Miami Apartments – Es Cana – Ibiza

First, let me just explain that when we booked our holiday to Es Cana, we specified to Thomas Cook that we wanted a hotel that was predominately English, with English entertainment & activities after having a very bad experience in Ibiza last year. This may explain some of the comments to come

Location : with the Miami apartments you couldn’t ask to get closer to the beach. Straight out the snack bar, & you’re there so no complaints there. You are at the far end of the beach to all the shops & restaurants etc, but it’s a pleasant walk, & not far. On the beach where the apartments are, you can hire pedalos for 10 euros an hour or motor boats (3 adults or two adults two kids) for 20 euros for 30mins.

Building : the outside of the place makes it look dated being drab yellow paint. The lifts are like something I have never seen before, with a room-style door on the outside,  & a normal lift door on the inside – & they are very small but at least there are two of them.

The reception seems to be only staffed from around 9am – 6pm & outside those hours you have to go to the sister hotel.

Pool : This is a reasonable size for the number of rooms, but did get a bit crowded. There’s a small paddling pool area for toddlers, & also a ramp at the shallow point for the disabled etc – something I rarely see. As someone that spends 50% of the time unable to walk, this was a pleasant suprise, even if I didn’t require it while I was there.

The terrace area isn’t quite big enough however, & despite the apartments having rules that sun loungers should not be reserved, & staff would remove towels etc from unused loungers, they didn’t, & you saw the same towels on the same loungers all week (usually the people in the ground floor apartments grabbing them). The pool officially opens at 10am and closes around 9pm, but nobody stops you using it outside those hours – I generally used it early morning, just after it was cleaned (which they do thoroughly by the way), & there was no-one else in it.

Room: We had a one bedroom apartment on the first floor. It was reasonably equipped, but in need of renovation. The kitchen area is in the main area & was unusually well equipped, with a two ring hob, fridge (with freezer compartment – although that was frozen solid), kettle, toaster, microwave, a decent selection of pans, & enough utensils & crockery for 4.

The bedroom was a twin with no natural light, as the “window” was on to the landing & so had wooden shutters over it. The actual window didn’t actually shut though, so you couldn’t keep out the noise from the hotel over the road etc. We moved the beds together, & discovered a big patch of mould on the bedroom wall adjoining the bathroom – a quick look at the bath revealed the sealant had perished.

The main area had two sofa beds, a table with 4 chairs, & a portable TV (Sky News, CBeebies, BBC One, & True Movies two were the only English channels & BBC One disappeared at night for some reason). The bathroom was reasonable, with bath and shower, toilet, bidet & sink, although using the loo without breaking a kneecap on the bidet was a struggle!

The doors to the balcony in the main room had a broken catch, & I had to keep screwing it back on. Despite reporting it, it wasn’t fixed. As usual, there was a safe in the bedroom wardrobe, but cost 24 euros for a week, and a 5 euro deposit, by far the most we have ever paid. The balcony overlooked the pool, & had a plastic table & 4 chairs, & a clothes line on the wall.

The snack bar has quite cheap food – but there’s a reason for that: it’s pretty bad microwave fodder for the greater part. You’re better off nipping next door to the Mar Belle Restaurant & paying a tad more for better food, or heading towards Es Cana.

There are a couple of “supermarkets” attached or close to the apartments, but you’re better off heading away from the beach, & there are a couple more over the road that are cheaper, & offer a better selection.

Now, onto the Entertainment. As I said at the start, we asked for an English hotel with English entertainment, after getting saddled at a more or less Spanish-Only hotel last year where we were ignore  & even had a hard time getting a drink. We also have a child with ADHD, who gets extremely agitated sitting through everything in multiple languages – it isn’t his fault, it’s just the way it is.

So, the entertainment is at the sister hotel, the Miami Hotel, around the corner. It turns out, this caters for the English, Spanish, German & Italian crowd, & the entertainment is in all four languages. The Miami Hotel is alo All Inclusive, & when you get to the bar, there tended to be only one barman serving, & a queue longer than one for Tamiflu at the local chemist! All was not lost however, as I had done my research on Es Cana, & we soon abandoned the hotel & ended up at “Popeyes”, where it is not only cheaper, the service is absolutely top notch, the food is great, the entertainment was great, & the staff were fantastic – so if you do go here, I heartilly suggest you go to Popeyes!

I wouldn’t go to the Miami again, but I would return to Es Cana. We didn’t have a bad holiday, in fact, we had quite a good one, because in the end, we spent more time away from the apartment than in it, & Popeye’s definitely made the time more enjoyable.

Es Cana Picture Gallery Video