Sol Menorca Hotel

7 readers found this review helpful

Just back from a second visit to Sol Menorca after an absence of 3 years. This hotel is very clean and the staff are friendly and helpful. The room size is adequate and there is no charge for the safe or fridge. The buffet food can be repetitious over two weeks and is more akin to that found in 3 star than 4 star establishments.
Majority of guests are from middle age upwards with a smattering of three-generation family groups. The dominant nationality was British.
No problem with availability of sun beds until the hotel filled up and then they seemed to be in short supply.
Daytime sports were well organised by an experienced two person team (Greg and Saskia) with a choice of three options for 6 days a week. They also provided an amusing and entertaining cabaret twice a week with visiting artistes (of varying standard) in attendance 4 nights each week. No sports or entertainment provided on Sundays. The Hotel is not suited for teenagers and indeed states it does not encourage bookings from families with children.
Sant Tomas is a quiet small resort with three hotels, some apartments and villas, five or so bars/restaurants, a couple of small supermarkets, a chemist and a few gift shops. Evening entertainment is hotel based. The beaches are excellent. The public transport is somewhat limited so a car

5 readers found this review helpful

I can thoroughly recommend this hotel for Mature couples & those seeking a quiet break.We have recently returned from a 9 day break to Menorca. We split the holiday between 2 resorts Santo Tomas & the sister hotel Sol Gavilanes in Cala Galdana which we new & loved from a previous visit We are a couple of 48 & 50.
Menorca is excellent for walking, relaxing & sightseeing.
The Sol Menorca & Santo Thomas were a pleasant surprise. Santo Thomas is a very quiet, clean resort & is really geared for the more mature traveller with most evening entertainment being within the Hotels (don't even think about taking your teenage child here they would hate it). There are three beaches within an easy walk & this hotel sits between two of them just yards onto either. Walk west for the quieter more secluded beach at the end of which are pathways for some lovely walks to even more secluded beaches or inland through beautiful scenery to Caves of Colom, a reasonable level of fitness is required for these.
We hired a car for the entire stay as the cost was little more than the Taxi transfers to the resorts and without transport it is difficult to really appreciate all that that Menorca has to offer. Driving is easy for the 'right hand novice' with good roads which are relatively quiet & sensible courteous road users.
The Hotel is very nice with a good size pool & attractive Garden area. Rooms were well equipped except for no kettle & a reasonable size, larger than the more expensive Gavilanes (safety deposit box is free). The Reception Staff, Restaurant, Bar, Entertainment team right through to Housekeeping we couldn't fault any of them. We had a couple minor issues both resolved within minutes. Try to avoid rooms over the kitchen (odd nos up to 165) as kitchen fans were a bit noisy at mealtimes if you like to sit on your balcony. The entertainment team of Saskia & Greg were excellent organising activities such as archery, boules, pistol shooting etc. they made sure people were aware of what was happening without trying to pressure anyone in to taking part.
Evening entertainment was pretty much what you would expect from a small hotel.
There is a small gym which I did not use & a laundry.
A very pleasant lunch could be had at the seafront cafe attached to the neighbouring hotel 'Santo Tomas'.
What to do on Menorca? Shopping isn't brilliant but I would recommend Cuitudella above Mahon as the old town is beautiful with ist Narrow cobbled streets, colourful houses & Cathedral. There is a nice variety of restaurants in the port area overlooking the boats.
The Dancing horses show just outside Ferreries on the Cala Galdana road on Tues & Thurs evenings was good & at 18 Euros reasonable value.
The views from Monte Toro are a good photo opportunity as is the lovely whitewash village at Binebeca Vells.
The cave dwellings at Cala Morrell are worth a look, take your video camera & don't forget to call out "WILMA!!!!".
If you like goergeous beaches Menorca has some of the best if you go off the beaten track, try Cala Macarella & Macarelleta, Mijana, Pilar or Cala d'algerians just to name a few, take a picnic as facilities are limited the Hotel will make one up for you.
In contrast you could view the lighthouse at Favaritx with its baron, slate, almost lunar landscape. Fornells is also worth a visit an attractive fishing vilage / yachting area with excellent restaurants which apparantly the king of Spain regularly eats, now there's a recommendation!