Spain. Balearic Islands. Mallorca island. Mallorca or Mallorca - it doesn't matter, we still say Mallorca, because it's easier? Rested from 1 - 8 July 2016. Resort Playa de Palma. Hotel «Oleander», 3*. Tour operator "Christian Tour" (Romania). Air carrier Blue Air (Romania). Flight on the route Bucharest - Palma de Mallorca (3 hours flight).
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Spain. Balearic Islands. Mallorca island. Mallorca or Mallorca - it doesn't matter, we still say Mallorca, because it's easier?
Rested from 1 - 8 July 2016. Resort Playa de Palma. Hotel «Oleander», 3*.
Tour operator "Christian Tour" (Romania). Air carrier Blue Air (Romania).
Flight on the route Bucharest - Palma de Mallorca (3 hours flight). Boeing 737-400 aircraft (24 years of the airplane! ).
Back Palma de Mallorca Ibiza (20 minutes flight) - Bucharest (3 hours).
FINDINGS:
one). The island is wonderful. The perfect combination of seaside holidays with exciting excursions and cheap shopping. Discounts (50-70)% start from July 1st.
2). An unexpected conclusion. Holidays in Mallorca can be very economical. Cheaper than in Greece and Turkey. Food prices in supermarkets are lower than in Russia and even Moldova.
3). Tours are relatively inexpensive.
In addition, with a well-developed road and transport infrastructure, any place can be reached by public bus (ticket price 1-10 euros), train or metro.
4). When choosing a resort and a hotel, VERY carefully study all its advantages and disadvantages, otherwise you can easily get ...into a dung. I do not recommend the resorts of Magaluf, Arenal, hotels of the category below 3 * and hotels with the All food system - favorite places for noisy Anglo-German youth.
5). The island is "captured" mainly by German and English tourists (4 million a year each), for all the rest - also 4 million. Total per year = 12 million tourists !! ! per 800 thousand population ...
Russian speakers are not seen or heard. Spoken language is Spanish and German. Few even speak English.
RESORT PLAYA DE PALMA :
This is the main resort of Mallorca - a sandy beach 8 km in one bay. Located near the airport (10 minutes by bus) and the capital of the island - Palma de Mallorca (15-20 minutes by bus).
- perfect cleanliness everywhere, hotels are surrounded by coniferous trees - the smell!!!
- the sea is clean, beautiful, shallow, sometimes warm, but more often cool (up to 24 degrees).
- sandy beach, long. There are sections of the coastline equipped with umbrellas, sun loungers (for a fee), there are unequipped beaches. There is more than enough space for everyone. The beaches are kept perfectly clean. The entrance is free.
- the weather in early July is very comfortable. In the morning, in the evening it is cool (22-24) gr. , in the afternoon - (30-31) gr. A refreshing breeze blows constantly.
- wide embankment. Buses do not go along it, unlike the Arenal resort.
HOTEL OLEANDER, 3*.
From July 1.2016, a tourist tax has been introduced in Mallorca hotels for one day of stay from 1 person. For the Oleander hotel it is 1.1 euros per person. in a day. We were the first?
The hotel is located on the second coastline, surrounded by reputable neighbors: 3 hotels of the IBEROSTAR chain (4 and 5 stars), PAMPLONA hotel (4 *), CABALLERO hotel, KONTIKI PLAYA hotel, NEGRESCO hotel (4 *).
In the case of a group transfer, they are brought to the hotel from the airport first (11:00), and they are taken last (09:30).
Although the hotel is listed as 3 *, it is really a real four. Certified by the Ministry of Tourism of Mallorca as a renovated hotel. Fresh overhaul with the replacement of everything in the room - furniture, plumbing, etc.
In general, Spanish hotels are not very chasing stars (they are expensive), but value their reputation more.
The hotel is quiet and calm, the older audience is more respectable, but there are also young people, but decent young people. No one disturbed our sleep for a single night?
All rooms with large balconies. Seven residential floors. Annex to the main building (above the restaurant) - 2-storey.
The hotel has its own large swimming pool on site and a small one inside.
Meals only on the BB (breakfast) or HB (breakfast + dinner) system. The food is above all praise.
The cost of breakfast for hotel guests is 6 euros (for strangers - 12 euros), dinner - 12 and 22 euros, respectively.
Breakfast - 7:45 - 10:00, dinner - 18:30 - 20:45. Breakfast should be done early.
I say this because I did not have time to have breakfast and take the bus from Palma at 8 am. The next one is at 10 o'clock.
The bar is open during lunch. You can have a snack. Although with additional food is not an issue at the resort at all. Near cafes, restaurants for every taste and money.
IN THE ROOM AND THE HOTEL FOR FREE:
Wi-Fi at the reception (very bad). You can buy Wi-Fi in the room for 1 day, 3 days, a week (the cost is 3.6, 10 euros, respectively) - I can’t say how it works. Sometimes we went to the nearby Iberostar hotel to post a few photos online. But mostly they used a network of cafes, bars - where they had a snack.
TV LCD - no channels in Russian. There are no Russian-speaking guides at the reception.
Shampoo and shower gel - disposable sachets. Fen.
The room has individual air conditioning.
The room has only one small closet and no bedside tables. This is a disadvantage.
The room is small. Optimal for two, but in the DBL + EXB version it will be too small.
With an optional third bed installed, the light and ceiling fan switches and sockets are located just behind the pillows. For the first two nights, we all jumped up from the sudden switching on of all the lights in the room and the ceiling fan starting to rotate (accidentally, someone touched the switches in a dream) - all this reminded me very much of a fragment from the action movie Under Siege with Steven Seagal, when suddenly appears from the cake the dancer who fell asleep in it?
We laughed for several days - the frightened face of my wife ...what is happening, an earthquake? We, the inhabitants of Moldova, have this fear in our blood.
Attention! In the rules of the hotel, if you leave the room for a long time and leave the air conditioner on, remove the card from the room. This is what the cleaning lady does when you don't leave her a tip (a joke with some truth).
IN THE ROOM FOR ADDITIONAL COST :
Safe (14 euros a week + 5 euros deposit for the key - refundable).
Refrigerator - 14 euros per week.
A SPOON OF TAR.
Everything was great in the room, but according to the law of a good rest, a fly in the ointment should also be. We had a couple of German neighbors who got up early and immediately had a cigarette in their teeth. The smoke instantly appeared in our room (we slept with open doors to the balcony, there were single mosquitoes).
I dare to suggest that the hotel SEPARATE smokers from non-smokers at least by floors or ideally on different sides of the building, as is done in hotels in the UAE, for example.
TRANSPORT NEAR THE HOTEL.
Near the hotel there are bus stops number-15.25 - go to Palma, fare = 1.5 euros and number-21 - goes to the airport (5 euros).
Bus number-25 - express, travel time = 15-20 minutes. Bus number-15 - travel time 35-40 minutes.
Payment to the driver at the entrance to the front door. Have change or small bills!
Get off at Plaza de Españ a.
Go forward in the direction of the bus 100-150 meters and on the right you will see an escalator down underground. This is the Central Station for buses, trains and metro to all corners of the island.
Traffic schemes and schedules are very clear - it is not difficult to figure it out. There is a help desk.
For example, to get to the famous Drak caves, you need to take bus number-412 (the optimal departure time is 10:15.10:50 - express and get off at the Covs Drac stop. Travel time = 1 hour).
From Plaza de Españ a, you can start your walking tour of the old city.
TOURS.
The first excursion on the Red sightseeing bus in Palma (No. -50). The bus stop is across the street from the Plaza de Españ a bus stop. Just cross the road. The ticket costs 17 euros per adult. Over 65 years old - 50% discount. Button No. -7 = Russian.
The second tour was taken at a street agency-bicycle rental point opposite the Iberostar Playa de Palma hotel. Cost = 59 euros per adult.
Departure 8:40 from the Iberostar Bahia de Palma, return at 19:00.
My opinion is that everyone should visit this excursion (you can do it yourself along the route).
The tour is called the Island Tour.
Route: Inca city (leather factory) - breathtaking views along the serpentine roads and the gorge (tickle the nerves) to the beautiful bay of Sa Calobra - swimming in the bay (2 hours) - boat to the port of Soller (40 min. ) - by tram in the city. Soller - by train through a large number of tunnels to Palma - bus to the hotel.
It is important to know that excursions are not held daily, but on certain days of the week. The groups are international. The guide speaks 5 languages. Until you wait for your own ...this, of course, is a big drawback of such excursions.
ENTERTAINMENT IN PLAYA DE PALMA RESORT.
To the right of the capital Palma there is an airport and three resorts: Can Pastilla then Playa de Palma and then Arenal.
All of them are located in one bay and are connected by one embankment, along which there are numerous hotels, cafes, restaurants and shops, Mega Park shopping center and Palma Aquarium.
Trams or mini-trains (cost = 4.5 euros) and horse-drawn carriages run along the embankment between these three resorts.
The real gem of the waterfront is the bike path all the way to Palma. Bicycles (excellent brands) can be rented = 5 euros per day. There are electric bikes, scooters 1.2, 3.4-seater - any!
Morning is the best time for bike rides. The path crosses the plane landing route. Depending on the direction and strength of the wind (I think so), they either land or take off.
Every 1.5 – 3 min. takeoff or landing. Low, low over your head.
Then we drive towards Palma and get a strong blow in the nose with an unpleasant smell - these are sewage treatment plants. After cleaning, the water merges, eats, but back into the sea.
For these two reasons (planes and sewage) I would not recommend Can Pastilla.
In extreme cases - only at the end of the resort (from the yacht club to the aquarium). Here the hotels will be more decent and the beach will be better.
Unconditionally I advise you to choose from these three resorts - Playa de Palma. Be sure to visit Arenal - feel the difference and rejoice that this is not your resort?
Resorts to the left of Palma (Cala Mayor, Illetas, Cala Vinas, Palma Nova, Magaluf, Camp de Mar, Santa Ponsa, Costa de la Calma, Paguera) and resorts in the east and south of the island leave for study next time.
"ADYOS BABLOS" or SHOPPING.
Discounts, sales or in Spanish Rebajas happen in Mallorca twice a year. In summer - from July 1 to September 1 (50-70%).
We did not reach the big shopping centers, we had enough shops. The prices are fantastic, the products are of high quality. Spanish leather was famous in Soviet times.
WARNING!
Start shopping only after completing the excursion plan, otherwise you won’t see excursions?
PRICES IN MALLORCA.
Pensions in Mallorca - 1000 euros, salaries close to pensions (or vice versa) - 1200 - 1300 euros. At the same time, prices are sometimes very “ridiculous”, even in cafes. On the Plaza de Españ a there is such a cafe called "1000 Montaditos", where everything is 1 euro!
The cheapest prices are in the supermarkets of the EROSKI network (located to the right of the hotel 200 m).
Wine (bottle) = from 1.34 euros, milk (0.5 l) = from 0.5 euros, beer (1l) = 1 euro, mineral water (6 l) = 1 euro, etc.
FINDINGS :
I recommend HOTEL OLEANDER and Playa de Palma resort!
Would come back here again with pleasure. Very harmonious and pleasant stay.
We flew away from Mallorca with a warm feeling and peace of mind.
Rested from 1 - 8 July 2016. Resort Playa de Palma. Hotel «Oleander», 3*.
Tour operator "Christian Tour" (Romania). Air carrier Blue Air (Romania).
Flight on the route Bucharest - Palma de Mallorca (3 hours flight). Boeing 737-400 aircraft (24 years of the airplane! ).
Back Palma de Mallorca Ibiza (20 minutes flight) - Bucharest (3 hours).
FINDINGS:
one). The island is wonderful. The perfect combination of seaside holidays with exciting excursions and cheap shopping. Discounts (50-70)% start from July 1st.
2). An unexpected conclusion. Holidays in Mallorca can be very economical. Cheaper than in Greece and Turkey. Food prices in supermarkets are lower than in Russia and even Moldova.
3). Tours are relatively inexpensive.
In addition, with a well-developed road and transport infrastructure, any place can be reached by public bus (ticket price 1-10 euros), train or metro.
4). When choosing a resort and a hotel, VERY carefully study all its advantages and disadvantages, otherwise you can easily get ...into a dung. I do not recommend the resorts of Magaluf, Arenal, hotels of the category below 3 * and hotels with the All food system - favorite places for noisy Anglo-German youth.
5). The island is "captured" mainly by German and English tourists (4 million a year each), for all the rest - also 4 million. Total per year = 12 million tourists !! ! per 800 thousand population ...
Russian speakers are not seen or heard. Spoken language is Spanish and German. Few even speak English.
RESORT PLAYA DE PALMA :
This is the main resort of Mallorca - a sandy beach 8 km in one bay. Located near the airport (10 minutes by bus) and the capital of the island - Palma de Mallorca (15-20 minutes by bus).
- perfect cleanliness everywhere, hotels are surrounded by coniferous trees - the smell!!!
- the sea is clean, beautiful, shallow, sometimes warm, but more often cool (up to 24 degrees).
- sandy beach, long. There are sections of the coastline equipped with umbrellas, sun loungers (for a fee), there are unequipped beaches. There is more than enough space for everyone. The beaches are kept perfectly clean. The entrance is free.
- the weather in early July is very comfortable. In the morning, in the evening it is cool (22-24) gr. , in the afternoon - (30-31) gr. A refreshing breeze blows constantly.
- wide embankment. Buses do not go along it, unlike the Arenal resort.
HOTEL OLEANDER, 3*.
From July 1.2016, a tourist tax has been introduced in Mallorca hotels for one day of stay from 1 person. For the Oleander hotel it is 1.1 euros per person. in a day. We were the first?
The hotel is located on the second coastline, surrounded by reputable neighbors: 3 hotels of the IBEROSTAR chain (4 and 5 stars), PAMPLONA hotel (4 *), CABALLERO hotel, KONTIKI PLAYA hotel, NEGRESCO hotel (4 *).
In the case of a group transfer, they are brought to the hotel from the airport first (11:00), and they are taken last (09:30).
Although the hotel is listed as 3 *, it is really a real four. Certified by the Ministry of Tourism of Mallorca as a renovated hotel. Fresh overhaul with the replacement of everything in the room - furniture, plumbing, etc.
In general, Spanish hotels are not very chasing stars (they are expensive), but value their reputation more.
The hotel is quiet and calm, the older audience is more respectable, but there are also young people, but decent young people. No one disturbed our sleep for a single night?
All rooms with large balconies. Seven residential floors. Annex to the main building (above the restaurant) - 2-storey.
The hotel has its own large swimming pool on site and a small one inside.
Meals only on the BB (breakfast) or HB (breakfast + dinner) system. The food is above all praise.
The cost of breakfast for hotel guests is 6 euros (for strangers - 12 euros), dinner - 12 and 22 euros, respectively.
Breakfast - 7:45 - 10:00, dinner - 18:30 - 20:45. Breakfast should be done early.
I say this because I did not have time to have breakfast and take the bus from Palma at 8 am. The next one is at 10 o'clock.
The bar is open during lunch. You can have a snack. Although with additional food is not an issue at the resort at all. Near cafes, restaurants for every taste and money.
IN THE ROOM AND THE HOTEL FOR FREE:
Wi-Fi at the reception (very bad). You can buy Wi-Fi in the room for 1 day, 3 days, a week (the cost is 3.6, 10 euros, respectively) - I can’t say how it works. Sometimes we went to the nearby Iberostar hotel to post a few photos online. But mostly they used a network of cafes, bars - where they had a snack.
TV LCD - no channels in Russian. There are no Russian-speaking guides at the reception.
Shampoo and shower gel - disposable sachets. Fen.
The room has individual air conditioning.
The room has only one small closet and no bedside tables. This is a disadvantage.
The room is small. Optimal for two, but in the DBL + EXB version it will be too small.
With an optional third bed installed, the light and ceiling fan switches and sockets are located just behind the pillows. For the first two nights, we all jumped up from the sudden switching on of all the lights in the room and the ceiling fan starting to rotate (accidentally, someone touched the switches in a dream) - all this reminded me very much of a fragment from the action movie Under Siege with Steven Seagal, when suddenly appears from the cake the dancer who fell asleep in it?
We laughed for several days - the frightened face of my wife ...what is happening, an earthquake? We, the inhabitants of Moldova, have this fear in our blood.
Attention! In the rules of the hotel, if you leave the room for a long time and leave the air conditioner on, remove the card from the room. This is what the cleaning lady does when you don't leave her a tip (a joke with some truth).
IN THE ROOM FOR ADDITIONAL COST :
Safe (14 euros a week + 5 euros deposit for the key - refundable).
Refrigerator - 14 euros per week.
A SPOON OF TAR.
Everything was great in the room, but according to the law of a good rest, a fly in the ointment should also be. We had a couple of German neighbors who got up early and immediately had a cigarette in their teeth. The smoke instantly appeared in our room (we slept with open doors to the balcony, there were single mosquitoes).
I dare to suggest that the hotel SEPARATE smokers from non-smokers at least by floors or ideally on different sides of the building, as is done in hotels in the UAE, for example.
TRANSPORT NEAR THE HOTEL.
Near the hotel there are bus stops number-15.25 - go to Palma, fare = 1.5 euros and number-21 - goes to the airport (5 euros).
Bus number-25 - express, travel time = 15-20 minutes. Bus number-15 - travel time 35-40 minutes.
Payment to the driver at the entrance to the front door. Have change or small bills!
Get off at Plaza de Españ a.
Go forward in the direction of the bus 100-150 meters and on the right you will see an escalator down underground. This is the Central Station for buses, trains and metro to all corners of the island.
Traffic schemes and schedules are very clear - it is not difficult to figure it out. There is a help desk.
For example, to get to the famous Drak caves, you need to take bus number-412 (the optimal departure time is 10:15.10:50 - express and get off at the Covs Drac stop. Travel time = 1 hour).
From Plaza de Españ a, you can start your walking tour of the old city.
TOURS.
The first excursion on the Red sightseeing bus in Palma (No. -50). The bus stop is across the street from the Plaza de Españ a bus stop. Just cross the road. The ticket costs 17 euros per adult. Over 65 years old - 50% discount. Button No. -7 = Russian.
The second tour was taken at a street agency-bicycle rental point opposite the Iberostar Playa de Palma hotel. Cost = 59 euros per adult.
Departure 8:40 from the Iberostar Bahia de Palma, return at 19:00.
My opinion is that everyone should visit this excursion (you can do it yourself along the route).
The tour is called the Island Tour.
Route: Inca city (leather factory) - breathtaking views along the serpentine roads and the gorge (tickle the nerves) to the beautiful bay of Sa Calobra - swimming in the bay (2 hours) - boat to the port of Soller (40 min. ) - by tram in the city. Soller - by train through a large number of tunnels to Palma - bus to the hotel.
It is important to know that excursions are not held daily, but on certain days of the week. The groups are international. The guide speaks 5 languages. Until you wait for your own ...this, of course, is a big drawback of such excursions.
ENTERTAINMENT IN PLAYA DE PALMA RESORT.
To the right of the capital Palma there is an airport and three resorts: Can Pastilla then Playa de Palma and then Arenal.
All of them are located in one bay and are connected by one embankment, along which there are numerous hotels, cafes, restaurants and shops, Mega Park shopping center and Palma Aquarium.
Trams or mini-trains (cost = 4.5 euros) and horse-drawn carriages run along the embankment between these three resorts.
The real gem of the waterfront is the bike path all the way to Palma. Bicycles (excellent brands) can be rented = 5 euros per day. There are electric bikes, scooters 1.2, 3.4-seater - any!
Morning is the best time for bike rides. The path crosses the plane landing route. Depending on the direction and strength of the wind (I think so), they either land or take off.
Every 1.5 – 3 min. takeoff or landing. Low, low over your head.
Then we drive towards Palma and get a strong blow in the nose with an unpleasant smell - these are sewage treatment plants. After cleaning, the water merges, eats, but back into the sea.
For these two reasons (planes and sewage) I would not recommend Can Pastilla.
In extreme cases - only at the end of the resort (from the yacht club to the aquarium). Here the hotels will be more decent and the beach will be better.
Unconditionally I advise you to choose from these three resorts - Playa de Palma. Be sure to visit Arenal - feel the difference and rejoice that this is not your resort?
Resorts to the left of Palma (Cala Mayor, Illetas, Cala Vinas, Palma Nova, Magaluf, Camp de Mar, Santa Ponsa, Costa de la Calma, Paguera) and resorts in the east and south of the island leave for study next time.
"ADYOS BABLOS" or SHOPPING.
Discounts, sales or in Spanish Rebajas happen in Mallorca twice a year. In summer - from July 1 to September 1 (50-70%).
We did not reach the big shopping centers, we had enough shops. The prices are fantastic, the products are of high quality. Spanish leather was famous in Soviet times.
WARNING!
Start shopping only after completing the excursion plan, otherwise you won’t see excursions?
PRICES IN MALLORCA.
Pensions in Mallorca - 1000 euros, salaries close to pensions (or vice versa) - 1200 - 1300 euros. At the same time, prices are sometimes very “ridiculous”, even in cafes. On the Plaza de Españ a there is such a cafe called "1000 Montaditos", where everything is 1 euro!
The cheapest prices are in the supermarkets of the EROSKI network (located to the right of the hotel 200 m).
Wine (bottle) = from 1.34 euros, milk (0.5 l) = from 0.5 euros, beer (1l) = 1 euro, mineral water (6 l) = 1 euro, etc.
FINDINGS :
I recommend HOTEL OLEANDER and Playa de Palma resort!
Would come back here again with pleasure. Very harmonious and pleasant stay.
We flew away from Mallorca with a warm feeling and peace of mind.
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