Son Julia Country House — Hotel in Llucmajor

We were incredibly excited about our stay at Son Julia Country House & Spa, but unfortunately, our experience was nothing short of appalling. From the moment we arrived, we thought we had the wrong address. It looks nothing like the website photos or what is advertised on Booking.com! The decor is mismatched, cheap, and utterly tired. No one was at the door to welcome us or help open the heavy front door to assist with our luggage, which is not what you expect from a so-called 5-star hotel.||The lobby was a depressing sight – dark, no lighting, no music. It was so dull that we genuinely thought the place was closed down. This set the tone for the entire stay.||Our first night was less than enjoyable. After falling asleep and missing our dinner reservation at the hotel, we ordered room service. When the waitress arrived, instead of a warm greeting, we were scolded for missing the reservation and told that we should have “given our table to someone else.” I have never been berated by staff in my life, especially not in a 5-star hotel. We are paying customers, not children to be reprimanded, and the hotel clearly has ample capacity for all guests. The rudeness was absolutely shocking and unacceptable.||Secondly, our room (the suite) smelled strongly of mold, and the shower smelled so awful that I had to clean it myself using shower gel. The glass partitions were covered in fingerprints that were clearly not ours, suggesting the cleaning standards were extremely poor. ||The room telephone is cordless & even after charging all night and saying on the screen that it was fully charged, as soon as we lifted it off the base the battery died & the phone had to be precariously balanced on the base to be able to use it. We mentioned this on the day we arrived & 2 days later the guy that they had said would come to fix it, still hadn’t arrived. Legend says, he’s still on his way. ||The ‘spa’ was a nightmare. When I went to look at the treatment rooms (room!!) I found a single mattress on the floor. I understand this is a ‘Futon’ style massage bed but the presentation & decor of the spa is awful & in no way luxurious. There is one professional treatment bed in there too but only one resident therapist available. It is not a fully functional spa. So you can’t have a couples massage (which they do in fact advertise) as you’d have to go one after the other. Upon heading down to the pool facilities, we found the jacuzzi water was brown, and the filter was clogged with hair, dirt, and debris – clearly months’ worth of neglect. I dread to think of what else could be stuck in there. When I showed the receptionist a picture, she dismissed it with excuses, claiming it’s cleaned DAILY and was “due to be done today.” I find that extremely hard to believe as that amount of filth cannot collect after just one day, let alone one week. If the water were tested, I’m certain it would be deemed unsafe. ||To top off day 2, the breakfast omelette I ordered was raw in the middle.||As if that wasn’t enough, when we walked around to familiarise ourselves with the place, it was very noticeable that there was no staff around by the pools or at the bars to serve guests drinks or food & again, no music – the place felt like a ghost town. Considering this is a family friendly hotel with young children present, I am appalled that there isn’t even a lifeguard or medical facilities. ||I am genuinely baffled by the five-star reviews of this hotel. As a well-traveled individual, I can confidently say that the standards here are on the floor, even by European standards. The fact that they charge £400 per night is outrageous, and we feel utterly conned by the nice photos on Booking.com and their website and multiple ‘influencers’ who have stayed here & sung their praises.||Our intention for this holiday was to relax at the hotel, use the spa, and chill by the pool. However, upon arrival, it became immediately clear that the lack of functioning facilities and available staff made that impossible. We were forced to take a taxi back to the airport to hire a car (an additional cost) so we could drive to other places and use Son Julia as a base to sleep in. After just two nights, we realized even that wasn’t enough to make the experience bearable. The dismal atmosphere and poor standards were so intolerable that we left early and booked two new hotels in Palma at double the cost of our original trip to salvage what was left of our holiday.||This is, without a doubt, the most unprofessional, unpleasant, and overrated place I have ever stayed. It’s such a scam that I’ve taken the time to write my first-ever review on TripAdvisor, just to warn others not to fall for the same trap. Save your money and go somewhere else – this place is a total disgrace. ||The only nice thing I have to say about it, is that Elena behind reception is very helpful with recommending places to visit & took her time to help us & kindly upgraded us automatically to a suite...

Overall, a fantastic experience, mainly because of the wonderful staff and unbelievably good food. ||On our first day, we initially had worries about the road noise, you can hear it ‘sometimes’, not all the time, but it’s important to know this. It’s not completely silent. ||However, our experience just got better and better. My partner is a bit of a chef herself, and we both agree; the food is exceptional. Worth the cost. Good portions too. ||We went to Palma to eat for 2 nights but I’ll admit, the hotel’s restaurant was better than the best restaurant we went to in the city. Even lunch was exquisite! ||The staff are brilliant. Even to the point when they remember little detail from one day to the next, such as the beer I had the day before. Attentive and happy staff; I can’t stress how much of a difference this makes to the experience for guests. ||We’d previously stayed at Zoetry, which is an amazing location and grounds, beautiful surroundings, but the staff at Son Julia are miles better, and the food smashes it out the park. ||Only slight niggle is occasionally the music by the pool is a little loud, but it was turned down for half the time, which was nicer for us personally. I understand though, that other folk like a bit more of a party atmosphere. ||With the road and pool music, it was going to be a 4/5, but honestly, I can’t thank the staff enough for their warm service, and overall it quickly became a clear 5/5. ||Beautiful grounds, very quiet hotel (nice!), perfect rooms, very clean, stunning eating area, romantic - especially on evenings, and again; 10/10 staff and food. ||To the manager - please thank your staff on our behalf. They’re doing an excellent job, clearly you look...

rooms and this kind of familiar style. Of cause the pools, the restaurant, the lobby and the park outside are extraordinary. But we would not rate this hotel as five stars. The breakfast buffet is soon getting boring in terms of the offered small selection of food. The hotel itself is Germany like organized. And so even the hospitality over all is marked with that property, instead of the Mallorqine staff. They are great! You could also get the impression that the food in the restaurant is nothing special and even over expensive. The quality is good but I would never pay 120 € for a dinner for two with those somehow simple dishes. So they should reduce the prices or even make the meals more spectacular not only in terms of composition but also of quality. Back to the rooms. They are not overwhelming. No special luxury. Beds are ok and comfortable. WLAN was not accessible. Signal was simply too weak. The walls are thin enough to hear the neighbouring residents left or right or above you. The noise around the hotel could be disturbing. If you are in luck the planes for PMI are not landing and starting above your head when you want to rest on your terrace or balcony. Worse than that is the street infront of the hotel. Every 20 seconds you will hear the cars very clearly. Ok, maybe my ears are too sensitive. If your are able to ignore all these things and you wanna stay on a place which was owned by an American artist soon before, do this experiment. One thing to add: they are absolutely not prepared for business travellers! Overall, for our taste a little too much of "family". 2 to 3 days...