Castillo Hotel Son Vida, a Luxury Collection Hotel

Excellent five star hotel, but go out for dinner!

Terrific hotel, expensive but worth the money. Just ten minutes taxi ride from the centre of Palma, but very quiet. Great views over the city from a stunning terrace, especially at night. Good outdoor pools (3 - one dedicated to children) and other facilities - gym, indoor pool, excellent beauty treatments. Reception, etc., in a very atmospheric part buiilding, most rooms in a modern extension. Like most American owned high class hotels, very well equipped room, but not at all Spanish - you could have been anywhere in the world until you looked out of the window! Housekeeping was excellent - prompt and thorough. Breakfasts magnificent - every possible choice and outstanding quality. Only dinner was disappointing - overpriced, average quality, lax service. We used the local restaurants in Palma and had much better food for half the price. Take a reliable guidebook though -you’ll need it to seek out some of the best places to eat. Overall, I would happily recommend this hotel.

Traveller's tip on dining

Try Mangiafuoco in the Santa Cataline district of Palma - very good basic Italian food, great service,and reasonably priced.

First class

We stayed at the Castillo over Christmas this year.The welcome was friendly and remained so over the course of our three day stay,the rooms were spacious and elegant,this is a true deluxe hotel. The restaurants and bar were excellent but expensive but no more than you would expect in a hotel of this quality,if you are on a budget this would be a problem otherwise we would recommend this hotel.

Nice enough but far too expensive for what you get

This hotel is nice enough but its very, very expensive and its just not good enough for what its costing you. The overall feel is a bit bland like a big chain hotel such as the Marriott. One of my mains problems was the cost of the food and drinks, really expensive but not very good. We were eating at gourmet places in Palma which were far tastier for half the price. This isnt that simple as the hotel is a taxi ride away from anywhere on island, so its not convenient to eat out every night, especially if you’ve been out all day. Cocktails were super expensive and the quality, especially when made during the day by the poolside staff was frankly rubbish. Other niggling things were the endless insipid piano medley of well known hits that was on a 10 minute loop in all the bars and the smallest and worst selection of movies Ive ever seen in a hotel. On a positive note the staff were very friendly and helpful. Through my work I travel a lot and have stayed at many top hotels around the world and Castillo Hotel Son Vida just doesn’t measure up to the rates they charge