Cala Mayor, Blue Bay

Arrived on 8th August 2005 at Cala Mayor, Blue Bay only to be told that two floors of the hotel had been flooded and that we had been transferred to another hotel for 1 or 2 nights whilst the rooms dried out. Whilst we appreciated that such problems can happen, we later established, having spoken to other British guests (who had also been moved out temporarily), that in fact the hotel was overbooked. Fortunately we only had to spend one night at the other hotel and the views from the Blue Bay more than made up for our disappointing start. We booked this hotel on the internet (Alpha-rooms), our first all-inclusive holiday. The flights were booked seperatley through a budget airline. In all it cost £480 pp for 7 days including airport transfers and holiday insurance. Overall we felt this was a good deal until we learned from a scottish family that they paid £80 per person less, so shop around!! We also realised that there was no need to pre-book transfers from the airport as taxi's are readily availble and cheaper too!

We were very happy with the all-inclusive package and found the meals catered for most tastes/ages. It was plentiful and available from 8am-11pm daily. Locally produced alcholic drinks together with non-alcholic drinks such as pepsi, fanta, chilled water etc available on tap. However, San-Miguel was served in small cups - don't expect a pint! Ice-cream/lollies also included.

We had no problems reserving sun beds and did this with the customary towel by 8.30am. Information given to you when you arrive advises that if you reserve sun beds, your towells will be removed, but this did not happen. We did find that umbrellas were in short supply.

The entertainment was basic with hotel staff providing bingo, a quiz and on one night a rendition of the film Grease, where guests were invited to take part. A spanish singing duo also performed both spanish and english songs.

We did not venture far, rather spending most of our time around the pool as relaxation is what we went for. However, on a couple of occasions we did walk into the town (busy road with virtually no pavements) to do some 'quality' souvenier shopping. Such shops were very limited so we took a trip into Palma. The Rep from Care-Destination who is available between 10am-11am daily for all british guests recommeded the department store Porto-de-Ingles. We took a bus ride (approx 2.50 euro)into Palma but found that this was not the 'tourist'shopping that we were looking for but rather like shopping in Debenhams! There is a small supermarket within 50 metres of the hotel supplying basic needs.

Overall this was a quiet & relaxing holiday in a modern, clean hotel. Most of the guests during our stay were British and Spanish with the odd German & Czech family. All very friendly.