It seems everyone enjoyed the few stories I did on Instagram of our first family sun holiday in Majorca as much as we enjoyed the holiday overall ,so I have collated all the information here in one blog post that you can read my overall thoughts on the hotel ,the area and Majorca. I also have the videos saved over on my Instagram page, http://www.instagram.com/dodeestodaquiris if you want to see in more detail the pools, our room in the hotel and so on.
This review is long and detailed but I have had so many questions over the last few weeks I hope this covers everything you might need to know. I also give tips on how to get the best value for money later on in the article so make sure to take note of my tips and I would love to hear if you do get a great deal on the back of them.
Flew with: RyanAir .Shannon to Palma Airport, Majorca. It was perfect to fly from Shannon which is only thirty minutes door to door. The flight time was two hours twenty minutes and was perfect for the kids first flight experience. (Which they utterly loved by the way) Flights for the family plus with priority meant we had a 10kg bag each if we wanted, we only used two) plus a backpack /handbag each if we wanted and two twenty kg suitcases which we checked in and cost €700.
I also have a story saved in my Instagram highlights of keeping kids entertained on the plane with a surprise backpack I packed for each of them if you want to head over for a look.
Parking : We booked parking online in their long term car-park with a 20% discount code which cost us sixty two euro approximately for the ten nights
Transfers: Took 40 minutes in a private transfer to our hotel in Playa de Muro. We booked private transfers with Balaeric Transfers. Unfortunately if you have children and are relying on car seats I would avoid this company at all costs. Despite having a bad experience when we arrived and given assurance the car-seats would be correct for the collection journey ,we were let down and ignored since hence why I am naming the company, despite best efforts to resolve they have ignored our complaints so I really cannot recommend them.
Stayed : Iberostar Alcudia Park, Playa de Muro. 10 nights All inclusive
The hotel and grounds
You can see the beach-hut snack and drinks bar and outdoor eating area and entertainment area at the top of the photo ,between the hotel and the beach. You couldn’t be any closer! There are three blocks , our block ,facing the ocean hosts the large sports-bar , large seating area inside, and the pool/sea-view superior family rooms and suites. The block on the left shows on top the privilege area( adults only) and a mix of room only, family rooms and superior rooms. The last block on the right , not shown , again is a mix of suites and rooms, with the main restaurant to the right of the pool. The left block also has the spa and gym.
Oh where do I start, despite a small hiccup with our room, through which we used the online booking system where you can choose your room and floor, which was resolved within one hour when we were changed rooms to what we booked ,from there on in we were extremely impressed with the hotel. The hotel has direct access to Majorca’s stunning longest blue flag family beaches, the guests are mainly German, English and a few Irish, Netherlands and other nationalities, this didn’t bother us as all languages were spoken by the staff who come from all over the world. The pool wasn’t an issue either in getting a bed, once you are down for 10/1030 you could pick your spot anywhere. Towels are also provided daily for the pool ,separate to your rooms towels, so you don’t need to bring them or purchase any whilst there.
This was our first all inclusive holiday and to be honest we were a little reserved booking it, however when we did the sums and costed up what it would cost to eat out with two small children who eat a-lot, buy treats and drinks, versus not having to cook or wash up for ten entire nights and eat pretty much what we wanted when we wanted, it was a no brainer for us to choose the all inclusive. The other half are and I would be foodies, we love choosing somewhere different every night on holidays when it is just us and going all inclusive was a real concern for us , but I can honestly say every diet was catered for and we probably had too many choices and most importantly the food was really good.
Food was served pretty much from 7am to 10pm in the main restaurant and the snack bar. Drinks were self service in both these areas ( yes there was Sangria ,wine and beer in free flowing taps) Cocktails ,spirits,beers and Prosecco were free of charge and made up in the inside sports bar or at the snack bar. Back to food and I’ll try to keep this as short as I can. The main restaurant and offerings are huge. Considering the size of the area I am surprised the quality of food is as good as it is, however the amount of waiting staff, chefs cooking fresh in front of you, behind the scenes and cleaning staff it is no surprise all the online reviews say the same, the food is really good for both adults and kids. Breakfast every morning as standard offered as much of anything as you wanted, whether you wanted to keep to healthy clean eating with porridge, cereals,fruits,overnight oats,chia seed puddings, continental meats/cheeses to having omelettes and frittatas of your choice freshly cooked or go for a fully cooked bacon,eggs,potatoes,beans and pastries the choice was probably overwhelming at times.
I didn’t take any photos of the food areas as to be honest there was always people walking around with small kids but as you can see here breakfast was pretty much the same as most meals, a little of everything!
At lunch we tended to go to the snack bar and made up our own salads, or ate paella,pasta,pizza, burgers,hot-dogs and snacked on their delicious mini donut and fruit platters .You could eat inside as-well where again there were umpteen choices but we were just so full of food we actually ate less lunches as the days went on.
At dinner time there was a themed area every night which included Mallorcan tapas,Sushi, Mexican, Shellfish/seafood,Cerviche and many more, this was extra to the many other choices every evening. You could eat dinner anytime between 6pm and 9pm. Every dinner time had at least fifteen options excluding the salad and special section. Once again half of that was cooked to order which included steaks,grilled fish/seafood, carved roasts. There were a special paellas every evening which were delicious and extremely popular alongside dishes such as beef stews, chicken dishes and an impressive looking vegetarian and vegan section. For the kids if nothing appealed in the main section ( my two loved the prawns and mussels) you had hamburgers, hot-dogs, fish/chicken goujons, chips,wedges, lots of potato options, plain pasta, plan spaghetti pasta, plain pasta sauce or meaty pasta sauce as-well as some form of gnocchi and ravioli. When I say everyone’s tastes were accounted for I really mean it, again it is probably too much choice as at the beginning we found ourselves picking at everything but half way through we accustomised to all inclusive eating!
Dessert was a huge hit for the kids with self service ice-cream machines, slushy machines and more cakes and treats ,including a chocolate fountain. If you are a dessert love I imagine this is heaven , for me the Sangria was dessert as I was always too full after my starter and mains but the kids made the most of the free flowing desserts.
Entertainment
We really didn’t know what to expect here but were pleasantly surprised ,it was a family holiday after-all so once the kids were entertained and we could have a drink together and sit back and relax after a long day at the pool and beach. The entertainment team are so friendly and hard working , ok some nights were better than others, but nothing tops our first night where they put on The Greatest Showman, reenacting some of the movies songs on stage with acrobatic performers who were incredible performing pole acrobatics, ring dancing and so on. Another evening Frozen was performed and the kids adored this production, the night we were leaving the team were doing Moana which hopefully we might see in the future. We had a 90’s night, a live music band who played rock songs which my husband and I enjoyed the best and other cabaret and dance shows. Every evening from 8pm to 9pm there was a mini disco for the kids put on by the entertainment team which precluded the main show, the kids absolutely adored this, and a credit to the team here whilst as an adult it can be tiring watching this every evening, the team give it all their enthusiasm and the kids still sing the songs and talk about Starkie and Stella the hotel’s starfish characters. All the entertainment is held in the area by the beach-bar and stage area. This hotel really does think of it all as every evenings freshly washed fleece blankets were provided for guests at the entertainment area to keep the chill away, they weren’t needed most nights but on the nights that were a little colder they were a blessing for everyone!
That leads me to the kids club, called the Star Camp. This is available every day between 1030am to 1pm and again from 330pm to late. Whilst we didn’t leave the kids on their own in the Monkey camp ( ages 4 to 7) we did go in to a few sessions where there were talent shows, outside play on the beach, art, movie nights, pizza parties and much more. The staff again are so children focused they make a special deal out of every child there and the kids loved the staff here. The dolphin and eagle camps cater for kids up to seventeen but I cannot comment on their activities so will link the hotel site below for you. What impressed us most was the indoor children’s play area which was opening between 1030am up to 10/1030pm every night. Make sure to pop over to my Instagram to get a walk-around but this area partly sold it for us when booking. In here there are swing seats from the roof, a ball-pit, giant beanbags for quiet time, a rock climbing wall for smallies, a musical wall, giant connect four, Jenga ,guess who and the TV where the movie nights take place. It’s a great space to get some time out from the sun and for the little ones to run around safely inside. I have a few videos over on my Instagram page, unfortunately I couldn’t use the hotels website’s images but definitely pop over for a look as this really sold the hotel for us.
Indoor climbing wall in the indoor play area for small kids and there were a few of these swing chairs suspended from the ceiling which were a great hit.
What else is there to do around the hotel
OutdoorPool tables
Sports bar indoors has a time-table and shows football,tennis,cycling and most other sports that are televised.
There is a huge activities schedule so you can include yourself in as much as you want or not, the thing I liked best is that the grounds are big so you didn’t have to be a part of something if you didn’t want to.
Keepfit classes -these are on several times a day and the choice is great. You can attend pilates, step, Jumping, spinning ,and aqua aerobics. I am a keen jumping class attendee at home but opted out for this holiday from any classes except for one aqua aerobics at the end of the holiday. I wanted to fully relax but will definitely partake on our next visit.
Spa – the spa looked lovely , I didn’t get any treatments but expect to pay as much as at home here in Ireland for treatments from a quick glance at the treatments available.
Indoor pool – as the outdoor main pool was a little cold the indoor pool was used mainly by parents with their younger kids, our two loved this as much as the outside splash pools and we visited here daily . It is small though and did tend to get crowded at times.
There was volley ball, bingo, and lots of other sporting and game related events held every day which the schedules for are on your TV’s in your room so again you can make this as busy or as relaxed a holiday as you want.
Rooms
We booked a superior family room with balcony and with the mix up at the beginning we also saw the family room with balcony. What I would say here is whilst both rooms inside from a facilities perspective are the same, if you can afford the superior room ,go for it for the space. You have a double balcony with the superior room and inside it is larger. We were on the second floor in the block facing out to the sea,with the pool in front of us and that view was just beautiful. Below us was one of the suites which sleeps more and look amazing so there are options for larger families. Now this is where the hotel really really impressed us. Not only should we have left our laptops at home, we also didn’t even need our chargers as they have literally thought of everything. As we were all inclusive we only had a small fridge in our room, this held bottled water ( which was given daily) and a few snacks for us.
How amazing was our view from our balcony
This bedroom picture is from the family room with pool view, our bedroom had twin beds on a double frame and the bedroom was slightly larger than this picture with a balcony off it .You can bring those blankets down to the entertainment at night if you want to use your own instead of the ones provided at the bar each evening).
This picture will give you an idea of the size of our balcony and this is only two thirds of it, so hence why if you can, the superior family rooms with the double balcony is a good idea., There was a table and chairs and a clothes hanger here, we stored our buckets/ spade inflatable dingy and all our swimming bits and there was still plenty of room. Inside we had a separate twin bedroom with huge slidedrobes, a separate spacious sitting room (pull out bed/bunkbeds) with a table and chair and wardrobes (not shown) this picture covers half of the sitting room floor space and we had a gorgeous bathroom with rain-shower. Both the sitting room and bedroom had large 42 inch TV’s which interacted with your phone, meaning you can access Netflix or any movies you have downloaded to your device. There is another 42 inch plasma TV in the double or twin bedroom which again mirrors your phone, you also have lots of UK and English speaking channels with plenty of kids channels. I have a tour of the rooms if you want a better view on my links below
The hotel are committed to cutting down on plastics and are following a single use plastics ban ethos so water is provided in reusable glass bottles, the toiletries in the room are in large refillable holders, so you don’t even need to bring or buy shampoo, conditioner , shower gel or body lotion. There is free WIFI which is excellent and available throughout the rooms and hotel grounds, we even had access to it on the beach so you can keep your data roaming turned off throughout your holiday. The entire complex was exceptionally clean ,rooms cleaned daily if required and beautiful manicured grounds.
The main pool area and outdoor playground
The kids favourite part hands down was the splash pools , with a shallow baby pool off the huge adults pool and a baby splash pool with two slides and a large kids splash pool with three big slides we spent most of our time here. The water unfortunately in the large pool was too cold for me, it didn’t put some off from swimming , but the kids pools were definitely warmer. This is where we spent most of our days as we couldn’t drag the twins away from the slides.
The pool had a chair lift for wheelchair users.
There is a small outdoor playground onsite also but we didn’t spend too much time here but it looked good, there was swings, a climbing frame, and a few play areas it could maybe do with another few pieces of equipment but the kids seemed happy with it when we were there.
The hotel does have an adults only rooftop level with prestige rooms ,daybeds and hot-tubs but personally I see this hotel as more of a family hotel, there were plenty of couples about though so it does seem popular for more than just families.
There is an ATM right outside the hotel and the doctor is directly across the road with a chemist no more than a three minute walk and plenty of Spar shops for any extra things you need to make the holiday fun, for us this meant buying an inflatable dingy which was a necessity of course and perfect for the beach’s shallow waters and perfect for us when we wanted to go for a beach walk ,the twins were happy to lie back and be pulled along the water.
Playa de Muro Resort: the main attraction here for us was the hotel , the fact that the hotel had its own private entrance onto one of the most stunning beaches I have seen in a long time and that it was in a quiet area. There are plenty of restaurants and those typical souvenir shops all the way between the next resort which is Alcudia port and in the opposite direction towards Can Picafort if you don’t go all inclusive, but for us with two hungry small kids we stayed on-site the entire holiday and didn’t get bored once. The beach stretches for six kilometres and is shallow for a good bit when walking out, so it is extremely child friendly. There are quieter patches on the beach, more active areas where you can rent the usual pedal boats ,go paragliding and so on,a beautiful pier, I’ve heard a nudist part( which we didn’t encounter) and overall the backdrop to this beach is jaw dropping. The ombre waters take your breath away, it’s so clear you can see the schools of fish scuttle by your feet, and the water is beautifully warm even for the end of May when we visited. There is a national park,S’Albufera Natural Park ,which is towards the Can Picafort end of the resort and the beach here is surrounded by pine trees and sand dunes. We hope the next visit to stretch our legs a little more and venture to the park ,where there is a vistor’s centre, plenty of walks and bird watching. We rented a four seated bicycle one day and stumbled on a river/lagoon on the opposite side to our hotel with a beautiful walkway, there were more hotels on this water and I imagine it links down to the national park. So we still have lots to discover.
Another part of Playa De Muro beach with the wooden pier in the background
Alcudia Port is a five minute bus drive away with the bus-stop 100 metres from the hotel entrance. We went in here on a dull day where again there is plenty to entertain the adults and kids. We loved the visit to old town Alcudia( twenty minutes on a bus from Playa de Muro) where we walked the fort walls and cobbled streets, if you are a Game of Thrones Fan you might feel at home walking the narrow streets before coming out into large squares with plenty of icecream parlours and restaurants to take in the views. Down in the port is the more family friendly hustle and bustle, with playgrounds on the beach ,amusements rides for the kids and bars etc. We didn’t explore much of Alcudia Port but there appeared to be some good clothing shops and so on ,although glancing at one shop pricing, it did appear to be the same as Ireland. Again we need to go back to see what more Alcudia itself has to offer.
Back to Playa de Muro itself it really is more hotel and beach life focused, as I mentioned there is a “strip” with shops and restaurants where you can go for walks , go on a horse and carriage ride, rent proper bicycles if you are a cycling enthusiast( in fact it’s very popular there) or rent a family bicycle like we did for only eight euro for an hour and a half.
There was plenty to keep the kids occupied in the evening times, they loved these ride ons which you could rent and ride around the hotel grounds for ten minutes for only five euro.
Two minutes down the road from the hotel on foot is what I can only describe as a bouncy castle world, entry was eight euro per child for unlimited time or five euro for ten minutes.We had to drag the kids out of there after a few hours they had so much fun on all the different bouncy castles and trampolines. There is a small kids amusement area with a bar in the opposite direction about a five minute walk away and probably lots more like this that we didn’t discover this time around but we didn’t use any of the rides, this patch was a little shabby and could do with a little work to match the quality of the hotels there.
The Cons
There aren’t really any major cons to be honest other than a few things to note that I would feed back to the hotel ;
The service in the restaurant is probably a little too quick .I appreciate it’s a large area and it needs to run efficiently to keep it clean and tables turned over but on three occasions we had our dinners cleared as we were attending the bathroom with the kids or up getting a drink/more food .
The playground is a little small and could benefit from some more equipment
The bar service stopped short at twelves sharp every night, not that we were going to be going to town with two small kids but if you did fancy a nightcap you were clock watching and running down to get a drink before it closed.
I always go by Tripadvisor and research as many other opinion sites as I can before booking somewhere and the amount of excellent reviews for this hotel I can honestly stand by ,because it has everything and more than what we expected.
All in all we couldn’t have picked a better first family holiday hotel and country. There is so much more of Majorca we want to see and explore , next time we hope to rent a car and explore more of the Island.To explore the caves and coves and spend more time in the beautiful warm waters on a boat trip. It really is a beautiful island and one that we know we will continue to enjoy for many more years to come.
How to get best value for money when booking
By following the below we were able to enjoy our ten night all inclusive holiday in a superior family room pool view at a 40% discount
- search Trip-advisor when i went on there was a discount if I went to the company direct site through a link at the bottom of their page featuring this hotel.
- register for Iberostars newsletter to become a member and receive a continuous discount for any bookings.
- keep an eye on the sale times,we ended up getting another discount. We booked in January for a May holiday
- We booked the non refundable price. Don’t balk or get worried doing this my advice is to book your travel insurance at the same time, book an annual travel insurance ( you need to book it in advance of your trip start time anyway and if the worst happens more than likely it will be for a reason which falls under being able to claim your holiday cost back. We booked with laya for travel insurance and booked an annual one as we will be abroad again this year, I got a discount here on this rate as our health insurance is also with Laya.
- Register for your airport parking newsletters and book as soon as they release discount codes
- Track your flights from different devices at different locations. I know they say cookies aren’t tracked anymore but there is no harm in doing this if you can to make sure flight costs aren’t increasing. We booked the flights in Ryanair’s Winter sale period.
Links :
https://www.instagram.com/dodeestodaquiris/
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18029795542195187/
https://www.seemallorca.com/beaches/playa-de-muro-beach-can-picafort-660942
https://www.iberostar.com/en/hotels/majorca/iberostar-alcudia-park/
https://www.iberostar.com/en/hotels/majorca/iberostar-alcudia-park/photos-videos/
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