Spent 2 weeks at the Vista Mar apartments in July 2006. These are 4 apartments above a toy shop and overlooking the beach and marina in this beautiful and relaxing resort. the apartments occupy one floor each and are available through James Villas.

Where to begin?

I think the best thing to start with is to say it is often the little things that make a difference between a very good holiday experience and a brilliant one. And in one or two cases, those little things were inexplicably missing with James Villas.

The apartments are excepetionally spacious, modern and very well kept (apart from the obligatory hole in the ceiling above the shower from an occassional drip would emerge).

They consist of a large living area, DVD television (CNN only English speaking channel), a very large balcony (ideal for people watching at night!), a well fitted kitchen (large fridge/freezer, oven, hob, microwave, dishwasher etc). Each apartment in the block is build around a central open space, which allows for a little ventalation when you open balcony and internal doors. It also means a long corridor to the bedrooms, which are therefore at the back of the buildings and very quiet both from any external noise (although there is very little) and anyone watching a DVD in the apartment. There are 3 bedrooms of a decent size, plently of storage space and an en-suite with a large sunken bath with shower. there is also a seperate shower room with WC, large sink and mirror and large open shower (with hole in ceiling!!)

Okay let's get those little niggles out of the way now.

When we were there the temperatures were very hot and humid. Moreover, Puerto Pollensa is primarilly a family beach resort. You therefore have a lot of sand and a lot of sweat (particularly at night). It is James Villas policy to only change the bedding once in the fortnight. Quite simply this is not good enough. We arrived on the Saturday, our sheets were changed on the following Wednesday and then we were expected to make do until the following Saturday. We did call the rep and were given some clean sheets on the final Thursday (although we had to put these on ourselves). James Villas really ought to look at this policy if they want to help families be as comfortable as possible.

Another little irritant was the lack of air conditioning. There were fans in each room but they were simply not adequate in the heat at night.

Finally, there were several questions we wanted to ask the rep. There are no safety deposit facilities in the room and we wanted to find out if there were options for storing valuables in the resort. In addition James Villas had no arrangements for storing cases on the last day (and have a vacation time of 10am). as we had a night flight back, we needed to know if we had any options. Unfortunately the rep left a welcome note and stated they would visit on the Monday but left no time! We waited in until 11.30 but were not prepared to wait all day. Why the rep can't give a more specific time is beyond me - you get better appointment times with British Gas!! IOn the end we called the rep on her mobile and managed to arrange a slight extension to ouir stay.

Okay these are very minor criticisms - and hopefully ones that can be easily rectified by the company.

Overall, though, these apartments are excellent. There position, cleanliness and facilities are superb and we would return.

The resort is excellent too. A very relaxed atmosphere, plenty of good restaurants (Los Zarzales, Bona Cella, Tangos in particular) offering good value meals or slightly more expensive but well prepared cuisine. The beach is huge, although one point to be ary of is in several spots there are sharp rocks near the shore just under the waters edge. Several times we saw children with cut feet being attended to.

The marina is good to walk around and choose your next luxury cruiser! The market square doubles as a kids meeting area at night, while parents can sit in one of the dozen or so bars and restaurants around the square and keep an eye on them over a sangria or three.

a few hundred yards to the left of the Vista Mar, the road becomes pedestrianised and there are many restaurants overlooking the sea. The Cafe Joker is ideal to stop at for a cooling drink and light snack during the afternoon - and they have accomodation for hire there too. At night, the area hosts several small market stalls and occassional entertainment.

In addition, Puerto Pollensa offers boat trips around the coves and the opportunity to stop at Formentor beach for a few hours,. The beach is small and busy but offers more excellent swiming opportunities.

You can follow the huge bay from the apartments right across to Alcudia and can hire bikes to visit that resort if you wish.

Frankly we didn't bother. Puerto Pollensa is clean, friendly, relaxing and not expensive. Now if they could just get those beds changed and fit air con .......