Rey Don Jaime Hotel, Santa Ponsa

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--Location—
The Rey Don Jaime (King James) is located on the Calle Puig Mayor, 100m from the main beach in Santa Ponsa. Santa Ponsa is located in the South West of the island (read my review to find out more). It is one in a chain of hotels – ‘Marina’ - located across the Balearics and Spain.

--Getting there—
If you get a coach transfer from the airport i.e. you are with Thomson or some other package holiday provider ...
...one on the ‘tour’ of hotels in that area of the island. If you go under your own steam and book a taxi it will take about 30 mins.

--Check in—
When you arrive at the hotel you simply go to reception where you will be greeted and you simply give them your name and present them with your passports. The reception keeps your passports for a minimum of 24 hours (although we usually just leave them there until the end of the week ... more

--Overview—
As I stated in my review of Santa Ponsa, I have been to this area around 10 times and every time I have stayed in the same hotel and have been extremely impressed with the hotel and the service there.

--Location—
The Rey Don Jaime (King James) is located on the Calle Puig Mayor, 100m from the main beach in Santa Ponsa. Santa Ponsa is located in the South West of the island (read my review to find out more). It is one in a chain of hotels – ‘Marina’ - located across the Balearics and Spain.

--Getting there—
If you get a coach transfer from the airport i.e. you are with Thomson or some other package holiday provider it will take about an hour – it’s the last one on the ‘tour’ of hotels in that area of the island. If you go under your own steam and book a taxi it will take about 30 mins.

--Check in—
When you arrive at the hotel you simply go to reception where you will be greeted and you simply give them your name and present them with your passports. The reception keeps your passports for a minimum of 24 hours (although we usually just leave them there until the end of the week as they are perfectly safe). You are given your keys and are given an explanation about everything such as breakfast/dinner times and facilities.

--Rooms—
There are 417 rooms in the hotel, including single and double rooms. Double rooms can be made into triple rooms upon request. The rooms are always impeccably clean, with a TV, hairdryer, telephone, safety deposit box and the majority of rooms have a balcony. The rooms are always made up every day and if you need a ‘special clean-up’ you can ask at reception and they will try and come up as soon as possible – as long as it is before a certain time as the cleaning staff only work until mid-afternoon. I once dropped a glass and about an hour after I asked down at reception a lady came up and cleaned it all up. There is also air-conditioning/heating in the room which is a lifesaver when it gets hot at night!

--Facilities—
There is a huge terrace at the side of the hotel with a large swimming pool, seating area and kids’ pool. There is also a bar where you can order food at lunch-times. On the terrace there are also pool and ping-pong tables.

Inside the hotel there is a bar, heated swimming pool, a conference room and a ‘pub’. At reception you can change money and ask about any information you need, as the staff are very knowledgeable about the hotel and surrounding area.

--Entertainment—
There are several people who specifically do entertainment during the day. Some games have prizes like a cocktail, most have a medal and certificate for the winner which is awarded during the evening entertainment. Children have a separate certificate/medal but play in the same competitions. The games vary from darts, pool, bowls and shooting to odd party games.

During the evening usually an outside entertainer comes in. It is often tribute bands (which are excellent), a very funny magician, comedians, occasionally karaoke, singers, a parrot show and every so often the staff put on a musical/play (which is done very enthusiastically but is usually pretty dire!)

--Food and Drink—
The food at the hotel is really top-notch - breakfast and dinner are served in the restaurant in a ‘buffet’, all-you-can-eat style. They have recently introduced a vegetarian section as well as ‘international foods’. If you like chips, chips and more chips then you may be a bit disappointed (there are chips, but still…) – there are ‘English’ foods but they also have lots of Spanish foods like paella and bacalao (cod), for example. Waitresses will approach your table to take orders for drinks but these aren’t included. Every so often, the chefs will prepare food (usually something meaty) out on display in the middle of the restaurant and will cook extra-special food. Bread and pastries are cooked freshly in the restaurant also, you can see them being cooked whilst you are sitting down! The range of desserts is huge so if you have a sweet tooth you’ll be in heaven :)

--Staff—
The staff in the hotel are extremely polite and efficient. Some have been working there for years and years and know everything there is to know about the hotel. The bar staff are efficient, the reception staff are very friendly and happy to help, the maids are very, very quick, and the entertainers are very good at what they do. All in all I have never come across a grumpy member of staff at this hotel, which is quite hard to find in my experience of hotels around the world!

--October closing/pensioners--
If I had to say one bad thing about the hotel, and it's not really about the hotel, it's the experience I had a few years ago. We always go around October, just before the close of the hotel. In Spain, the government gives one free holiday a year to its pensioners, and our visit coincided with their stay. When they were there, the food quality went down and the entertainment became a little biased towards Spaniards - nevertheless, I maintain that this wasn't the hotel's fault - it's something they have to do. Even the staff were unhappy with it. It was a one-off thing, though, as normally they stay after the close of the hotel. I hope this won't put anyone off as this is the only time it has happened to me and it hasn't stopped me going back again.

--Summary—
I would whole-heartedly, without a doubt, recommend this hotel. I have generally always had a good time here (there was one time it wasn’t so good, but that wasn’t the hotel’s fault). The staff are friendly and good at their job, the food is delicious, the entertainment is always passable and the hotel is in an ideal location – 100m from the beach!! 

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