reading some of these reviews, in particular the first one I read, I don't think this was the same hotel. Me and my boyfriend went in July last year and the hotel certainly wasn't dirty.

We had a fantastic room, right at the front overlooking the sea and although the maids came round a little too early we wern't too bothered by this. Unfortunately our room wasn't ready when we arrived at 11am due to problems with the previous guests but we didn't have to wait too long. I expected this anyway as having been to Spain a few times I know that hotel rooms in general aren't availible til midday.

The food was fantastic, a good selection and I never went hungry. The morning we left the restaurant was opened early for us as we were getting picked up at 8am so at least we didn't miss out a meal. Tonino's, the Italian restaurant on site, was excellent too. It was the first time I had tried Mallorcan wine.

I found the reception staff extremely helpful, in fact one lunchtime when I went to collect the key, the duty receptionist couldn't apologise enough for eating garlic!

The bar was brilliant, and one of the barmaids even changed a cocktail ingredient for my boyfriend to something he preferred to drink. The view from the terrace was excellent.

I wouldn't recommend the pool for young children as there is no shallow end so the beach is safer. I can't swim so after my first time in the pool i wouldn't go back in as the water came up to my neck so I didn't feel safe. I prefer lying by the sea though so most days we went over to the beach.

The only thing that lets this hotel down is the evening entertainment, which was bingo or karaoke most nights. I enjoy quiz nights so I was a little disappointed that there wasn't one. The evening entertainment is definitely aimed at the older guests. It didn't bother us too much though as we like going to bars when we're on holiday.

Palma Nova is a fantastic resort, loads of shops and bars and a lovely beach. There's also plenty of places to eat, I particularly liked the Delfin Playa de Luxor which does really good omelettes and calamari. Pirates is also a must-see show, well worth the 45 Euros. The bar over the road from the hotel(can't remember the name) is a rip-off though, the best bars are Cheeks, Banana Joes and Juanito Bananas.

Although we're going to Tenerife this year, we would definitely go back to Palma Nova and stay at the Agua Beach again