Ambridge Church Tour

During a recent holiday in Ibiza we stayed at the Hotel Tanit in Cala Gracia which is about a 15 minute walk from San Antonio. This hotel is described as a 3 star hotel so I was a little unsure what to expect but we wanted a cheap weeks holiday, all the pictures looked good so we thought we would give it a go. The Hotel
Upon arrival the coach dropped us off in the hotels car park which is situated right outside main front doors. My first impressions of the hotel were very good, the hotel was made up of one large block, cream in colour with every room having a balcony. The words Hotel Tanit were written in large letters on top of the hotel (these lit up at night) The grounds of the hotel were very well maintained. We entered the reception through very large glass doors, the reception area itself was massive. The desk was to one side so we made our way there to check in. Considering there were several people checking in we did not have to queue at all as there was plenty of staff on hand to help. One thing which I liked particularly was that all of the staff spoke excellent English, there’s nothing worse then going on holiday and trying to explain to staff what it is you want when they can barely understand a word you are saying. Any way we were quickly checked in given our room details and our all inclusive bands and made our way to find where we would be sleeping for the next week.

The hotel itself has 7 floors and about 390 rooms so it is quite a large hotel. Our room was on the 5th floor, there are about 4 lifts in the hotel so this is not a problem for those who cannot manage the stairs. Being on the 5th floor was not really a problem however I HATE lifts and refused to go in one therefore we had to walk up and down a large spiral stairs case everyday which was a little much, but I cannot blame the hotel as this was my choice!!!!!!

The Rooms
We quickly found our room as everywhere was very well signed posted. Again we were extremely impressed with the cleanliness of the rooms (and even the corridors leading to the rooms) Everywhere was well lit with sensor lights that came on as you entered each corridor. The room we had was a double room, although it was not particularly big it was perfect for us. There was a double bed in the middle of the room, a small chest of draws either side, a large storage chest and a dressing table at the bottom of the bed, along with every large wardrobes just inside the door, needless to say there was plenty of storage space!!!!! The bathroom was just as clean as the main room with a bath and shower and a large surround which the sink was fitted into with a mirror covering one wall. Again there was plenty for storage space for all your toiletries. The room had air conditioning which could easily be altered to the temperature you wanted (this was a necessity if we were to get any sleep at all!!!!) There was also a ceiling fan however we were unable to make this work but this was in no way a problem as with the air conditioning we did not need a fan aswell this cooled the room down perfectly!!!! Other facilities within the room was a hair dryer in the bathroom, a safe in the wardrobe (had to be paid for) a satellite TV and a direct dial phone which you could ring down to reception which I should have mentioned earlier is a 2 hour reception. One thing I was a little disappointed about was that there was no fridge in the room, now normally this would not be a problem for people however being diabetic I have to keep some of my medication in the fridge at all times until it is used so I really thought this was going to be a problem. However we went back to reception to enquire and they informed us that they had a fridge in reception I could us or at a small fee per day we could have one in our room, we chose this option as it was more practical, the fridge was delivered to our room within the hour and connected up for us ready to use. To be honest I probably should have checked when we booked the holiday whether there would be fridges in the room but in all this did not turn out to be the problem I thought it would. Our room was nicely decorated, colour coordinated and spotlessly cleaned every morning whilst we were having breakfast. Each room had a balcony with a small plastic table and chairs on it, the view from our room was not the best as we were at the front of the hotel, but this did not matter as we spent hardly any time in the room at all.

Hotel Facilities
Reception – The hotel had as I said a very large reception area, spread around this were large cream leather chairs and sofas if you wanted to just sit somewhere cool and relax, there was also a small arcade area (mainly aimed at children) and a large conference/ meeting room, this was used for the welcome meetings and the entertainment at night, it had a large stage area at the front and plenty of round tables and chair so there was enough room for everyone. As I said the reception was 24 hour and all staff spoke very good English, there was also a small shop at reception where you could buy chocolate, sweets, toys/ gifts and newspapers in the mornings.

Bars – The hotel had 2 bars, one was the lounge bar which was situated inside and had a door linking it to the entertainment room. Again it had several round tables and chairs spread around aswell as a large flat screen TV on the wall (the men were pleased as it was the world cup and the showed the games) There were a couple of steps up into the bar area however there was also a ramp for people in wheel chairs or those that could not manage stairs. We were all inclusive and I thought that it would be mainly beers that were included in this or drinks that I did not like, however it seemed that most drinks were available free of charge for those that were all inclusive, OK they were not well know brands we have here, they were mainly locally produced brands but at the end of the day vodka is vodka and this did not bother me, my fiancé also informed me that the beer was nice aswell so he was happy. The second bar is the pool side bar and situated outside(obviously near to the main pool) This served the same drinks as the indoor bar. All soft drinks were available from both bars aswell, these included the regular cokes and lemonades aswell as slush puppies and water. Everyone had a coloured band on to show whether they were over the age of 18 or not this meant that children could be served soft drinks from the bar aswell as adults. Both bars were open from about 10:00am ish to midnight.

Internet Access – There was wired internet access just inside the reception that was available to anyone, I did not use this service but I think there was about 6 computers in total and access was chargeable at an hourly rates.

Dining Room & Food – The dining room was very large with plenty of tables for all the guests. The eating times were split up into 3 blocks, 8:30 – 10:30 for breakfast, 12:30 (ish) – 2:30 for lunch and then 6:00 – 9:00 for dinner in the evening. Snacks could also be bought in-between meal times. All of the food was on the right hand side as you walked in with the tables on the opposite side, some of which were on a raised area, there was also an area where you could eat outside under cover meaning you were shaded from the sun. The food was in buffet style where you just walked around and helped yourself to what you wanted and however much you wanted. This was the same for the drinks, beer and wine was available aswell as soft drinks and water. The food was pretty good and there was plenty of it. I did have a few strange combinations some days but this is due to me being probably the only vegetarian that hates salad. All in all though there was plenty of choice for me, there were different things every day and the staff never let anything run out even towards the end of meal times there was always plenty to go round. All of the food that was meant to be hot was, none of it had been left to go cold Overall I was very impressed with the food as it is hard to cater for so many people at once, and I feel that they did a very good job. The whole dining room as with the rest of the hotel was spotless, as soon as a table was empty the dirty plates were cleared away and clean table cloths and cutlery was put on!!!!!!

Entertainment – I’m not sure exactly how good the entertainment was as we never actually went to it preferring a quiet drink in the bar (we sound like an old couple but we’re not!!!) but there was early entertainment for the children every night until about 8:00pm which was normally a disco or games and after this the there was a show which was aimed more at the adults but it seemed that a lot of children went to this aswell. All of the entertainment was in the large room connecting onto the lounge bar. There was entertainment throughout the day which included activities such as water aerobics, football, darts, archery and a champagne competition (where you won a bottle of champagne) I have to say I did not join in any of these as we were happy to keep ourselves to ourselves and do our own thing, but if you do like to join in that sort of thing there was plenty to do and the activities did seem popular with plenty of people joining in. There were also various other activities for the children aswell.

The Pools – There were 3 pools, 2 of which were in the actual hotel and the other was in the hotel next door, however both hotels shared the same gardens so it was literally about a minute walk away. We stayed around the main pool which is where most of the activities took place, although it was quite busy it had a good atmosphere with music playing and plenty going on. There were plenty of sun beds, we would reserve our space before breakfast to ensure we got a good position however a couple of days we did not go by the pool until later and there were still plenty of sun beds available. There was a children’s pool, I did not see much of this but it had various small slides and fountains aswell as a play area with swings and slides. In the neighbouring hotel we had access to the adults only pool, we did walk down there one day but came straight back, it was silent with people quietly reading their books or having a paddle in the pool. To be honest there was no atmosphere at all and I would have been scared to make a slight splash in the water, however if you like to sit quietly by the pool then this area would have been ideal. All 3 pool areas were as expected clean and tidy, there was no litter anywhere and every night all areas were hosed down and cleaned. There were steps down to the pools however there were also slopes and ramps for disabled guests. One thing I found with the pool was that even the shallow end seemed to be quite deep however my fiancé informed me this was not the case and that I was just short!!!!!!!

Beach – To start with we were a little disappointed as we did not think there was a nearby sandy beech, on our first attempt to find it we followed signs which took us across the road from the hotel only to find an extremely rocky beach. However after attending the welcome meeting we discovered we did not even need to leave the hotel gardens. A minutes walk through the gardens into the hotel next door took you straight to a perfect sandy beach. Now there were several steps down to this and I saw no ramp or slope so I am unsure as to whether there was disabled access or not. The beach was lovely, not a single piece of litter anywhere, there was a bar/ café where you would buy food and drink. Sun beds could also be hired at about 4 Euros each which we did do however there were plenty of people that just took towels down. I’m not sure whether the beach was for hotel guests only but it certainly was not crowed. I would recommend spending a day or even a morning down there.

Overall we had an excellent stay in the Hotel Tanit we could not have asked for more. All of the staff were extremely friendly and helpful nothing was too much for them. The whole appearance of the hotel was perfect with not a thing out of place. This really was a family hotel, there were a lot of families with children however there were also a lot of couples there aswell so it is a hotel for anyone. Although we went to Ibiza we did not want a holiday where it was all night clubs and pubs every night and this really was the perfect place to stay. It was a 15 minute walk away from the club/ pub area of San Antonio however far enough away to be peaceful and quiet. We did walk into San Antonio most evenings to watch the sunset from the beach as it is the second best in the world, and I have to say it was very impressive. You can walk along the main road which we did once but most nights we walked along the rocky beach, this may not be ideal for those with small children or disabled people as it can be a little slippery. Although this was only a 3 star hotel I would certainly recommend it whether you are a family or a couple it is the perfect hotel for everyone with plenty to do if you wish or if like us you like to do your own thing you can. If we went back to this area we would consider this hotel again.  

(Published on Dooyoo & Ciao under the same name)

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