We often visit PS and have always found it to be a very busy town even in the winter months with parking a nightmare unless you are familiar with the one way system around the town, The beaches are very limited and are on the other side of the town from all the shops and marina which is more a working harbour but is still very nice to sit in the waterside cafes and watch the world go by. I think that you would need to stay somewhere that provides nightime entertainment to keep you busy as there is only limited places to go in PS at night, but just 2 miles inland is the main town of Soller which has still kept its Spanish feel and is a nice place to visit.
I would say that a car is essential to go north to LLuch Monastery along the mountain roads and into the various coves in the mountain sides that not many tourists find, to the South is the road to ValldeMossa which is said to be the most beautiful stretch of road on the island with fantastic views along the way and you will pass through the village of Deia which has become the place to see with many celebrities living here. Also it is not really too far to Palma via the Soller tunnel. What ever you decide i am sure you will enjoy this part of the island if you are prepared to explore.

Cant really add much to what 28SAC has said and agree with everything. Also dont forget the train to Palma. In spring and autumn the west coast gets a fair bit more rain than the rest of the island due to the Sierra behind it.

Heres some info on Soller

http://www.sollernet.com/indexen.html

We spent a lovely day there in June - wish we were back there now!

Carmel

We stayed in Puerto Soller for 2 weeks in May 2002.
During the day the town is very busy, it is one of the most visited/photographed places in all of Mallorca. However, at night in May (don't know about other months), it is very quiet, you could hear a pin drop. In fact if you dropped a pin someone would call the police and report a disturbance Definitely no louts, and any nightlife, that there is, is confined to the larger hotels, of which there are only a few.
The beaches are very poor, the one adjacent to the harbour contaminated with oil from the ships and the other one very small. The area is very popular with walkers because of the mountain range that runs down the west coast.
The town of Soller is nice, although there is very little of interest outside of the main square. There is a tram service runs up-from and down-to the port, runs about every 15-30 mins and costs around 1 Euro single. From Soller you can get the tourist train down to Palma and return, takes about 45 mins and costs around 5 Euros single. All prices/times circa May 2002.
There is not a wide range of restaurants/bars in the town and those that we used we found to be more expensive and poorer quality for the money than many other places in Mallorca.
We hired a car and spent most of our time visiting other areas of the island, which was very nice but unusual for us, says something about Puerto Soller.
Enjoyed our holiday but found nothing that would pull us back, unlike our favourite resort Puerto Pollensa.

Thanks everyone. We have decided that Puerto Soller probably does not quite hold the attraction that we thought.

We have found a fantastic apartment (private rental) in Cala D'or which is right on the sea front with fantastic unobstructed views. Think we will go for that. In October it should be reasonably quiet.

We are going to Cala Bona in February - we only 'discovered' Majorca in March this year having always said that Majorca did not appeal to us!! But we think it is great and a short flight. Also going in May as well!!

Pippa

We are going to Puerto Soller staying at the Es Port for a week in May.

Apart from the obvious things like the tram etc. is there anything we should not miss? We have been to Majorca twice before staying at Cala Bona but have been around the island quite a bit as we always have a car for the duration. Visited Palma on our last visit in February.

Any recommendations of places to eat in Puerto Soller - we are half board in the hotel so only looking for coffee and snacks etc.

We will be there for the fiesta - so it could be quite busy.

Also what can we expect of the temperatures in mid May.

Thanks in anticipation,
Pippa