BQ Belvedere Hotel in Palma

The hotel isn’t bad, but there’s definitely room for improvement. First off, there’s no à la carte restaurant, just a buffet, and the meal times don’t always align with your plans on the island. For example, lunch ends at 2:30 PM, and just before that, the waitstaff literally starts pressuring you to leave. Some are friendlier than others, but I had one waitress who was particularly pushy and far from polite. After lunch ends, the restaurant doesn’t reopen until 6:30 PM, closing again at 9:30 PM. So, if you arrive back at the hotel around 2:30 PM, you’re out of luck for lunch, and there aren’t any nearby places to grab food. The only options are snacks like burgers and hot dogs, but even the snack bar closes at 6:00 PM.

The rooms don’t have minibars, and there are vending machines that only take coins, which often don’t work. I stayed on the seventh floor for over a week, and the machine on that floor never worked. I reported it several times, but no one fixed it, even though the issue was just a blocked coin—an easy fix. The machines on the lower floors accepted coins but didn’t dispense anything. The only ones that worked were by the reception, meaning if you get thirsty in the middle of the night and don’t have water, you’ll have to go all the way down to the reception to use the machines.

As for pool towels, you can’t borrow them—you have to rent them. But you can’t rent them by the day; you’re charged for your entire stay. I stayed for over a week and only used the pool twice, but they wouldn’t let me rent a towel for just those two days—I had to pay for the whole week.

Room service doesn’t exist, so forget about ordering food to your room. And after 9:30 PM, there’s absolutely nothing to eat. If, like me, you prefer late dinners, well, tough luck.

The best part of the hotel is definitely the front desk staff—they were incredibly friendly.

The rooms are decent, but if you book a room with an ocean view, be aware that the view is mostly blocked by trees.

The pool isn’t heated, and when I visited at the end of September, the water was so cold it was almost impossible to swim. In fact, very few people were even trying.

Overall, it’s a hotel that could really improve the guest experience.

On a positive note, they were super accommodating and got me into my room incredibly fast. I arrived at 11 AM, even though check-in is usually at 3 PM, and by 11:30 AM, I was already settled in my room.