Grupotel Mar de Menorca - Mahon, Spain     

We have just returned from a 2 week stay at Grupotel Menorca. We have two children aged 2 and 6. Upon arrival we were disappointed and continued to be until our departure last friday. The appartments are very basic. In the 70's they would have been the bee's knees but not now. No air conditioning and very weak dripping showers. The bathroom had an ant problem, then a cockroach problem and finally a Lizard came to stay. Most doors to appartments looked like they had been kicked in or tampered with, There were rumours of break ins and doors being kicked in during our stay. However they were clean and with some extra 'flash wiping' they were copable. The clubhouse area however is another story. It is filfthy dirty, the all inclusive drinks and cake had flies and wasps all over them. I went to the bar toilets and there was excrement in the hand basin. there was a dead cockroach in the restaurant (don't get me started on the food) The steps by the pool had signs reading 'restaurant' and 'toilet' and to be frank it was hard to distinguish between the two. The toilet door had been kicked in and was hanging from the frame. Any young child could have trapped their finger in it. The food in the restaurant was okay for the first few nights until you realised that it was simply regurgitated night after night. Carrots and cabbage for breakfast was interesting. Plates were filfthy and the head waiters were extremelly threatening and rude. The juice machine contained mainly water and the children would not drink it. We ended up having to buy juice and snacks from the shop. There were no icecreams at all apart from dessert in the restaurant. We spent a fortune. The only other choice was Chepas Bar which served very expensive burgers and needs a review of its own!! The nightly entertainment crew, although basic, worked effortlessly to hold it together clearly on a budget. They were all very friendly and helpful and worked very hard. The children did however have to do the conga around the pools edge each night (the entertainment was based around the pool) and my 2 year old had several near misses near the water! The hotel run Kids club was actually good. A wonderful Spanish lady called Gemma captured all the childrens hearts and made their afternonns fun and interesting. This was luck on the hotels part. The pool was impressive but that is all. The sunbeds and tables were NEVER washed down and so each day the wasps increased. It was filfthy and you had to wash your feet in the pool sometimes to get the crumbs and dirt off. A little girl was sick (one of many) in front of us at the entertainment on day 6 and it was not cleaned up ever and was still by the poolside when we left. There was no rep at the hotel. Another guest managed to get hold of Thomson who said they would send a rep at a specific time. We waited and waited and in the end there were 7 different famlies waiting to speak to her about different worries. She never appeared (can you wonder at it!!) and we all felt we had been had. One family had spent over ?2500 and felt very upset. This resort is one of the worst resorts I have ever stayed in. I would not send my worst enemy here. If it weren't for the fantastic foam water guns we all purchased from the overpriced Spar shop we might have more to complain about!! On our 2nd week in this concentration camp we hired a car and realised what a pretty island Menorca was and how fantastic some of the other hotels were. All inclusive family resort at the grupotel Menorca? Thomson need to seriously review this and stop this extortion. If you have booked this you need to change it now. Believe me the admin charge of changing hotels now will save you a fortune at a later date if you commit yourself to a sentencing here!!

After reading various reviews we were very sceptical about this resort, well its not as bad as some people say, but certainly not somewhere we will go again! First, the good points: • Rooms are cleaned regularly • Staff are friendly and helpful • Entertainment staff are extremely enthusiastic and work hard. • Pool is large and suitable for all ages Now the bad points • The food was barely edible, luke warm, and in our opinion, any restaurant that feels the need to provide a microwave should be viewed with some suspicion. There was a wide selection of food but if your idea of variety is different battered concoctions and various brightly covered slop masquerading as dessert, then I wonder what you might eat at home! Many days a packet of overpriced crisps from the local Spar was viewed with unseemly delight by our 6 year old. To its credit the restaurant does provide fruit and salad. • The resort is out of the way, and the free bus does not appear to be running. The local beaches are picturesque fishing coves, but not somewhere to sunbathe. • We visited Cheppas bar, the only local bar, and were aghast to be charged nearly ?5 a pint (but then this shark has a captive market!) • We were led to believe that the rooms included cooking facilities, but the gas cooker was “gas-less”, and kettles only available for hire. In short we would recommend you hire a car if you visit this resort, as this will be your only option for seeing the island. If Butlins in Spain is your idea of fun then Mar de Menorca may be for you. If you are a little more discerning then perhaps not!