Iberostar Selection Llaut

We’ve had a really nice stay at the Iberostar Selection Llaut Palma and I want to start by saying that this is a nice hotel with lovely staff, good food and a very relaxed atmosphere inside the hotel itself. This isn’t intended to be a “complain about everything” review as there are lots of positives. However, we feel that some of the information available when booking doesn’t necessarily give you a full picture of what the hotel and surrounding area are actually like, and if we had known some of these things beforehand, we probably would have chosen a different hotel.

The positives:

Check-in was excellent. We were greeted immediately with drinks, fruit and cold towels, and the staff explained the hotel and what was included with our Prestige Club package. Everyone we’ve encountered has been friendly and helpful.

The food is genuinely very good, particularly in the evenings. Dinner has a different themed night each evening, which keeps things interesting, and there is fresh fish and meat cooked every night. There is a good variety and we’ve really enjoyed the evening meals throughout our stay.

Lunch is nice but can become quite repetitive, although this may partly be because the hotel is very quiet at lunchtime. On some days there have been no more than around 10 tables occupied, as it seems that a lot of guests don’t stay all-inclusive.

The hotel itself is also very peaceful and chilled. Despite being in a busy part of Playa de Palma, you don’t get the feeling of being in a noisy hotel once you’re inside. It’s quite the opposite — the atmosphere is calm and relaxing.

Drinks are reasonably priced if you are paying, with cocktails being around €9.50. There are also little touches which are lovely, such as the occasional sangria left in the room by housekeeping.

A special shoutout to the staff:

We also want to give a special shoutout to some of the staff in the dining area, who have been brilliant throughout our stay. They have been friendly, attentive and genuinely made us feel welcome.

However, Jennifer, who runs the bar in the Star Prestige area, deserves a particular mention. She was absolutely fantastic and genuinely helped make our stay. She was constantly on it with offering us drinks and food, remembering what we liked and making sure we were looked after. Her service was exceptional and she was always so friendly and attentive. Staff like Jennifer really do make a difference to a holiday, and she deserves recognition for how hard she works.

Things we think people should know before booking:

The location is VERY lively. The hotel itself is quiet, but the surrounding area is a completely different story. Playa de Palma is extremely busy and, in our opinion, feels a bit like “German Benidorm”. There are lots of bars, people drinking and entertainment going on around the hotels. If you’re expecting a quiet, sophisticated area because you’re staying at an Iberostar Selection property, it’s worth being aware that the location doesn’t necessarily match that image.

The biggest surprise for us was the all-inclusive drinks allowance. All-inclusive only covers three drinks at lunch and three drinks at dinner. This applies to beer, wine, sangria, cava and Aperol, for example. If you want a drink outside those meal periods, you have to pay for it. This may be perfectly acceptable to some people, but it wasn’t what we expected from an all-inclusive Prestige Club stay and is something we wish had been made clearer.

The hotel is also very small. Again, this isn’t necessarily a negative, but it’s something to be aware of when choosing it. If you’re looking for a large resort with lots of pools, restaurants, bars and facilities, this isn’t that type of hotel.

The wardrobes in our room were another issue. There isn’t a huge amount of storage and they aren’t full-length, meaning dresses and longer clothes don’t hang properly. We were told that the wardrobes can vary between rooms, so this may not apply to every room.

We also upgraded from a regular Prestige room to a Prestige sea-view room, as all prestige rooms apparently come with a street facing view. Unfortunately, because of where this room is positioned at the end of the corridor and closest to the street, the noise was quite bad. We could hear entertainment performers from nearby hotels singing until around midnight, as well as significant road noise. It did settle down around midnight, but in the early hours we could still hear people shouting in the street. However the view was beautiful of the sea.

This is particularly worth considering if you’re booking specifically for a peaceful sea-view room. The view itself was lovely, but the location of our particular room meant that it wasn’t as peaceful as we had hoped.

Prestige Club:

I think this is probably the area where expectations could differ the most.

The Prestige “lounge” isn’t really a lounge in the traditional sense. It is essentially a small roped-off section of the hotel foyer with around six seats, some mini fridges stocked with drinks and a few snacks such as biscuits and apples.

It’s perfectly pleasant, but if you’re paying extra for Prestige expecting a large private lounge with lots of seating, food and facilities, you may be disappointed.

Also, despite being Prestige guests, you can’t sit in the Prestige area at lunchtime, which we found a little strange.

Overall:

We have enjoyed our stay and there are definitely things we love about this hotel — the staff are lovely, the food is good, the evening themed dinners and fresh fish and meat are a particular highlight, and the hotel itself is clean, modern and peaceful.

However, we think it’s important to distinguish between the hotel itself and its location. Inside the hotel is calm and relaxing; outside is very busy and lively.

For us, the main issue is that we don’t think the hotel’s marketing necessarily gives you a complete picture of the surrounding area, the small size of the hotel or exactly what Prestige/all-inclusive includes.

If you want a small, quiet hotel where you can relax during the day and don’t mind being in the middle of a very lively tourist area, you may absolutely love it. If you’re looking for a larger luxury resort in a quiet, sophisticated location with a more substantial Prestige lounge and a more generous all-inclusive offering, I would probably look elsewhere.

We’re glad we stayed and have had a lovely holiday, and the staff — particularly Jennifer — have genuinely made the experience better. But if we had known all of the above before booking, we personally would probably have chosen a different Iberostar property.

We had an amazing time at this hotel. Staff - nothing too much trouble and all so friendly and helpful Food - we were half board and the standard was exceptional - fresh lobster, scallops, salads and choice was brilliant Cleanliness - our room was spotless and so were the communal areas Spa - massages were excellent Entertainment- every evening there was a singer or live music - really enjoyed Location - this is the only reason it's not a 5 star review - it is right near quite a noisy beach with lively entertainment- not ideal for a relaxing stroll

Overall we had a fantastic week - Palma is not far by taxi and we had a mixture of sightseeing and pool days (as well as being lucky enough to see the eclipse)!