marchofdimes
Google
I want to share my deeply distressing experience at Cas Papà Hotel in Valldemossa on 26th April 2025 to warn all potential guests. This hotel has no accessibility provisions whatsoever — only very old, broken stone steps leading to the entrance and back down, and no elevator inside. This makes access impossible or extremely hazardous for anyone with mobility issues, those carrying luggage, or even regular guests. In this day and age, such a lack of basic accessibility is unacceptable and likely illegal.||The route to the hotel involves difficult, cobbled streets that taxi companies refused to traverse unless going to the airport or far destinations. Neither the lack of accessibility nor the absence of an elevator was disclosed to me when booking. This left me struggling to carry my luggage while unwell. A family passing by, seeing my predicament and my condition, kindly helped me to get my luggage up the old and broken steps, which you can see in the photo attached.||Upon arrival, there was no physical reception staff present in the evening — a fact that was not disclosed during booking. I was let in by another guest, but when I tried contacting virtual reception via the desk button, the staff member on the line was alarmingly devoid of empathy. Despite my explaining that I was sick, coughing, and exhausted (which the man could see and hear via the intercom and cameras), he refused to provide my room number or access instructions, instead repeatedly insisting on payment via WhatsApp—a completely unprofessional demand—while ignoring my condition. This despite the fact that I made the booking online on the hotel website and had provided all payment details and had received a booking confirmation by email.||I repeatedly asked if he could please just tell me what my room number was so that I could at least put my luggage in the room and lie down as I was so unwell, but the man refused each time and said I had to make payment via whatsapp first. I told him that whatsapp did not work on my phone as it is a very old phone and has little storage space and whatsapp was not opening on it, which was the case.||However, it was only when I asked him to cancel the booking and told him that I wanted to leave, that he finally relented and told me my room number, but then incorrectly stated it was on a different floor, causing me further extreme stress as there was no elevator and as I had explained to him, I had heavy luggage with me. He told me that the key was in an envelope on the desk that I had been standing at all along to speak to him via the virtual reception button and he had refused to tell me that the key was there until this point.||The old and large room key was very difficult to use, requiring a very awkward, non-standard angle to unlock and lock the very old wooden door - for both entering and exiting. This is a serious safety hazard; in an emergency or with limited light, escaping the locked room quickly would be nearly impossible. Additionally, the old wooden shutters on the window opened by themselves during heavy rain at night, and the closing mechanism was broken so I could not keep it shut.||After putting my luggage into the room, I called virtual reception to get the front door code to re-enter as I needed to go out to find some food for dinner. The first code that the man (same man as earlier) provided did not work when I tested it and other guests helped me gain entry and told me the code that I had been given was incorrect and told me a different code. When I called the virtual reception again and pointed this out, the staff initially insisted their code was correct, only later admitting they had given me an expired code because they had not bothered to check.||The following day, still very ill, I chose to pay and have breakfast to avoid confrontation with the cleaning lady who manned reception during the day. I did this only to avoid conflict and get back to Palma to rest before making a formal written complaint when I could gather the energy to do so. ||This entire experience was physically hazardous, emotionally distressing, and a glaring failure of duty of care toward guests—especially those who are vulnerable or unwell. The lack of any staff presence, poor communication, misleading information about access, and the shocking attitude of virtual reception staff constitute a complete breakdown of professional standards.||Despite numerous attempts to resolve this matter, management has ignored my formal complaint and refused any meaningful response or compensation, forcing me to share this experience publicly. Someone called Malen did respond to my email complaint, and repeatedly told me that the owner of the hotel, Sophie, would email me, but to this day, she has not. Therefore, I will be filing a formal complaint with the consumer protection authorities in Mallorca and strongly encourage others who face similar issues—whether at this hotel or elsewhere—to do the same. Hotels must be held accountable for their serious shortcomings and failures in guest care and safety.||I hope sharing this will spare others from a similarly appalling experience.
