Hotel Born

Great location but overpriced and disappointing. There aren't any lifts in the hotel, although the staff are happy to carry your cases upstairs. The rooms are painted dark green without any overhead lights. There isn't any shelving in the bathroom so you have to put things on the floor. Loud mournful music is played loudly, continually in the bar below so it is impossible to escape to your room for some peace and quiet. Breakfast was poor. But the worst thing was the injury sustained in the bathroom when opening the door with only millimeters of space between the handbasin and the door opening. We spent one night here and were glad to move to another hotel.

We thought we’d carefully researched this hotel and knew in advance that there was no lift, so requested a room on a lower floor. It’s the most beautiful historic building, a former palace, in a great central location but unfortunately that’s where the positives end. Tired after a long day travelling we ventured out to eat in the old town in the evening but returned to a full-on rowdy large private party in the courtyard just feet away from our window. The later it got the louder the music seemed to get, culminating in a deafening, ever quickening, and seemingly never-ending Zorba the Greek, clearly designed to get everyone clapping and dancing. It was impossible to relax, never mind sleep in our quite expensive Superior room. Lo and behold we had the same issue the following night, another private party right outside our window. So we felt very shortchanged and even if we’d wanted to we wouldn’t have been able to have a drink in the courtyard in the evenings. It felt more like an overpriced b&b given the lack of bar/communal areas. I do feel the hotel should be more honest and flag it in their marketing material prior to accepting bookings that there are private parties/loud music on certain nights. I’d say it would be entirely unsuitable for anyone with accessibility or certain mental health issues. A relaxing stay we did not have. I found the service quite impersonal given it’s not a huge hotel. The help yourself breakfasts were underwhelming - the scrambled eggs looked unappetising and like they’d been sitting there for hours and it was almost impossible to find a member of staff to assist. I asked if it was possible to have a boiled egg and was told it wasn’t. The water for tea was clearly less than fresh/boiling, sitting in an urn for goodness knows how long. Maybe all of this would have been fine if one is staying at a budget hotel but we weren’t. I sadly wouldn’t return or feel able to recommend, much as I adore Palma and accept there’s going to be some noise if one opts to stay in a city centre location.

On arrival we were completely delighted with Hotel Born and its central location. Situated in a former palace, the reception area, public rooms, hotel courtyard and sweeping staircase made us feel we had entered a special place. Our room was also very nice, well appointed with bottled water, plenty of towels, quality bedding, a Nespresso coffee machine and a view over the internal courtyard. Breakfast was served in the courtyard and was plentiful and delicious. However when night fell we no longer felt so special as the internal courtyard - advertised as a bar/restaurant which guests could use was given over on both nights of our stay to private parties for a hundred or more people. You can imagine the noise they made having a wonderful time to a background of very loud music, singing, dancing and shouting, whilst we as hotel guests sat sadly in our room unable to sleep or even relax. The music and parties went on until after 11pm. When I gently suggested to a member of staff after the first night that it wasn't pleasant for guests to have a hundred or more people partying beneath their bedroom window they laughed and said 'You're in Majorca now'. Whilst I understand Majorca lives to different rhythms than I might and hotels need to maximise their incomes, I felt the Born Hotel's complete disregard for their guests was shocking. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.