Alua Gran Camp de Mar

Alua Gran Camp de Mar is a four-star seafront resort for a holiday that keeps the practical things within reach. You have the beach nearby, a large outdoor pool, two restaurants, two bars and an all-inclusive formula, so the day's logistics need not become a second occupation. That matters when your legs are tired and your appetite has arrived before you have quite made it back to the room.

The atmosphere suits both couples and families. You can settle by the pool, take a drink at the lobby bar or choose a little more movement with tennis, water activities and evening entertainment. The hotel has 231 rooms and was renovated in 2023, giving the place a more recent base for a stay built around the coast rather than around sightseeing marathons.

English is spoken by the hotel team, alongside German and Spanish. You should be understood easily at reception and around the main services, which removes one of the small frictions that can otherwise become surprisingly tiring on holiday.

You are in Camp de Mar, on Mallorca's south-west coast, directly by the sea. The hotel is around 50 metres from the sandy beach, with sun loungers and parasols available there. Camp de Mar Beach is the obvious first choice; Cala en Cranc Beach is around 0.5 miles away by road, while Caló des Monjo Beach is around 1.3 miles away on foot.

The setting is coastal rather than urban, but you are not cut off from useful places. Restaurants such as Bar Bagari, Restaurant Gran Sol and El Quijote are close by, and the centre of town is around five minutes away by car. Andratx Golf Course sits next to the hotel, which is handy if someone in your party prefers a fairway to a fin.

Palma de Mallorca Airport is around 15 miles away, with a journey of roughly 30 minutes by car. The hotel is in Camp de Mar itself, not Puerto de Andratx — a small but worthwhile distinction when you are arranging transfers or explaining your destination to a driver.

The rooms are designed for two people and all have a private balcony or terrace. If the view matters, the sea-view options are the ones to consider: you can take the morning outside with the coast in front of you rather than treating the balcony as somewhere to hang a towel. The frontal sea-view categories make the most sense when the outlook is part of the holiday, not merely a line on the booking screen.

Every room has air conditioning, a fridge, a private bathroom with shower, a hairdryer, satellite television and a wardrobe. The fridge is the useful detail here: cold water waiting when you return hot, salty and ready for food is worth more than a decorative extra. Air conditioning helps you recover from warm days by the sea, while the balcony or terrace gives you somewhere to sit without having to join the pool crowd.

The rooms use twin beds, including the Double Sea View and frontal sea-view categories. That is worth checking if you and your companion have strong views about sleeping arrangements. Daily housekeeping is available, and the hotel has a lift, with upper floors accessible by elevator.

The all-inclusive formula gives you two restaurants to work into the day. Restaurante Camp de Mar serves breakfast, lunch and dinner indoors in air-conditioned surroundings, with an international buffet and show cooking. Breakfast is buffet-style, which is the sensible format when one person wants coffee and toast while the other is already planning the second plate.

Restaurante La Palapa covers lunch and dinner on a terrace, with Mediterranean cooking focused on fish and seafood. It gives you a change of setting without requiring an expedition into town. Both restaurants keep the dress code casual, so you can move from the pool or beach to the table without turning the evening into a wardrobe project.

There are two bars. Bar Hall is the lobby bar, with cocktails and a relaxed setting; Pool Bar keeps refreshments close to the outdoor pool and also serves cocktails. A snack bar is available, and room service operates on request. Vegetarian and gluten-free choices are catered for, although the hotel does not set out a continuous-snacking or late-dinner timetable, so you may want to keep an eye on the meal arrangements for your own diving schedule.

The main outdoor pool is large, unheated and open to adults and children, with a bar built into it. That gives you an easy place to spend the afternoon without moving far from a drink. Pool and beach towels are available, and the sun terrace supplies the traditional post-sea routine: sit down, dry off, and make no unnecessary decisions for a while.

If your body still wants activity, the hotel has a fitness centre, tennis, table tennis, darts and a multi-sports court for football, basketball or volleyball. Billiards is also available. Golf is next door, while cycling, excursions by boat, kayaking, paddleboarding and snorkelling provide other ways to use the coastline without putting on a cylinder.

Evenings bring live music, themed events and shows. For families, there is a kids' club for children aged four to twelve, children's entertainment, a children's pool, a kids' menu, a playground and a games room, with babysitting available. Couples can instead choose a quieter rhythm: a terrace, a cocktail and the useful luxury of having nowhere else to be.

The hotel has a 24-hour reception, luggage storage, free Wi-Fi throughout and private parking on site. Airport transfers are available on request, and car hire can be arranged through the hotel. A concierge service, laundry and dry-cleaning services are also available, while a safe is kept at reception.

Check-out is by midday. You should bring photo identification and a payment card for arrival, and let the hotel know your expected arrival time. The property accepts cash, Visa and Mastercard. Cots can be requested for babies, while extra beds are not available, so the room configuration matters if you are travelling with children.

The hotel is accessible by lift, and wheelchair-accessible facilities include raised toilets. It is a practical base if you want the beach close at hand, meals on site and enough facilities to keep a non-diving companion occupied. The nearby airport and the short drive to town also make the arrival and departure days fairly straightforward.