We stayed here for four days in August. It is very close to the airport (16 euros taxi fare, ten-minute ride). It is set back from the beach and the main drag, the pool area is fine and clean, and there's a reasonable bar. It is virtually part of the Taurus Park, as access is by a covered walkway. There is a great supermarket down the road (a Mercadona), and a small mini market across the road from Taurus Park for water, etc. Staff are lovely, and the place is spotless. We arrived early, and they gave us complimentary coffee while we were waiting to get into our rooms. The rooms could do with a little renovation but they were clean and a reasonable size, with air con and a TV. The bathoom is by the terrace, which means you don't get the usual drain smells that seem to haunt Spanish hotels! Come here for the food - they make a real effort to cater for everyone but they also offer Mallorcan specialties every night, and one of the nights there was a special Mallorcan night. They really know how to cook fish here - this is one of the few hotels where fish wasn't overcooked and the range was super. Lots of salads, fruit, hot and cold dishes, cooked to a very good standard.
However, it deteriorates at night, largely due to rowdy groups of males. Police had to be called most nights, and that was just in our corridor so you can imagine how rough it was generally - lots of shouting, banging of doors, stuff thrown from balconies, but you could say that about probably every hotel in the area, which caters to German and now Eastern European tourists. So bring ear plugs and expect to be woken every night. God only knows what some of those people were doing, and it can be very intimidating. On the plus side, they appear to spend most of the day time sleeping so it is quite peaceful during the day.
We would recommend Palma of course (get 23 bus) and the Aquarium which costs around 18 euros but you could spend hours there, it's super.
So, all in all, a decent hotel, super food, and nice staff, shame about the guests.
- Grupotel Orient Playa De Palma
- Grupotel Orient Hotel
