You know when you have found a special hotel for a family holiday when your kids don’t want to leave. This is exactly what happened during our visit to the Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf, we loved it here.
Let me take you back six days earlier, it’s lunchtime and my husband finds and books cheap flights for us to Palma de Mallorca. It has been over 20 years since we last visited Majorca and the girls had never been so it was the perfect excuse to spend a long weekend in the sunshine.
The benefit of holidaying in Mallorca either for a long weekend or for your typical 7, 10 or 14 day break is the wide selection of flights available from nearly every UK airport from all the major airlines.
Slightly worried as we were due to fly in less than 48 hours, next up was choosing a hotel and in our household there are a lot of requirements when it comes to holidays. After spending hours looking through brochures, YouTube, social media and websites for inspiration we found the Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf, a luxury hidden gem that many families might overlook.
I always try to choose a hotel that brings a smile to your face and the Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf ticked all these boxes and more, let me tell you why it’s such a family friendly hotel.
We flew with Thomas Cook from Cardiff and touched down in Palma de Mallorca just over 2 hours later. The Sheraton Mallorca is perfect for families who do not wish to have a long journey when leaving the airport – within 20 minutes our taxi had arrived in the quiet, upmarket area of Son Vida in the hills above Palma de Mallorca.
This hotel oozes understated luxury in a beautiful setting. When we arrived at the Sheraton Mallorca, built in the style of a Spanish manor house we instantly knew it was something special.
With only 93 rooms the hotel retains a personal charm with the highest levels of service and even though we visited during the peak season the hotel never felt overcrowded.
On arrival our luggage was whisked away by the hotel porters and Chloe and Holly were excited to check out the hotel and in particular its pools.
The hotel’s friendly, welcoming service started at check-in and this great service continued throughout every aspect of our stay. Every member of staff that we encountered was attentive and was a credit to the Sheraton brand.
I loved the public areas of the hotel which like its exterior are meant to evoke a grand Spanish architecture with exposed wooden beams, opulent artwork and grand staircases. The beauty is that the lobby area opens up onto a large terrace overlooking the pool which was one of my many favourite parts of the hotel.
Our Room – Junior Suite
We stayed in one of the spacious junior suites at the hotel with a king size bed and a large comfortable sofa bed for the girls.
These contemporary and stylish rooms are perfect for families and had everything we would need, including all the little extras you would expect at a 5* hotel from bathrobes and slippers, daily complimentary bottled water to an evening turn down service.
These rooms could also be extended with an interconnecting room for extra space and privacy but as our stay was last minute availability was limited. We had a lovely welcome to the hotel with cakes, local drink and champagne for us which was a really thoughtful touch.
One of my favourite parts of the room was the spacious terrace, where my Ian and I would sit in the evening taking in the beautiful views whilst Chloe and Holly were happy chilling on their beds taking advantage of the free high speed wifi using their ipads.
The bathroom was very spacious, with marble top sink, bathtub, large mirror, gorgeous smelling toiletries and a large walk-in shower with one of the most powerful waterfall showers that we have used on our travels.
Pools and Gardens
This place is a dream location for kids, with great pools, kids club, sporting facilities, playground etc. Once we knew the girls were entertained we were able to sit back and relax and enjoy everything the hotel had to offer.
What makes the Sheraton Mallorca perfect for families are its four swimming pools – in fact this is one of the main reasons why we chose to stay here, they are really impressive surrounded by beautiful and well maintained grounds.
The majority of our time was spent at the family pool, because of its fun waterslides, we lost count the amount of times the girls whizzed down these slides each day – they had such a great time here. One little touch I appreciated was on our first day the lifeguard checked with us if the girls were strong swimmers.
The large freeform pool was the most impressive and we would split our time between here and the family pool where the girls would practice their swimming and making new friends from across the world – another reason why we love travelling so much with the girls.
At the poolside staff were always on hand with pool towels or to take drinks or food orders from the poolside bar. Even though our stay was in the peak summer season, the pools never felt crowded during our visit with ample padded loungers to choose from whenever we arrived during the day.
Dining
One of the main reasons we tend to stay at luxury hotels around the world is because we spend a lot of time on property and the restaurants at the Sheraton did not disappoint – Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all fabulous here.
Each morning at the Es Cabo restaurant we were greeted upon arrival and a beautiful buffet selection (included in room rate) awaited us with lots of options from hot cooked breakfast items to small pastries, fresh fruit, yogurts and cereals. The live cooking station was another highlight with chefs that were so friendly as they made us omelettes, eggs, pancakes and waffles to order.
Hot drinks and fresh juices are served at the table and I particularly liked the wide range of teas on offer and the child sized hot chocolates which Chloe and Holly loved each morning along with the freshly made biscuits.
Complimentary newspapers from around Europe (The Times, Daily Mail from the UK) were also available for guests. The outdoor terrace overlooking the Arabella golf course and Mallorcan hills is what really makes this a unique place to start your day – I loved it here.
The outdoor terrace of the La Bodega del green restaurant was a lovely lunch setting each day for our poolside meals. It was really family friendly with a great children’s menu to choose from which would satisfy both the fussiest eaters and more adventurous kids ranging from pizzas and burgers to authentic Spanish tapas.
We returned for dinner at La Bodega del green each evening which was a more formal setting where the chefs would prepare meals in their open kitchen, with seating either inside the elegant and welcoming restaurant or on the terrace overlooking the Arabella golf course.
It’s making me feel hungry writing about this as the food was that good here with an extensive range of tapas options, meat and fish dishes along with a great choice of local Mallorcan and Spanish wines.
Our personal highlights were the patatas bravas, fresh tiger prawns and tempura vegetables to start and the beef tenderloin and Iberian pork for mains.
Desserts were equally impressive and delicious in particular the macaroons and the traditional Mahon cheesecake which are definitely worth choosing – you are really spoilt for choice.
Prices were as could be expected for a 5 star hotel and our dining experiences were excellent with very attentive, highly trained staff.
Facilities
There are few organised activities here during the day however there is more than enough to keep the whole family busy throughout the day.
The girls love tennis so we took advantage of the tennis courts at the hotel for an early morning family game before it got too hot.
We later found out that the hotel offers private tennis tuition for children which we would have definitely have booked for them if we knew about this on check-in.
Next to the tennis courts was a beach volleyball which we were told by the lifeguard was recently built for a visit by the Belgian football team. Alongside the family pool was lots of open space for the girls to run around and have fun along with a small football pitch which was a favourite of Ian’s.
Golf is a big part of the hotels attraction and one of the main reasons many people stay here, however even if you are non-golfers like us you can’t fail to be impressed by the four golf courses that surround the hotel.
If our stay was longer we would have booked onto one of the family golf lessons offered at the hotel although I feel that the girls would have had more fun driving the golf buggies around the resort!
I couldn’t stay here without having a little me time and relaxation at the hotels Shine Spa. I enjoyed an Indian head massage whilst Ian and the girls had fun at the outdoor pools – bliss.
The pool at the spa is equally as impressive with its floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the outdoor pools. The spa pool was a saviour for the girls as one afternoon we had an unusual rain storm which meant that they could continue having fun in the water whatever the weather.
There is a complimentary kids club but it’s quite low key and the evening entertainment program is pretty much non-existent but that’s the charm of this hotel.
If you are looking for a loud, busy hotel in the centre of a holiday resort then the Sheraton Mallorca isn’t for you. What this hotel offers is family friendly luxury with levels of service to match its 5 star rating.
At the end of each night we made our nightly stop at Link Sheraton in the hotel lobby. Here the girls enjoyed practicing their IT skills creating posters and artwork whilst Ian and I would relax in the comfortable lobby bar or library area.
Although there are no shops or restaurants within walking distance of the hotel, if you wanted to venture further afield the beautiful cathedral, marina and huge range of great shops and restaurants of Palma were just a 15 minute taxi ride away.
Overall and is it family friendly?
There are many ways to experience Mallorca, but staying at the Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf must be one of the very best luxury hotels for families. It’s safe to say that we loved our long weekend here, it really is an exceptional hotel – a true hidden gem.
Don’t let the word golf in the title put you off, although it has four amazing golf courses this hotel is a perfect choice for families wanting a relaxing luxury break in the sun.
If I get my own way we will be back here shortly, but next time we’ll have to convince the kids to leave the hotel so we can explore nearby Palma and the rest of this gorgeous island.
Prices at the Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf start from a very reasonable £271 per night inc breakfast or 77,000 points per night for a family room during the peak summer season when booking direct at www.marriott.com