High(ish) end beach hotels with lots to do in Majorca - suggestions please.

[Thematic]

We've booked flights to go to Majorca this summer. We usually book independently as we like a few days in a posh hotel and then a week in a villa. I've got the villa booked (in Cala D'or on the seafront) but I'm struggling to find hotels that seem to fit the bill so hoping someone can help please as I've never been to Majorca before.

I like the look of Port de Soller or Port de Pollensa as they seem the sort of towns we'd like - we're not big on loud brits abroad type resorts and don't need lots of entertainment or nightlife other than nice places to eat and chill and people watch. But we really like charming historic towns and wandering round the marina at night, and prefer somewhere with smaller cove-type beaches than those with a big wide strip of sand. Other suggestions for towns very welcome!

Our kids are 9 and 12 so they're a bit old now to just spend a whole week digging on the beach but it'd be good for there to be stuff to do in and around the hotel, like watersports and maybe a gym, padel tennis, pool tables etc to keep them entertained in the evenings. I quite like a big spacious hotel as I don't feel like we're on top of other people all the time, and ideally something quite stylish would be nice, but not so stylish that kids don't seem welcome. We never use the kids club so don't really need that but we like to be by the sea (ideally with the hotel having its own bit of beach). We usually book 5 or good 4 hotels.

I'm finding the right kind of hotels but they never seem to be by the sea, or if they're by the sea they seem to be in resorts that don't seem a fit for us (have ruled out Alcudia and Muro as I don't think we'd like them).

Am I expecting too much? Would love some suggestions. Thank you

Puerto Soller and Puerto Pollensa check most of your boxes apart from the beach. Both have a beach that is long but not wide. (What I mean by that is that if you walk along the water's edge it's a long way, but from the sea to the road is not very far.) Neither can be guaranteed to be entirely free of Brits in footy shirts, especially Puerto Soller which gets a lot of day trippers on excursions, but they're a lot less numerous than in Alcudia or Palma Nova.

Puerto Soller is within walking distance of historic Soller town, whereas Puerto Pollensa is too far from Pollensa town to walk. It's a nice enough little town in its own right, but it's still very tourism-focused.

There are no cove beaches anywhere near Puerto Soller. From Puerto Pollensa you can go by bus or car to Cala San Vicente which has coves that are good for snorkeling. Of course, you will have seen plenty of cove beaches during your time in Cala d'Or.

Maybe have a look at Eden Soller or Esplendido in Puerto Soller, and Mar Senses in Puerto Pollensa. I don't know first-hand what they offer in terms of kids activities though.

Thank you @samarrange

I live in Pollença and most hotels on the waterfront in the port don’t have their own section of beach. It’s a very narrow beach. The nicest hotel is the Illa d’or but it’s expensive though it does have a nice pool. The hotel Miramar is good too. Walking along the pine walk is lovely in the evening but it is very busy in summer.

alcudia has a fantastic beach, I often go there, but it’s mobbed by families in the summer and has a lot of big family hotels.

have you looked at calla fornells at the other end of the island? It has a lovely hotel with a very nice beach and a mini bus that takes you up the hill to peguera which also has a long beach, shops and restaurants. You can also get to port d’andratx and sant elm very easily. Sant elm is a lovely little town with a beach and lots of restaurants and is nice to stroll around in.

mallorca is very small and is over run with tourists in summer wherever you go so it’s hard to find quiet areas without going inland and then you lose the beaches.

Why not stay in Palma? A beautiful city.

ideally with the hotel having its own bit of beach

Just saw this in the OP. You won't find it because all beaches in Spain are public. If you see sunbeds for rent, the person collecting the money is either a municipal employee or from a company that has the concession.

We have a couple of days booked already in palma at the other end of the holiday.

@samarrange @whirlyhead any opinions on Portals Nous?

@whirlyhead do you know the Grupotel Molins in Cala Sant Vicenç? Struggling to find a hotel in Polencia that ticks our boxes but this is quite close so we could taxi to Polencia in the evening.

Portals Nous is posh (think 1980s Martini adverts) with a lot of fairly swanky boats. There are not many hotels. The beach is quite nice and has a bar on it, but it's small and at the bottom of a cliff.

Cala Sant Vicenç/San Vicente is pretty - sometimes a goat will wander across he terraces. But it's quite a small town, so there's not a huge choice of places to eat. Parking is not much fun unless the hotel has its own car park (I don't know anything about the Molins, sorry). Taxis in smaller places are always a bit hit and miss because there might not be a lot of cars serving the town and they could be on an airport run when you call. There is a bus about every 1½ hours to either Pollensa town or Puerto Pollensa which runs until about 11pm.

The only reason I ever go to portals is to raid the British supermarket there! It’s very touristy so I avoid it. It’s probably ok for families but there are nicer areas.

cala sant Vicenç is lovely, and quieter than Pollença. I don’t know that hotel particularly but there are several nice hotels there. (I mainly go there for the woods as they are lovely to walk in plus there is a large feral cat colony I like to donate food to). The only issue with taxis is they get very busy in summer and they are not cheap!

Hi Thematic,
Where did you book in the end and would you recommend? I am having a similar dilemma to you this summer. We are two adults and 2 children, 14 & 11. Most hotels I find in Puerto Pollensa have a sofa bed for the children but I'd rather two beds or bunk beds for them. Was Cala D'or nice? We went to Cala Millor a few years ago but I wasn't crazy about it.
Thanks