I stayed here twice on business in the month and comparing this to hotels of equal price and rating elsewhere in Europe, I can only say I am disappointed. Maybe the general quality of hotels around Playa de Palma is low (?) but then at least I'd expect a lower price for the room. The hotel looks modern and offers the usual amenities, but:
- the rooms are small and the furnishing looks cheap for the price/rating
- my first room's TV did not have any channels at all, the second a poor selection
- WiFi Internet in the lobby only, and this is a business hotel?
- staff were not particularly friendly, nor responsive after my stay (a telephone and an email request to receive a copy of the first stay's invoice has not had any answer at all)
For business, I do not think this hotel is suitable at all; for pleasure, I would wonder why a holidaymaker would want to pay so much to stay here.

The hotel is situated very conveniently: close to the airport, also not far from the beach and very close to the area with many bars (very open to broad public,
i.e. not really high class) to go out in the evening.
The hotel has two nice swimming pools: closed and open.

There are also meeting rooms available, and the internet works mainly in them, but not the the living rooms.

The meal buffet was typically good as in quality all inclusive places.

Depending on the location of the room, it might be noisy.
The room's furnishings are fine, simple and adequate.

The Barcelo Management need to address the problem of guests reserving sunbeds and not using them at all, for hours at a time. We stayed six nights and only on our very last day, a Friday, were there any free by 8.45am. I did not sit on a sunbed once and it made it awkward taking our small children to the pool when we had no-where to put our towels etc.

I thought the reception staff had very limited knowledge of the area, for example, they could not help me in finding a short boat trip for my children. I found one myself eventually, but it was too late into the holiday to organise going. The boat trip leaves from Arenal by the way and lasts 1 hour 30 mins costing 19 euros per adult, young children free. We also had a problem when booking to go to Palma Aquarium - the hotel receptionist tried to charge for my two year old, when this should have been free. Don't book via the hotel at all - the Diving centre down the road is one Euro per adult cheaper, plus you get a free bus there (not included in the deal we were sold via hotel), and when we travelled children were half price. Reception also advised us to go the main road at the front of the hotel for buses to Palma, when the road nearer the beach had many more buses.

There was only one hour of children's entertainment in the six days we were there - but my two year old and five year old enjoyed it very much. The other evening adult entertainment started at 9.30pm and was more background than anything. The Destinjazz group were very good, the rest not really to my liking.

It would hugely benefit families with children if a guide could be put together on things to do in the area and how to book them. The minature train ride is not to be missed at four euros per person and lasts an hour round trip. Get off at Can Pasilla rather than Arenal - Can P is the nicest of the two. Also ask when the driver is taking lunch - or you could be stuck there a while. I asked in English but got nowhere - I can speak some French and German, but zero Spanish - we ended up having to fork out for a normal bus back to the hotel.

The restaurant staff were a bit tempremental. On one evening, I simply tried to indicate to the waitress that we were about to go - as I could see she was struggling to accommodate other diners - and she totally went off on one big aggressive Spanish rant!!! I had to put on my extra calm voice - and slightly alarmed face - to say again 'we had finished and were just leaving' - which she seemed to get second time thank goodness, but not before I had been embarrassed in front of the other diners. The greeter could be a bit surly too - but she seemed to cheer up by the end of the stay and offered my five year old a sweet as we left which was a nice touch. Other waitresses very nice.

The food was very good in the buffet restaurant. A great selection of fresh, healthy food. I loved it. Great show cooking - don't miss the night with stir-fry for dinner and the morning with fruit skewers and chocolate fountain for breakfast. I also enjoyed my bucks fizz in the morning, as a special holiday treat.

The apartment was perfect for us, no problem with air con even in August. The toaster and kettle are in the top cupboard above the sink - you will need to be tall to reach - I didn't find them until day six!

Maid service good, no problems.

The soft drinks were expensive - I gruged paying 2.40 euros every time by two year old wanted a drink of juice. Most hotels we have been to (all four stroke five star Spanish) have offered cordial at a much cheaper price (1 euro was the rate last year).

Oh and as others have mentioned, this is a very German resort. German beer halls everywhere but all good spirited and good fun. And yes, I also recommend you have a basic command of Spanish to get by - it is not like other Spanish resorts where English to readily understood.

Would I go back? Maybe, just for the food!

Food, drinks, service - all excellent! Great location - very near the beach, but seams to be the favourite with the Germans, who are no problem by the way. The only fault we could find with the hotel is that the aircon was very very poor, so be aware if you are going in the hot season.
Would recommend.