Insotel Hotel Formentera Playa

A very interesting holiday for me having first visited Formentera some 40 years ago. Much has changed, not all for the good, however it is still well worth a visit. We stayed at the Insotel Formentera Playa which included Breakfast and the Evening meal. Included in the evening meal was free drinks (beer, Wine and non alcoholic drinks) The food was excellent offering a wide variety of choices both in the morning and evening. The Studio we upgraded to was adequate but showing signs of its usage, the impression I gained was that this was a popular hotel and well used. All in all my wife and I had a most enjoyable stay and would recommend the hotel and resort.

Beautiful location, 30 mins on the ferry from Ibiza, location on the beach- lots of fish so great for snorkelling. Food great. Bottled drinks served to table at lunch and dinner. Fresh food cooked in front of you. Fruit was amazing! Room was in the most perfect location, right next to the entrance to the beach- very basic and bed very hard, slightly disappointed with the room but spent minimal time in there so didn’t really matter. I think the rooms in the main hotel have been renovated and are probably of better quality, however I wouldn’t have chose one in there at the expense of the location of ours. Steps to room very slippery when wet.. lesson learnt on first day. Beach lovely, can walk either way on what looks like a newly installed wooden bridge.. beach better quality 200-300 metres to the left (when looking at the sea) which isn’t so rocky but be aware most of the beach is nudist. Recommend the blue bar, great location and cocktails. Pools lovely, was always a sun bed available, didn’t see anyone reserving these which was nice. Staff in the Insotel are great especially Gilberto who makes the place fun and welcoming. Ennio, David and Manuel were our favourites too. We only watched one entertainment show which was a male signer who had a really good voice and was good fun. Activities in the hotel are good, table tennis, tennis courts and bike riding where the bikes are also free to hire just outside the hotel. We did a boat excursion which we booked through TUI, this included visiting a private beach and caves with snorkelling at different spots, glad we did this to experience the island but feel it was over priced. All in all, if you’re looking for a holiday with total relaxation with not much going on around you then this is perfect for you. Transfers from Ibiza airport to the ferry port then on to the hotel were very easy and well organised.

Beautiful island , so quiet, the hotel was spotless and the staff so friendly and helpful especially Fanni . Bicycles were available every day , hardly any traffic on the roads . the food was amazing always loads of choice of meats , fish and pasta / pizza , also desserts and ice cream which our grandson loved .

Pay extra for Superior room sea view. Not pool side . Great views. Went half board , buffet food was excellent!! Every evening was great. Wine wasn’t too bad . Hired bikes and visited different coves and lighthouses. Did a Tui Catamaran cruise which was absolutely fantastic!! Food , sun , lovely coves , snorkelling. Would like to say a special thanks to KIKI the rep! She was brilliant!!! Only down side I’d say is getting Ferry back to airport Tui reps weren’t really around. Left to your own devices. That being said would one hundred percentage come back to this hotel. FORMENTERA is beautiful!! Thanks again for the suprise of breakfast the next morning for my birthday at South Beach restaurant. Also fantastic find for lovely food is playa real restaurant.

We stayed at Insotel Hotel Formentera Playa for a week during the May half term as a couple and, unfortunately, I wouldn't rate this as a 4* hotel and would rate it as a 3* hotel at best. I'll start at the beginning: Pre-arrival and check-in: - I emailed the hotel in advance of our holiday, requesting a room on a high floor; unfortunately this was ignored and we were placed in room 0117 on the first floor, despite the hotel not being even nearly full and rather quiet for the May half-term holidays. - The reception staff are not very friendly or informative at all and none of the things I would expect on arrival at a 4* hotel were present i.e., warm welcome, maps/information about the hotel or the island, information about the Wi-Fi, even a small welcome drink. Instead we were given our room card, cards for towels for the pool and told what the breakfast and evening meal times were and told to be on our way. The room: - Despite some reviews suggesting all rooms here are nice and have nice views, this is completely false. We had what had to be one of the worst rooms in the entire hotel - room 0117. This was on the first floor, overlooking the bus stop and street outside, including the scooter and bike rental place. It is also at the end of a looooonnnnggg corridor and right next to a fire escape. - We didn't use the balcony as it only got the sun first thing in the morning and then was in shade the whole of the rest of the day. The room was also very basic and dated, with cracked tiles and loose cupboard doors. The bathroom was functional but extremely small with no window and therefore no natural light. - The walls are paper thin and so we didn't have a good night sleep the entire holiday. This was mostly due to the noise from the street outside with bin lorries, deliveries, buses etc... but we were also awoken one night at 3am to hear people shouting and running through the corridor outside our room and opening and slamming the fire escape. When we got up the next morning we realised this had been due to one of the other rooms in our corridor seemingly having flooded through the night as the entire corridor carpet was soaked as we squelched our way to breakfast the next morning. The corridor then smelt of damp and foist for the rest of the holiday, with towels laid at the thresholds of half of the rooms on the corridor. - Additionally, one night we were awoken at 4am to noisy people getting out of a taxi outside and then proceeding to a room somewhere near us in the hotel where they then blasted music and made a noise until 6am. I have no idea where the hotel night staff were or how this was allowed to happen. hotel night staff were or how this was allowed to happen. The hotel, pool and grounds: - The pool area is a nice area; there are two medium-sized pools and the hotel has steps that lead directly to a beach area. I say "beach area" as it isn't a proper beach but has been man-made to be one and is functional enough, but not exactl

Fanni is a great person at the reception she helps u with everything and she really likes stroopwafels from the Netherlands so if u have that give it to her. Everyone that works with her is also amazing. Really nice hotel with beautiful beach.

Hotel was dated but clean and comfortable and the balcony sea view was amazing. The climate was perfect averaging 27 degrees, the beaches were outstanding and water crystal clear and warm. There were new boardwalks running down the coast and we spent our days walking and discovering new beach coves and bars. Formentera has not been over commercialised and maintains its traditinal identity.

Things started poorly on arrival. The lady who checked us in was brain dead. She could not seem to find our reservation, but a colleague did with no problem. We had a reservation at a restaurant for the first night and I asked if we could walk to it. She told us we would need a taxi. That afternoon, while walking along the beach, we saw the restaurant and it was within easy walking distance of the hotel. Silly rules! We could not get towels before 10:30. We wanted to be at a beach by that time. Sara, in guest relations, was the only person we met who had any personality or any interest in serving guests. She got us towels about 9:45. We were not on the all-inclusive program, so the servers at the bar were not interested in serving us. I guess they did not want to do the paperwork for a room charge. The first afternoon I tipped 2€ when I was served two glasses of Sangria. The bar man grunted and was obviously unhappy with the amount of the tip. We had an early departure our last morning and staff did set up a cold breakfast and coffee for us before the breakfast room opened. The room we had looked nothing like the photos posted on the website. Our room was dated, dark, and in poor repair. The furniture had peeling paint, the bath and tub were nicked and scared. The tub had been repaired, but it looked like it had been done by a five year old. The mirror had places where the reflective material had disappeared. Amenities were basic quality. The bed was uncomfortable. The linens were thin and worn, and the towels had seen better days. The A/C never got the temperature down to a comfortable level. The only meals we ate there were breakfasts. The room was crowded and busy. We spent twenty five nights in Spain, and this was the only hotel that did not offer fresh squeezed orange juice. It was concentrate from a machine. Too many kids. And too many rude people heaping food on their plates. We had a reservation at the restaurant on property but canceled. There were better options in the area. The hotel sits on a very nice beach but the beach in front of the property is very rocky. You can find beaches with nice sand a few hundred meters in either direction. This was not a Four Star experience.