Rafa Nadal Residence

Leaving this dream place is hard, but I’ll definitely return next year. My husband joined the adult sports school and was extremely pleased, while I used the beautiful, relaxing SPA after swimming. The hair salon and SPA staff gave outstanding service. The rooms are modern, beautiful, and quiet. Food was fantastic too, healthy and tasty, with menus themed around different cuisines. I expected the Rafa Nadal Academy to be a nice place with a few tennis courts, but it turned out to be so much more. Everyone was professional, friendly, and attentive, from the cleaning ladies to the front desk.

The tennis program for kids has been a real highlight. The coaches are friendly and seem to care about progress as well as making sure the kids have fun. Groups are small, so our child gets plenty of attention, and they include other sports and games too. It isn’t tennis all day. Our almost 9-year-old comes back tired but happy every afternoon, learning a lot and making friends. We’re staying at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, and it’s been a fantastic family experience so far. If your kid likes tennis or just being active, they’ll probably love it. The facilities are modern and clean, with lots of clay and hard courts, a big gym, pools, and a really cool Rafa Nadal Museum that’s fun for adults and kids. Our room is comfortable and practical, nothing fancy but just right for us. There are plenty of healthy food choices, and prices are reasonable, which is nice when you’re a bit of a captive audience. Adults can use the spa and gym, though some options, such as the spa, cost extra. One thing to keep in mind: supervision is generally good, but I’d still watch your child during off-site activities. We haven’t had problems ourselves, but I heard about a child getting lost on a field trip. He was found quickly, but still. It’s not especially social for adults, since most parents are there for their kids, so don’t expect much nightlife. It’s not cheap, but you get what you pay for. If you’re after an active family holiday and your child is into tennis, I really can’t recommend it enough. We’re so glad we came.

The rooms were clean, neat, spacious, and decent, though definitely not luxurious. They were on the expensive side.

The room was stylish, a good size, and clean, and the hotel itself gets 5/5 from me for those things. Food was 5/5, and the museum was interesting, 4/5. Hard courts were also 5/5. But the clay courts were 2/5: rock hard, difficult to brush, worn lines, and badly in need of repair. The sports desk service was 1/5, and reception was 1/5. We paid for three nights, stayed two, and left. We paid around €100 a day for half board, covering one lunch or dinner per day, and chose lunch. On Sunday, when we booked a court and taxi through reception, we were told Wimbledon restaurant was closed for lunch. They offered dinner instead, which we accepted, and we paid for lunch ourselves as usual. At dinner, staff said we'd have to pay again because they wouldn't honour the prepaid meal. We explained what the receptionist had told us, but they said there was nothing they could do and charged it to our room because we hadn't brought enough cash. At reception, a different staff member said we'd missed our prepaid lunch and had to pay. I explained the swap and that we'd paid about €100 for lunch as directed, but they insisted it didn't matter and demanded more money. Their English was great, so this wasn't a communication issue. Why lie to guests? It felt like an unethical money grab. We also booked a private 55-minute lesson for our teenage son for €85 and got a confirmation email. When we came the day before to confirm the time and pay cash, the booking had disappeared from their system, and the time was no longer available, even though it was on the day we were leaving. Pro-junior kids aren't allowed into groups. I understand they may not want experienced tennis players with beginners, but looking at the groups, the play seemed average, more moonball and touch tennis or pickleball style. Surely someone could rally for more than five balls? The clay courts were honestly awful, and I think people could easily get injured sliding on them. Brushing or raking barely helps because they're so hard, and the lines are worn away. People also leave courts untidy after playing: they don't brush them, and gross, smelly towels and rubbish, including napkins, chocolate wrappers and sport slide circles, get left overnight. We didn't take group lessons, so I can't comment on those. They assigned us a lesson on the check-in day before we arrived in the afternoon, and another on checkout day after we'd left. The sports desk staff were rarely around, so finding help was hard. The app was crap and had no useful information. They made a group chat so guests staying that week could ask one another for help, because sports desk and reception staff were utterly useless. We were first told court hire had to be paid for in the booking app. In fact, court hire is free if you book in person at the sports desk. Good luck finding someone there. It felt like another money grab. Don't prepay for transfers. Just get a taxi on the day, it's cheaper and actually reliable. Transfers are outsourced to taxis anyway, with an extra charge on top. The woman who was meant to meet us didn't arrive on time, and we waited an hour. I called reception and left messages at several extensions, but got no answer or callback. Staff were buzzing around, so I don't think they were short-handed. The reception service seemed lazy and poor. Also, don't use the coffee pod machine in the room. Trust me, run a water-only cycle and see the filth and smell of bacteria that comes out. With more honest, kind and friendly staff, and better clay courts, this resort could have huge potential. As it is, the staffing and service are a huge problem, and the clay courts are terrible. I'm surprised Rafa would put his name to this.