Hotel Ilusion Calma & Spa (C'an Pastilla, Spain)

The hotel scores highly on room cleanliness and comfort; two of the mainstays of any hotel visit. All aspects of the hotel's operation are supported by very friendly, helpful and efficient members of staff.

The hotel food and menus are unusually appetising. Food is well prepared and attractively presented. Pizza might seem fairly run of the mill, but they are exceptional here and well worth sampling.

Wander out of the building and it's not long before you hit bars, restaurants, coffee shops … and the local bus stop. Public transport is very cheap and a good way of finding your way round the island. You come across places that organised excursions never visit.

If English speaking, you'll probably feel left out of many things, as French seems to be the main language here. Entertainment goes down a bomb but, because it's in French, most of the appeal is lost on guests who just speak English.

If you're on an 'inclusive break', bar drinks are served in plastic cups! For some reason, best known to the hotel management, other guests' drinks are served in glasses. So (*if you care),you can easily distinguish the basis on which fellow guests are staying.

The menu tends to be the same, day in-day out. Then there's the old Spanish hotel problem of food always being served tepid, rather than piping hot. Bit of a worry, that! Salads are surprisingly unimaginative when you consider the amount of stuff they grow here. Breakfast is probably the best meal of the day. The bread choices are really impressive and include, of course … lots of French Sticks!