Very disappointing experience — definitely not a 4-star hotel
We stayed at Ona Cala Pi as a family of four — myself, my partner and our two youngest children — and unfortunately, we were very disappointed.
Firstly, the rooms are quite old and badly in need of updating. The hotel is advertised as 4-star, but in our experience, it simply does not meet that standard.
When booking, I specifically chose a room category where the photos showed two proper double beds. However, when we arrived, there was only one proper double bed, while the second consisted of two separate mattresses that constantly moved apart. One child sleeps with me and the other with their dad, so this was a real problem. It took three or four strongly worded emails before the hotel finally provided a special sheet to hold the two mattresses together. Before that, we were told that they did not have a suitable mattress.
Then all four members of our family became ill with viral gastroenteritis. We contacted a doctor through our travel insurance and were effectively confined to the hotel for several days. Viral gastroenteritis is highly contagious, and the hotel staff were fully aware that we were ill. Nevertheless, we were still allowed to use the communal areas and restaurant instead of being offered food delivery to our room or any other safer alternative. We had to walk to the restaurant ourselves to get food, potentially exposing other guests to the infection.
When we raised the situation with the hotel, their main response was that it could not be proven that we had contracted the infection at the hotel. We are not claiming that this has been established as a fact. However, when hotel staff know that guests have viral gastroenteritis, we would expect at least some basic care and sensible precautions to protect other guests.
We also asked for soiled bedding to be changed and for a warm blanket, but received very little practical assistance. When we asked for a bucket, we were given plastic bags instead.
The situation became even more stressful when our hire car was towed away by the police because a temporary parking restriction had been introduced after we had parked the car. As we had been ill and had barely left the hotel for several days, we did not see the new sign. We then had to pay fines, vehicle recovery charges and taxi fares to retrieve the car.
The food was another disappointment. The menu was almost the same day after day. This might be acceptable for one or two days, but when you are staying for 11 days, you expect considerably more variety.
I would, however, like to say that most of the hotel staff were friendly and pleasant. The main exception was the reception team. In particular, one female member of staff, whom we noticed working there almost every day, was extremely unpleasant in the way she spoke to guests and even raised her voice at us. Her manner of speaking to paying guests was completely inappropriate for someone working in hospitality.
Overall, this was advertised as a 4-star stay that certainly did not feel like 4 stars. Old rooms, repetitive food, very little practical support and extremely disappointing customer service. We would not return.
