Sol Barbados

If I could rate it 0 I would. I never imagined I would be writing a review like this, but I feel a responsibility to warn other families about our experience at Sol Barbados.

During our stay, both of my 5-year-old daughters became severely ill with vomiting and diarrhoea. After caring for them, my mother and I also became ill with the same symptoms, turning what should have been a family holiday into an absolute nightmare.

One of my daughters deteriorated rapidly. She vomited continuously throughout the day, became severely dehydrated, was unable to walk, had no tears when crying and required an ambulance to Juaneda Hospital, where she was admitted overnight. She underwent blood tests, received two IV fluid drips, IV anti-sickness medication, IV paracetamol and overnight observation before being discharged with a diagnosis of infectious gastroenteritis with dehydration.

The following day, my second daughter developed the same illness.

Our holiday was completely ruined. Instead of making memories with my children, we spent it dealing with ambulances, emergency hospital treatment, pharmacy visits, medications and trying to care for two desperately ill young children while becoming ill ourselves.

What concerns me even more is that this did not appear to be an isolated event. During our stay, two swimming pools were closed after another child was sick. We also spoke to other guests who described experiencing similar symptoms. Since returning home, I have found numerous recent reviews from guests reporting vomiting and diarrhoea during their stay at this hotel. Some of these reviews describe it as “food poisoning”. I cannot say that it was food poisoning, and in our case my daughter’s blood tests confirmed a diagnosis of infectious gastroenteritis. The symptoms of gastroenteritis and food poisoning can be virtually identical, so I cannot comment on the cause of other guests’ illnesses. However, our family’s experience closely mirrored what so many other guests have described. If you’re reading those reviews and wondering whether to ignore them, don’t. I didn’t read the reviews before I went, and I seriously regret it. Those reviews deserve to be taken seriously.

When I formally reported everything to the hotel, including my daughter’s hospital admission and medical documentation, I received a response from the hotel manager stating that no other similar cases had been reported and that ours appeared to be an isolated incident. I found this extremely disappointing. What made it even more frustrating was that, after returning home and reading TripAdvisor reviews, I found another guest who had reported a very similar experience and had received what appeared to be virtually the exact same response from the same hotel manager. It left me questioning whether guests’ concerns are genuinely being investigated or whether they are simply being met with a standard response dismissing them as isolated incidents.

I cannot say with certainty where or how the infection was acquired, but we did not leave the hotel as we had only been there 1 day before it started, and I am not making that claim. However, after what happened to my family, I believe there are sufficient concerns for this matter to be investigated properly by the relevant authorities rather than simply being dismissed.

Watching your five-year-old child become so dehydrated that she could not walk and required an ambulance, hospital admission and intravenous treatment is something no parent should ever have to experience. To then watch your second daughter become severely ill before my mother and I also caught the illness made this one of the most distressing holidays we have ever had.

Aside from the illness, I do not believe this hotel deserves its 4-star rating. In my opinion, the overall standard of cleanliness, maintenance and guest care fell well below what I would expect from a hotel advertised at this level.

Based on our experience, we will never return to Sol Barbados, and I would strongly urge families with young children to think very carefully before booking this hotel.

This is a very honest review of the sol Barbados hotel in Magaluf. Hopefully this will help people before they pay for an already expensive holiday and helps them make a good choice . On Arrival the grounds up to the main door are well kept and a pleasant place to walk . Check in was easy and the staff very friendly. We were offered an upgrade to a room with a large solarium for 81 euros which we accepted pictures will be included. In our opinion this was a waste of money . Going to the room lifts are small and busy. luckily for us our room was floor 1 and we didn't need to use the lifts . The room . On inspection the room is dated and had lots of cosmetic damage and marks . Bathroom shower pressure is very very bad and the bath was slippery with no slip Matt provided. No plug for the basin and it's hard to get a shave . The room panels were not fitted correctly and made a massive bang when the door was opened and closed . Damage to fake marble around the basin also . Towels and loo rolls are very cheap and nasty for a 4 star hotel . Also no extraction fan and mirror just smokes up.The beds are firm but comfortable all tho my child complained the sofa bed was very uncomfortable like sleeping on plywood . Small coffee machine provided with no instructions on how to use it . And a tiny bottle of water not even put into the fridge . The solarium was bad . Large step from room the decking and no privacy at all while out there . Sunbeds were disgusting with bird poo and dirt and I can't understand why the normal balcony is not smoking but the solarium people could smoke and just flick cigarette ends onto the floor as non smokers we would not have upgraded if we had known this . The only pro I could give the room is the free safe and the great air con . We had two issues with the safe jamming and the air con was leaking water and credit to the staff on both occasions a member of the maintenance team was at our room within 10 minutes and both issues sorted so big thanks to the staff on reception and maintenance for their efforts . Pools the water land life guards are extremely unfriendly and they seem to follow one rule for one and another rule for another . So much so it was not a fun environment for anyone . Told you're not allowed to help a child when they hit the water at the bottom of a slide or even pop your head under one of the water falls . The top pool was more relaxed and chilled . Both pool areas are spotlessly clean which was a big positive the lifeguards attitude definitely lets water land down . The all inclusive is bad .need to swap a token for a cup and stand in massive cues with one bar person on to get a Fanta found the staff unfriendly and clearly hated serving guests .the snack bar for the pool has all the poor food no one had for breakfast just fired out any old way . The all inclusive is a financial winner for the hotel and people cannot be bothered with the Q's and hassle of the token system . The biggest let down by the hotel was the Spain Portugal game at the world cup loads of families in the sports bar watching it and the hotel had the bar shut .people had to climb two flights of stairs to stand in a Q at the in and out bar to walk all the way back down . The worst was the restaurant food is so bad and raw meats being put out for guests there will be a picture of raw chicken posted . I honestly can't explain how bad the restaurant's food hygiene failed on so many levels and the staff didn't care or do anything about any guests'complaints . Over all this is not a 4 star hotel as advertised. It's a pity as reception staff and the staff around the top pool playing games during the day are amazing and they deserve credit but unfortunately it lets itself down with the rest . We will be back in Mallorca but not at this hotel