Catalonia Royal Ses Savines

"My daughter and I had a wonderfully relaxing 3 night stay at this glorious hotel. I can’t think of one thing that didn’t exceed our expectations. Our room was spacious clean and very well set out with a beautiful view of the sea. Staff went out of their way to help - including a very welcome late check out. Breakfasts were superb - such a fantastic choice. We also had our lunch in the beach restaurant although refreshments provided by the hotel every afternoon would probably have sufficed!! Wish we could have stayed longer."

"We chose Catalonia Royal Ses Estaques for our honeymoon and had high expectations, particularly as we had booked a swim-up room. Unfortunately, our first two nights were spent in room B102, and from the moment we entered there was a very strong smell of damp. We also found areas where the wallpaper was peeling and mould was visible underneath. Maintenance attended, but the solution appeared to involve sticking the wallpaper back down, painting over areas and spraying fragrance. Understandably, this did little to reassure us that the underlying damp issue had actually been addressed. This was particularly disappointing as these were the Friday and Saturday nights of our stay, which were also the most expensive – around £1,400 for the two nights. We had specifically extended our honeymoon by these two nights because we were so looking forward to staying here, which made the experience even more disappointing. We were eventually moved to room B104, which was much more in keeping with what we had expected in the first place. However, getting to this point felt like an unnecessary battle of back and forth. The hotel appeared to attribute the smell and dampness to the humidity on the island and explained that they were doing the best they could. We completely appreciate that Ibiza can be humid – at times even the tiled floors felt damp – but a persistent smell of damp, combined with peeling wallpaper and visible mould underneath, suggested to us that this was more than simply the island’s humidity. We therefore did not appreciate feeling as though our concerns were being dismissed rather than properly acknowledged. Unfortunately, for two of our nights in B104, a constant water-gurgling/filling noise suddenly began from somewhere above us, sounding rather like a toilet cistern continuously refilling. It continued throughout the night and the following day and was particularly noticeable when trying to sleep. We brought this to the hotel’s attention and, although we didn’t receive a response about it, the noise did subsequently stop. I do want to emphasise that the staff we personally encountered throughout our stay were pleasant and friendly. The hotel itself is also in a lovely setting, and once we had moved rooms we were able to enjoy our honeymoon much more. What has affected our overall impression, however, is the way the problems were handled. We raised our concerns about B102 and asked the hotel to consider appropriate compensation given the condition of the room and the amount we had paid. We were offered dinner at the hotel, but we already had restaurant reservations and did not feel that this adequately reflected spending two nights in a room with a significant damp and mould issue. We even suggested credit towards a future Catalonia stay as an alternative, as we travel frequently and would happily have considered staying within the group again. It is a real shame because there were aspects of the hotel we genuinely enjoyed, and the staff we met were lovely. Had we been given accommodation of the expected standard from the beginning, and had the issues been handled more effectively when raised, this could have been a very different review. For a hotel operating at this price point, particularly when guests are celebrating something as special as their honeymoon, we expected both the accommodation and the response when things went wrong to be of a higher standard."

"We booked Hotel Catalonia Royal Ses Estaques for our nine-night honeymoon, costing around €6,000, and unfortunately, our experience was extremely disappointing. Our first room had a strong smell of damp and patches of mould. When we raised this, we were initially told it was due to the humidity on the island. Maintenance were then sent to the room, where the damp patches were painted over and loose wallpaper was stuck back down. To their credit, the hotel did eventually move us to another room after two nights. The hotel then offered us a single restaurant meal as compensation for what had been a hugely compromised honeymoon. We told the hotel that we would be taking the matter up with head office once we returned home. With three days of our holiday remaining, the second room also developed issues. We immediately emailed management to report these problems, giving them the opportunity to resolve them before we left. However, despite our previous communication, our emails regarding the second room were completely ignored and we never received a response. We understand that we had said we would contact head office after our return, but that is no excuse for management to ignore emails reporting further problems while we were still staying at the hotel. What disappointed us most was the lack of communication and customer care. Problems can happen, but guests should not be ignored after raising serious concerns. We chose this hotel expecting a special honeymoon experience. Sadly, we left feeling extremely let down. We hope management takes this feedback seriously and improves both the condition of the rooms and the way guest complaints are handled."