Insotel Cala Mandia Resort

If you’re looking for a hotel that has a great choice of water activities for children, this is it. If you’re looking for anything else…don’t bother coming here. The check in service was awful. I had messaged the hotel via, email, Facebook, instagram & head office email to request a cot and bed rail. We arrived at 00.00 and when I’d mentioned this request to the ‘night manager’ he’d said he hasn’t seen the request, and as I’d not received a confirmation email - I was to blame. Once we got into room, there was no cot, spoke to night porter who handed a travel cot and sheets - I had to make the bed myself, a lovely surprise after a long day of travelling. Our first day - we couldn’t get back into room after breakfast, 2 visits to reception to have access card reset, it was actually the electronic door lock fault & we had to wait 45 minutes for a technician to come and fix… we had a 9month old with dirty nappy & a 3yo to keep amused. Kettle requested at 10am to make baby milk, 2.5 hours later still no kettle. Called reception again - finally received 3 hours after initial request. Gym - no aircon, no water, one working treadmill with a tear/ cut on the belt (huge trip hazard - see pics !) no working bikes. Most of the baby chairs are broken so if you have a young baby - make sure you check the straps/clips. Breakfast Buffet food is cold, even the hot food. Scrambled egg is made from ready made packaged food. Repetitive. Children’s food - don’t expect any healthy options. Pancakes and churros in the morning. Pizza, burger or hotdog in evening. If booking an a la carte - children’s menu is limited, especially at south restaurant. Be prepared for confrontation by the buffet bouncers who try to stop you from taking food to the a la cartes for children. If you want a good choice of dining / experience - catch a taxi / train / bus to Porto Cristo…better still, stay somewhere else. We did raise each issue with the reception, each time they told us to talk to Guest relations. He is aware of issues but I feel that the general public, who are considering booking this hotel should also be aware. To sum this hotel up Pools 5/5 Entertainment for children 5/5 Service 2/5 Housekeeping 1/5 Buffet Service 1/5 Surf Restaurant 0/5 (unless you like tasteless, uncooked pasta) Fifties 4/5 (burgers and hot dogs - can’t really go wrong) South Restaurant 3/5 (no children’s options & menu items available weren’t as displayed on menu)

The staff are very lovely. Rooms are clean but our shower in our room flooded like the drain wasn’t draining it properly. They had plenty of drinks and food options but not much for picky eaters. The pool was brilliant but wasn’t allowed floats in there

Very happy with the experience. The staff were very friendly and helped us celebrate a birthday by finding some candles and a cake. We all had fun and ate some great food too. Caterina was brilliant and couldn’t have done more for our large party.