Villa Maribel

This was a replacement villa as Solmar had cancelled on us the day after we made the final payment on our original choice villa. Greeted by a big pile of laundry and rubbish (I mean over a dozen bags) sitting in the drive when we arrived. To be fair to Solmar it was cleared within the hour when I phoned to complain (and it was over the weekend when I did so). Dishwasher threw a wobbly too but that cleared itself on the second wash - that may actually have been new. On the villa itself, usual story with Menorca holiday villas - what is actually a very nice villa (good setting, nice pool, not overlooked) spoiled by old, dirty and heavily worn furnishings and fittings. The villa had been cleaned as well as it could have been but the outside furniture had burst cushions and was very heavily stained, so much so you wouldn't want to sit on them in clean clothes. Sunloungers were heavily stained too, which was a pity as they are the better quality ones too (not the blue ones). Spent Saturday morning at the hiper buying cushions for the furniture (which I washed down too) and got a few cushions at €7 each and a fan which was cheaper to buy new than to hire with the villa - i really hate being nickel-and-dimed when you've spent that much for a villa. Also got some €4 bamboo rollout beach mats from the mini-supermarket to cover the sunloungers, so got there in the end but it took a number of trips and we were well into the second day before things were properly habitable. Photos on the site are old - next door has been built upon (it doesn't interfere and hopefully means no more building work). Fittings are a lot older than they look too - bathrooms have a very 1980s feel.

Beautiful large pool in a peaceful location. Villa has some beautiful features such as old high beams in the living room ceiling. Villa had everything needed however some areas of the villa could do with modernising for example taps and showers and kitchen however this did not affect our stay at all and would not stop us booking again. We had a very short powercut during the our stay and staff were extremely helpful and even checked in with us the following day. Number of small supermarkets nearby (the one opposite has freshly baked pastries every morning which were delicious) and the most gorgeous sandy beach less than 10 minutes walk away.

The air conditioners in two of the bedrooms didn’t work, We couldn’t work the filter coffee machine and the WiFi was patchy. Otherwise everything was great. Comfy beds, nice pool, good location. Taxis a bit unreliable and the buses were rare so would recommend a car if you want to do anything.