Puerto Del Sol Aparthotel Review

Overall Rating

Location
Friendly staff
Air conditioning in rooms
Gardens

Too many chavs
Not enough sun beds
Pools far too busy

I first visited Puerto del Sol back in 2004, and have since been back in 2005 and again in 2007.
The first two times I visited, I had no complaints about the place at all - we had an amazing time, and I could honestly say that everything was pretty much perfect.
However, at some point between 2005 and 2007, they decided to go down the route of catering for the all inclusive market, and they are simply not geared up for it. We were self-catering, but we noticed that the quality of the food and the service in the poolside snack bar had deteriorated somewhat - so much so that most lunchtimes we headed down to Churchill's, which I can highly recommend.
However, I would not lay the blame for this deterioration entirely at the hands of the owners. Some of the British people we saw there were behaving in a disgusting manner - throwing food all over the floor and leaving it, sending their children into the snack bar to get food just because they were all-inclusive even though they had no intention of eating it, and so on. Imagine the worst examples of Brits abroad you can think of, and you'll have some of the clientele from Puerto del Sol last summer. It was like chav central.
The other disappointment last summer was that the pub was closed. We'd always enjoyed going in there of an evening - it's air conditioned and has a stunning view out over the marina, but despite being advertised in our welcome pack, it was closed for the entire fortnight.
The staff in the snack bar weren't the friendliest, but to be honest I didn't blame them that much, with some of what they were having to put up with. The staff elsewhere were excellent, though, especially the old boy behind reception on the night we arrived (very late thanks to the inefficiency of Span Air and Mallorca's baggage handlers), who gave us a free (and very welcome) bottle of mineral water each.
The apartment was lovely, with air conditioning in the living room and the bathroom, an with a balcony that looked out over the gardens.
The gardens themselves are really beautiful, and are home to various types of birds and also bats, which I encountered most mornings when I got up to put the towels out. Yes, I am afraid that I succumbed to that most British of traditions and put out my towels at stupid o'clock each morning. In my defense, I had no choice. It was either do that, or have no lounger for the entire day. Don't berate me too much, though. Some people put theirs out the night before and left them there overnight. As for the pools themselves - well, if you were planning on taking a swim, forget it. Each pool was chock full of inflatables with chavlets on them, and the only time I ventured into the water was for a quick dip to cool off.
The apartments are located just outside of the town, so if you're looking for somewhere vibrant, it won't be the right place for you. However, if you like to spend your evenings eating great food and watching the world go by, it's ideally situated. The restaurants around the marina are second to none - particular favourites were Blanco y Negro, Acuarius, one around the far side of the harbour which is owned by a guy who used to own The Melting Harbour next to Churchills, and one over the Puerto Del Sol side with green covered chairs and a waiter who looks like Leonard Rossiter (sorry, can't remember its name, but if you see the waiter, you'll know you're in the right place).
All in all, we did have a good holiday in 2007, but we won't be joining the hordes of chavs there in 2008 and are instead being holiday snobs and renting a private apartment.
One final word of warning to those heading off to Mallorca this summer... Beware the airport. You may have to wait up to two hours for your cases to arrive, and there is an extremely fierce security guard just outside the arrivals hall. My advice is to make sure you have plenty of water when you land, take little (if no) notice of the monitor which tells you which carousel your luggage will be on, and - above all - be patient...