Aparthotel Duva,

What a holiday, where do I start. We booked for 10 days through Travel Republic over 12 months in advance and got a fantastic price actually saving over £2000 for our family of 4 although we were in a family group of 13. As a taxi transfer from Palma airport to hotel Duva would be in the region of £70 to £80 each way for 4 people we decided to contact the hotel and ask them to arrange it, this was done and cost of just €135 each way for the entire group. A 21 seater coach arrived and just less than an hour later we were at the hotel, there was no messing about dropping other passengers. Upon arrival at the hotel we were greeted by Miguel who was nothing less than amazing, his English was fantastic and he explained everything in perfect detail, he took his time and even had a laugh with the children. We were given hotel and local information and an access key for the room and directed to the lift.

We were given 3 adjacent rooms and 1 five doors away on the first floor directly above reception facing the mountains to the rear of the hotel. I do not believe we could have been in better rooms anywhere in the hotel. The rooms are not overly extravagant but are more than suitable with a lovely bathroom consisting of all the usual including a bidet and hair dryer. There was a large separate bedroom with its own air conditioning, two single beds and a safe in the wardrobe. In the main area was the quite well equipped kitchen with toaster, microwave, double hob, kettle, sink, various pots, and cutlery. Also in this area were two single beds, a wardrobe, full size cupboard, display cabinet, television, numerous drawers and cupboards. In the apartment there was more than enough storage for all the families clothing. At the far side of the room was the patio door leading to the balcony which was approximately 8ft by 4ft with a table and two chairs. It is advisable to take a length of washing line and pegs as the hotel don’t really like towels and clothing hanging over the balcony rail as it can quite easily blow down with a breeze. The maid service operates from Monday to Saturday and you get new towels every other day and new bedding every third day. They do an excellent job and you can definitely see when they've been.

Duva is in three sections, each with its own pool, the main pool is a decent size and starts at a depth of 1.3m with a smaller childrens pool adjacent at a level depth of 0.9m. There is a solid railing between the two pools for safety. Both pools are kept perfectly clean and are available for use from 8am to 9pm. There are at a guess 60 to 80 sun loungers which start getting reserved from about 8am. There are also in the region of 30 tables leading from the pool towards the bar.

The bar opens at 10am and remains open till midnight every day. Between the hours of noon and 2.45pm the bar also serves excellent quality snacks and light meals such as salads, burgers, sandwiches and omelettes, all at reasonable prices. There is a vast amount of drinks available including slush, juice, cordials, beer, spirits and sangria. The staff are all extremely friendly and definitely go out of their way to make you happy. One lovely touch is that while the entertainment is on the bar staff takes your drink orders from your seat so that you don’t need to go to the bar and miss any of the show.

The entertainment on offer mainly centres on the stage area and is available from 10am to 11pm every day except Saturday. There are two members of entertainment staff, Miguel and Angie, I can honestly say they were born entertainers, they give 100% all of the time and are still smiling last thing at night even after a full day. There was a huge range of daytime activities for the children including arts and crafts, pony riding, bouncy castle, archery, face painting, zorbs, water polo, and every day at noon there is the cocktail game which was a random simple catching game where the winner receives an alcohol free drink. Adults are definitely not left out and were also offered daytime activities including archery, water polo, darts and pool competitions and an alcoholic version of the cocktail game. The evening entertainment started at 8.30pm with the childrens disco for an hour where the entertainment staff dance around and teach the children the moves this is followed by 30 minutes of bingo with the prize for a full house of between €120 and €180 during my stay, the bingo cards are €1 each or 6 for €5. At 10pm the main entertainment started, this gets quite busy and the show can be anything from Lady Gaga and Rihanna to a hypnotist or Michael Jackson tribute. The shows are the quite good for hotel standard, very entertaining and most give you the chance to go up on stage if you want. If the children are not interested in the nightly show then they can spend their time playing pool, table tennis, or there is a slide for the younger ones and two rides next to the bar.

Although the hotel isn't in the centre of Pollença it is only 850m from the beach which is about a 15 minute walk, although it does seem further in the hot sun. The reception staff is more than happy to order you a taxi which costs in the region of €5 to the beach or taxi rank which is the centre of the port. Most taxis arrive within 5 to 10 minutes but be warned that Sunday is market day in Pollença and getting taxis is near impossible during the market hours of 8am and 1pm, even the public buses run at capacity. Within a three minute walk there are three restaurants/bars and a supermarket which is crammed full of the basics and even stocks beach accessories.

All in all, Aparthotel Duva is a wonderful place to stay, I've been twice and I'm already planning a third visit. What makes it special is excellent staff, great food and entertainment and a gorgeous view of the mountains. I appreciate that there are plenty of hotels closer to the centre of Pollença and less of a walk but I’d trade that for Duva ant day of the week.