Hotel Palia Dolce Farniente

“Looks were deceiving! Not at all as good as we were promised!”

Main thing to be aware of, is that this is a hotel that largely caters for French people. So pretty much everything is done in French, including the evening entertainment. Great if you speak French, but not if you don't. The swimming pools were smelly, especially the top one, the kiddies pool was… more

Main thing to be aware of, is that this is a hotel that largely caters for French people. So pretty much everything is done in French, including the evening entertainment. Great if you speak French, but not if you don't. The swimming pools were smelly, especially the top one, the kiddies pool was quite small & the adults pool wasn't really any good for actual swimming. Rooms & beds were ok. Our air-conditioning didn't work but they fixed it the same day. Food was a mixed bag. Breakfast was terrible, nothing seemed to be warm & cold baked beans are not pleasant. There was a reasonable selection of fruit & cheese/meat. Lunch was worse, it seemed to be just the previous nights dinner warmed up slightly, but evening dinners were on the whole ok. A couple of evenings the food was excellent, but the rest were just average. Beware the paella, it contains bits of broken mussel shells, which is very unpleasant. 'Local' spirits were ok (cheap supermarket brand stuff), the beer was just San Miguel, no other choices & it wasn't the best. Finally, the beach is very pretty but really tiny and gets busy early on. It's ok for a quick swim, but not much else & the parasol hire (>£15) was a bit steep for what they were & the shade they gave. Wouldn't go back!

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“Great Location and Friendly Staff, But Not Ideal for English-Speaking Guests”

We recently stayed at this hotel as a group of six (three couples) and overall had a really enjoyable holiday, but there were several aspects of the hotel that let it down. The hotel appears to be very heavily geared towards French guests. The vast majority of guests were French, and unfortunately… more

We recently stayed at this hotel as a group of six (three couples) and overall had a really enjoyable holiday, but there were several aspects of the hotel that let it down. The hotel appears to be very heavily geared towards French guests. The vast majority of guests were French, and unfortunately we found that some were not particularly welcoming towards English visitors. While this isn’t the hotel’s fault, it did make us feel somewhat excluded at times. The staff were all lovely and friendly, but many had limited English, and most of the entertainment was conducted in French. To be fair, the entertainment team did make an effort to include us and communicate in English where possible, which we appreciated. One of our rooms had significant issues. We were initially placed on the ground floor and experienced ants throughout the room, including the bathroom, countertops and even around the kettle. We were also given a wet room, which would normally have been fine, but it repeatedly flooded, with water running out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. We reported the issue and were advised that maintenance would investigate, so we stayed put until the following day. However, the combination of the flooding and ant problem became too much. Once we were moved to a first-floor room, the issues disappeared completely. There were no ants, and the bathroom was separate with a proper shower screen, making for a much more comfortable stay. The food was fairly standard and quite basic. It wasn’t really to our taste, so we chose to eat out most evenings instead. On a positive note, the pool area was always clean and well maintained. The hotel’s location is excellent, with shops, bars, restaurants and a beautiful beach all within easy reach. Overall, we had a great holiday and enjoyed our trip. I appreciate that this is a 3-star hotel, so expectations should be realistic. However, I do feel the experience would have been improved if the hotel catered more equally to guests from different countries and languages, rather than focusing so heavily on French visitors.

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“Very French focused - Not what we expected”

We stayed at this 3-star all-inclusive hotel and unfortunately came away disappointed. The food was very repetitive, with very little variety throughout our stay. We were also surprised that cocktails weren't included in the all-inclusive package and had to be paid for separately. The pool area w… more

We stayed at this 3-star all-inclusive hotel and unfortunately came away disappointed. The food was very repetitive, with very little variety throughout our stay. We were also surprised that cocktails weren't included in the all-inclusive package and had to be paid for separately. The pool area was poorly maintained. Lots of parasols were broken, the pool steps were falling apart and wobbly, and there was lots of debris from trees around the edge of the pool which wasn't cleaned away. Our room wasn't cleaned to the standard we expected. Although the bathroom was cleaned daily, the bedroom floor wasn't swept or mopped during our stay. We had a ground-floor room and the balcony was unusable due to a crumbling wall and a filthy floor that was never cleaned. The biggest surprise was that all of the staff were French, despite the hotel being in Mallorca. Most spoke very limited English, making communication difficult. Around 80% of the guests also appeared to be French, with only a small number of English guests. The entertainment was almost entirely in French, with little or no effort made to explain games or activities in English, so it was difficult for English-speaking guests to join in. We were staying during the start of the World Cup. Lots of French and Spanish flags were displayed around the hotel, and matches involving France and Spain were shown on the large stage screen. However, there were no England flags or banners when England played, which reinforced the feeling that English guests were not catered for. This hotel may suit French-speaking guests very well, but if you're booking from the UK, be aware that the hotel is overwhelmingly French in its staffing, entertainment and atmosphere. We feel Jet2 should make this much clearer in the holiday description so customers know what to expect before they book.

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