Garau Petit Hotel

We chose this hotel as a handy base before an early flight, without checking out the area first. Arenal is a party town, and the streets were really dirty, with drunk holidaymakers wandering around holding kebabs. The hotel itself was nice and clean, but the bathroom was tiny. There were changes in floor level, and I stubbed my toes a couple of times going to the bathroom at night.

Mallorca felt like a noisy, awful place to stay, though the hotel itself wasn't bad. The rooms were decent.

Check-in was electronic and pretty straightforward. My ground-floor room has a cute little balcony with plants and trees behind it, and there are coffee and drink/beer vending machines by the entrance. The place has a bit of a retro feel, is very clean, and the public buses make it easy to get to the city center and airport. There are some beautiful cala’s nearby too. But this area is trashy and clearly a German party town. When nobody's shouting, the hotel feels like a calm oasis, but at 11 p.m. the hostel was incredibly loud. Earlier, a group of German guys had been screaming, and I could hear everyone talking, especially people hanging out on the first floor. There was also a dead silverfish in the bathroom, a bit gross. My balcony isn't private either, since it connects to the common area and people come around the corner and stare without realizing they're in your space. Bring earplugs. I’d only stay here to be close to the airport, and wouldn’t come back because of the location.

My mom and sister stayed here for about a week at the end of July, and they loved it. The staff were kind and helpful, the breakfast was excellent, and their rooms were very clean. The location was fantastic too, with the airport nearby, the beach a few minutes away on foot, and lots of supermarkets close by.