Hotel Ca'l Bisbe

We'd booked a suite more than eight months ahead so our 8-month-old could go to bed at 7pm in a separate room while we enjoyed the evening. Three weeks before our stay, the hotel cancelled our room choice because they had overbooked. We were going to Soller for a wedding, and by then there was nowhere decent left unless we spent thousands of pounds. Without a suite, we'd have to sit quietly in the dark while the baby slept, which isn't much of a holiday. I rarely leave negative reviews, but it was very hard to reach the hotel. I emailed asking for a call and phoned reception several times to ask for the manager. It took more than seven days to speak to them. They offered a measly 10% off and mostly just asked, “Have you never made a mistake?” They weren't helpful or apologetic, and didn't seem to understand. We booked through Expedia, which saved us by covering the cost of switching to a nicer hotel.

A quiet little boutique hotel with a large, secluded pool and lovely breakfasts, tucked close to central Soller. Keep an eye out for the friendly hotel cat. It makes a great base for walkers. Highly recommended.

We ate at the Alemany restaurant at Cal Bisbe. The welcome was friendly, and the food was tasty and freshly cooked, but service could have been more attentive. The setting was okay, though the restaurant is right by the pool, with hotel guests gathering there and on the overlooking balconies. Washing was hanging over some of them too. The steaks were very good but came with poor accompaniments. The potatoes were supposed to be potato, but were a watery, overblended paste. The aubergine starter was greatly overpriced for the portion. At 115 euros, the meal wasn't worth it. Overpriced.

Breakfast mixed Spanish, German and American options, with fresh fruit, meat, cheese and pastries. The sangria was only okay, but the Aperol Spritz was perfect. I stayed for one night after backpacking and liked the pool with its mountain views. They were flexible about early check-in, and let me hang by the pool until my room was ready and after checkout. One thing to know: the gym's shower changing room is an open shower with no privacy, so if you use it before or after your stay, you'll be showering in your bathing suit or putting on a show. There's one gender-neutral bathroom downstairs in the gym and gendered bathrooms in the lobby. The location is great, five minutes from the city center. Bastian at the front desk was kind in a way I hadn't experienced in Mallorca before. He was polite and chatty when I needed that, and corrected some guests who made rude comments about me as a visibly minority person, thinking I couldn't understand German. It was a small thing, but it mattered a lot at that moment. Spanish four-star hotels usually feel like three stars by US standards, but here the treatment really felt four-star.