"Our 4th visit to the Macarella and once again, a fabulous stay.
The hotel is perfectly located just off the marina and the Cala en Bosch beach (both minutes walk away). The rooms are great, the food good (though not as exceptionally good as in the past) and the hotel facilities excellent but all surpassed by the absolutely fantastic staff. Simply the best!
We had chosen an apartment with a pool view and it was exactly as we expected. A nice large space with a lounge area leading to a balcony overlooking the pool area. The kitchen area was more than adequate for any basic cooking. The bedroom was spacious with plenty of storage space. The bathroom was large, although I was disappointed to see the showers over the bath, and separate shower unit still had fixed shower heads. I had noted in previous reviews that I couldn’t understand why they weren’t on sliding rails. They are fine if you’re tall, but if you’re short, not easy to reach! Surely an easy fix. One other small irritation was that the air conditioning was not working. Apparently not switched on centrally until June! There were certainly a few days when we would have appreciated it being available! The apartment was serviced daily - towels changed as and when requested.
The outside pool is a lovely size and there are plenty of sunbeds and shades available. The poolside bar is excellent, serving drinks and lunchtime snacks. There is also an indoor pool within the Spa, though we didn’t use either. Beach towels are provided by reception upon arrival at the hotel and can be changed twice a week, at reception.
The main restaurant is really well set up. The tables are well spread and it’s so good to see table linen still being used both at breakfast and dinner. The hotel had just opened for the season, and we were slightly disappointed overall with the variety, presentation and quality of the food provided. In fairness it did get better as our stay progressed, but in our view, it wasn’t up to the quality enjoyed in previous stays. There is also a very pleasant outside terrace which is available for breakfast and dinner.
Breakfast was very good. Live cooking of fresh eggs and omelettes, plenty of extras, fresh bread, juices, hams and cheeses and four coffee machines ensured a good start to the day!
Dinner again provided plenty of choice on a buffet basis. There was live cooking of at least 2 meat and 2 fish dishes as well as plenty of vegetables and salads. 2 to 3 kitchen prepared meat and fish dishes were also available as were at least 2 different pizzas and 2 Italian pasta dishes. There was a selection of desserts, ice creams and cheeses to finish off your meal. Drinks were served and were reasonably priced. So plenty of choice but in our opinion, not to the quality of previous stays and we did note that there were too many times when food was not replenished at the buffet. We put that down to new kitchen staff getting up to speed.
We thoroughly enjoyed another stay at Macarella and it’s a great hotel in a great location. However. Its biggest asset is its staff. They are wonderful and it was great to see staff again who’ve become friends - Sonia, Antonio, Angel and Desire, alongside new members Dario, Lucho, Leila and Alexia. What a team they make but extra special mention must be made of Cynthia and Jesus whose work rate and service was exceptional, as always. The hotel has a pair of diamonds in those two!
So, another fabulous stay. Our only really negative comments would be that the air conditioning should have been available and that the staff, on times, were extremely stretched. Our visit was not a particularly busy time for the hotel so you would hope the hotel provides extra staff when the busy season arrives otherwise the existing staff will be burnt out!
Thank you Macarella for another lovely stay - we look forward to returning next year."
