Insotel Cala Mandía Resort & Spa — Hotel in Manacor

We have just arrived back home from an amazing 9 day stay, very sad to say goodbye.||I feel like the first thing I need to mention is the entertainment team, as honestly this is what made our holiday. In the main pool there were always plenty of activities available, but for us the star of the show was Viktoria (sorry if name is spelt wrong). Viktoria led water stretching at 10 and 5, as well as water aerobics at 11(?) and she was amazing. She was bright and bubbly, and even if you were not interested she never failed to make you smile. She was even able to get the 13 and 20 year old involved almost daily, which is absolutely unheard of. I think Viktoria was actually their favourite part of the holiday 😂. |Maia (again i am very sorry if the name is spelt wrong) was also lovely. She seemed genuinely interested to speak with you and she was a delight. These girls may not be here next season but they deserve the biggest shoutout. ||The entertainment was okay. Entertainment ran by the in house team was dancing, and they were not professionals (except perhaps three), but you could tell that they were trying and they definitely had the spirit which made them fun to watch. We did notice however that they did a show on Friday which was then repeated on the Wednesday, so if you are staying for a longer period the shows may get a bit repetitive. They occasionally had singers come in to preform, and these were enjoyable. |The entertainment room in area A seemed small for the number of guests, I am not sure how it is managed during the busy months. No matter what time we got there, before or after the children’s show, there were never any tables or seats available and it was often tricky to find somewhere to watch. We always ended up outside, which was okay, but sometimes our view was blocked due to doors or pillars - as well as people just standing directly in front of you 🤦‍♀️. (I have attached a picture because this happened every night lol). ||Onto the rooms;|We were in a group of six, split between two rooms in area A. We had no small children, just teenagers. The adults only room was facing the pool, beside the swim up rooms. It was very spacious and the bathroom was lovely. The balcony was an absolute sun trap, so it was really nice to spend some time there before getting ready for the evening. The other room was again very spacious. The balcony was facing the shops and was much cooler. Great for those who cannot handle the heat (🫠). Both rooms were always kept incredibly clean and the cleaners did a wonderful job.. honestly so much admiration for them putting up with the children’s mess. The floors were swept and mopped, towels replaced, and bedding changed daily. My only comment on the rooms was that the bottle of water provided was not replaced once finished. Easy fix though as the shop across the road (next to the spar) sells the same bottles for only €1, and you could refill in the dining room if you prefer. We also found the beds to be very comfortable, even the small couch beds. The blankets were thin, but thicker ones were available in one of the cupboards. ||The food had mixed opinions amongst the group. There was always a variety of choice; meat and fish being cooked on the grill, lots of salad and side options and even good vegetarian choices. I personally loved it - especially the paella, rice and seafood options during lunch time. However, the picky eaters of the family struggled. The bread was sometimes stale, and the pizza was bland, leaving them with little options. Our 17 year old only ate breakfast sausages for days, we ended up going to the spar and getting her some crisps and bread for a crisp sandwich (honestly her own fault, but if you are very picky this may not be the place for you). Cocktails and drinks were lovely though. Typical all inclusive cocktails, however much stronger than you would typically find. My personal favourites were a vodka sun or a tequila sunrise, and honestly I would find myself tipsy after just one so something to be aware about lol.|The dining rooms often had long queues to get in which could be a bit annoying, and during dinner time we always got placed at the back of the inside restaurant due to being a bigger group. There were a few times where we were alone in there right in the back corner 😂. We didn’t mind too much though, but some people do prefer the outdoor restaurant. The restaurants were also very busy, and lots of pushing and shoving going on (i am not sure that some guests understand the art of queuing), so this could be quite frustrating sometimes. ||We did not try the 50s diner or the italians, but we did go out to porto cristo one night for a birthday dinner and it was lovely. Lots of options and quite affordable (although still tourist prices). ||The busses were easy to navigate. Outside of the lobby to the left is the train and bus stop. Busses were cheap. The train was cheap at the nightime, but prices were much higher during the day. ||If you are planning to go to the caves, I would recommend you get the bus and pay ticket entry there rather than organising a trip with an agency. Tickets were around €20 for adults and €13 (or close) for children. ||We also went on a boat trip, but honestly I wouldn’t really recommend this as a family excursion. A bit boring. Swim stops were fun though and the boats had a jump spot and a slide. ||The beach by the hotel is quite nice. Honestly didn’t go there much but on some of the days the waves were incredible which the kids loved. ||We really only used the pools in area A. We decided the main pool was the one for us, it had the most sun, and the activities were fun to watch (lots of adults falling over). If you prefer a quieter vibe the adults only pool was very relaxing - and so was the South pool. We visited other areas but decided we weren’t really missing much. The slides did seem good for younger ones, though.||Overall, it was an amazing stay and we would definitely recommend. For those with young children, it is...

Stayed here for 1 week with my two sons aged 18 and 23. Probably not ideal for them, as the hotel caters primarily for families with children. If you have children then this is a winner of a holiday. It’s perfect. You must understand that this resort is split into 3 sections. The Main hotel and “B and C”. To get to each you have to cross a roundabout which is easily accessible.

Upsides…

Food and drink is Fantastic. Lots of choice. Couldn’t fault it.

Service is excellent. This hotel accommodates a lot of people so the staff work on a very quick turn around wether that is in the restaurant taking your plates away as soon as you have finished or room service and cleaning your rooms quickly and early! Don’t expect a lie in.

The beach at the hotel is perfect. A short walk. Clean and beautifully set in its surroundings. There is a beach a short walk away called Cala romantica. Stunning too. They have a wonderful restaurant/bar there which serves amazing seafood. A must.

Pools and activities onsite are plentiful. If you have children you will not complain. Section C has the tennis courts, water park and football court. Section B has a nice pool there too. The main hotel has a host of different pools with pool bars. The kids will not complain of being bored. Pools are cold at the moment but that’s a result of the freakish temperature and the rain that has hit this region recently.

Downsides.

The rooms..we initially had a room over in B section. However on day 1 we asked to be moved as we were next to a loading bay where they loaded a lorry every morning at 6am with laundry. They were noisy!! The room however was perfect. Clean and modern. Wi-Fi great.

We asked to get moved and got put in the main hotel. The room was more dated and unfortunately for us it was even more noisy. The hotel has thin walls and you can hear everything that goes on in your neighbouring rooms! Especially kids crying which wasn’t ideal for us personally. I guess you are fine with it if you have young children. We lived with it for the entire holiday and we got used to it to a degree. Maybe the hotel can ask guests to keep the noise down whilst walking in the walkways as the noise travels easily through the front doors. I feel guilty writing this but it’s something to consider if you want a lie in.

However by chance, my sons got asked by JJ (the main man) how they were enjoying their stay and if the new room was ok. They said that their dad wasn’t best pleased with the noise, so he demanded that we see him that evening.

He was excellent. The go to guy. Very professional and he went the extra mile to accommodate us. He offered us a new room which we declined. It was an upheaval for everyone. So then he gave us a new wrist band which allowed us access to the adults only section of the hotel pool area. With this you get free towels (so you don’t have to pay a deposit for which you do have to elsewhere in the hotel), free spa, free food at the “love food” - food truck by the adult pool and also food at the best restaurant at the resort called South. It was an excellent piece of hospitality on his part and it definitely showed us another side to the resort.

Please understand that if you want adults only you must be clear with your agent as it will carry a premium.

Local area… the area around the resort is a little bit isolated. There is a pharmacy a stone throw away and also local shops for necessities. The main local port is Porto Cristo. This was a lovely port with a good array of bars and restaurants. Clean and tidy. They had a local market there on a Sunday which was nice. It’s a 25 min safe walk from hotel.

Overall the resort is obviously not a “Dubai 5 star resort”. If you expect that you will be disappointed. However value for money was 10/10 and I actually didn’t want to leave which is always a great sign.

I would definitely recommend the adult option if you are coming as a couple. I don’t think the resort “sells” and offers this option enough. If they did it would be more busy.

Finally a big thank you to...

I want to preface this review by advising how important this holiday was to us. We had booked a holiday for our 40th birthdays and we couldn't wait but then covid arrived and it was delayed by a year, and then another year and then I was diagnosed with cancer and the treatment took a year and in the middle of all that my father died so this holiday was our first break and a lot was riding on it but we just wanted to relax.

We paid a lot of money, if it had been a cheap last minute holiday I would shrug it off and say you get what you pay for - however given what we did pay then we definitely did NOT get what we thought we had paid for. We looked at reviews, we read the descriptions it stated clearly there were adult only areas. No one said that you'd have to pay €24 per day to use any of the sunbeds at the adults only pool, I'd have been happy to use a standard sun lounger but there were none. And I really don't understand the point of an adults only area when it is right beside the child-friendly areas anyway. Noise travels.

We stayed for 11 nights, this is the only holiday I have been on where I would have happily returned home early. The rooms were not those of a 4 star hotel, at the very best I'd say a 2-3 star tired self catering apartment would be more accurate. Feel free to look at the picture of our living area, it hardly meets the standards of 'basic' never mind 4 star. Our bathroom had a disgusting shower curtains with several unpleasant looking stains and mould. The shower was missing tiles on the floor and the wall mounted hairdryer was something from the 70s...you know the ones I mean.

We were woken every morning by screaming children before 7am. We were woken up several times during the night by people pulling their suitcases to the reception for their transfers. We both returned home from this holiday exhausted having not had one single good nights sleep the whole time we were away. The beds are right beside the walk way and there is an inch of space under the door so absolutely no sound-proofing or reduction of noise and the doors to reception were kept open, and trust me we tried to close them several times. We had requested a high room so we could enjoy some peace and quiet but there was none to enjoy and there was no escape as there was nowhere else to go! There are 4 buildings, we were in the main one and our room (1270) was beside reception which was 3 floors of glass and marble so one child screams and it echos everywhere and into the nearby rooms.

We were emailed to ask for our opinions of the hotel a few days in to our stay, I gave my frank feedback. I was very tired & unhappy and had expected someone receiving the feedback to contact us about the problems outlined but no one did.

We had to go to reception on a few occasions as the barely effective air con was making a lot of noise, a man came and turned it off and tinkered. I had to go back to reception again as it was still making a noise and asked that someone come as it was making noise all night so we had to turn it off and but no one came - perhaps they came when we were out but they might have thought the issue was resolved because it only happened after the a/c had been on for 5 or 10 minutes. We gave up at this point and decided to try and make the best out of a bad situation. We didn't want to spend our holiday complaining constantly (and there was plenty to complain about). However, there were also some positives - the communal areas were well kept and maintained. There were a few members of staff who were very nice and very efficient and their service stood out. Angie at the grand buffet who was directing people to their table was very good and made us feel very welcome and Johan at the bar was friendly and always happy to talk. The aqua aerobics at the pool was a nice way to get moving but overall the positives could not outweigh the negatives. I couldn't recommend anyone went here for a relaxing holiday but if you want to be surrounded by noise then this is the...