Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Clean, friendly staff, clean room, entertainment |
| Disadvantages: |
slightly small room, small pool, no sun on balcony, off beaten track? |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
My friend and I arrived at the hotel Balmes on the hoof so to speak. We arrived at Barcelona airport and took the train to Callela from here. PLEASE NOTE, at the time of our visit the train lines had recently been changed, and many websites are giving out old information. The line to Callela was not direct anymore and we had to change trains at one of the stations, something we only discovered having travelled all the way along the wrong line! Once in Callela, pulling along suitcases, we found the
hotel quite easily- leave the station, go to the main street and walk keeping the coast on your right, the streets are marked, and C. Balmes is quite obvious really!
The hotel is very clean, well lit and inviting on entry. Checking in was no problem at all and the staff are friendly and helpful and as neither of us speak much spanish, we were fortunate that they all spoke good English. At check in we also hired our safety deposit box, it costs a few euros plus returnable deposit, but I would suggest it is worth it for peace of mind.
Entering the room my friend did initially comment it was on the small side and compared to some accomodations it possibly was, but my experience is not particularly wide and it was certainly perfectly adequate. The deposit box was in the wardrobe, presumably the case for most of the rooms. The two single beds are right alongside eachother, might be worth keeping in mind if you and a friend who is a noisy sleeper are planning on sharing a room... i.e. you may need ear plugs! The air conditioning worked fine and kept the room at a comfortable temperature, and was easy to use.
Our balcony was facing the pool and so we had a good view. I know some rooms do look out onto the streets, probably not so pleasant and not so comfortable for some. Our balcony did not get the full sun at any point of the day, which was a little disappointing for me as I have enjoyed sitting out in the sun in the past on holiday, and I think relatively few rooms do get this.
The room was perfectly maintained and cleaned daily. New towels are always provided if you indicate you want them by leaving the old ones on the floor, there's a sticker to advise you of this in the bathroom.
The pool is on the small side it has to be said. It was certainly comfortable enough in September, but I would wonder how busy it gets in the height of summer. The kids pool is a very small one and so the children mostly play in the large pool, which can make life tricky if you are trying to swim without being dive bombed! The trees around the pool, although very attractive, do cast shade at the poolside area and the loungers in the afternoon especially. If you're a hardened sun bather you might find it annoying having to keep moving! Be warned that some of the smoother tiles around the pool, particulary on the wheelchair ramp leading back down towards reception can be slippy- I had quite a nasty fall there at one point, which could have been worse if I hadn't grabbed the rail. Aqua aerobics take place around 10 in the pool most days if there are any willing participants, non strenuous exercise to make you feel better about taking it easy- give it a go! Music tends to be played for much of the morning, probably because of the above, and it can be sort of dancy or relaxation type.. if it's not to your taste you may want to keep an MP3 player handy!
The pool bar is open most of the day and the milkshakes are LOVELY!. You get all the standard drinks but they also do light food like chips, toasties, sandwiches etc.. which is handy if you don't feel like moving all day.
There is a television in the room and after a couple of days, as my friend was unwell, we made enquiries on this and hired the remote, which is the only way to put the TV on, with a returnable deposit of around 10 euros. We only found one channel with English speaking programmes on occasion, and that was MTV, but we did end up watching that quite a lot.. I think the subtitles were German, but you can work past that!
We stayed on half board option, so we got our breakfasts and dinners included in our stay. I really enjoyed the food myself, but it may be down to personal taste as I have to say my friend commented that she was a little disappointed. The diner is to the right of the bar, carry on down the corridor to the end.
We had breakfast every day (served until around 10 if memory serves) and three dinners, eating out the rest of the time. Breakfast offerings usually consist of cereals, milk and pastries like cakes and croissants, and hot/ heavier options like eggs, toast, sausages, cold meats and cheese. Skimmed milk and sugar free cakes are available. There's no choice over how your eggs are done, they come fried, scrambled or in their shells, hard boiled- no runny yolks I'm afraid. The milk for cereals is never very cold which my friend found very offputting. Tea bags are hiding behing a pillar near the hot plates at the front of the room, and hot water comes out of the coffee machines- I only discovered this on the last day!! The fruit juices in the machine are not pure. There is also a variant on fried bread that is covered in sugar, something I'd never encountered before, so if you see that, be warned that it may be an acquired taste- my friend wasn't sure, but I quite enjoyed it. Croissants and jam were delicious.
Dinners usually included options of hot foods, meat, fish, salads, fruit and deserts. The fresher looking fish is often very bony, so take care. Drinks must be paid for at the dinner meals, we often had a bottle of wine. Someone will usually come around and take orders but if it's busy you can go to the till at the entrance to the room. I did enjoy fish and chips and a large pasta salad, and something not dissimilar to angel delight over the week.
Overall for both meals I would emphasise that there should be something for everyone in both cases, and we both ate well.
We used the bar quite regularly- measures looked to be on the large side. I'm not much of a drinker so I enjoyed the non alcoholic cocktail options!
The evening entertainments were worth watching. During our week we saw a flamenco display, a martial arts show, and the parrot show, all good fun. They're announced on a board in the corridor on your way to the dining area, also on the board in the reception area, have a look at what's going on.
We went out and about in the area on an evening and ate at some really nice places, the Austrian bar at the bottom of the road is very pleasant and meat eaters will probably appreciate the hearty plates!
The only problem was it never seemed all that busy in terms of people being out for few drinks, visiting bars. This did surprise me. I have since seen a map and the hotel Balmes looks to be a fair few streets off a major cluster of hotels further away, across the river capaspre. If you're younger and looking to be out a lot, you may need to regularly walk towards these? I am not certain, perhaps the resort was simply quieter in September.
Overall I would certainly recommend the hotel. I had a great time there and found the whole experience a positive one. I'd certainly go back.
