HM Isabela - Adults Only — Hotel in Calvià

We picked this hotel on a whim for a last minute short stay. The entrance is modern, clean and stylish. The lobby staff were welcoming with a smile, and check in was efficient. We were quickly given wrist bands to allow us access to our meals and drinks (dependant on inclusive or half board). Don't do what I did and tighten it using the clip as this isn't reversible 🤣.

The room was clean, modern and smelled fresh. As per most hotels of this sort, the double bed was just 2 singles pushed together. Prepare to fall down the gap in the middle if you're a couple. The room had plenty of plug sockets and electric items included (kettle, hair drier, electric safe, side lamp, TV) which were all modern and working. The bathroom was clean and fully stocked with nice smelling soaps and shampoo, with plenty of loo roll and clean towels. Everything you need. We had a balcony with 2 chairs and a table. Worth mentioning that if you're a smoker, the balcony is non smoking which could be frustrating when you fancy a cigarette. Nice to have the patio doors open without smoke billowing in from next door though. Talking of the patio doors, make sure you close them firmly as having them slightly open will stop the air conditioning from working. Another thing to mention in the room was the smoke detector. It had a small bright LED that flashes regularly. This is annoyingly located above the bed and you can see this through your eyelids while trying to sleep at night. I fixed it with a folded piece of paper and slept soundly after. I'm not sure if all the rooms are the same, but ours had a locked door to the adjoining room. This did allow a little more noise to seep through when other guests came home or checked in late. Overall the room was better than most and comfortable, however the couple of tiny niggles stopped me giving it the full 5 star treatment.

The restaurant is clean, modern and comfortable and links to the outside dining area, which has a covered section. The food is tasty and varied with the buffet providing local cuisine and also a range of fried food for the folks who prefer chips. The menu changes daily and they do unobtrusive themed nights with discounts on the appropriate drinks for the theme.

Deserving of special mention was the staff; front desk, cleaners, waiting staff, bar staff and chefs were all incredibly helpful, efficient and friendly. I wish all hotels had such an amazing team. I'd give them 10 stars if I could. They were lovely and I hope they read this.

The outside areas were always extremely clean with no rubbish or empty glasses left for more than a few minutes. The drinks were all of high quality. The beer was crisp and fresh and the sangria the perfect mix of bitter and sweet. In fact the drinks at the hotel were among the best we had during our stay. The bar is conveniently located between the outdoor seating area, pool and bar interior, with an outside access to buy drinks. All the bar staff were friendly and happy to have a chat whilst waiting for your beverage. The prices were reasonable too if you don't go all inclusive.

As per, if you want a spot by the pool, you're going to have to deal with towel reservations on sun loungers. We spotted towels on sun loungers before breakfast whilst their owners took their time with their morning meal. A habit I think is pretty low bar. This is a complaint of guest behaviour and nothing to do with the hotel. But just be prepared for pool side bureaucracy to get a space if you want a swim and sun bathe. The pool itself was clean and sparkling. Not the biggest or with and bells and whistles, but big enough. Also worth mentioning that whilst it has steps to get to it there is both a disabled lift and disabled access chair for those with needs to want to access the pool too.

On the last day there was a luggage room with key lockers behind a code door. Check out was just as quick friendly and efficient as check in.

All in all this hotel shines in all important areas and has the best staff. I would highly recommend staying here for...

I searched for 12 months and saved and saved for the ideal hotel and resort for me & my son, and though Mallorca really out of my price league I fell for Santa Ponsa. When I saw youtuber showing Whala!Isabela was being renovated a few months ago my heart was set on it. I requested a pool view room as reviews said back of hotel noisy with generators and poor view. So I thought hard about whether to include the good and bad in my review as I LOVED So many aspects of the hotel. And in the end, what use is a review if its not honest?.. We arrived after midnight tired and hungry. First impressions of outside and reception- totally gorgeous! Beautiful green plants in terracotta pots set against fresh white of the building. We walked up a few steps to look at pool and a security guy came out to see what we were doing. Inside to check in I was disappointed not to be offered a small snack especially travelling with my 14 yo son. Other 4 star hotels do offer something. Then I got my big disappointment. Reception charged me 46.20 euro in tourist tax for 7 nights. I said surely I don't pay for my son he is under 16? The guy was adamant I had to pay for tourist tax. This was a really gutting start to this precious week! I reiterated twice in a friendly way he's 14 I don't pay tourist tax for son. 3 times I was told yes he has to pay, "our government are like a mafia". I paid what I knew I didnt owe, feeling like holiday had just begun and they had pulled a fast one on me- trust in hotel- zero. We went to our room. It was small but perfect. I should've been delighted that my request for a pool view had been listened to but I was quite rightly hung up on whether as a single parent I'd just been deliberately taken advantage of or whether the reception genuinely did not know an utter basic part of his job. I checked Internet and of course every site was clear- under 16s are exempt from tourist tax. No-one goes on holiday to get stressed or have a fight. And though I really didn't want to do it we went back downstairs. A guest was at desk. But reception guy indicated to me to approach. So I uncomfortably said I'd checked Internet and my son is exempt from tax. He told me to speak to his manager in the morning. Oh wicked! let's drag this out overnight 😔. I said I have no receipt of payment and he printed one. Back in the room there was a bug on the bed. Now I wanted too cry. A couple of nights later I was bitten in the bed. Thus was a massive sore swollen bite. Chemist in Santa Ponsa said it was Lymes disease. Back home Dr has given me 3 weeks antibiotics because of this. Next morning Lucia his boss immediately gave me back the 23 odd euros I'd wrongly been charged. However she didn't offer any apology. She tool no responsibility for the mistake whala's staff made. So for the entire holiday every time I passed reception I felt really awkward like I was the guest from hell when in reality I did nothing wrong the hotel screwed up. How about a gesture of good will? Not at the whala! Reception would rather have you feel bad and leave ill will at your door. I've since been advised I could have asked for the Hojas de Reclamaciones- complaints book but I was not aware of this. So I could wax lyrical about how we loved the room. The safe was free. (though another review said they paid €3.50 per day for it so another person wrongly charged) The bathroom had trendy glasses not crappy plastic cups. I loved the wooden hooks on the wall. The bathroom though not renovated and small was totally adequate. The tv was smart. The hotel is a couple of minutes walk to the darling little beach. The dining staff were nice and hard working. The dinners were decent apart from the beef and chicken on the show cooking station which wasn't edible. But the experience of a hotel isn't just how it looks it's how it makes you feel. And as I felt like sh1t from the moment reception wrongly charged me with no apology I cannot recommend whala!isabela & I'm really...

I recently stayed at HM Isabela for a week on an all inclusive basis.|The hotel is in a great location. There are bus routes very close by including a direct bus to Palma (4 Euros each way). Supermarkets, bars, eateries and a promenade / beach are on your doorstep too.|The hotel is very well presented and immaculately clean as are the rooms though they are very compact. In the rooms there is plenty of hanging storage, a free safe, an empty mini fridge to keep your shop bought drinks cool, a hairdryer (was ok) and a coffee pod machine which wasn't the best - kettles would be much better in my opinion. The rooms have an amazing shower and very comfortable beds - though they move around the room with the slightest touch. I was randomly woken / disturbed by the fire alarm which flashes quite brightly intermittently as standard. I have never experienced this before so I'm not sure if it's for hearing impaired etc or just I tuned into it and couldn't block it out. The rooms are cleaned made up daily to a high standard with fresh towels.|Away from the room the pool area was lovely, again immaculately clean - there was always someone cleaning around the hotel. There were plenty of sun loungers and the option to hire a towel (10 euro deposit) which you could change daily. The lifeguards were amazing, so friendly and accommodating. I did notice that day passes were seemingly sold and Spanish / people not staying in the hotel came to use the pool facilities. A particular group was quite loud, clearly enjoying their day but spoiling the chilled / calm atmosphere wanted by others - the pool area was very chilled usually. |There are plenty of other outside areas to sit in along with a pool table / table tennis to entertain yourself with. There was no entertainment in the hotel as informed. This was a shame but I guess it works for them as no one hangs around, it's quiet of an evening. This may also be linked to the fact that the ( all inclusive) bar was quite limited as were the quantities of drink served. All inclusive guests are restricted to small glasses / plastic cups. On the cups it mentions saving the planet together however to have a good glug at a beer you would need at least 4 glasses / cups to give it a good go. Surely this makes more washing?! It definitely makes no sense as you just went back for more, the quantity poured is the same as it would have been in a bigger glass?! The soft drinks seemed weak and the wine was still waiting to be turned from the water served. The 'cocktails' were pre mixed and were awful to be frank!|Unfortunately this was also the case for the food. There's was a very limited choice and very limited heat - The food was often luke warm if that. Not the greatest at all unfortunately.|The staff throughout the hotel were friendly enough and most worked really hard.||As the hotel is so lovely I would recommend it but that would be on a bed and breakfast basis only to avoid the food and...