Be Live Experience Costa Palma — Hotel in Palma

This hotel will only stress you out and make your holiday worse. ||Before I explain why this is a hotel you should avoid, I wanted to share some information on the area as well.||You may have done some research like I had on finding an area near Palma with a beach and some decent options for eating out within walking distance. ||It has access to a good beach. And it has the short 10-15 minute taxi ride to Palma’s beautiful city centre.||But as for good food options nearby… there aren’t many, and it’s really not a nice place to be aesthetically: derelict and crumbling buildings, and just a minute from a motorway junction. ||It is not a 4-star hotel. The brand must have a connection with the ratings business because there is nothing here that is worthy of it keeping a 4-star rating. ||The best way to describe the hotel, its staff and how it operates is ‘obstructive’.||Nothing is simple or straightforward and it’s as if their systems, rules and procedures have been created by someone who has never experienced a hotel stay before. ||Oh and the ‘adults only’ in the name of the hotel? It doesn’t actually apply. Kids were running around every day. ||Breakfast is substandard, and you will be a brave person should you choose to ask for an omelette cooked to your preference, as a sign next to the stove suggests you can.||I had the unfortunate experience of seeing a chef unable to separate eggs, and any request on top of ‘may I have an omelette please’ (in Spanish as well) with the other chef, was met with incredulity and outrage. ||The sign should actually read ‘omelettes made with only two eggs and fried in a pool of oil available here’.||All other food options in the hotel are horrendous. ||We’re talking about the lowest of the low club sandwiches, Caesar salads with more dressing than salad, and pizzas straight from the freezer. ||And that’s pretty much all the food options on the hotel menu, by the way. ||There are no kettles or tea/coffee making facilities in the rooms. ||Even a Premier Inn offers you these.||I reported a leaking cistern in my room’s toilet in the satisfaction email sent on the second morning. ||No one addressed or corrected the problem. The cleaning staff would have both heard and seen the leak every day when they cleaned the room, but no - it went ignored for the entire week.||My minibar fridge didn’t have a freezer shelf and the door seal was so old that it barely stayed shut. ||The staff will hate you. I live in Spain so I can speak Spanish, but even that couldn’t counter the absolute disdain that was seething from all staff except the reception desk and cleaning team. ||They, thankfully, were friendly, helpful and conversational. ||But as for the rest of the staff… ||… In their eyes, you are a tourist and therefore you are the devil. ||I promise I’m not exaggerating. We chose to spend as much time as possible away from the hotel purely because of this. ||And on one such occasion, a real absurdity occurred. ||We were heading out for the day so I grabbed the water bottles from my warm minibar fridge, and headed to the bar to ask for some ice (in Spanish of course).||‘No, ice is for the drinks of hotel guests only. If you want ice on its own, you can buy it yourself,’ was the response. ||I’ll ignore the fact that I had been buying drinks from the pool bar for several days prior to this, as if that could somehow make this an acceptable request, so we can treat this policy in isolation. ||Ice… The hotel wouldn’t offer a few cubes of ice to hotel guests? I was in disbelief. ||I would have been delighted to buy my own ice, avoid another encounter with the hotel staff and keep it in my minibar fridge that had a freezer shelf… but I didn’t have a minibar that worked as a fridge, let alone a freezer. ||Another absurdity unique to Be Live hotels: requesting late checkout. ||I’ve worked in hotels so I understand how it works. Every hotel chain stipulates that you request late checkout either before your stay, or as soon as possible into your stay.||It’s all in order to ring fence specific time with cleaners on the day to make it possible.||Not at Be Live.||I asked for late checkout on the evening I arrived - 7 days in advance, ready to pay whatever fee they set for this. ||I was told that I had to ask the day before checkout so they could check availability.||That was odd - delaying it for that long. ||But that’s what I did.||Then I was told that actually, I had to ask on the morning of checkout…||… You can see where this is going.||On the morning of my departure, I very politely asked, as advised, for late checkout, and it was only at this point, when their decision would affect the rest of the day and my travel plans, did they consult the room list and tell me ‘no, it’s not possible for your room number’.||And to top it all off, I was told that no one could help me with my luggage.||This wasn’t just bad timing. Be Live just save money by not employing anyone at all to cover this. ||The luggage room you’re allowed to use if you can’t obtain an illusive late checkout was tiny, and completely full.||So my luggage had to sit outside the safety of that locked room for several hours.||Bravo, Be Live Experience… bravo. ||Moving on, the hotel gym is well-equipped, it must be said.||Although, you’d think that a 4-star hotel would provide a water fountain or water dispenser for its paying guests, wouldn’t you?||No. Like the ice and everything else, they are here to give you as little as they can get away with after you’ve paid for a ‘4-star’ experience, and it’s a paid vending machine instead. ||It’s the Ryanair business model, served with extra resentment from the hotel staff. ||A further indictment of this approach comes in the welcome leaflet in your hotel room, and regards the breakfast buffet. ||You are told that if you attempt to take any food from the breakfast buffet not to be consumed that morning, you will incur a financial penalty. ||Wow. What a place. Trying to control its guests in such a penal, didactic manner. ||The Be Live Experience is not something I will be inflicting upon...

Service: Such lovely staff! Friendly, polite, attentive everywhere except one sour reception person (I heard them adressing another visitor in a rather unpleasant manner). The servers are superquick! You could barely set your fork and knife down and the plate was gone. They were also patient with my poor Spanish skills and let me practice, offering corrections. The hotel reception was very helpful regarding taxis.

The toilet in our room leaked but a maintenance person came to fix it in under 20 minutes on a Sunday!

Cleaners were very nice but unfortunately not very thorough: We ran out of soap and toilet paper and weren't restocked. There was a dead bug in the toilet and we let it be there just to check the level of cleaning and it was still there on the morning we left. Everything else but the floors (and the balcony) were well-cleaned.

There is a small luggage storage, which opened from the reception.

Room: We had a superior seaview room on the fourth floor, about mid-building. The view was nice, but the room and especially the balcony has seen better days; the tiles are cracked and uneven, the railings are rusty and soiled by bird poop which was not cleaned during our visit. Uncomfortable, cheap plastic chairs on the balcony (we saw that some balconies are equipped with sturdier seating but we had the bad luck of getting a room with the hideous 1980s plastic chairs). Otherwise the balcony is big enough to fit a sunbed - if the hotel wanted to improve.

Bathroom: The bathroom is open concept, so no privacy. The toilet at least is behind a door, but it is a sliding door and it doesn't keep any natural noises or odours inside. So, if you're in a relationship that's not in the natural smells zone yet, or are otherwise fussy, maybe these rooms are not for you.

Pool: Not a big one but size matches the sister hotels. The area is peaceful without onlookers from the street. There was green growth here and there in the pool, which I didn't see getting cleaned. The usual hotel sunbed-towel-reservation rally started in the morning. You have to join the rally or be without sunbeds, which were rather dirty and some were broken. Shades were large and moveable, and the pool person assisted with them if you asked. Large pool towels are available at reception for €15 deposit. You can change the towels as often as you want - at the pool. Deposit returned upon checkout and return of towels.

Food: We had half board. Breakfast is buffet type, and good mid-range with warm foods, some veggies, omelettes customized for you, bread, condiments, yoghurt, fruit etc. Coffee and juice is self-service.

Dinner buffet had some variation but nothing fancy. Seafood available every evening. I loved the dessert selection: I've been on HB's around Spain --  and this place had the best dessert cakes! Always tasty, variation etc.

There are a few warnings about dinner. See below for food and drinks section!

General: Not upmarket, but a solid 3*. The neighborhood is a bit shabby.

Programme: I was super happy that the evening program was only in the sister hotel, so we weren't bothered by loud music. You could enjoy the music from your balcony and just close the door when you had enough.

Smoking: If you're a smoker, you're going to be happy here: there are ashtrays on the balcony and a smoking spot at the pool and the entrance. If you're a non-smoker or have lung conditions, book elsewhere. Had we known smoking on the balcony is allowed like it was still the 1990s, we wouldn't have booked. We couldn't have a single hour chilling on the balcony without having to breathe smoke because we were unlucky to be neighbours with smokers.

Would I return? No, though it was the nicest service in any Spanish hotel I've visited so far. However, if I wanted to spend my holiday on a beach sunbed, the hotel was non-smoking and it was safe for a seafood-allergic person to have dinner at the hotel - and the balcony had comfortable balcony...

I have quite a few things i like and dislike about the hotel which i will all list and try to give a decent explanation as to why i think this way.

*Location & mobility: 3.5🌟 Walking distance from the beach 5🌟 Plenty of restaurants in the area 4.5🌟 Close to the center of Palma 4🌟 Public transport nearby 4🌟 Parking 0🌟

This couldve easely been 4,5🌟+ if it wasn't for the fact that there is no where to park your car meaning bringing your car is a waste of time unless you plan on paying for street parking everyday.

*Food 3🌟 Breakfast 4🌟 This was just a really nice balanced breakfast. Overal just pretty good.

Dinner 2🌟 This is where they dropped the ball , the food itself is not bad but extremely salty and guess what if you want to drink anything you're paying for it. 33cl of coke will cost you 2€50 when you can get a 2l bottle in the supermarket at the other side of the street for 1€70 . In other words "You don't pay = you don't drink" they straight up come grab the glasses off your table after you say you arent buying anything. Combined with the fact that the food was very salty made us leave dinner early just to go get a drink elsewhere where it wasnt as expensive.

Honestly if they had just offered a jug of tap water for free i wouldve added at least 2🌟 to the review.

On a quick side note: the desserts at dinner were really good so hats off to whoevers making them.

*The room 4🌟 The room was good, balcony with a great view everything worked for us beds werent as terrible as some other reviews make it seem at least not for me. The maids always kept it clean and changed the towels daily so yeah not bad.

Just one thing that was abit off-putting was the fact that there was no door to the bathroom, so if someone walks in when you're in the shower they can literaly just see you shower which i found a bit weird. This is the first time Ive seen a doorless bathroom. Ever.

*Staff & Service 4🌟 I didnt really have any issues with the people working there. Most did their jobs pretty well. Checking in and out was smooth that's all we ever needed them for so maybe im not the best person to give his opinion on this matter but it seemed like they had everything under control so that's good enough for me.

Facilities 3🌟 Pool 2🌟 Pretty small & simple pool also behind the pool are like dumpsters which made the area smell really bad especially on the hotter days.

Gym 4🌟 Gym was all around pretty good , i go to the gym quite often back home and found that i could do everything just like back home, the only complaint is that dumbells didnt go under 10kg and didnt go above 20kg which is fine honestly since i usually don't plan on training as hard as i usually do when i am on vacation. In terms of machines there are machines for every muscle group so that's a +.

Wifi 0🌟 Straight up useless, don't bother even their premium wifi is garbage we used 4g for our entire trip.

All in all i still enjoyed my stay here despite the downsides however they did make it so that this was my first and last time at this hotel, for the money we payed it shouldve just been better...