Hostal Horizonte

We had a lovely, relaxing stay for my birthday, just me and my boyfriend. The hotel was quiet, so I managed a morning swim in the rooftop pool. Very relaxing.

Thankfully, we were only there for one night. None of the room lights worked apart from the bathroom, and the air conditioning was so loud that we slept in a dark, warm room. Room security also worried us, since the door codes seemed easy to guess. The hotel was clean, and the staff were friendly when they appeared. There was never anyone at reception, so we had to call each time to get someone.

After we left, we contacted the hotel about cockroaches and suspected bedbug bites. Their customer service response was very disappointing. We’d sent photos of two dead, squashed cockroaches on the common room floor downstairs, where they stayed for several days, and mentioned seeing another in the hallway. We came home with bites that we suspected might be from bedbugs. I can’t say for sure they came from the hotel, since I only realised after leaving that they seemed more consistent with bedbug bites than mosquito bites. I hadn’t checked the room. For the cockroaches, the hotel said they can sometimes “filter out of the street door because of the heat.” For the possibility of bedbugs, they said they do regular checks and had reviewed the history and comments, which were all positive. What seemed strange was that they didn’t say they’d check the room right away. We expected them to look into it, rather than imply that no one else had complained so there couldn’t be a problem. Following that logic, bedbugs could never appear for the first time in a room. Hotels often offer compensation for cockroaches, even when they’re only in common areas. I don’t like leaving bad reviews about issues that could be fixed without first contacting the business, because poor reviews have a big impact. But good customer service and dealing with problems matter too. Even “just” cockroaches aren’t normal. We stayed for over a week. The place felt more like a hostel with private rooms and cleaning service than a hotel. It was clean, the cleaning staff were very nice, and the stay wasn’t bad, but we wouldn’t choose to return. The location was good, within walking distance of Mahon port and Es Castell. Check-in took too long and was overcomplicated for the person helping us. We felt bad for them because the app or system wasn’t working. Other places we stayed got us checked in much faster. I’d rate it 2/10. The rooms were clean but small, with too few hooks and not much room for towels in the bathroom. The beds were okay but not especially comfortable, and queen-sized. The mini fridge warmed up on both the minimum and maximum settings, and only got cold on medium, so our food spoiled. The TV was good, but there were only 20 Spanish channels. Luckily, we’d thought to pack an HDMI cable. We liked the large mirror, though light came in under and around the door at night. Room rating: 5/10. The pool looked nice, though we didn’t use it. There was good Wi-Fi, but no other facilities, bar or breakfast. Facilities rating: 3/10. The rooms were very clean, but the shower seal had black areas, there was no toilet brush, and the cleaning fluid smelled of vinegar. I’d rate cleaning 6/10, but that isn’t the staff’s fault. The room codes were a joke: once you knew one, you knew them all. We won’t write the code here. Security rating: 1/10. The cleaning staff we met were always lovely, friendly and helpful. There were no other staff around, not even a receptionist. For the people we met, 10/10.

The best part was Caty, who helped me over the phone. She was professional, kind and efficient, and could make a one-star hotel sound like a five-star one. Thank you so much, and please keep up the excellent service! It’s a perfect place to stay and easy to reach. Self check-in was simple and very modern. My room was beautiful, modern and spotless, with a small fridge that came in handy for storing my Mahón cheese.