Hotel Bahia

A lovely hotel, everything looked beautiful. We were there for a long weekend, and the rooms were gorgeous and clean. Breakfast was delicious, and the staff were so friendly 💓 The location was perfect, right by the beach and about 40 minutes by bus from palma. I’d definitely recommend it and would love to come back 😍.

I’m writing this months later because the experience still leaves me angry and upset. I put off leaving a review, but want other travellers to know what happened. My first night of vacation was ruined, and it still affects me. I hope nobody else, especially someone travelling alone, has to go through this. Please avoid the hotel. The room cost nearly $200 a night and felt like a dark, tiny, windowless dungeon, with outdated furniture and mosquitoes. There was a loud, constant sound of water leaking all night, so I couldn’t sleep. There was only a door, no window, and getting any air meant leaving it open onto a public walkway. That felt unsafe and inappropriate. I left as soon as it was daylight. This wasn’t the four-star quality advertised. The front desk experience was the worst part. The person checking me in was extremely rude and dismissive, and treated me in a way that felt discriminatory and deeply disrespectful. When I asked for a manager, he refused and walked away while I was still speaking. I’ve travelled widely and never had service that hostile. I contacted Booking.com straight after check-in and spent more than five hours on the phone with several agents, but got no solution. In the end, the situation became unbearable and I had to cancel the reservation myself.

The staff were so lovely and hard-working, and seemed genuinely enthusiastic when they served us. They even told us where our drinks came from, which was a nice touch. I’d happily come back. The pool was great and the air con worked a treat. Breakfast was lovely, and the bar and restaurant served fantastic food. The Bahia Burger was especially good, and my partner was thrilled with her salad, though I can’t remember its name. It had goats cheese in it.

What really let this place down was the way they handled my refund request. I expected it to be sorted one way or another, but it wasn’t. I was sent back and forth between the hotel and booking.com, and to this day I’ve never received a refund. I don’t understand why the hotel told me to deal with booking.com. They arranged the reservation, but didn’t take the payment. The hotel was the merchant of record and could have refunded me. I believe they simply didn’t want to. Booking.com quite rightly said it wasn’t their decision whether the hotel credited my card or refunded me in euros. Why would they be involved? I paid for half board and wish I hadn’t. I only checked other reviews after making that choice. Both breakfast and dinner were really poor. After trying the evening meals for two days, I asked reception to switch me to room-only and refund the meal cost. I was very let down, especially as I’d had high hopes. When I was there, I didn’t see anyone else using the restaurant for dinner. If you stay here, read the food reviews and decide if it suits you. The photos show a really tough steak and a Waldorf salad that was simply inedible, since it was 99% mayonnaise. I’ve never seen a Waldorf salad like it, and presume the chef who made it hadn’t either.