Having stayed at many similar hotels over the past few years I have to say that this one is, all things considered, probably the best one I have experienced.
The main building is smart, spacious and modern, which could leave you feeling a little disappointed when you enter your room as they are fairly standard, but they are comfortable, clean and reasonably furnished. Our 1 bed apartment (allocated to us even though we'd only paid for a studio) had slightly dated decor, a well-used portable TV and could be a little noisy when the plumbing of adjacent rooms was in use, but it was something we got used to and the air conditioning was a welcome bonus.
The food was excellent, of a quality I have never eaten before in an all inclusive, and rather than the typical large trays of food being kept lukewarm for extended periods, smaller trays were utilised and replenished as necessary. There was always a very good choice and plentiful supply. The snack food available poolside was also very good and available all day, with a very good choice on offer.
In the restaurant wine by the bottle was always available, along with beer, water and soft drinks (or a glass of fizz at breakfast).
In the bars the drinks were mostly international brands served in good measures. The pool bar also had a serve-yourself soft drinks dispenser although you did have to dodge the wasps that congregated there.
The service was also very good. One or two of the staff can seem a little miserable at first but if you are polite with them they do become considerably more friendly (Russians do give them a bit of a hard time).
The restaurant was often really busy, yet tables were never hard to come by as the staff cleaned and re-laid them with great efficiency and once seated your drinks were never long in arriving. The bar staff were also good, with ice cubes and fruit slices often flying through
the air as they entered party mode during quieter periods.
The entertainment here is pretty standard fare with the usual mini-disco for the kids and a dance-orientated show afterwards. It's not something I really bother too much about but the team here do work very hard and often circulate, making every effort to have a chat with all the holidaymakers
Some comment has been passed about this hotel only being suitable for Germans, who probably make up 90% of the clientele, but I have to say that for us, as an English couple, this was a real bonus. All too often my experience at an all inclusive hotel has been soured by groups of loud Brits, parading their garish tattoos and their beer bellies as they over indulge in the extreme, whilst their unruly offspring run riot. The men are often just as bad too. None of that here though. Respectable people, with respectable children, friendly and polite to a fault with the most orderly queues for food and drink that I have ever witnessed and not a reserved sunbed in sight. If you're coming here to make dozens of new friends, you might feel a tad underwhelmed if you don't 'sprechen Deutsch' but for us, wanting a quiet-ish laid back holiday, it was bliss.
All in all, a very enjoyable few days away, with great weather and lovely little beaches dotted around the Cala Mandia area.
Would definitely return.
- Insotel Hotel Cala Mandia
- Cala Mandia
- Insotel Hotel Porto Cristo
- Insotel Club Cala Mandia
