Sol Barbados

This is a fair review based on my and my husband’s own personal experiences. We stayed at Sol Barbados for one week from the 8th May until the 15th of May 2024 with our 5-month-old son. Hopefully you may find this useful before considering staying at Sol Barbados. I will start with the positives. Location 4/5: This hotel is situated in the party town of Magaluf so therefore, noise is to be expected from the lively pubs and bars. The hotel is situated a decent distance away from the noise of the nightlife but also within easy walking distance should you want to visit the night time bars and clubs. Unfortunately, it is very noisy from the hotel but if you shut your balcony door, it cuts most noise out. We couldn’t unfortunately shut our door due to the room being too hot (more about this under accommodation). The hotel is next to the beach but access from the hotel is not easy to navigate and we wouldn’t recommend trying with a pushchair. If you’re happy to walk 10 minutes, the main beach of Magaluf is lovely. Although we only briefly visited. Pools 4/5: A good variety of pools for both adults and children. Pool temperature was very cold in May which was to be expected so our little one didn’t swim. The pools were not deep enough to dive into and inflatables were only allowed in a select few children’s pools. No issues with getting sun loungers although no beach towels provided so pack your own! Moving on to the negatives. Bar & Entertainment 2/5: The entertainment is non-existent for adults. We saw one adult act whilst we were there. No itinerary for entertainment and even the entertainment staff didn’t know what was on when asked. The all-inclusive drinks package was portrayed as ‘unlimited’. The Malibu was poured from a Malibu bottle and the Baileys was poured from a Bailey’s bottle. However, the Baileys was clearly a watered down Irish Cream and goodness knows what the Malibu was. It tasted more of vodka than coconut which was truly bizarre and undrinkable. The only decent drink from the bar was the coffee. Food 2/5: If you like chips, hard pizza, tasteless pasta and raw grilled meat, this is the place for you! Now, let me be clear, we are not fussy eaters and have been to many all-inclusive destinations before and always found something decent to eat. We are also the kind of people to disregard negative ‘food’ reviews for places, as we know people can be fussy. However, at Sol Barbados it really was very poor food. There is variety within the stations (salad/cold meats, cooked stews & veg, grilled meat, pasta & pizza and a designated children’s station). However, you get the same food EVERY day (some of which we were convinced was warmed up from the day before). We were served raw meat on 3 separate occasions. I don’t mean ‘underdone’, I mean inedible. We reported it and showed a member of staff who said they would feed back about it. Not sure if this happened or not. Our 5-month-old was still on milk only but if they were older an

I Will start with the few good points, reception staff were good, the room was clean with a nice view, the food was very nice but not always very warm but I did use the microwave, the pool side entertainment staff worked hard with games and fitness classes, my first complaint was the air conditioning in the room was not calibrated to the lowest setting so the room was incredible hot all the time, the restaurant is absolute chaos with screaming children running freely around, this is of course the parents responsibility but the dinning experience was a nigh**are, one thing the hotel must sort out is as you enter the restaurant there is a raised platform with a modern sculpture art work on it, children were climbing all over it even standing up on the top of it!! A urgent risk assessment needs to be carried out before a child falls and is seriously hurt!! I certainly will never stay in another Meliá hotel, if you don't mind 28c bedrooms and absolute chaos with unruly children running riot then this hotel is for you!

We enjoyed our staying,mostly because of amazing,friendly animation team which created many games for kids and familys. My 6 years old daughter wants to come back here again and I am sure we will comeback next year. Big thanks to Juan Carlos, Angel,Alex,David and rest of animation team, You are the stars of this hotel.

We had a lovely holiday here as a couple with a 2 year old. We were reluctant to use the children’s club but we had a rainy day and wanted to keep him well occupied. He absolutely loved it and wanted to go every day 10:30-12:30. The outside part can be used outside of the club times with adult supervision. The entertainment team are great with kids, remembering all their names after they first meet. There’s plenty of food options you just to wait a little while on a morning for eggs while they concentrate more on omelettes. I’m not sure what the bacon is. The rolls are nice. There were plenty of high chairs in the restaurant. Food times seemed late to me, 8am start for breakfast and 1pm for lunch. Tea was 6:30 which seems normal and mini disco starts at 8:45. Some labels don’t correspond with the food they’re next to. There were enough alcohol choices on the AI. They have more local spirits/liquers than they state in their menu, just ask at the bar. The hotel is just a couple of minutes walk down a little bank to the beach and bars. The splash park was great, I just wish it opened sooner than 11am. There were plenty of loungers though. It would be great if toilets could be installed on the main floor instead of -1. I loved having the room keys built into the wristbands. Our room was cleaned every day. I wish there was a way to connect beds when they’re placed together to stop rolling down the gap 😂

The hotel & facilities are lovely,it is clean enough, staff polite and friendly, location fine, food is fine. The people moaning want 5 star for 3 star prices. The place would be ideal if you could sleep. Caught between small children with parents who have no consideration for others on each side / above and below there is no escaping . Some take the noise onto the balcony at 0730 onwards. This would all be tolerable if one managed tp secure even some core hours sleep, but the mattresses are rock hard with odd springs sticking out. Im on holiday, but im exhausted, so it feels counterproductive. The kids pools / entertainment ia fantastic. Basically if you have small kids & dont sleep its perfect .

Some of the reviews on here are laughable. You get what you pay for! Yes breakfast is busy, it’s all inclusive! Yes there are kids, because it’s absolutely amazing for kids! The food is basic, but your kids will be fed. Lots of spaghetti, pizza, chips, meats and paella, fresh fruit, sweets, doughnuts and yogurts. The kids clubs are absolutely brilliant, my 4 year old is having the time of her life. If you’re unhappy there is a short 5 minute walk to the beach with restaurants and bars. Seems to be stuck up people wanting a cheap break but expecting 5* dining. Get a grip. the pools are cold though I’ll agree with that, she won’t go in. But she went in the sea which is 5 mins away. The kids club staff and all the hotel staff in general are amazing. Would come back more in the summer season as I appreciate it’s early may and not that hot right now. There is a shop over the road with everything you could need/ want if you’re looking for extra and it’s not expensive. Be greatful your kids can have this opportunity to be kids and enjoy the brilliant staff that can make that happen.

I returned home from my trip here yesterday with a 1 year old. Firstly the room is fine nothing wrong with it except could do with some bottled water being in there. The hotel is extremely noisy struggle to sleep as at around 10pm people start going back to their rooms and you can hear everything that is going on you can hear people turning baths and showers on in their rooms whilst in yours you can hear them screaming as they go down the corridor on their balconies on phone calls trying to sleep was very very hard due to this no signs up asking people to be quiet as they go back to their rooms. The opening times for everything is extremely odd and leaves you feeling very bored kids club is only open for 2 hours in the morning 10:30-12:30 so if you want to have some time to your self or have your children visit kids club it’s got to be this time every hotel we’ve been too has it open pretty much all day maybe with a hour break inbetween but till 4/5pm latest. The pools are opened at 11 which considering most hotels we’ve been to guests are allowed to use them from like 8/9am I thought this was ridiculously supposedly they were closed at 5 but on one day we were kicked out before 5. They start tying ropes around the pool which I think was a little pointless since they were easy to climb under but also not the safest if someone who needed a mobility aid to get out of the pool. There was not really much else to do at the hotel especially not for younger children there was a lot of bad wind on one night and me and my little one just stayed in our room as it was very bad. Nothing to do in hotel at that time would be nice if they had opened kids club Food was horrendous there was also ANTS in the dining hall. It looked like the food had been cooked a million times and just kept being reused. It was undercooked, tasteless poor selection some days were exactly the same thing for both lunch snack and dinner the snack options are awful too! Only ok thing is the bread and the sweet stuff. I can say that the drinks were surprisingly good since I always go to hotels and they not quite right so that’s a slight bonus I didn’t have alcohol from the hotel though so can’t comment on that. Fridge is very very small. You can’t fit much in it so don’t buy loads of drinks to put in there at once.

Our stay at the hotel was a mixed experience. The ambiance upon entry was inviting, yet the **rooms were notably smaller than expected**. A significant issue was the **unsteady bed**, which, due to its wheels, moved with every turn, making sleep elusive during our entire week's visit. The **air conditioning was non-functional**, which, coupled with a **drainage-like odor** that lingered for the first few days, made our stay less than comfortable. Dining options were disappointing, particularly for **vegetarian and vegan guests**, with limited choices and sometimes incorrect **food labeling**. Inquiries about food preparation and allergens were met with uncertainty, as the **kitchen staff seemed uninformed**. However, the hotel did provide excellent facilities for children, with an engaging **kids' club** and **clean, well-maintained pools**. Taking all factors into account, including the need for improved accommodation comfort and more inclusive dining options, I would rate this hotel with **3 out of 5 stars**.