Bahia Palma Nova

We stayed at the Bahia Palma Nova hotel for 1 week half board from 17/03/06 - 24/03/06. From the moment we arrived the staff, and I mean all the staff, were very professional and friendly. The rooms were large enough for us (my wife and myself), and we had a double bed, which is nice, if not unusual, as it is usually two pushed together. Some rooms have a terrace which are on the ground floor. We thought we were lucky to get a room on top floor (4th) with a balcony overlooking the sun terrace, and with sea and beach views from the small marina at one end of the beach to the other end of Palma Nova. The view from the balcony and the room, which had large sliding double glazed windows, was beautiful, and it did tempt us to relax and have a drink before going to the dining room for dinner.

The menu for dinner was a selection of courses, of which it was self service, consisting of soup of the day, salads, a choice of two or three meats, fish and paella, chips seemed to be every night, but there was also another choice. Sweets were varied and very sumptuous. Usually a choice of three and a choice of two ice creams, also a selection of fruit. Breakfast was a selection of fruit juice, cereals, salads, cold meats, cheeses, fresh fruit and yoghurt's. Cooked breakfast was eggs (fried or scrambled), bacon, sausage, fried bread, beans and tomato, toast with preserves, tea, coffee, or hot chocolate.

If you don't smoke it would be better to give the bar a miss after meal times, at least until the smokers have had their lungful. The bar had entertainment when we were there; 3 times during the week, and you are under no pressure to be involved. The drinks were all reasonably priced, and each evening there was a cocktail promotion, and the cocktails were very nice, and potent.

The unfortunate part was that there seem to be a lot of wild cats in Palma Nova, and the smell of cats does tend to offend. No body seems to be doing any thing about them, and it can only get worse.

On leaving the hotel, you only have to cross the road and you are on a wide promenade with coffee/bar restaurant and the beach. The prom goes from one end of Palma Nova to the other. Turning right out of the hotel you walk past a variety of bistros and bars. The Bee Hive is a nice place for a coffee/drink or a meal (lunch). The shop next door sells newspapers and magazines from around the world. Walking on you come to the main area of Palma Nova where there are the usual shops, restaurants and bars. A short walk further will take you into Magaluf. Beware of being stopped by people offering you the chance to win something. The scam seems to be for people who have a credit card etc. A couple will be stopped and given the chance to do a scratch card. One of them will not win much (maybe a t-shirt or bottle of wine), but you can be sure the other person will have won big no matter what the prizes are. The one that you will eventually win after going to a meeting point and sitting listening to there sales pitches for 2 hours or more will be a holiday, and they will want you to pay £4000 or £8000 just to book a holiday. We did get a bottle of Vodka and a bottle of champagne, though this was after we complained loudly and they wanted us out quick. We were told we would have to wait for an hour for a taxi, but with so many people coming to their office and being met by us to inform them what was going on, they were able to get us one straight away. I don't like the sales people trying to play my wife off against me.

Take the bus to Palma and get off at the station. This will help when you want to get the bus back, as all buses go to all parts of the island from there, and trying to get a bus back is hard if you get off the bus early in Palma, as they don't seem to follow the same route back.

I think Majorca is a beautiful place, and WE are looking forward to going back again soon.