Hotel Gabarda

Hotel Gabarda suits divers who want a straightforward base in Palmanova rather than a sealed-off resort with a timetable for every minute. You get bright, simply decorated rooms, an outdoor pool, a lounge bar with hot and cold snacks, and enough of the resort on your doorstep to make dinner plans without turning the evening into an expedition.

The hotel is presented as adults only, which fits a couple’s diving break particularly well. There is a practical wrinkle: the booking policy also welcomes children, while the hotel is not recommended for families with small children or for guests with reduced mobility. If you are travelling as a family, check the applicable room arrangement before booking. The hotel website is available in English and Spanish, so it is geared towards English-speaking guests, although no specific hotel staff languages are listed.

You are in Palmanova, Mallorca, around 200 metres from the town centre, the marina and Palma Nova’s main beach. Es Carregador Beach is about 500 metres away on foot, Son Caliu Beach about 600 metres, and Palma Nova Beach roughly 0.5 miles. Sand, sea and the first post-dive coffee are all within walking distance.

The location keeps the practical bits close. Restaurants such as El Cruce and La Piazzetta are within about 300 metres, with bars including Chips Madrid and Bar Cayuco also nearby. Magalluf’s nightlife is around a 20-minute walk away, while Palma is 14 km from the hotel. Palma de Mallorca Airport is about 20 km away, and bus stops are roughly two minutes on foot.

The rooms are built around the basics that matter when you return warm, salty and ready to stop carrying things: a private bathroom, balcony, flat-screen satellite TV, mini-fridge, wardrobe, desk and air conditioning. The fridge is useful for keeping water cold, while the air conditioning gives you a way to bring the room back to a sensible temperature before sleep. Daily housekeeping is included.

For two people, the superior double or twin room with terrace is the obvious choice if outdoor space matters. The room layouts also include twin beds, which can be more practical than sharing one bed when you are working to different post-dive schedules. The premium triple room uses three single beds, making it the workable option for three divers travelling together, although the rooms are compact rather than designed as sprawling kit rooms.

Views vary between city, mountain, pool and garden outlooks. Upper floors are reached by stairs because the building has no lift, so that is worth factoring in if knees and dive bags have begun negotiating separately. Non-smoking rooms are available, and the hotel provides free Wi-Fi throughout.

Breakfast is the main organised meal and is served à la carte by the pool terrace snack bar, with the lounge also available as a breakfast setting. The menu covers continental and Italian-style choices, a full English or Irish breakfast, vegetarian dishes, gluten-free options, fresh fruit and cereals. Food is cooked to order, with breakfast served from 08:30 to 11:00 during the main season, giving you a little more room than the usual dawn buffet if your dive departure is not painfully early.

There are two useful bar settings: the air-conditioned lounge bar and the poolside snack bar. The lounge serves hot and cold snacks, while the pool terrace offers breakfast and a wider food service running from 08:00 until 02:00. Lunch and dinner are available on the terrace, and the hotel’s food-and-drink facilities include a coffee house, bar and snack bar.

You can book the stay on a room-only basis or with bed and breakfast. That leaves dinner flexible, which makes sense in Palmanova: you can eat at the hotel when the day has taken enough out of you, or walk a few minutes and choose from the surrounding restaurants instead.

Two outdoor swimming pools give you an easy way to spend the surface interval without adding another appointment to the day. Around them, you have a sun terrace, loungers, parasols and outdoor furniture. The poolside bar keeps the logistics pleasantly short: swim, dry off, find a chair and reach for something cold without putting your shoes back on.

The hotel can arrange or help with car hire, excursions and attraction tickets. Boat excursions are available, and the suggested outings include island tours, traditional markets, caves, historic towns and beach days. That gives a non-diving partner something concrete to do while you are out on the water, rather than leaving the afternoon to a heroic battle with a sun lounger.

Guests can also use facilities at the nearby sister property, Martinez Apartments, including an outdoor pool with hot tub. A shared lounge and TV area are available at the hotel, while luggage storage is useful on the days when your flight and your room timetable refuse to cooperate.

Reception operates 24 hours during the summer season, with private and express check-in and check-out available. Check-in starts at 14:00 and check-out is by 11:00. You need photo identification and a payment card at check-in, and the hotel asks you to share your expected arrival time in advance. Luggage storage is available, as is a safety deposit box at reception.

An airport transfer can be arranged on request, and car hire is available through the hotel. Public transport stops are about two minutes away, which is handy if you want to reach Palma without hiring a car. The building has no lift, and upper floors are accessible by stairs only; that is the kind of small sentence worth reading before you arrive with dive luggage.

Seasonality changes the rhythm of the property. From 1 November to 28 February, reception is open in the mornings, breakfast runs from 08:00 to 10:00, and the pool, bar and luggage service close for the winter period. Free Wi-Fi covers the hotel, and the property is non-smoking.