Occidental Menorca

Looking for a hotel that suited my children aged 9,11 & 15, my mother aged 80 and me (in the middle somewhere!), was always going to be a bit of a challenge! It was the first time we'd all flown together so I didn't want anywhere too far, too hot or with a long airport transfer. The Occidental Menorca has fanstastic reviews for one reason - it is fantastic! I was worried a holiday in Mid-August would find rammed sunbeds, full to bursting buffet restaurants and difficulty finding a secluded spot on the beach. I needn't have worried. Here are the main things to note! Booking: We booked the flights direct (Jet 2 - fab. Top tip, check-in online and use the fast track bag drop at the airport to beat queue) transfers direct (£75 return private minibus with Suntransfers) and hotel direct with Barcelo online incl discounts and 200 euros to spend in the hotel (though we strugged to spend this as most things are included!) Overall I calculated we saved nearly £2k compared to booking with TUI! Check in: The transfer was only 20 minutes so easy. It took 15 minutes or so to wait for check-in as it was a busy time and our room wasn't ready at 1pm so we had lunch whilst it was prepared. Room: We chose a family room which was perfect. One room with large twin beds, own shower room, tv, efficient aircon, balcony and an adjoining door to the kids room, double bed, sofa with trundle bed, tv, own aircon, large bathroom and two balconies. The rooms are arranged in 8 colourful blocks near the top end of the hotel so we found them quiet. Pools: The hotel is spread out from the top end room blocks down towards the sea. There are 3 pools near to the rooms and always sunbeds available, depite many people unnecessarily 'reserving' them with towels! A few minutes walk down through the hotel grounds or along the road brings you to, what we named, "the secret pool". Not large but never really busy, and most times just another couple of families so it was like our own private pool, and then the kids splash park great for younger ones. Both areas have their own pool bar, though only the top one does food. Food: The All inclusive option definitely suited us, the kids loved being able to walk up and order non-stop slushies! It was well worth it, however this was an area of slight criticism, I've stayed in one other AI before and the choice was much more varied, particular with better deserts/sweets. The children were limited in the main buffet restaurant and mainly ate pizza and chips. If your kids are fairly unadventurous eaters (like mine) you may find they'll eat in the pool bar where they have nuggets, hot dogs, burgers, chips, icecream etc served all day. My mum and I did enjoy the food though; excellent 'cooked whilst you wait' meat, fish, eggs area with bbq on the terrace at lunch. Separate pizza and pasta bar, with the wonderful pasta chef 'Rossy' - amazing to watch her cook the pasta with such enthusiasm. Bar choice good. You won't fail to put weight on!!! Entertainment: Another area for slight criticism, which we didn't particularly enjoy. My kids didn't want to do the clubs/activiites but some days the activities took over the pool area - either with blasting music for aqua aerobics or water polo, where we had to move to another pool. I only enjoyed one night of the evening entertainment (an Il Divo tribute) and other days it was very mediocre with the enterrtainment staff running it rather than paying for special guests. The clientele at the hotel are, I would guess, 50% Italian, 40% Spanish and 10% English, so the language (and food) was more aimed at this mix. Beach area: Punta Prima is small and quiet, with a few restaurants and shops. The beach is perfect, and our favourite thing of the holiday was snorkelling near the rocks on the side of the beach. We also found a hidden 'blue lagoon' which was fantastic! Walk up the road on the right hand side and round the bend and about 100 m on the left look for some steps, walk over the rocks to the cliff and you will find some steps cut into the rock to get down to the sea - wow, what an experience! Other activities: You must take a bus trip to Mahon, we went Tuesday which was market day, it is a BEAUTIFUL place and one I will return to as we only had a few hours here. We also visited the Splash Waterpark, catch the free bus (wave it down outside the hotel) and go after 3pm to get half price entry (12 euros each). 2 hours was plenty to enjoy. The gym is well equipped and my son and I had fun trying the weights! We were going to use our 200 euros on a Family spa visit but it was fully booked, therefore book this up early if you want to do this. As you can tell, I really enjoyed Occidental Menorca and Punta Prima and would higly recommend to anyone looking for a relaxing family holiday.

We had a great time. The food was of a good quality and very varied so there was something different to choose from each night. There was also a pasta and pizza area outside and a bbq. Food was cooked in front of you and you could see it was freshly prepared. The animation team were great and my daughter loved the mini disco. There was also plenty of entertainment like singers and acoustic guitar players. Thank you for an amazing holiday

We spent one week at this Hotel in Menorca, 13 Years after our 1st visit to the island. Rooms are quite small for a 4* Hotel and the food is quite bad. We were on all inclusive basis. The bars are OK, but all drinks are free, nevertheless what they offer it´s OK.

The hotel has a good location, 200 m from the sea, in front of the hotel there is a bus stop (20 min to the capital city Maó). The rooms are modern, well equippede. The staff is pleasant, willing, the kitchen is excellent. You can stroll around the surroundings, near a nature reserve, a waterpark or we can go by a local train that takes you to the nearby Binibeca beach. But beach in Punta Prima is better 😊.

We are a family of 4 (children 5 & 2) and whilst we haven’t been staying at the hotel on several occasions have paid to use the hotels facilities... mainly to use the splash zone. It costs around €7 per adult including a drink. We have loved it and our boys even more so. Would highly recommend!! It’s a really nice hotel with excellent family friendly facilities.