Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel

Short version: We absolutely love this hotel! The wonderfully personal service, beautiful pools, fantastic restaurant, and truly amazing staff make every stay an exceptional experience. Long version: This is already our fourth visit — and for very good reason. Everyone here is incredibly warm, welcoming, and attentive. A special mention goes to Laura at the ground-floor bar — she is simply outstanding — but the same kindness and professionalism extend to the spa team, the lovely pool staff (both upstairs and downstairs), room service (sorry for the broken glass!), the breakfast team, reception, and the staff at “1890,” the excellent on-site restaurant. You instantly feel at ease with everyone. Truly — the staff deserve 6 out of 5 stars! The hotel itself has real character. It carries a slightly old-world charm — cozy, classic, and elegant. What stands out in particular is the immaculate cleanliness. Spotless in every sense. The beds are made twice daily, and in the evening, after siesta, you return to a freshly prepared bed with a little treat waiting for you. Everything is tasteful and refined. It’s worth noting that the average guest age tends to be a bit older. So this is not a loud, party-style atmosphere like you might find at a W Hotel — instead, it’s calm, relaxed, and sophisticated. At the same time, the service team is mostly young, which creates a wonderfully balanced and pleasant vibe. We highly recommend booking breakfast included. The buffet is extensive and excellent, and the terrace is simply beautiful — a perfect way to start the day. The lobby bar has its own unique charm: live music, flawless service, great drinks, a lovely small menu, and spacious, comfortable seating make it a wonderful highlight of the hotel. The lobby bar truly feels like the heart of the place. In addition to “1890,” which is a superb restaurant with cozy terraces and outstanding dishes, there is also a Michelin-starred restaurant on site. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer an à la carte option — which we personally prefer — so we can’t comment further on that. The beds are very comfortable, the shower and bathtub are excellent, and the rooms are generously sized. I recommend booking a room facing the front — the view over the entrance area toward the harbor is lovely. Honestly, I can’t think of a single negative point. Everything was outstanding. As I said — we love this hotel!

Sadly was not as great as expected. After research this hotel came highly reviewed. The first day, the staff had forgotten to bring up our suitcases. We had to go downstairs to retrieve them. Thankfully the staff for the rest of the stay were very friendly. It is advertised as a family hotel but I think it is more of an adult hotel. They did not have any heated pools for children, which when having a toddler this is necessary. The rooftop was adults only so couldn’t enjoy this. Plus they had a party on the roof which could be heard from the rooms right below. The breakfast was quite nice and had variety of foods.

I’m late in writing this review, but my boyfriend and I had the best stay at the Santa Catalina. What a special place! We stayed in a suite with a private patio. The room was luxurious and spacious. The building is historic with gorgeous architecture, and the grounds were so fun to explore. It really feels like a palace. We enjoyed both the rooftop and ground level pools, with their respective bars/dining. The lobby bar was lively in the evenings with live entertainment and friendly staff. There were lots of interesting people staying here - We met and made friends with several other guests. Every single staff member that we interacted with was kind and helpful. Also, the value for cost was exceptional. We felt the room rates were very reasonable, especially compared with rates in the US. We highly recommend!

A truly fantastic hotel worthy of a five star rating. The staff were very friendly and attentive. The atmosphere was classy and the food delicious. The breakfast was amazing. The rooms are very well specified. No complaint and I would go back again.

I initially tried to book through Booking (the reservation was cancelled midway), then booked through Barceló. Somehow, I ended up with two rooms, even though the Booking reservation should have been automatically cancelled since I didn’t pay within the required time. I was told I needed to contact Booking to resolve this, which honestly shouldn’t be my responsibility - especially while on vacation. Sorting miscommunications between the hotel and Booking is not my job. Parking is not included either, so that’s an extra €20 fee (“only the king gets free parking” - for a €400/night room). After that, we went to the room and, surprise… someone was already there. Because of this, we were offered a VIP package with spa access. To be honest, the spa should already be included in the base package. I’ve never stayed at a 5-star hotel where spa access costs extra. The spa itself is very basic and feels quite old. You can clearly see water infiltration on the ceiling. People move from the sauna to the pool without showering, or from the pool straight to the sauna without a towel. That said, credit where it’s due: the hotel restaurant is very good, with quality food at reasonable prices, and the same goes for the rooftop bar.