Cala 'N Blanes Hotel Reviews

We were allocated room 502 which had a great sea view. I would recommend a high floor room as the noise from the bar can be exceptionally loud. Felt sorry for guests on the first floor just above the bar!

We were puzzled by the window in the bathroom. It opens to reveal a maze of pipes etc stretching from the ground floor to the roof and smelt of old food. It was also facing the bathroom in the next room and you could see straight into the bathroom if their window was open.

The food was repetitive and we would have struggled on a two week holiday. Mostly veal and turkey always served in gravy and not always hot. The soup was awful, powdered, and you could see the bottom of the bowl! My daughter survived on chips, cheese, sweetcorn, and cucumber! We ordered picnics on our 2nd day, not bad at all, roll, tuna, apple, orange, cake, crackers, cheese and water. The large cardboard boxes with picnic emblazoned all over were hilarious!

The vegetarian options resembled 3 plates of dog sick. The ingredients were never listed. I like to know what I'm eating so left well alone. Lost half a stone in a week Hooray!!!!!

Noise is a major problem at this hotel. Don't expect a good nights sleep.

Only 1 lift which is not enough. Kids take great delight in opening the outer door hence stopping the lift so be prepared to wait for it. 101 steps from the 5th floor to reception!

The entertainment for kids is good though my daughter could not be persuaded to join in. The nightly entertainment is grim. Give the parrot show a miss HORRID!

The beach has a major jellyfish problem. Two of the seven days we could not enter the water. The flag system works well but on a green flag day we spotted a couple of jellyfish about so take care! My daughters favourite pastime was climbing the nearby rocks and spotting lizards. The surrounding area is lovely and well worth a walk.

The First Choice reps, Jill and John were great, always available, and ready to help with any problems.

Would recommend a trip to Cuitadella, bus stop just round the corner and only 135 euros. The Moods of Mahon is also a good day out but the tour guide rambles on a bit!

My main gripe at this hotel is children are only allowed to eat ice-cream in the dining room. If they want an ice-cream outside you have to buy one. Found this quite cheeky at an all- inclusive hotel. Snacks are not available all day either.

We will not be returning to this hotel

We stayed here in early June and the weather was beautiful all week.

THE STUDIOS; These four studios are separate from the family apartments and have their own pool, so are lovely and peaceful, ideal for relaxing.They are in a very quiet area, away from the hetic noise. They are are spotless and modern and have Sky TV, with BBC and ITV. The only thing I didn't like was they didn't have a separate bedroom.
There are steps down to a rocky cove, but the small beach is about 500 metres away down a slope.

THE RESORT; The studios are about ten minutes from the main area, but there is a bus to take you there and it has bars and restaurants on the way.The main area is a dream for young kids up to about 12. There are massive bouncy 'animals' everywhere, as well as adventure playgrounds and water slides. It is also peaceful enough for couples. There is a supermarket round the corner and a Chinese restaurant next door, which serves lovely food.

The beach is small and has rocky coves where children love to explore and catch the fish. The sea is beautiful aqua colours and the view is absolutely gorgeous.The only problem is the jelly fish. The guy in the supermarket told me it is because they used to have turtles which ate the jellyfish, but people stole or killed them, and now the jelly fish have take over.

Ciutadella is lovely, with ancient buildings and a harbour.
Mahon has a huge, lovely harbour , with a boat trip around the ancient sights of the harbour.We went on the 'Flavours of Mahon' trip , but wouldn't recommend it, because we paid 40 Euros and only had an hours boat trip and was trapsed about cheese, gin and leather factories. The other trip - 'Island Discovery' was fantastic.We also went to Cala Bosc - which was beautiful with a larger beach and a small harbour.

Overall, we had a fabulous relaxing holiday, in a quaint resort, in lovely studios.I would go with Style again.

Can't fault the hotel or first choice( although the flight was cramped) The hotel was spotless with maids always around cleaning the rooms and communal areas. The pool attendant was extremely helpful and would help people find sunbeds and move them around for you if necessary. There were plenty of beds both round the pool and in the garden areas. the literature given on arrival says that towels put out before 9.00 am will be removed, i don't know if they are moved because nobody put them out.. in the height of summer who knows?
My kids are older so we didn't use the kids clubs but the kids we saw around with the very enthusiastic reps seemed to be having a good time.

There is a beach a few steps from the hotel which is lovely, shallow water and quiet but that could be because the sun beds cost 6 euro each! there are alot of jellyfish that come into the cove, the flag flying on the beach refers to the number in the water.
Food was fine, typical all inclusive fare but plentiful and hot. unfortunately towards the end if our holiday a couple of families arrived who had forgotten how to queue... these same people made the last couple of evenings pretty unpleasant in the bar... bad language and kids running riot. its a shame when a few spoil things for everyone else.The walls are quite thin and hard floors but we found the noise died down just gone midnight( at least until the nightmare kids arrived who were allowed to run around at all hours) and we weren't bothered, I suppose if you had young children trying to sleep the hotel would be considered noisy.

There is a resturant 5 minutes from the hotel (end of the drive and turn right) where we had a lovely meal at a reasonable price and they gave a 10% voucher off future visits. There was also a chinese close by which we didn't use but got good comments from others who did.
We didn't do any excusions and the reps didn't try and push them.. a few words at the welcome meeting but that was all.

The local bus runs from just outside the hotel which was reliable and cheap and you can also hire bicycles from the hotel, there were several nice beaches within a 10 minute cycle away.We hired a car for 2 days which cost around £65 we have paid alot more. it is very easy to drive around the island since there is one main road and everything runs off that road. if you buy a map don't believe that there is a coast road, we tried to follow it at several points but they have built housing developments across the road and it just runs out... cue some careful reversing!

Overall a good holiday in a good hotel , only spoiled by other Britons towards the end!!

Juat returned from a two week stay, and are we glad to be home, due to lack of sleep, the noise in this hotel is awful, you cant get to sleep until well after twelve and you are up well before eight,with all the noise from children and adults either entering or leaving there room,food in the hotel is what you would expect from all inclusive even though we have had better.
the kids club is good and happy holly and sunshine sarah do a great job with all of the children,always enthusatic whatever time of the day it might be.

Chris which is the pool attendant is great he doesnt miss a thing although he was very busy with putting on plasters ect on little ones that had fallen over.The pool area however is very busy and i would not like to be there in high season, not enough sunbeds or umberellas to go around.
No food what so ever can be taken out of the restaurant and that includes ice cream for the children, this is because of the ants so i do agree with this ruleing, but many didnt. the first choice reps were good well jill was she was a mind of information john was trying his best but it is his first season there so i suppose he has got alot to take in although he was very pleasant, the hotels animation team were great except that one left while we were there which only left one and that was ronnie he really did do his best but it was really hard work for him as there was so many children, oh bye the way he calls all the children cheeky monkeys, which is quite sweet, hats off too him as he was thrown in at the deep end.The hotel is a really old hotel and in my opinion is in need of a major revamp.

would we go back to this hotel, definatley not,even though we thought menorca is a beatiful island and will definatley return one day.

On arriving at the hotel at 11.30pm,I was amazed at how clean the place was.
We were able to get something to eat,and the bar was open till 12.
The place was chilled,even though there were kids still up at this time.
On entering our room (I always find some fault),I was pleased with the size of it;a spacious bathroom and a huge balcony.
Went down to breakfast(you have till 10.30)so you can have a lie in.
Food was lovely for the first few days,then got a bit samey.
If you have young children you can't go wrong here.The kids clubs seem never ending,the reps and the hotel reps have got them all the time.However I had teenager's,and there was nothing for them.
They could do with a designated area for the older kids.
Any way,after a few relaxing days,half term week kicked in and all changed.
The morning lie in was impossible,as kids were running up and down the corridors shouting or crying,slamming doors,the parents shushes were louder than the kids shouting.
The bar area was loud at night,and your trying to dodge kids with a handfull of drinks.
There were some really good acts on at night as well.
The pool area wasn't too bad,we seemed to always get a sunbed,although the second week we never attempted to,as we went accross the beach to cala blanes beach appartments.My sister was staying there and it was much calmer there.
This hotel is fine if you have younger kids,but if you have teenagers or you are a couple going alone,Iwouldn't reccomend it.
I would however go to the cala blanes beach appartments,just accross the cove.

We found the accomodation very good for a relaxing break. No reserving of sunbeds required as plenty to go around. had a problem with the water heater which was fixed straight away.Supermarket prices a little on the expensive side but there are plenty of other within walking distance one just pass the Shanghai restaurant was a lot cheaper.

Journey to bars only a 10 minute walk down the hill across the beach up the slope and then follow the signs, plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from we did not have a bad meal ate at Es Forn ,L'ancora , Giovanni's and one near the tesco's supermarket but cannot remember the name of it.

Be aware that there is a big festival in ciudedella towards the end of June which limits the number of restaurants open it just means it takes longer to get seated during the weekend of the festival.

Great hotel for families with young children. Rooms are small but adequate. Hotel is exceptionally clean inside and out. Food very good. Entertainment good especially the Disney show.
Cala n Forcat is a 10 minute walk and it's worth it for the shops and water park. The water park is very good but you'd struggle to spend a whole say there so my advice would be to go after 3pm when it's half the price.
Cala n Brut is a 5 minute walk from the hotel and is a must for families with older children. Walk past the supermarket to the vacant restaurant and down the steps at the side. There you'll find a beautiful cove and built into the rock are platforms of varing heights specially made for cliff jumping. The water is crystal clear and very safe, there are even pool style steps to help you out the water and back onto the platforms, it's fantastic!!
Enjoy:)

Wonderful holiday, hotel really clean and friendly staff. Food good always something you liked and plenty off it. Wine and beer on tap so no need to queue. All inclusive really good no restrictions on amounts like other places we have visited. Hotel room really clean and had lovely balcony overlooking the beach and beach bar, nice at night when kids in bed to sit and have a last drink. Pool nice and warm and unlike other reviews we had no problems with sunbeds even if you spent morning at beach there was alwasy someone going out for the afternoon who no longer needed them. People friendly and children all friendly due to the hotel not being over big. Beach nice and clean and easily accessible. Nice to be able to walk to next resort which was busier and then return to the peace and quiet. Worth visting Maxes bar at the far end of Calan forcat to see the sun go down and have a beer. The negatives are not being able to take ice-creams out of the restaurant and the evening entertainment being inside when people want to sit out on the warm evenings.

All in all an excellent holiday and we look forward to seeing everyone again in July 2007

Firstly I have to say that Menorca is very much based on the family market with lots of kiddies with parents and grandparents. So if your looking for a lively time then perhaps this isn't the place for you to go to on holiday.

On the other hand if your looking to chill out and unwind from the madness of life. Then this could be just what your looking for as it's fairly laid back and relaxing.

Having read the comments on this appartment block I have to say we weren't expecting that much from it.

Needless to say we were somewhat surprised by how nice this appartment complex actually is. It's well laid out and has everything you should need(except no cigs for the smokers amongst you)

The reception staff are excellent and can't do enough for you. Infact all the staff we encountered in this complex were genuninely nice people and are happy to help in anyway possible.

The supermarket has a good selection of foods, both english and local produce although some items can be quite expensive. The bar closes earlier in the beginning of the season which is when we were there.

There has been several comments made on this site about the sunbeds not being available and all being reserved even when they shouldn't be.

I have to say we didn't encounter this (whether this is because it's the start of the season) or they have listened to comments and suggestions made on feedback questionnaires.

We sometimes didn't hit the pool area until 1pm and never missed the opportunity for getting a sunbed. Infact on one day when it was busy they went and brought another three lots of sunbeds out so everyone got the chance of a bed.

As for the appartments themselves. The only complaints we would have is that they are noisy (not necessarily because people are noisy) they just seem to carry noise(perhaps because all floors are tiled) even the hall ways. Also whilst is didn't effect us as we were ground floor, there are no lifts so you have to take cases up four flights of stairs if your top floor.

The appartments are equiped with enough of the basics for you to survive as self catering if you choose to use this method. We used the self catering method and it worked for us. Also the cleaners came in twice during our stay, which never happened I don't recall when we stayed in appartments in benidorm.

I think utimately you get what you pay for and you make the holiday yourselves and get out of it what you want too.

For the beach you only have to walk down the road at the front of the main reception and you'll find it there(not sure how much sunbeds and brollies are here) but at Playa beach up in the town the brollies are 5 euro and sunbeds 6 euro for each one.

The Playa beach isn't that good either so if I were you i'd stay at this beach down the hill from appartments as it's much nicer (apart from most places have small jelly fish) so not sure about going swiming. Maybe stick to pool for that!

The walk to town is much quicker if you go down the hill over the beach and just follow the signs for burger king. You'll come to a blue archway and this is the main strip once you go through there.

If you want to chill out it's good to start in Tropical Kiss (has play area for kids) 2.80 euro for pint of San Miguel and about 3.50 euro for Fosters etc.

61 bar (irish bar) next to Tropical Kiss is best bar we found for service in the entire resort. The guy who waits the tables is extremely kick in taking and bringing out drinks orders, as well as making sure he's there when you want another or the bill. It's about 3 euro per local pint and 3.50 again for pint bud etc.

Food wise on the island, its all pretty much of a muchness. Pizza,pasta,steaks etc. It very much caters for the english who like their meals from home, especially with having kids.

If you fancy and indian meal. Then you can't do better than go to Haili Pizzera(just behind the roundabout with statue with no arms) the food is lovely. They also give kids toys once you pay too.

Es Forn (next to Avis) is reasonably priced and food is excellent as is the service.

Cuore is also not bad priced and food is nice there too. Although some dishes can be expensive for what you get.

Restuarant Bianco has nice food, but the service was slow when we went. It took about 30 mins for them to come and take the order! Quick with drink when you get in but only appeared to be 2 people taking the food orders and one guy who was bringing out food was smoking inbetween bringing dishes out. Another one which gives the kids the toys too.

There are about 5 chinese restuarnts. We went to look at one (down hill on left at the roundabout) called Dragon something (red sign board) and was stopped by the one above this called The Vineyard (blue sign above it) on way back out.

Were told they do a set 3 course menu for 5.50 euro and stupidly we went to this one on another night. It was a bad experience, didn't ask if we were eating on or taking away. Never showed us the 5.50 euro menu and we ordered from another one, only for them to bring the meal as a take away. We eventually got a meal to eat on and it was very bland!

My advice would be give serious thought before eating in this place. If something sounds too good to be true it usually is! You decide.

Personally i'd either go to the one below this, or there are two on your right at the round about. One is an all you can eat for about 9 euro I think.

Entertainment wise. If you turn right at Avis car rental and follow the pathway through to the other end. There is a bar area called the square which does entertainment each night at 9.30pm with tribute bands on to entertain you.

Other than this, if you have kids then the appartments puts on shows for families, just look out for the signs in the bar area or out front of reception.

The 61 bar also has live entertainment some nights, or a quiz on Sunday and Wednesday where you can get cheap plonk as prises (tip) if you get the green pen in the quiz then that one usually gets a bottle of plonk for that. It's not that hard anyway and can be good fun.

The waterpark is on the main strip and costs about 16.50 euro for children over 8 I think, so be same for adults im guessing. But to be honest there are only about 5 slides, so perhaps not worth the money. Depends if you just want to chill out for day.

Overall we had a great relaxing holiday and met some fantastic people whilst there. Im not sure i'd go back again though with not having family which Menorca ( certainly Cala n Blanes anyway) seems to cater more towards.

But you'll have to make up your own mind when you have been. Enjoy your stay!

It is great,spotless and sparkling clean,rooms plenty of space and storage,tellys with bbc1,bbc2,itv,cbeebies(!)news 24,bbc4 and itv2!! Food is fine plenty of choice always 4 meats,rice and pasta,chips(of course!)potatoes boiled or roasted,salad,fresh fruit,something for everyone,wine,juice or water with meals,all other drinks from the bar.
The entertaintment is good the week we were there they had George Benson,Diana Ross tribute bands,always something,as for the kids Brill!!! Kids reps work so hard(holly and Sarah first choice,and Monica hotels rep)are lovely so good with the kids,always something for them to do.
Location is fab,on the beach,sea lovely and 10 mins walk to busy strip of bars and shops.

we had a great time and are going back in Sept,go on you will love it!!!

Just returned from the Cala n Blanes Beach Apartments, what can I say it was one of the best holidays we have had. We were a bit worried at first because of the ages of our children about them getting bored and not having enough to do as the resort was said to be a bit quiet, we need not have worried as the entertaiment was fantastic. They had tribute bands Abba, Robbie Williams, Tina Turner and lots of others. They had bingo, magic shows, quiz's all of which got the children involved. If they did not fancy sitting watching one of the shows they went off into the games rooms where they could play pool or table tennis and lots of other things. The apartments were quite spacious and had everything you needed, the children had the bedroom which had a big ceiling fan (very much needed as it is very hot)we had the lounge. My advice is to take your own fan as they are quite expensive to hire. When we booked we asked for a ground floor apartment overlooking the pool which we got but to be honest any of the apartments would have been alright as they are all in a great position with pool views.

The restaurant did a good range of food, although we did tend to walk to Cala n Forcat most evenings to try something different and come back for the entertainment. The local beach is nothing special compared to some of the others around the island although it is a nice place to sit and have a drink in the evenings under the Palm trees on the beach.

We went on a couple of trips around the island, being able to compare complexes to ours was nice but we couldn't better ours. The staff are very friendly and helpful, my daughter managed to cut her foot on the pool steps, before we knew it reception had contacted the maintenance man and he was already in the pool looking for the problem. The pool was one of the biggest that we saw, and never did we have to get up early for a sunbed. Whatever time of the day you got there, you were guaranteed one.

I cannot fault this complex at all, we really did not want to come home even my teenage son! We will defintely be returning.

well what can i say dont bother with this hotel at all!!!

the food was terrible very repetative (thats the good part) half of the food was raw, all my little girl ate was bread and butter for a week, there was nothing for children!! apart from raw chicken nuggets, the staff from the bar, reception, and dining room where very rude and miserable, the tea and coffee was disgusting!! the ice creams only could be ate in the dinning room, but it was not all bad the kids reps jo jo and emma were fantastic very funny, they where fab with the kids, there is a (little) nice beach but there where loads of jellyfish, the hotel room was basic but clean we had one with a massive balcony which was nice, cant really say anything else nice about this hotel, just beware before you book this hotel from hell, everyone was moaning about it!!!

we have just returned after the best two week holiday we have ever had!

The reps Vicki and Jason are a pair of diamonds who could not do enough for you and as for Jolly Jo and Emazin emma....well you just have to meet them for yourself they are by far the best kids reps we have come across anywhere in europe!!! not only are they great with kids or should i say ";EMAZIN"; they treated us all just like friends we have known for years.

One of the main things you have to remember is that this is a family holiday and a lot of it is centred around children as it states online and in the brochure so why and how people can moan is beyond me completely.
The food in the hotel was always varied and plentiful, rooms clean and all the staff very friendly (Especialy Diego behind the bar who always had a smile for you and our 4 year old loved him!)
One thing i have to say is that all the families we met were fantastic everyone got on well from southerners to the scottish and this made the holiday extra special especialy Mandy who i had to give a 'Manchester couddle' to on each meetin!

All i can say is to all those there when we were THANK YOU and to those of you thinkin of goin or have booked you will not be dissapointed the beach is lovely however jellyfish did stop swimming 2 days out of 14, the games are great and Nina and Lola the hotel staff will make you feel so welcome with their infectious smiles and laughter! oh and try the archery its great even the wife had a go (and beat me).

The organised trips were good but by far the best was the reps night as you get to see pro acts as well as all the reps doin a crackin show (Lads keep a look out for the nurse wink wink)
This holiday was so enjoyable the wife has already made plans to re-book for early next year and we only got back to the U.K. last night!

All in all a holiday is what you make of it and this hotel with all who work there will ensure you love it, you should not be dissapointed.

returned from cala n blanes mid september we had a fantastic holiday there again ( were there two years ago )

hotel very clean staff very friendly and helpfull food was excellent plenty of choice. Entertainers Nina and Lola were excellent, even though we had no little children Emma and Jojo where very friendly towards us. We had a great time joining in all the games with Nina and Lola, (We even won medals) Hotel can be noisey but once 12:30 am comes things quiet down. Can not fault this hotel at all it is realy good value for money. So much so we have just booked to go back next year. Made loads of friends there (Hi to every one who remembers us)

Having viewed this site prior to booking our holiday I decided that there's only one way really to find out, and that's to go!! Everyone's tastes and standards are different so read reviews but ultimately what is fantastic for one family may be a disappointment for another.

Hotel;
Very clean however VERY basic bedrooms, ours had a prison type metal bunk bed at the foot of two singles put together, reminisant from a scene of Porridge!!!!

The whole hotel has either tiled or marble floors which was VERY noisy,even a fairy in slippers would have sounded like a herd of buffalo stampeding across the Sarangeti !! Had the rooms had carpets then this would of deadened some of the noise. Unfortunately our room was next to the stairwell so we heard all and sundry coming and going, and to add insult we overlooked the tarmac carpark rather than the villas or sea, flippin typical!!
They do have bikes you can take and ride, you just leave a 10 euro deposit. We rode to Cala N Forcat only took about 5 mins and it was lovely,however beware of Jellyfish and make sure you look for the flags, Green-ok. Amber- at your own risk. Red- stay out of the water.

Food/Drink
OK on the first or even second day, however the same old chicken,veal, lamb,cheese,salami and of course don't forget CHIPS did get very wearing. The soup is all powdered, and be prepared to wait in line (unless you don't have any manners like some residents!)
If you like a decent cup of tea or coffee then don't get them from the machine as all the water used tastes of salt,the only water good enough is the mineral water (of which you cannotfill your own drinking bottles!) We ended up buying some tea bags, heating up the mineral water in the microwave provided and then adding the breakfast milk. Other than that the cafe by the rocks on the adjoining beach does a mean cafe con leche (white coffee) for 2 euros.

Pool;
As per the other reviews, unless you are out and waiting by 8.30 forget about any decent sunbeds or parasols, and getting up at that time on holiday kind of defeats the object of R and R !!Pools didn't look like the one's in the brochure!!

Entertainment;
Overall I was very impressed with the entertainment, the kids loved it, however the only moan I would have is that the main show/act doesn't start till 10pm which meant having to make sure our littlie had a sleep during the day, something she'd just got out of!

Staff;
Room staff were very pleasant, bar staff could have done with cheering up, as could of the dining room staff, however overall I thought the staff worked VERY long hours, and if I had to do that kind of a working week I would probably be a bit grumpy too!
The reps were helpful and Jolly Jo and Emazing Emma were wonderful, barmy as a brush but that's what the kids loved about them.

My major gripe about this holiday was that we thought it was only a 3* rather than a 3*+, and bearing in mind that it is an all inclusive hotel, we had hyped out littlie up that she could have snacks and especially ice cream all day long if she wanted, This was not the case, any snacks served were at set times (ie.6-7pm kids tea and 10pm-12pm latenight snacks) these HAD to be eaten in the dining room as did the Ice cream, nothing could be taken out to the terraces, so if your littlie wants and ice cream during the day, you either have to buy one from the bar or as with anything in the dining room, you have to change into dry clothes and eat it in there.
One resident brought this up with a rep and their only answer was ";that's the hotels policy"; well I'm sorry but that's not good enough, it was flippin hot and there's only so much salty water drinks you can manage!!

I did cringe several times whilst we were there at the ";Brits abroad"; attitude, however we also met some lovely people too.
I think this resort was definately at the better end of town,however the town itself was VERY tacky,Blackpool abroad, I would have prefered to have seen some more rustic and authentic spanish restaurants rather than Pizza,Steak and of course CHIPS!!!
One week was enough for me though. For me it was too much money for a basic holiday, next time we'll go 4 or 5 star, it's worth the extra as far as we're concerned!!