Majorca - Family friendly hotels

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Looking for recommendations for nice family friendly hotels in Majorca please 😊

Pre-school aged DC so ideally:

• decent pools with a kids pool
• easy access to beach
• walking distance to shops/restaurants etc
• Nice traditional local restaurants
• ideally 4*+ and modern - happy to spend on a “nice” hotel
• quieter resorts - I’m not keen on Palma Nova/Magaluf area. Have previously stayed in CalaD’Or pre DC and liked it there but would happily consider other areas
• All Inclusive preferred purely for ease of drinks etc when at the pool. We usually eat 50% of meals out regardless so nice local restaurants still needed 😊

Equally happy to take suggestions for Menorca - never been but have heard it’s good for family friendly places?

Would second this. We went back to the Iberostar Alcudia Park a couple of years in a row when the DC were young - it is a lovely hotel, smaller than a lot of the resorts in the area, and great for young children. It’s on a wonderful beach for littlest too - calm, long area of shallows and clear water.

Look at booking separately and taking a public bus,Mallorca has very good bus links to the main resort areas.

It takes about 50 minutes to get from PMI to Cala D'or. Taxi costs about 80 euro.

If we book AI, we still tend to eat out most evenings. We are not heavy drinkers and find AI is still a good-enough bargain to justify doing it this way.

Another vote for this but I think you might not get it with your budget.

Oh just read outwith summer hols...you probably will then! It ticks all boxes. If you go, look up Multihire in PP for hiring scooters, prams etc...it's about a 15-20 min walk if you want to go to the other end of the resort, much easier to push / scoot (sorry can't remember DC ages) at the end of the night if they're tired. Equally there's loads within v short walking distance.

@Bjorkdidit @MorrisZapp Thanks 😊 Will likely book a private transfer so I know I can install a car seat. I’d be nervous about buses.

@JimmyGiraffe DH and I have found this in the past usually too 😊 For some hotels it’s only adding £400 to upgrade from Breakfast only to All Inclusive. That’s for 3 of us for a week.

Even if we only eat a couple of evening meals, a few lunches/snacks, a few drinks and ice creams etc at the pool then we’d likely save money by upgrading to the AI 😊

@pinkduckk Thank you! 5yo so we’re beyond the pram stage now 😊 15-20 mins shouldn’t be an issue 😊

Ah then that probably makes sense

Where I went with my two (one teen and one pre teen) it was £700 to upgrade to half board from b&b for a week and £1450 to AI!

IBEROSTAR and Zafiro are both nice AI chains, lots of them in Majorca.

Yes, often our biggest spend is on all the day-time soft drinks and lunch

Another vote for Puerto Pollença- such a safe beach for small kids as well as a nice port and eating places

Thank you all so much 😊 lots to choose from!

With jet2 you can remove the coach transfers and swap for car hire. Was hardly any extra cost when I did it and had the car for the week then 👍

Cala Azul in Cala D’Or, sister hotel to Esmeralda but a tiny bit quieter. Half board but loads of easy options for lunch like eating out, takeaway pizza, eating at beach bar. Food is great, beach is lovely, scenery spectacular and there is the little train to marina, boat around the coves. Lovely chilled holiday.

The issue with transfers is not the driving time but the pick-up/drop-off.

From Palma airport to both Cala d'Or or Puerto Pollensa it's just under an hour's driving time. In fact the longest drive on the whole of Majorca from the airport is only about 70 minutes (Cala Mesquida).

The problem is that they have to fill the bus with people from several different flights, which can take an hour — you might be first or last on. Then when the bus gets to the resort it tours 8 or 10 hotels, taking five minutes each. You might be first or last off.

So for both places (and anywhere on the north/east of the island) your coach transfer could be anywhere between 75 minutes and getting on for 3 hours, and it's the absolute luck of the draw.

Even if you went to Palma Nova, though, it could be between 45 minutes and 2¼ hours, again because of time spent in the bus. (One advantage of a closer resort is that a taxi transfer is cheaper, in the €40–50 range rather than €80–100.)

PS: With pre-school DC I would be giving Alcudia a look, if only because the far north end of the beach is the best paddling spot I've ever seen.

@PumpingRSI Thank you 😊 DH and I love Cala D’Or and have both the Azul and Esmeralda on the list of possible options 😊 have never visited either but they look like our kind of place 😊

@samarrange yeah I never minded the coach when it was just DH and I but I can’t be dealing with long waits on coaches with a young child 🫠😂
Ill look at Alcudia too thanks

I live in Pollensa and can drive from the airport to the port in about 45 minutes I'd say, though, it depends on the traffic and the time of year – it's slower in August! It's about €90 by taxi. There is a bus from the airport to Alcudia but it goes to Alcudia town so you'd still need to get a taxi to the port if you are staying there and there is a taxi shortage at this end of the island. Do not rely on taxis to go out at night - rare as hen's teeth.

I would say with regards to hotels - one of the reasons the locals here get annoyed about tourism is to do with the AI hotels, as they are taking trade away from the local restaurants and bars. So, if at all possible, do get out and try restaurants away from the hotel and support the local economy.

Puerto Pollensa is quieter than Alcudia, so it's great for younger kids. The beach at Alcudia is very shallow so also good for kids, but during the season Alcudia beach is rammed (as it Muro). Pollensa always seems to have fewer people.

we booked private transfers last time, I think it was called British cab driver in mallorca and chose him because of the car seats, not sure if I can link

This guy, would recommend

@whirlyhead Thank you 😊 I completely get that with regards to the AI issue with locals. We tend to book it for the convenience for grabbing breakfast then snacks/drinks if we’re by the pool etc (provided the price is decent!)

We prefer to eat our bigger meals out and always visit lots of local bars/restaurants/shops etc 😊

@SaulGoodmanIsTaken Thank you 😊 I wouldn’t personally use a car seat supplied by a taxi or hire company but I think we definitely will either get a private transfer or hire a car ourselves and take our own car seat ☺️

If you like Cala D’Or then you’d probably really love Menorca. Have a look at the Royal Son Bou Family Club and the Zafiro Menorca.