We recently stayed at Alua Calas de Mallorca and overall had a good holiday, with some definite highs and a few frustrations. If you’re booking, I would recommend upgrading to the My Favourite Club option. The room is significantly bigger, and although the extra perks are fairly limited, they are worthwhile. You get pool towels included, a free safe, drinks in the minibar, and access to the My Favourite Club lounge near reception where you can help yourself to cold bottles of fizzy drinks, pastries, snacks and refreshments throughout the day. The biggest downside was the sunbed situation. Unless you’re up at 6am and reserving a bed no later than around 8:30am, you’ve got very little chance of getting one. Reception told us that the lifeguards regularly patrol the pool and remove towels from unattended beds, but in reality they didn’t start doing this until around 9:45am. During our week-long stay, we only saw it happen twice. One of those occasions was to us, despite the fact we were literally in the pool two metres in front of the lifeguard and all of our belongings were on the bed, clearly showing it was being used. Unfortunately, the lifeguards were generally quite rude and unhelpful, which let the rest of the hotel down. Food-wise, as probably one of the fussiest eaters you’ll ever meet, I managed perfectly well with the basics such as chips, pizza and burgers available throughout the day. My partner, however, really enjoyed the themed evening menus offered across both restaurants, and there was a good variety for those willing to try different foods. The all-inclusive drinks package was probably the most disappointing aspect of the holiday. Soft drinks on tap are included, as is San Miguel beer and the hotel’s own-brand spirits. That’s fine if you’re happy drinking clunky vodka. Cocktails, milkshakes and smoothies come at an additional cost, this wasn’t made particularly clear when booking and felt especially disappointing given that we’d paid extra for the My Favourite Club upgrade. The location is another thing worth considering. The hotel is quite a distance from many of Mallorca’s main attractions and larger towns but there is a few shops and bars up the road so not totally isolated, but having access to a car or using public transport is almost essential if you plan on exploring the island. That said, the buses were very easy to use with a maps app, and we found getting around straightforward. There is also a path from the hotel all the way down to an almost private beach/cliff and a short walk further along takes you to a beautiful sandy cove with a bar/restaurant. A special mention also goes to Daniel at Mallorca Services, less than a 10-minute walk from the hotel, who was incredibly helpful and made arranging trips and transport simple. On a more positive note, the entertainment was excellent. During our stay we enjoyed three different outdoor singers/bands, a show and a karaoke night, all of which were great fun. The daytime p
