Tui Magic Life Cala Pada - All Inclusive

“Horses for courses, but some horses really do moan ...”

Wow. Just wow. Lot of negativity on here and have to say that from our experience it must stem from some anger issues from some of the posters (but different strokes for different folks and all that). We took our first foreign(!) family holiday here in June 2022 and loved it so much we returned... more

Wow. Just wow. Lot of negativity on here and have to say that from our experience it must stem from some anger issues from some of the posters (but different strokes for different folks and all that). We took our first foreign(!) family holiday here in June 2022 and loved it so much we returned in late August/ early September 2023. Just to go though our experience with some structure. Arrival – short transfer from the airport which is great. Straight into reception (dark?! – not sure I get that from one of the reviews below – do you want a ring light shone in your face on arrival?). Check-in staff efficient, helpful, some more polite than others. Not obsequious – is that what folk want? Room(s) – simple. Yes, probably not 4 star to be honest but clean. The buildings are low rise and are not new – there was clearly a previous incarnation before Tui Magic Life – and yes, they show their age more than a little. If concrete, sterile monstrosities are your thing then you won’t like it. One gripe – some folk put their drinks glasses on the small windowsills to their bathrooms which are directly on the corridor (which is a bit of an accident waiting to happen). Wifi – not the most powerful but works fine in rooms. Stretched a bit at pool but do you/ should you really need it? Food – we thought it was great. Cold? Not in our experience. Breakfast was amazing. You can eat very, very healthily here. Or not, whichever you prefer. Everything is on offer. Drinks – not sure what is expected. If you are going away to drink then a) don’t come here and b) perhaps grow up a bit. Have to say I didn’t exactly sit down and savour the beer but hey, it was generally wet and cold. Yes, some wasps do gather near the soft drink dispensers nearer the pool(s) - didn't see anyone get stung (or close to it) over the 16 days in total we were here (they have tried to deal with it with covers, but the natural world is so inconsiderate). Crepe stand – awesome! Lovely lad serving. Bit of stroppiness from some customers who insisted on joining queue after being told it was closing (cue 'I've paid for this holiday ... blah, blah, blah'). The beach – first impression wasn’t great. Then I bothered to read about the seaweed and how it was actually encouraged for the ecosystem – crazy eh? Also, I absolutely loved how down to earth it was. One great scruffy (and cheap) bar called Tony’s – landlady will get around to serving you when she’s had a quick swim; great food. Another bar called Brisa del Mar – bit more polished and also great (incredible staff). To be honest, the mix of the low rise; the gardens and the beach led to a feeling of space that I cannot find elsewhere on an exhaustive trailing of the Tui website (not for anything like the price anyway). Great little boat shuttle from the beach to Ibiza town and Santa Eulalia. Strange how some here didn’t bother to find that. The Bodega – yes, the app booking is a bit of a nightmare. If you don’t have any patience. Or are not prepared to listen (qualities that seem in abundance in some posts here). Anyhoo, you can only book 2 days in advance and, effectively, cannot start booking until (for example) 19:00 for a 19:00 (or so) slot 2 days later – so if you want to go on the Wednesday you need to book on the Monday etc. We ate there the one night and were stuffed - never ending stream of tapas. Pools – loads of room and a lot of trees nearby – so (again, crazy to think) some of the beds do get covered in the needles and discoloured a little. First time we came, Sergio (lifeguard at the ‘sport pool’) taught our daughter to dive in 2 minutes – totally unprompted. Thanks Sergio! The kids pool is a lot smaller than implied by the website, but the main pools are fine for small skids. Sport – lots on. To our shame didn’t indulge much but did try the tennis lessons which were fab. Ambience/ entertainment – low rise blocks in gardened grounds with a very short walk to the beach for some snorkelling (lots of fish on occasion). I cannot quite credit that some of my fellow Brits are complaining about the German presence – in my eye it made a) the food a whole lot healthier; b) the evening entertainment a lot more innocent and straightforward (the ‘scary fairy’ grew on us) and in any event you couldn’t tell the difference between the nations. The entertainment did not change much year on year, but we enjoyed. Note – it seems the ‘Magic Life’ resorts cover a broad parish – this one is for families and not for groups of adult friends or older teenagers. It will not be for you and you will likely not be for it Other – shout out to ‘angry fish counter guy’ (rudeness of whom was comedy gold – just make sure you replace the fish server on its plate); ‘shaven haired, stubbly golf cart guy’ (resort is car free) who always went that bit too fast and had me wanting to have a bit of a moan at reception. Overall – magical and relaxing. It is not five star. Perhaps it isn’t Tui four plus, but I’m not really sure what that means when a holiday is everything it is supposed to be. Will likely be trying the Calabria resort next year – looks a similar vibe.

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“Lovely family time (2nd visit this year)”

We visited here in May and loved it so much we came back for October half term for 8 nights. It's the little things that really make the difference, no wristbands, friendly staff who made a lovely fuss of our toddler. Our toddler has multiple food allergies and I appreciated a personal tour from... more

We visited here in May and loved it so much we came back for October half term for 8 nights. It's the little things that really make the difference, no wristbands, friendly staff who made a lovely fuss of our toddler. Our toddler has multiple food allergies and I appreciated a personal tour from the chef who showed me what would be safe for her to eat. Once the food was mislabelled but we spotted before she ate it and after speaking to the manager he checked in on her every day to check she had found something she wanted to eat. The food is excellent, the warm plates help with food temp and all the meat and fish was cooked perfectly. The staff in magico really go above and beyond esp on last night of the season. Our room was clean and comfy and the shower was fantastic! Our toddler loved the mini disco and the ladies who led it. The only complaint is the pool that was heated in May wasn't heated this time so our swimming crazy toddler got too cold to swim but she gave it a bash. This place is the best we absolutely loved it!

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“Beautiful hotel”

Big compliments to the chef, as food was delicious and 10+stars, high quality food, attentive staff at the restaurant. The rooms are nice and clean, fresh towels every day. Beautiful hotel with green area, the beach is few meters away. The only problem we had was entertaining part, radio statio... more

Big compliments to the chef, as food was delicious and 10+stars, high quality food, attentive staff at the restaurant. The rooms are nice and clean, fresh towels every day. Beautiful hotel with green area, the beach is few meters away. The only problem we had was entertaining part, radio station where you can get any sport equipment only opens at 11.30, asked at the reception and guest service desk for the ball for the child and the reply was big No at 10.30 am. Children's room run by young ladies in their 20, probably the older supervisor would be useful. Disco for children is the same every day.

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“Mixed bag but give it a go”

First ever experience of a Tui Magic Life and mixed bag really, after a room move due to first room having what sounded like a jet engine above it, reception staff were great and moved us immediately and couldn’t have been more helpful, second room… fabulous… clean and quiet at night. The locatio... more

First ever experience of a Tui Magic Life and mixed bag really, after a room move due to first room having what sounded like a jet engine above it, reception staff were great and moved us immediately and couldn’t have been more helpful, second room… fabulous… clean and quiet at night. The location is great and being able to take a stroll down to the beach with the beach bar was great, pool area tidy and pool bar very good and a shout out to Omar behind the bar….. your lemonitos were incredible!!! One major downside was we couldn’t get booked into either downtown or bodega on the app so we went to Guest Services and this was the biggest let down of the trip as Elena you were rude and very unhelpful and you made it known as well so we gave up after the third try as we couldn’t use the app and you couldn’t have cared any less if you had tried….. maybe for next season learn some customer service manners!!! All the rest of the staff, polite and lovely and couldn’t fault them….. would I book again…. Yes and the activities on-site were vast and kept quite a lot of our group entertained, areas around the pool lovely.

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