We've just returned from 11 nights at the Cala Azul Garden. Two adults and two teenagers.

Bad bits first:
Booked Cala Azul Park with Thomas Cook, had this confirmed twice actually asking that we were in the Park and not the Gardens. Surprise surprise on arrival we were put in the Gardens. The coach dropped us and everyone else at the Park, we then all had to trudge up the road to the Gardens. TC rep so rude to a couple in front of me in the queue that I didn't even bother to complain, I can do without the hassle on holiday.
The apartment was a bit dated and could do with an overhaul - curtains faded, towels thin and the first time I've seen candlewick bedspreads in many a year.
The only other negative for us was a group of local Spanish boys who decended on the pool most afternoons and were quite unruly. I mentioned it to reception twice and they were quite aware of who the boys were and made a very token gesture of asking them to settle down without much success.

Good bits now:
Wonderfully clean apartment and pool, couldn't fault that. Good A/C in the apartment, we all slept really well despite it being 35C most days.

Poolside bar staff were lovely (Happy Hour 5-6pm) handy for lunch snacks and ice creams. It has a free WiFi area which was great. There are also a couple of terminals on the ground floor where you can get 15mins internet for E1.

Location was fine, easy walk to various beaches and restaurants, bearing in mind we weren't dragging toddlers! The car hire recommended by reception (Roig Autos) were excellent. We hired a car on two separate days to visit Palma and Porto Christo. Much cheaper than the organised trips and more fun. If going to Palma keep to the Port/Marina side and when you reach the cathedral there is an underground car park, easy to find and not too expensive to park, think we paid around E5 for most of a day.

We managed to get sunloungers everyday it was the sun umbrellas we struggled with. We ended up buying one for about E6 and wedged it in a chair - problem solved. We had also brought airbeds with us which was a godsend as the hard plastic sunbeds were very uncomfortable.

On the whole we had a good holiday, the sun shone every day and it was very relaxing. The Gardens were quieter than the Park so if you don't mind being away from the food area (if you are half board) then this might be a better option.

I would recommed this place as cheap and cheerful and very clean but I certainly wouldn't recommed Thomas Cook. Better to book it yourself and know exactly what you are getting.

Just come back from the Cala Azul gardens after a 2 week family holiday we booked a package holiday with Thomas cook, myself, partner and my 2 children, 7 & 9 years old. At first we expected we'd be staying in the Azul park or the Esmerelda as when I booked I asked NOT to be put in the gardens but on arrival we were sent over to the gardens, this seems to happen to alot of people and it seems to cause alot of upset and angry holidaymakers! However it was height of season and we didn't bother to argue it. The Azul park & the Esmerelda are right on the beach, and the gardens is about 50-75 meters away, the Azul gardens is a smaller hotel but it was spotlessly clean! Maid service every other day, clean sheets, towels and a thorough clean. The air con was great in fact we had to switch it off at night as we were all cold!!! At night it was pretty quiet not too much noise from the neighbouring bars. The pool at the gardens was lovely and not as busy as the other 3 at the other hotels you could always get a sun bed although there was the whole thing with people going out at 6am to put towels on beds which was annoying, there were signs up saying that towels reserving beds would be removed but throughout the whole holiday this did not happen. The beach was a short walk and it was small but very nice, the hotels do charge for the sun beds on the beach. We went self catering but you can upgrade to half board or just breakfast, we looked into it but we found it was expensive, it was slightly cheaper if you booked for 4 days or more, Half board was 23.50 euros per adult 11.75 euros per child (under 6's free) this included tea & coffee and juice with breakfast but didn't include any drinks with your evening meal, myself and the children were on soft drinks and a pint of beer & 3 soft drinks came to about 10 euros so we ate out in the resort which worked out cheaper. I did not think much of the Thomas rep I found her rude & unhelpful & I don't think I was the only one as I'd read that people had been moaning about her, I missed the welcome meeting as it was too early in the morning for us but still didn't recieve the welcome pack, resort guide or any of the other info that apparently I should have. Cala D'or is a lovely resort, great for families, a wide variety of restaurants, bars and shops but it is more expensive here than we had bargained for especially the food and drink. I would definatley recomend this hotel (in fact all 3 hotels)
2 points to mention to all Thomas cook customers, once you've booked they will offer you the usual, in flight meals (approx £24 per family), allocated seats (approx £40 per family) etc all for an extra charge. Firstly if you are travelling (like we were) 2 adults 2 children under 12 the airlines HAVE to put 1 child with 1 adult as children under 12 are not allowed to travel alone, so if you don't mind being split up don't pay the extra charge as long as you get to the airport for when the check in desk opens you'll be fine, we sat 2 and 2 behind which we were happy with. Secondly once booked check your flight number and see who your flying with alot will be with Thomas cook airlines (your flight no will start with TCX) but we flew with BMI (British Midland International) and all in flight meals are FREE flight no's will start BD it worth checking as loads of people on our flight were unhappy as they'd paid for their meals and yet they were giving them away for free!

Just back from 11 nights in Inturotel Cala Azul Gardens (family of 4 with 2 boys of 12 and 8). We had a lovely time and pretty much got what we had hoped for having done quite a lot of research on TA and elsewhere before we went.

Resort:

Cala Do’r was nice, slightly bigger than we had imagined. We preferred the Cala Ferrera side of the resort where we were based but that may have just been familiarity. Towards the centre is fine, a few “English” style pubs / restaurants offering you “cooked English” but nothing too “Playa del Inglés” like. Bars and restaurants seemed fine though we went half board so can’t comment on the food. Pretty quiet (which is fine for us) but a few things for kids to amuse themselves with in the evenings, mini golf, mini amusement arcades with go carts / bouncy castles etc. The marina area looked pleasant enough though unless you are yachty types or were going to eat there it was of limited interest

Beachs:

The resort is based round a number of small coves “cala’s”, Ferrera, Esmerelda (these 2 are v close to the Inurotel group of hotels / apartments), Gran, Do’r which are more central etc. I had worried that the beaches would be very crowded in the height of the season because they were limited in size but actually it was so hot (32-36 degrees during our stay) that this proved not to be a problem as we spent most of our time in the wonderful warm crystal clear water. The water really was lovely (high salt content meant it was very buoyant, shelves gently for youngsters) and the kids enjoyed their first go at snorkelling and loved seeing some fish. Kids jumping / diving off concrete platforms and rocks in various places as well. In fact if anything the fact that the beach was on the small side meant it was just easy to keep an eye on the kids etc if they went off for a bit. If you wanted just to doze on the beach it certainly didn’t feel too crowded and you could choose between those cala’s that offered sunbeds / parasols for hire and those that didn’t.

Hotel:

We purposefully requested the Cala Azul Gardens when we booked. Whilst it may not have the direct access to the beach I think it has the best / quietest pool and it is literally under 2 minutes’ walk to where you eat (if you are half board) or under 5 minutes to the beaches of Cala Esmerelda (my personal favourite) and Cala Ferrera. Very pleasant poolside café serving in peak season from late morning to late evening. I have seen various reviews that get exercised about not being in the hotel / apartment block of choice. As far as I could see there were minor pluses and minuses in location / facilities with all of them: Inturotel Cala Esmerelda – the 4* hotel, Inturotel Cala Esmerelda Gardens, Inturotel Cala Azul Park, Inturotel Cala Azul Gardens but I would have been very happy to stay in any of them particularly as you can use the facilities (though not eat) in all of them.

The 1 bed room / apartment we had was slightly dated in terms of décor (not something that I feel strongly about to be honest) but spacious and certainly comfortable enough for us with the boys sleeping on the sofa beds in the living room. It was cleaned regularly and well and the air conditioning was excellent. The TV had a few English channels which was useful just before bed. We had a 2nd floor room at the back (not pool facing) and again whilst there was some noise from the room above it was minimal and not having a pool view was not a concern for us personally.

The pool at the Cala Azul Gardens was excellent and you could get a sunbed at pretty much any time though we tended to be in the pool, on the sea or out rather than lying by the pool. The other pools in the groups were also nice but slightly smaller, more crowded I would say. The pool table by the swimming pool was a hit with our boys (and others). It was €1 a game and as they were fairly hopeless a game could last half an hour or more whilst we relaxed and had a drink so we were happy to finance lol! There were a couple of internet terminals (€1 for 15 minutes for those addicted to facebook etc!) or free wifi at the pool bar/café and at the reception area in the Cala Azul Park. I gather that in some parts of the complex you could buy wifi for your room for a weekly/daily rate but not in the Gardens I don’t think.

In terms of guest composition it was a mix of German, Dutch, British and a few French / Spanish. Lots of families as you might expect at this time of year. I didn’t see any loutish behaviour and the complex was quiet in the evenings. I found the staff all round to be very friendly and efficient.

Food:

We went half board - breakfast 8am-11am and evening meal 6-9pm and ate in the Cala Azul Park. Breakfast was perfectly fine without being outstanding, with buffet choice of cereals, cold meats, fruits, fresh bread, hot drinks, fruit juices as well as usual cooked options (eggs – all varieties, sausages, bacon, pancakes etc etc). Buffet evening meals were also fine, again without being outstanding, though the tapas evening was very good. Lots of salad choices, pasta, fish, cold meats, a couple of hot meat based dishes etc. Most kids seemed to go for the obligatory plate of chips with a consolation piece of salad attached. Deserts as has been said elsewhere were plentiful and excellent. The service was good (drinks reasonable) and it was a nice place to sit and eat, especially in the outside area that looked out to sea. All in all I would say it represented good value for money. I think if you eat at the same place 10+days in a row it is bound to start feeling a little like a school canteen after a while!

Things to do:

We didn’t hire a car which in retrospect might have been a mistake even if we had done so for just a couple of days. We attempted to use the local public buses on a couple of occasions but in truth they were unreliable. We made it to Porto Colom fine but failed to get either to Felantix or the Caves of Drach because buses just didn’t turn up. I can recommend the Starfish glass bottom boats that operate from the various cala’s (timetables are all over the place in the resort). We took the trip to Cala Mondrago which we thoroughly enjoyed. The boat visits the various coves/cala’s along the way to pick drop / off. Then it moors just outside Cala Mondrago itself for diving / swimming off the boat which was good fun and the kids like the little slides they can use at the back of the boat straight into the sea. It then takes you to shore so you can enjoy the very nice beach and café before the return journey. The trip took about 4 hours in all and cost us €60 which I thought was good value. The cut off point for adult tickets is 12 so worth be aware of that if you have teenagers. I would have also done the trip to Cala Figuera (nice fishing village) if I had the chance.

Summary:

All in all this ticked all the boxes for a relaxing family holiday in a quiet, relatively classy resort. Very happy to recommend it.

Stayed for one week (2 adults 2 teenagers). Rooms are just OK very tired but very clean, the beds were very uncomfortable, like a house brick with a sheet over it, therefore we got up very early in the mornings but just as well as you need to to get a sun bed. The sun beds at the Gardens were crapy white plastic, not comfortable, we stayed at the pool in the Azul Park, yes it is very busy there cannot move in the pool for lilos but hey it was fun.

We stayed HB the food was just about OK, we did go to the Marina and eat out a couple of nights to get some decent food.

We had great weather and overall we did enjoy our stay, the area is OK but a bit nicer in the centre of Cala d'Or.

We just wanted to fly and fop and that is what we did, not sure if I would stay here again but would return to Cala d'Or.

Any staff I did encounter were fine, it was my birthday during our stay and the cleaner delivered a bottle of red wine, I thought this was nice of them.