I have just returned from a 4 night break in Mallorca, staying at the Blue Bay Hotel....and it was a really good break. Yes, the weather was fantastic -in the low twenties most of the time with cloudless skies on 4 out of five days, but the hotel helps to make the holiday.

The room, although not as large as some, was roomy and well equiped. The large mirror doors on the wardrobe give an impression of a larger room. The balcony is small but fine for 2 chairs and most rooms have an uninterrupted view of the coast with sun from early morning to late afternoon. The bathroom, although curiously shaped was clean and well-appointed - although another light on the mirror would have helped shaving.

Yes, there were the steps, but since my wife had recently had a foot operation and was walking with a stick - and SHE didn't complain - I don't think that they were at all bad - if you took them slowly..

At the bottom of the first set of steps (about 120, but gentle) was the local parish church where I went to Mass every evening at 6.30 pm.

The staff were without exception friendly and helpful, but special mention should go to Sandra and Marie-Carmen, the two waitresses who worked so hard at every meal and always served with a smile and a friendly word. Yes, it does help to try a bit of Spanish if you can.

The pool area was clean, with pleanty of sun-beds and very comfortable for sunbathing. The water was unheated and I didn't venture too far into it.

The hotel had an entertainment on the Friday evenings, but don't go for the nightlife!

Buses:
No 1 from the airport to the Plaza d'Espana then take a No 3.
Don't get off at Cala mayor! Get off either at the next stop - and walk up the hill - without a footpath. or - as we did - take it one stop further (past Eroski, on the right), to Cala Nova (in front of the marina) and walk back towards Eroski. Then up the first set of steps(past the health club); walk around the church (in either direction) and then climb the second set of steps.

The Palma blue buses (EMT) have a swipe card system. You can buy the card for 8 Euros at a tabac or a newsagents and it is valid for 10 trips, This is a saving over the normal fare of 1.10 Euros per trip.

Booked this hotel through Airmiles and was very pleasantly surprised when we arrived. A lovely hotel which has just been refurbished and looks brand new.
The bedrooms are small but with ample space for all your holidays needs and all have a lovely balcony. The only problem for us was that the walls were paper thin, and I mean paper thin!!
The couple in the room next to us were "taking advantage" of being away on hioliday without their children, and well, quite frankly, they may as well have been in the same room !! The noise carries some what which wasn't so bad when we were there as it was very quiet but it may annoy some people who are there in the height of summer.
The staff were lovely and very friendly and efficient. We always try to speak a little of the the language when we go on hols and I think this was very much appreciated, we definitely got much better service because we made an effort.
The food was very nice and everything you require is provided in a hot and cold buffet at breakfast.
The hotel also does an evening buffet meal at 10 euros which is different every night with a meat, fish and pasta or vegetarian dish. This was very nice but we didn't eat there every night, it was handly for the nights when we didn't feel like going out though.
In the town there are a couple of nice restaurants. I can recommend Nwaabs indian and also the large Tratorria on the main street. but take a phrase book with you, it comes in handy, not everyone in all the shops can speak english.

A typical 1970's / 1980's Spanish hotel. The public areas are a little run down but the bedrooms seem to have been updated in recent years. The friendly staff were happy to help with any queries. Our stay was on a half board basis.

The rooms whilst small are perfectly adequate as a base, with wooden floors, comfortable twin beds, large mirrored wardrobes, TV and newly tiled bathroom with shower over the bath.

There are no nasty surprises when you arrive like having to pay for use of the air con or fork out a deposit for the TV remote, which is just as well considering that only SKY news is available in English along with the usual local channels and 10 German channels.

The size of the balcony was a dissapointment, it barely had room for two chairs. This wasn't a major problem for us as the weather was not that great in March, but during the summer if you wanted to sit out and enjoy a beer it may be a problem. That said the view over the gardens, marina and sea was fantastic.

Rooms were cleaned daily and along with the public areas were kept spotless.

The downsides:

Steps, lots and lots of steps.
The main street is down a very steep hill reached by a couple of hundred steps, We expected this from other reviews but beware, the picture on this site which someone has taken shows probably about a quarter of the actual steps from top to bottom.

Food.
Ok, there is something edible at each meal which is buffet style, but that's it. Beware if you're not a fan of fish, they sneak it into everything even the potato salad and do not believe the labels, e.g. every meat dish seems to be labeled 'beefstaek' but it invariably isn't.

The area is a bit run down but there are plenty of busses with one every 5 - 10 mins from the main street to Palma, Palma Nova, Magaluf and the waterparks. If your heading to the capital take the blue local busses they are less than half the price at 1.10 for any destination compared to 2.70 minimum charge on the red and yellow national busses.

All in all for the price you can't really fault it and wouldn't rule out going back there.

stayed here on 13th december 2007 for three days,
very clean hotel. breakfast was great hot or cold buffet style, bit dissapointed it was up a steep hill, water for shower coldall my stay,nice friendly staff would stay again but when warmer weather, chinese resturant down hill to right was great, four course meal in day only six euros brilliant.