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Arenal Hotel

15 of 29 hotels in San Antonio Bay

4 out of 5 from 18 reviews
3 stars
Avenida Doctor Fleming 16, San Antonio Bay, 07820

18 Reviews

Traveller Rating

  • Excellent
    2
  • Very Good
    9
  • Good
    7
  • Average
    0
  • Poor
    0

Review Overview

  • Cleanliness
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Service
  • Location
Claire & Matt
17 years 10 months ago
We stayed at this hotel for a week from 14/05/06, We found the hotel a little dated in its decor but very clean.

The food was ok there was a fair bit of choice. In the mornings there was an attempt at a fry up but also cereals, continental breakfast and fruit. In the evenings there was always different meals, only a few warnings though.. some days there would be onion rings and one night we found they changed them to squid! It was noted but we didn't see it until too late! Also they do sometimes put peanuts on desserts or in meals with no warnings near to them (a problem if like me you are allergic to them!)

The hotel was based right next to the beach with a lovely walkway between the hotel and the beach, this was nice for an evening walk after eating too much!

The staff were really nice and friendly, the maids would usually say hello to you in the mornings and the restaurant staff were pleasant too.

The entertainment was interesting to say the least, we didn't see most of it but what we heard was enough. Avoid the karoke it was terrible and some of the bands who are paid as entertainment where trying to sing in english and when they didn't know the words they mumbled instead! I know I can't sing in German, Spanish etc but it was funny to listen to!!

We would not go back to this area or hotel as we paid the extra for air conditioning but the hotel refused to turn it on as they did not turn it on until later on in the season. Not something you care about when you have already paid for it! Because of this we had to have the sliding doors open to stop us from melting and as previously mentioned the noise made from other inconsiderate tourists to the area. We were woken up at least twice if not more times a night! My husband (just married!) also suffered with heat rash because some nights we had to put up with the heat just to try to get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep! As I mentioned before be very careful if you have nut allergies. This is either not something they worry about in the hotel or hope you will be able to work out the ingredients of the meals without a list! I was quite poorly whilst on holiday because of this
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Travel operator: First Choice

Recommended
Rachel
18 years 6 months ago
The hotel is right on the beach in San Antonio, not far from the clubs - Es Paradis, Manumission and Eden, the harbour is also nearby offering lots of diving trips as well as boat trips - both day and night. The hotel does also do diving trips and on the beach pedaloes can be hired.

The food in the hotel is quite good, but it depends on what your tastes are. Before I went, I read a lot of reviews saying the food wasn't good, but when I got there, I found it depends on what you like and don't like. I did notice that they don't really cater for vegetarians, most of the food they served was meat or did include meat in it. Breakfast wasn't particularly that good, but again it does depend on likes and dislikes, if you like cereal and fruit for breakfast, there is a lot of that, but not much of a cooked breakfast. The restaurant is quite relaxed, you can take food out of the restaurant for the day, on the last day of my holiday, I made sandwiches for the afternoon, so I had some food for when I checked out, and no one made a fuss. I saw some guests taking glasses of juice upstairs and no one minded.

There is a very relaxed dress code in the evenings, as long as you don't go in without a top on or without wearing swimwear, you can wear what you want, I wore shorts, t-shirts and trainers and no one bothered. What does happen is that you are given a table that corresponds to your room number for the duration of your stay in the hotel, but that is not normally mentioned until you are sat at someone elses table and the manager approaching you saying that you are sat at someone elses table.

The meal times are between 8 and 10 for breakfast and between 7:30 and 9:30 in the evening, but if you do get hungry, there is a snack bar in the hotel offering hot food for decent prices, and if you do like icecream, there is an ice cream parlour underneath the hotel selling icecreams as well as meal deals including pizza, coffee with milk and an icecream for about 7 - 8 euros, if my memory is right, but it is something around that price.

The hotel also let you bring food and drink in from outside the hotel to consume in your room, but if you want to consume anything downstairs by the pool or in the bar, it has to be bought in the hotel. The staff are friendly at the hotel and are quick to sort out any problems with the rooms, I had one problem, I reported it in the morning, 30 mins later, a member of the maintenance staff came to see what the problem was, as he could not repair it, a carpenter was called, and the problem was sorted out in the early afternoon.

Air Conditioning is not included in your room cost, it does cost extra, but there is a ceiling fan in each room, which does a good enough job of keeping the room cool, but as I found out, the cleaner always seemed to switch it off when I was out of the room. There is a safe available to every room, it costs 2 euros per night plus a returnable deposit of 3 euros, but if you lose the key, you will be charged 12 euros.

If you are on a late night flight and want to keep your room for the day, which is subject to availability and 26 euros, you need to see the reception 24 hours before your flight to see if your room is available for that. The one person rooms are not as small as I was lead to believe by some reviews, they do not have a balcony, but you do get a good view of the harbour and the Zinema Bar, the noise of people coming back from the clubs isn't too bad, but you can hear the karaoke from the Zinema next door.

The entertainment provided by the hotel management is shared between the Arenal and the Ses Savines which is the sister hotel and is less than 10 mins walk from the Arenal and is a variety in entertainment, as well as that, there is a mini disco for the kids held every night in the Arenal.

There is an internet access point just behind reception but is quite expensive, about 1 euro for 3 mins, there is however a clubbing shop next door that offers internet access but not sure on their tariffs as I went to one right round the end of the bay on the street next to the pharmacy, past the cafes, restaurants and perfumeries, which costs 90 cents for 15 mins, 1 euro and 80 cents for 30 mins and 2 euros and 70 cents for 1 hour.

I definitely recommnend this hotel to anyone who wants to go to San Antonio.
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Travel operator: Mytravel

Recommended
S. Payne
18 years 7 months ago
Fab location, overlooking Promenade and beach far enough away from the Town but easy enough to walk to.

Very poor choice of food and often cold!

Entertainment pretty good, had a real laugh several nights, even saw a couple of the shows both weeks.

Rooms clean but very basic although new and large bathrooms. Loads of storage space and wardrobes.
Worth paying extra for sea-view, really large balconies with excellent sunsets over the sea.

Would possibly go back to the hotel but wouldn't want to eat there again. If they improved the food I would definately go back!

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Travel operator: First Choice

Recommended
Karen
18 years 8 months ago
The hotel was clean, large rooms, food was very poor edible, but not enjoyable.

Close to town 5 minutes walk, very close to Eden night club, not good news for anyone with pool view as the noise is very bad from about 1am - 6am with motorbikes
road noise & the groups going home after a night out.

Entertainment not too bad, but don't expect too much.

Good for groups of young people.

Not many sun beds.

We didn't enjoy it & won't be returning.
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Travel operator: Airtours

19 years 5 months ago
Area: we travelled the last week in October and everything was closing or already closed. This had the effect of making it a very quiet relaxing holiday. The hotel is situated a stroll from the main town and in the other direction a pleasant walk takes you further into San Antonia Bay. The beauty of the position of this hotel is the walking in either direction is made along the beach front. I should imagine in high season it would be a very different story judging by the number of hotels in the vincinity

Hotel Arenal: classed as a three star hotel and well deserved. The rooms are spacious with plenty of storage. as one person mentioned earlier, there are no tea making facilities in the room and no fridge to store milk. So take a kettle, stock up on the little long life milks from cafes before you go and "borrow" a cup from the restraunt I washed mine up and hid it as the cleaners are quite thorough and removed my first cup. The sea view rooms are wonderful. You can sit and watch the little boats and also the ferries chugging into the harbour nearby. At night you can hear the waves crashing on the shore as you are so close.
Meals: if you are not a fussy eater the food is more than adequate. The breakfast selection includes: croissants, brioche, rolls, toast, dried fruit, cereal, yogurt, doughnuts, something cooked like bacon or sausages. cold meat and cheese and teas coffees and fruit juice. Not many cooked vegetables to be seen in the evenings but a very good choice of salads and desserts. The dining room is quite cramped and again I should imagine that in the height of the season it would get extremely busy with long queues. One word of warning, if you have young children or like to eat early you may be disappointed to know that evening meals are served from 7.30pm

There are two swimming pools and two sunbathing areas. One pool is indoors and heated in Octber and May. It was like getting into a very warm bath! Only one brave soul attempted the oputdoor pool in October. The sun loungers all have cushions. The back of the hotel faces the sea and has just a paved promenade separating the beach from the sunbathing lawns.
The staff are variable as you would expect anywhere but I could not fault anyone when it came to an emergency. They were second to none. Even the restraunt manager who rarely smiled was very accomodating

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Travel operator: Airtours

Recommended
Karen
19 years 7 months ago
This was a lovely hotel in an absolutely lovely position, right on the beach the view every morning was breathtaking......We visited the Arenal mid september and it was still quite warm in the resort.

The staff are more than helpful, rooms are clean and tidy and the overall feel of the hotel is very welcoming.

Food here is mediocre........basic .....but the dining room staff are really nice and cater to your every whim.

I would definately visit this hotel again if only for the beautiful view......anyone booking this hotel ..ask for a sea view as otherwise you may get a room on the other side of the hotel ...facing the road.
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Travel operator: First Choice

Recommended
Dean
19 years 7 months ago
Walked in the front door at 3 in the morning and it looked impressive compared to others around it, with a friendly face to greet us.

The room was clean, big and a great view but with old looking basic decor.

The food, although seemed loads to choose from, was not to our taste, we had half board for 10 days but we only ate 1 meal and 3 breakfasts mainly croissants, as, the English breakfast for example, the sausages were weird little tasting things.

Facilities were not as stated unless you kept coughing up more cash e.g. TV, kettle, safe, which I thought should be basic items included, gym was never open.

Great location for that side of Ibiza but I was glad to go by the end of the holiday as the main clubs are by the hotel and shouting until 6 in the morning wears you down, the noise level at night is the worst thing about this hotel.

Had a tiff with one of the normally friendly receptionists as he got ratty with us because we didn't wait in the exact spot for a taxi he had called, I put it down to the Spanish temper but gave him a bit of British attitude back, he was ok later about it. TAXI is a swear word in Ibiza why don't they get more, I waited at the airport taxi rank 3 hours when we arrived.

The only problem is, I don't think I could find much better in the area so I would recommend it, but go self catering and prepare to pay extras.
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Travel operator: easyjet

Recommended
D Tapper
19 years 10 months ago
Brilliant location, right next to the beach.

Very helpful staff (especially the night manager).

Everywhere in hotel was clean.

Nice food but second week wasn't much choice.

Would definitely stay here again and recommned it to anyone.
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Travel operator: thomas cook

Recommended

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