Puerto San Miguel, Balansat Apartments

this was our first holiday abroad and didnt know what to expect. The apartments at the hotel balansat was Fantastic. A lovely resort, very pleasant staff especially in the diner. Apartment was very clean and the maid was always around. The only fault was the lack of plugs in the kitchen and the odd location of the plug sockets that were there.We had to boil the kettle in the bedroom. If you are planning on using the bed sette then take an extra sheet. The childrens entertainment was great and although i have two teenagers we all managed to enjoy ourselves. The swimming pools were fantastic and ideal for children of all ages. The food was great. Now the only real problem was a local bar. At twelve o,clock you could expect to get some sleep, nnnooooo forget it. At 12.30 the music starts and the singing and laughing follow. Our apartment was right oposite and we didint get to sleep until gone 3 in the morning.We then had to put up with people saying goodnight to each other outside.But apart from that it was brill.

We all had a fantastic holiday. It was nice to find a place that's very relaxing and tranquil but entertaining at the same time.

Car hire is a must. Not recommended if you get bored easily or if you are irritated by undesirable people who are noisy and inconsiderate.

Not ideal for disabled persons without a very able bodied carer.

We stayed half board at the Balansat Apartments. The stench from the room on arrival was unbearable. You could smell it prior to opening the door. It was impossible to sleep in the lounge due to the smell as it had made me physically sick. The bathroom had a hole in the ceiling which poured water and plasterboard every time the upstairs occupants had a shower. The bottom of the bathroom door was completely rotten and the whole room smelt of damp and sewage. We had emailed in advance to request a second floor, sea view room but when we asked to be moved we mentioned our email and was told that emails are ignored unless you book your holiday through them. We were unable to shower for 5 days for fear of the bathroom ceiling collapsing. On the 5th day the rep eventually moved us, having forced her to view the room.

The maids emptied the bins daily but that was it. The floors and toilets were never cleaned as this was up to us to do. Even the change of linen for the beds was just put on the end of the beds for us to make up.

The half board was taken in the joining restaurant. However we were made to sit in the back and had our own scrawled hand written menu which had every evening the following: starters, tomato soup, vegetable soup, and one other dish. mains, spaghetti with bolognese or cheese, a fish dish and a meat dish, dessert: ice cream, fruit, lemon sorbet and one other dish. The pools were filthy, having never been cleaned once during our stay. We used the other hotel's swimming pools which were warmer had more shallow areas and 100% cleaner. You can use their restaurant buffet for 12 euros (worth every penny).

This could have been a beautiful, quiet resort but the beach was spoilt by huge numbers of cigarette ends lining the sea edge. The resort can be covered in less than 10 minutes - 5 minutes there and five minutes back. No water sports were available as it was too windy so it meant there was nothing to do. You do not have to pay the tour company's prices for trips as there is a fantastic small English run trip office next to the bureau de change. The guy who runs it took us in his own people carrier for the duration of our trip to Es Cana. He was friendly, a good driver and very reasonably priced.