Castillo Hotel Son Vida, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Mallorca

I stayed at this hotel a few weeks ago and have returned to stay again currently. Our first visit was excellent. The location of the hotel was ideal, excellent food and facilities, with attentive and friendly service. Marriott Elite recognition was great and I was given a tour of the hotel and escorted to my room. Based on that stay, this hotel has earned its 5* rating. A few weeks later, it feels like an entirely different hotel. The service has degraded to a very poor quality. All of the problems are easily rectifiable. Any of these alone wouldn’t be an issue but the consistent nature makes the whole experience unpleasant. - Front desk on arrival promised to phone when the room was ready for checkin but never did. - The room was then configured as a double instead of a twin despite discussing with the hotel days prior - Service at breakfast is erratic and poor. At our last stay, orange juice was topped up regularly. Currently, you are lucky to get a single glass poured in the entire time you are seated. - One morning I asked for milk to go with coffee three times and it was never delivered. - Concierge have gone from being very responsive (within a few hours by email) to taking days and multiple follow ups to make reservations. I am still waiting for a booking to be made that I requested days ago. - Again, poolside service is poor. I asked for a menu which was never provided and ended up walking to the restaurant for lunch. I will say that elite recognition is generally good here. Status was acknowledged on check in. On my first stay I was given a welcome gift, drinks voucher, and spa voucher. On this stay, I was only given the welcome gift. The hotel is busier and has clearly had to recruit large numbers of staff in a short amount of time. It’s understandable that there are some teething problems at the start of the season but it really does make me not want to return again next month.

Wonderful property and amazing staff! The location is a little far out from the city but the grounds and pool was perfect. The staff at the pool and restaurants were wonderful and very attentive after a few calls were made.

We were here for a couples getaway with other couples for golf and sightseeing. There were so many things about the property that were very well appointed and I would consider to be 5*— the breakfast buffet was beautiful, had many choices, even for a vegetarian, and the tables and service at breakfast were so lovely. Coffee was refilled in a timely manner, and I take mine with frothed oat milk (avena) and they were always happy to accommodate. The service in general was excellent from Luis the concierge to the sweet cleaning people. I used the complimentary spa area (Finnish hot spa, bio hot spa, relaxation area, fitness center), and also sat around the pool one day. PROS: The food was quite good from room service. Gazpacho, grilled veggies. The gratis spa area was nice. The pool was too cold for me, but the chairs and the pool area were appealing. There was even a lifeguard. Service in general was excellent. The breakfast buffet was really really good, with many delicious choices—my fav was the mango chia pudding. The Bar Armas had a nice singer on Wednesday night that was lovely while having cocktails and the free bar nuts/snacks were a nice addition. There is a water station at the driveway that is so convenient especially for the golfers since it’s near the golf bag storage closet. The fitness center was bright, with big windows and air flow and plenty of equipment. I noticed that they even have a sensor that motions the CO2 level/pollution in the room, and the cold water station inside the room works well. CONS: The terrible smell in the lobby which smelled like sewage was almost unbearable by day 5. I don’t know if it was an actual sewage problem or something else, but everyone in our group noticed it and felt it was an awful smell. The pool service for drinks and food was quite slow—not the fault of the poor pool waiter as he was running to keep up with the entire pool area and he seemed by himself. I also agree with the post that mentioned that the restaurant could use a weekly “specials” list. The “hot tub” near the indoor pool was not hot—it’s lukewarm, so would be nice if this was actually hot. GOLF: I only played Son Muntaneer and not the other two as we drove to other courses on the island for our other golf days. I thought Son Muntaneer was absolutely gorgeous and very walkable. The mist in the morning, and the beautiful olive tree landscape made this one of my favorites I have ever played. It was long for women (5700+), as my home course is around 5300. The golf attendants were so cheery and helpful and they give you a piece of fruit when you start. There is a practice driving range and a practice putting area, but the chipping area is for members only (go figure—makes no sense to me). Watch for the tree called El Capitan, the oldest olive tree on the island. Quite pretty! We also played Alcanada which was equally good but 30 min away. This was a wonderful home base for seeing Mallorca and I would definitely recommend it for

The previous director, Oscar, was doing a very much better job. Standards are inconsistent, with clear deficiencies in training and calibre of many staff members. The building itself, remains the most attractive feature of the hotel.

A lovely old building, with lots of old paintings etc inside to enjoy, but we experienced quite a few problems. We booked a 2-week holiday at this hotel, half-board. We were not told on booking that ‘half-board’ apparently meant a very limited menu (most of which I could not eat, due to allergies). We were presented with this on about our third day, having eaten from the a la carte menu until then. Even the a la carte menu is quite limited, but the one we were asked to choose from only had 2 Choices per course! We contacted our travel agent, who got in touch with the hotel and told us it was sorted out, and we could choose from the a la carte menu each evening in future; however, this did not seem to have been conveyed to the restaurant staff, who kept telling us each evening to choose from the limited menu. This was very embarrassing when done in front of other guests. We had asked for a quiet room (having booked a grand deluxe with a sea view), but we were given a room directly over the bar, overlooking the main terrace where entertainment took place most evenings, and where large gatherings of visiting groups were held. It did have a beautiful view over the bay, though. There were many large groups in the hotel while we were there, which we had not been warned about, and some of which were quite disruptive. When the large groups ate at the hotel, it meant the service to ‘’normal’ guests like us was not very good, as priority seemed to be given to the groups. There was one large (210 guests) wedding, with a very loud group playing near the restaurant where we were trying to have a nice quiet meal. Apparently a wedding is held there every 2 weeks. On the day we left, 280 delegates arrived from the USA for a conference. We were VERY glad to be leaving! So if you are thinking of booking here for a peaceful couples holiday, it might be worth checking beforehand what other plans the hotel has for that period.

Not too sure what Laura T is going on about below. Our experience was fantastic. Never ever a queue for breakfast, never had to move my own sun lounger and always got offered a drink by attentive staff around the pool area. There was one lifeguard who spent most of the time on his mobile and clearly didn’t want to be there! You’ll soon spot which one he is! Amazing view over Palma, luxury villas and the surrounding golf courses. Stunning property full of character and charm. Special mentions to the following team members who went above and beyond: Eleonora - breakfast & lunch Luis - concierge Zak - breakfast and pool drinks Alejandro - pool bar & restaurant Ferran - Reception Laura - Bar Adrian - concierge Lifeguards (apart from Mr Miserable)