Where would you stay in Mallorca?

[Fragolina]

On a whim we decided to book flights to Mallorca this year... We're going for 8 days & taking our son who will be 19 months by then. We'll probably do a night or two in Palma, but for the beach part of the holiday we're hearing a lot about Puerto Pollensa.

Does anyone have any experience or advice that they could share? We'd like to avoid the Thomas Cook / Kids Clubs etc for as long as we possibly can, along with high rises on the beach...

[kristymac1]

Cala san vicente (?) pretty much ticks your boxes, lovely cove beach, quiet, no mega hotels....

[acb2013]

We went to the area last May & loved it. Our children were 3yrs & 7 months at the time & we shared a villa (with pool & good size grassy grounds) with some friends who had a 4 & a 6 year old. We stayed just outside Pollensa itself which is slightly inland, as opposed to Puerto Pollensa - the latter is the seaside resort. Pollensa is a beautiful, old small town with lovely shops, cafes, restaurants & a market - many set around a big, open square, so we ate out some nights in a relatively leisurely fashion on the side of the square whilst the kids had plenty of fun running around and playing there, whilst still safely in view. We did a couple of trips to the resort which has a good sandy child friendly beach, jetty we spent some time looking at fish from, and is about 10 mins drive from where we were. It's definitely more of a holiday resort than the old town (Burger King on the sea front etc) but quite small, not full of high rises & perfectly pleasant. We also did a day trip to a couple of gorgeous beaches (whose names escape me) which were set against a backdrop of the mountains. And the husbands did a day's cycling in the mountains where the scenery is stunning. Weather in May was a bit mixed but our friends had previously been in August when it was scorching. I'd definitely recommend the area - feel free to PM me if you want more info on the villa we stayed in etc and I'll try to remember more details!

[Zedd]

We went to Puerto Pollensa last year when our daughter was 9 months old and we loved it. We are not big resort lovers either and found that Puerto Pollensa was very family-friendly without being cheesy and over-developed. We stayed in a self-catering apartment opposite the beach which meant that our daughter was able to sleep in the bedroom and we slept in the "living room". This was perfect as it meant that we could cook dinner and enjoy a bottle of wine on the balcony while watching the world go by. Definitely a different type of holiday to the type we are used to but very enjoyable all the same. We even overlapped my brother-in-law's family stay so we were able to get a night's baby-sitting and enjoy one of the smarter restaurants at the harbour end of the resort.

[snowboarder]

We love Pollensa and Puerto Pollensa too and have stayed in both. Whilst I'd probably prefer Pollensa town, Puerto Pollensa is so easy and lovely with small children, easy accommodating restaurants on the beach, shallow sandy waters, town square with playground just next to it and markets and surf style beach shops. Nothing's too high rise and the mountain backdrop is beautiful. The beaches just up the coast at Formentor are worth a trip by boat or by car. We've booked private apartments sourced through here - http://www.puertopollensa.com/rentals/ - the Pine Walk area is the nicest side of the town, but not too far from the centre.

Cala san Vicente is gorgeous but really quite quiet and I've been there a couple of times where the sea has been pretty rough - Puerto Pollensa is very sheltered. Soller and Port de Soller are also worth a look at though on the west of the island.

[ricco3]

Have you ever been to the east coast beaches such as Es Trenc and Cala Mandrago Sahona/Figura. Less commercial and less well know but beaches stunning not many facilities at the beaches like you get in P Pollensa or Alcudia but lovely if you can stay nearby.

[enjoy]

homeaway.co.uk/p508730#_propertyDetails

House Palmere in Se Covetes.

The hosts are lovely, very childfriendly, the area is quite rural

and calm.

Long sandy beaches. You can also go sailing with Kurt the owner.

Amazing!

[catgirl]

We stayed here a couple of years ago and really loved it.

http://www.clubpollentia.com/en/hotel-overview.html

Stay in one of the village suites (the maris hotel rooms are much further from facilties and look a bit tired) Suites are l shaped with a large living room, bedroom and bathroom and both the living and bedroom open onto the terrace. They also had really long heavy curtains with a separate black out lining on both sets of French doors. Our 13 month old slept in the travel cot and we had the black out bit closed against the French doors and then draped the outer bit of the curtain over her cot so it was like a little tent with the cot inside so was easy to settle her in our room earlier on.

Grounds are lovely but be aware there are some ponds around so you will need to keep an eye. We had a duck with a line of ducklings that walked past us several times a day - the children loved it!

facilities are great with outdoor and indoor pool and good buffet meals in the restaurant.(meals very reasonable price if you haven't booked a meal package)

There's also a lovely looking kids club although we didn't use it (very new and clean) and a great playground with a paddling pool bit.

It's very popular with cyclists so when we were there it was really quiet during the day as most of the guests were out cycling! Also meant the buffet had lots of really lovely healthy stuff - great salad bars and fruit etc and lots of grilled meat and fish.

It is about 3 miles outside puerta pollensa. We had a hire car and tended to go into Pollensa (or elsewhere) mid morning, play on the beach, have lunch and then head back to the hotel for the rest of the day / evening but we were only there for 5 days so didn't mind the lack of variety!

As snowboarder says, Soller and Port de Soller are both lovely and there is a fab little train that you can get from Soller into Palma through beautiful scenery.

Puerta Andratx is also lovely - not sure what the beaches are like but gorgeous for a wander and a drink / meal by the boats.

[ludoscotts]

Have a look at sa coma. We stayed at the bouganvillia hotel. It's lovely fantastic 6 pools for kids one with giant splash zone, the hotel isn't high rise it's built like a small med village very very pretty with gardens I between all of the blocks etc. there is a big top tent on one side if you want entertainment or a quitter poolside bar if you just want a quiet drink. They have studios and 1 and 2 bed apartments. With cooking rings and fridges so can self cater for lunches etc. you can pay to go into the restaurant if you don't want to walk into resort for food in the evening or you can go all inclusive.

Resort is quiet but pleanty of restaurants with children's bouncy castles/ play areas. Lovely walk along beach to next resort. Near the caves of drach etc.

we have been twice and thought for families with kids it's great.

The beach is about a 15 min walk or a free land train down. Really worth checking it out. Was cheaper the second time we went as we booked the hotel, flights and transfers separately.

[Fragolina]

Thanks to everyone who posted, lots of good tips.

[mallaw]

Hello, this month I plan to travel to Mallorca, because I am going to a meeting with lawyers for a case in which I will be the only Criminal lawyer Mallorca, and we plan to stay in a hotel near the center in which we always stay and which presents a certain luxury to do business there.

[yeknomyeknom]

Pollensa is a dream, we know it well. Lots of beautiful options on Airbnb.