Sol Holidays

Sol Hotels? Sound familiar? Of course it does. We've talked a lot about their hotels here, because this hotel chain has remodelled and modernized their establishments in Spain to a great extent in recent years. This brand is integrated within the Melià Group and was their family hotel branch less than a decade ago.

Ok. After giving all their hotels all over the world a full facelift, turning them into centres specializing in holiday experiences and leisure beyond what can be expected by a mere hotel, or just accommodation, Sol Hotels is now one of the most studied success stories in tourism schools all over the world.

Pioneers in many things and participants in many historic tourism milestones, the strength of a group such as Melià Hotels & Resorts is noticeable and a lot of the strategy behind their hotel renovations as well as the very beginnings of the group itself, are of course found on Mallorca, the birth place of what is now one of the largest hotel groups in the world.

Sol Hotels has hotels in nearly all of Spain's tourist areas featuring sun and a bit of beach. But its origin, its essence, is mainly found along Mallorca's western coastline, on the coast of Calvià, very near the beach in Magaluf. There, in one of the oldest tourism spots in the country, Melià invested in Sol Hotels and the result was the fresh, dynamic, cool, young and fun place it is today.

These hotels have become famous for their design, their parties and their facilities (one of them has an artificial surf wave where you can enjoy the waves that the Mediterranean lacks without having to miss out on its excellent climate). Sol House, Sol Beach House, Sol Wave House... You choose the hotel most suited to your idea of a holiday: as a couple, with friends, just in peace and quiet. Every hotel offers a different experience, something unique, even something that changes according to the season you decide to book: spring, summer, autumn, which one will you go for?

The brand has also worked on a very important aspect that has so far been rather overlooked by the hotel sector in general: environmental care, promoting the attractiveness of the destination, the connection with society as a whole and participation in events. In exchange, residents have taken on these hotels as something extra, as a meeting point, not only a place for foreigners and visitors, but also somewhere to enjoy any day of the week.

La marca ha trabajado también un aspecto muy importante y bastante olvidado hasta ahora por el sector hotelero: el cuidado del entorno, la potenciación de los atractivos del destino, la conexión con su sociedad y la participación en sus eventos. A cambio, los residentes han asumido estos hoteles como algo más, como un punto de encuentro, un lugar no solo para extranjeros y visitantes sino para disfrutar cualquier día.

Amazing Stories: Sol Katmandu Park

My name is Gustavo. My family and I have always lived in Seville, and we recently decided to go on holidays. We usually planned holidays 2 or 3 months in advance but at the end we travelled anywhere. This time we plan and organize everything perfectly to achieve our goal: Majorca!

Our hotel choice

Yolanda (my wife) and I have 3 children. 2 girls (aged 12 and 10), and an almost 2 years old baby, so we had to choose the best hotel for them: children friendly hotel where they can have fun. It’s not easy as there are many results when you look for “hotels in Majorca”, but finally we could find an amazing hotel where my wife and I had also lots of fun. We had a great memorable experience at Sol Katmandu Park Resort.

What we liked the most at the hotel in Majorca

We could explain our visits to Drach caves, popular monuments, tours or leisure activities, but what we really should stand out is our experience at Sol Katmandu Park Resort by Sol Hotels, Melia subsidiary.

●      First, the prices. Despite being one of the best family hotels in Majorca, prices are really affordable for this type of hotel. It offers great promotions as the entrance to the amusement park for free, which Fabian (2 year old baby) enjoyed to the fullest.

●      They always offer the Play Pass including up to 4 family members free entrance to several park attractions until 6pm. I recommend you to visit Zombies!

●      Fabian could enter to Kamp Katakidu park, specially designed for babies.

The hotel service

Sol Katmandu Park Resort is a themed park with rooms where you rest and have fun as well. We must stand out the hotel customer care and guest services. The hotel staff is really friendly and you feel like being in another country as you arrive at the hotel reception, where the girls dress typical clothes from Nepal. Just amazing! They always tried to help us if we didn’t know where to take the bus or how to reach some places. They even booked for us an affordable transport to go to Drach Caves.

Of course, I highly recommend it!

Sol Hotels invites you to have fun in Majorca

In Majorca you will be able to know three or four coves on your holidays. Majorca is full of contrasts, wonderful landscapes and must-visit places. If you want to have fun with your family, Majorca is the perfect choice. Enjoy the sun all day long, ride along Bahia de Palma and the most important thing: enjoy Majorca to the fullest with Sol Hotels.

Have fun in Sol Katmandu Park Resort

Hotel Katmandu Park offers bottomless fun. Sol Hotels suggests you this hotel to make your holidays in Majorca unique and memorable, so you will look forward to going back.

The hotel is close to popular places like Palma, Puerto Portals or Golf Poniente, and next to bus and taxi stops. From there you can take the taxi or bus and explore the entire island, just in case you want to leave a hotel offering you everything you need.

When you reach the hotel, a huge themed park will welcome you. It’s located in Playa de Calvia, within 300 meters of the impressive Magalluf beach. The hotel has 3 pools, one of them is just for kids; a bar in every pool; a themed restaurant with Spanish and international cuisine; babysitter, kids club (for kids over 8 months) and maxi club (ages 5 to 12) to enjoy fun activities.

All rooms in Sol Katmandu Park Resort evoke happiness, which is perfect for families.

4-star entertainment

The hotel is designed to entertain you with a fantastic themed park on the shore of two impressive beaches in Mallorca (Calvia and Magalluf). Come and enjoy the sun and the sand in this great hotel (and its park).

Of course, you should also visit its aquatic park (restricted to kids), where you can enjoy breathtaking jumps. A place where fun is assured and designed for you and your family.

Family hotels

Family hotels must be well designed spaces reflecting the needs and tastes of all the members. Offering good services for children is not enough if parents have not an alternative to enjoy their free time. It is true that most of the travellers are happy with a hotel having a good swimming pool area to sunbathe, a wide room with private bathroom and a varied cuisine service, but there are more and more guests requesting specific services and spaces where they can really rest and get away from the routine.

In this sense, as we have previously said in this blog, the family accommodations that we find nowadays in the main destinations of the European coast have become aware and have started to repair some accommodations with significant lacks from the 60's and 70's, tourism boom time.

 

 

Some of them have focused on the improvement and renovation of facilities, concentrating efforts on offering more complete rooms, with more comfortable spaces, modern and friendly furniture, and restaurant services in keeping with new needs and tastes: theme dinners with international cuisine (Japanese, Thai, Italian...)  dietary dishes, vegetarian menus and special products for coeliacs and allergic people, food for children, etc.

Other hotels, with a more bold plan and more investment, have bet on a radical change and specialization in specific publics, allowing them to undeniably stand out among the rest. In the case of the called Flintstones Hotels which belong to the Sol Hotels line of Melià, offering to the parents the possibility of booking a hotel on the seashore, conceived as a small theme park for children.

Other accommodations have opted for paying attention to the needs of the adults, keeping a good service of miniclub and creating new wellness facilities compatible with the days of beach and good cuisine. Thus, family hotels with Only Adults areas or spa appeared, among which stand out many accommodations in Majorca, such as the spa and golf resorts close to Palma.

 

 

Romantic evenings with special service of miniclub or minidisco, collective activities, sport options for all ages...  The range of plans have also significantly changed in the last years, looking for more and more harmony between the members of the family that travel and share hotel.

The most neglected niche are the teenagers: too big to enjoy a miniclub, but too small to travel alone during a week. Nevertheless, it is likely that there will be progress in the coming years. The activities, facilities and options offered nowadays by family hotels do not care for this public, which ends up choosing activities for adults such as sports, or just sunbathing on the pools.

Family hotels: travel with children, and have a happy rest

Staying in family hotels with children is an authentic oasis of peace and safety for those travelling with the little ones. Holidays with children are always full of surprises and fun, but it is also true that they could be everything except holidays for parents, who end up more tired than they were before.

Today, we will make a list of family hotels in different destinations, with the objective of give you some keys to choose a complicit accommodation guaranteeing holidays for kids and adults alike. Every hotel has been selected for offering services conceived of to fulfil the wishes of parents and children, regarding not the destination, but the accommodation, since in this cases it could be more crucial than the place we decide to go to.

Flintstones hotels: the hotels for children who love their parents

They make part of the family beach resorts chain, Sol Hotels, which belongs to the Spanish hotel group Melià Hotels & Resorts and which have turned into some of the most appreciated accommodations for holidays with children. Their secret? They offer an authentic theme park inside the hotel, essentially conceived as an adventure camping for kids and as a place of rest and break for parents who can peacefully  enjoy entire days their own way.

They have a complete team of instructors with certified professional accreditation, specialised in child care. Facilities are other of the main attractions: they are hotels inspired by the mythic series of The Flintstones and offer from theme restaurant to miniclub and workshops, everything related to these famous characters.

Sleeping in a theme park?

Now it is possible: the family hotels line in Melià possesses another hotel designed to please the little ones. Completely refurbished and making part of a megaproject of recovery of the tourist area of Magaluf, Sol Katmandú Park & Resort is one of those places representing the dream of all children: a hotel with all kinds of comforts and special access to the Katmandú theme park, where you find activities and shows for all ages.

Hotels... Splash!

They are the latest in accommodation for those travelling with children. They are beach hotels with pools for children, turned into water parks. We find one of the best examples in Majorca, in the quiet area of Torrenova, one step from the Palmanova beach and with excellent connection to the Balearic capital and to its airport. Besides being a very comfortable hotel for couples wanting to rest on the banks of the Mediterranean, this accommodation of the Marina Hotels chain is one of the perfect places for travelling with children: its team of instructors, its miniclub and the Splash pools will make sure the children enjoy like never before while you forget everything and relax under the sun.

Sport, games and nature for children

For the most active families there are also very interesting accommodations options. Again in Majorca, but in this occasion in the northern coast of the island, in the hotels area in Playa de Muro and Alcudia are placed some of the best hotels for family and athletes of the Balearics.

Equipped with all the necessary services to enjoy relaxing holidays and activities out of doors, we also find this type of hotels in Almeria, such as those managed by the Garden Hotels chain in El Toyo, where these accommodations also offer special services for the little ones and a unique environment for enjoying with the family.

Keys to find accommodation for groups in coastal destinations

Finding a good accommodation for groups in a coastal destination, sounds easier than  it really is. The big offer of accommodations and hotels for groups in areas such as Cádiz, Tenerife or Majorca, allows you to choose among a wide variety, but you also run the risk of ending up in a low quality accommodation, with terrible services and careless attention, very usual in offers for groups.

A safe option is always to bet on the renowned hotels . Big chains offer interesting discounts in their beach hotels for friends and groups, especially during the spring season and at the beginning of the summer.  All the chains offering hotels in Cancún and the Caribbean are, generally, a wise choice, since they are big resorts with all kind of All inclusive amenities with no distinction between families and large groups. 

Nevertheless, with the national destinations you must be very demanding to avoid last minute disappointments.  The problem is that often hotels in Spain dedicated to the tourism of groups and friends (graduation trips, stag parties ...) are not the most comfortable, functional and newest ones.  This type of visitors, up to now, usually booked ripe hotels, without refurbishing and with limited cuisine proposals. 

In the last years, tendency has reversed, since it is confirmed this is one of the publics that keep travelling even in crisis times and, besides, use to spend a lot on hotels.  In this way, hotels lines for friends have not only refurbished its facilities (as you can see in the portfolio of specific brands such as Sol Hotels of Melià) but also has turned into a real goldmine, as happens in the hotels with DJ in Majorca and Ibiza.

When choosing a good hotel for groups it is important to bear some things in mind:

•  Price is very important, also for budgets, but especially because it is an indicative of the type of hotel we will find when arriving to the destination. Bargains are scant, so if the offer is really surprising, it is better to devote a while to search by internet on third parties' websites specific opinions from other users.

FERGUS Barracuda hotel

• Rooms:  Sometimes, there are hotels which call themselves hotels for groups, because, commercially, this public is very interesting, but not all of them are prepared to host them with comfort.  Hotels with connected family rooms, triple or double, are a good option, since those offering just double or single rooms, usually increase the estimated costs. 
• Cuisine:  It is not necessary that they have gourmet restaurants, a good buffet is enough, but it is important to make sure it is a buffet worth to pay, especially if the getaway lasts more than 4 days.  Monotony of many buffets usually forces to pay twice: All inclusive of the hotel, plus the meals that, at the end, you end up buying outside.
• All inclusive:  It is a classic but is still the best option for travelling in group, especially if you have a fixed budget.  It is important reading what it includes and what not. Often, some products which are removed, are essential to enjoy a good trip with friends.
• Connections and moves: It is not always possible to rent a car for all the group, so a good condition to bear in mind is the location of a hotel for friends: close to the airport or with transfers included; close to the leisure areas, places of interest, and commercial areas; next to the beach or the mountain (depending of the type of trip you want). Forgetting during some days you car, is a great advantage.  Having prices and transportation controlled is a plus, especially if the chosen accommodation is instead of a beach hotel, a hotel in the centre of Madrid o Barcelona. 

Sol Hotels, the family hotels chain of Melià

When we talk about family hotels or beach resorts for children, the Sol Hotels brand appears on the front page.  It is the chain created by the Melià Hotels & Resorts group especially for those families wanting to enjoy quiet days on the seashore, with everything within reach.

Almuñecar, Costa del Sol, Benidorm, Majorca, Tenerife, Lanzarote or even Bulgaria, Croatia or Egypt are some of the destinations where are placed the family hotels managed by this chain.

Its motto is the simple and functional space, with special furniture for the comfort of the whole family, both kids and adults, an affordable price and complete entertainment programs.  Besides, all of them have adapted cuisine service, with options for coeliacs, and common areas designed to guarantee maximum fun to all guests without needing to go out of the hotel.

The most famous hotels of this family hotel chain are the so-called Flintstones Hotels, beach accommodations decorated and inspired in the famous animated series The Flintstones.  

These hotels stand out for being designed like authentic theme parks, with services especially focused on children and spaces created in their own image and likeness: children dining room with kid's menu, workshop area, games area, children's swimming pool, miniclub for different ages (from 8 months to 4 years; from 5 to 8 years, and from 9 to 12 years).

The beaches of summer 2013

Although more and more people plan their different trips with alternative, economic and fun proposals with which to enjoy a few days off in the summer, the classic choice of a beach paradise with family or friends is still the general pattern: who does not like a dive in the Mediterranean when summer is finally here?

Fortunately, Spain has some of the most renowned sun and beach destinations in Europe. The climate, the quality of services and atmosphere, makes many of us decide to stay "at home" when choosing a holiday destination. This way, the popular beaches remain in Andalusia, Levante and the Balearic Islands, without exception.

Booking a hotel for friends in Ibiza, near the beaches of Ses Salines, Benirrás or Es Vedra, or arrange an escapade to a hotel for couples in Majorca, in Cala San Vicent, Es Trenc, Magaluf or Cala Barques... Both are options that have already become a classic: beach, party and the beauty of the destination are assured. Everything is usually at a cheaper price than planning a holiday abroad.

Holidays with children require a different type of beach, more spacious and with more comprehensive services and shallow water. Majorca, along with Cadiz, Benidorm and Menorca are destinations that offer the best family beaches for this 2013: Cala Mondragó, Palmanova, Cala Galdana, Cala den Bosch, Torremolinos, La Herradura (Almuñecar) or Chiclana.

All these places have the advantage of offering tailored hotel services to this type of traveler: Parents with children looking for a holiday for all, with moments to enjoy together and times of independence. One of the most complete accommodation options to take advantage of this type of holiday are the themed family hotels as is the case of the Flintstones Hotels, belonging to the hotel chain Sol Hotels, one of the most recognised brands in this regard.