AYA Seahotel — Hotel in Palma

Stayed 12-19 September 2024.|||AREA|The negatives…|If you are of German heritage, travelling in a large group (preferably male). Have a fascination to dress yourself (or watch others) with provocative or ridiculous attire and accessories (no worries, if you didn’t bring it you can buy it on site).|You love spending time on a very narrow and crowded beach, appreciating the company of other large loud groups an inch away. And you appreciate a fair competition with the other groups on who brought the loudest and best Bluetooth speaker.|To fill the possible void between songs, you feel it’s always nice to hear several loud voices scream out different drinks for sale walking back and forth on the beach. If you are of the opinion that “hair of the dog” is not only a possibility but a birth right when on holiday, then this is your place. You will find many equals that you can crew up with all from 8 am and walk down the beach promenade with an ice cold (preferably German) beer in your hand. If you really don’t care at all about the Spanish culture or the cuisine, but rather just get a wurst, some ribs or a hamburger, and you prefer to be able to order them in your native German language? Then don’t think twice, back your bags and get down there! Be mindful though, this review concerns mid-September (I guess mid to low season). There is a high probability I experienced the light version of peak season.||The positives..|Sorry, can’t find any. Twist my arm and the positive thing for us was the realisation that bus 25 towards Palma Town departs one block from the hotel and with only a 10mins ride for 2 eur each it would take you to the western parts of the beach offering a larger beach area and much much more peaceful. Aim for at least Balneari 11 and higher numbers.||HOTEL|The Negatives…|The hotel holds very few negative aspects to be honest. The vicinity of the shower in literary middle of the room (all though thankfully with frosted glass) as well as toilet with just a glass door (same thankful remark on the frosted glass) is a bit odd and does not provide for much privacy. Further, there is some kind of “system” to manage the beach towels which can only make sense to the hotel itself. We were informed upon check-in that towels could (somehow) be exchanged with the cleaning staff “from 9:30 am”. In practise this meant my spouse went on a “cleaning lady hunt” every morning after breakfast, scanning the floors for a cart with fresh beach towels. A bit odd. Understanding also well that most of the guests are German, I still find it both weird and somewhat rude to be morning greeted by the breakfast staff in German, asking for our room number in German. I don’t speak German. A phrase that to be repeated until the end of the week. And unless they wish to scare away the small diversity of guests that actually existed, it would be advisable to refrain from such behaviour. It really made you feel like the odd one out. In a way guess we were, but this is not what I would expect from a hotel in any country outside of Germany. ||The Positives…|Despite the negative remarks made, the general perception of the hotel is positive. The rooms were decent, cleaning made regular and to good quality. The room with a sea view of course very nice. We were actually not bothered too much with noise coming from the street or adjacent neighbouring balconies. Either we were just lucky (being a tad out of season), we slept well, or the AC simply drowned a lot of it. Public areas, including toilets of the hotel maintained very well and clean. The pool area was nice, and a welcoming calm oasis having come from the (beach)front of the hotel. The breakfast was a positive surprise, and the spread had all but everything one would expect from a higher than mid-rated hotel. I’ve read some reviews that the front-desk were disengaged and even rude on occasion. I do not agree as I found them both friendly, welcoming, and service minded. ||RESTAURANT/BAR|The negatives…|My impression is that the hotel strives to be of a higher class. With the vicinity to the beach and the general clientele it would be then advisable to possibly enforce at least a beach casual dress-code. More than once I witnessed people sitting bear breasted and in swimmers sipping their drinks. Can’t speak to the kitchen too much. We just had lunch once given it was raining that day. I ordered a chicken burger and my spouse the regular hamburger. A very colourless, dry, unpleasant and underwhelming experience for a 16 eur ask.||The Positives…|Wait staff generally very nice and service minded. Drinks well prepared and a nice touch was to bring a small tray of peanuts with every order. We ended up usually having a pre-drink at the hotel before going out to dinner. |||So if you’re a couple or family wishing for a pleasant holiday and have some great food and sunbathing. Look elsewhere.|If you’re on a stag-due or a large crew looking for a party, but still to sleep decently in a decent hotel, this...

Seaview Room - nice and clean, overall looks brand new, the sunset view is perfect, they have very good air conditioning. Even though after you take off the hotel card from the holder, the air conditioner is still on automatically as they have central air conditioning system. Every time when I go back the room, it’s cold and nice. The soundproof system is good even though they have bar and restaurants around this area. You wouldn’t regret to get a seaview room.

Downside on the room - they have very thin blanket. It looks like a bedsheet cover. I asked the receptionist. He advised they have more blanket in the wardrobe at the top. And I found there was 3 more blankets (same kind of thickness). So I have to use 4 blankets to sleep.

Hotel breakfast - they have a good selection as you can see in the picture. I had a 4d3n here. They have quite many different selections each day.

Hotel restaurant - I had a free welcome drink from the hotel as I booked the room via their official website. I chose to have hot chocolate although it’s not on the list. And the staff is happy to do it for me. Thanks for that! At night, I had the hotel’s Sangria. It was really good! They serve the nuts for free when you order a drink. At the very last night, I had my dinner here. However, I waited for more than 30mins for my food. But the staff are good at handling this situation. Before I even said anything, one of the waitress, she gave me nuts for free and apologised to me for the wait. A few minutes later, one of the waiter served me 2 breads and olives for free and apologised to me again. Thank you both! After that, my meal was served. However, it was disappointing. I ordered the mallorcan style cod. The cod wasn’t taste good and I guess it was cooked too long? The vege underneath the cod is cold and ‘old’. The only thing good is the potato underneath. I would say not to order the cod next time.

Hotel facilities - I enquired about the spa and massage. For the spa, it’s free and you will have to book the slot in advance with the receptionist. I enquired about the pedicure as well but they don’t do in the hotel. They advised me to go somewhere in city centre. If you want to have body massage, you will have to book it at least a day before with the receptionist.

Location - it takes around half an hour to get to Palma city centre and also the airport. The bus stop is 5mins walk away. I think the location is strategic as it’s near to the beach.

Overall - I would recommend you to...

We had a seaview room, front side of the hotel, on the 3rd floor, and room and view was just amazing. We really liked the concept of the shower, which is in center of the room and with big windows you can watch outside at the sea while showering. Also pretty big balcony with great view of the beach. The room was pretty clean, we had a free use of safe, water kettle with coffee and milk, black tea (restocked with every cleaning service) for free, there is also a smaller refrigerator in the room for storing drinks or some samller amount of food, snacks. Not sure if tap water is drinkable, but in hallway there is a water refill machine in the wall, where you can refill your bottle with cooled water (very nice). The staff was very friendly and helpful. We also had a free use of the pool, wellness (sauna,...), fitness, they also offer free yoga and pilates 4 times a week. We also had 2 beach towels, that you can use at the pool or on the beach. Location of the hotel is also pretty good, right at the beach, with A2 bus line (airport), on the street behind the hotel, and city bus lines 23 in close vicinity and 25 to the city center up or down the street in front of the hotel.

Pricewise I would wish for the breakfast to be included, most people don't use other services (like yoga, pilates, fitness,...), 18 € for breakfast is a bit expensive, as you normally don't even eat much for it. Also would wish for a better sound proofing of the doors, you can't hear what is going on in other rooms, but people are returning to their rooms at random hours at night and it can be pretty disturbing, as you can hear them talking on the hallway, shutting doors,... . Maybe not enough storage space, it would be nice to maybe have an additional closet or at least some drawers.

The safe could be moved on the shelf to the left, now it is on the shelf above the refrigerator and it gets pretty warm inside the safe, which is not ideal for storing electronic devices (pad, laptop,...). Also coffee kettle should maybe be moved on the counter, table, where the sink is. When the water is boiling, the steam goes up the TV, which probably is not to...