Guest reviews Palm Hotel & Spa

by PJ-Cologne Cologne, Germany

Excellent hotel for a luxury and relaxing holiday!

Spend seven nights in the Palm Hotel and Spa in late December. From the arrival we enjoyed every moment in this fantastic environment. Had the chance to stay in two different kind of rooms - a junior suite and a lodge - and both were very impressive. Size of the rooms, design and facilities exceeded our expectations. The hotel is located some 200 meters above the bay and offers spectacular views, especially for the sun set. The employees were very friendly and always very helpful. The attention was perfect and very personal. The pool is nice with a great sea view and although the hotel was fully booked, there was always enough space to relax in a quite environment. Last but not least, the restaurant deserves a special comment. Food is excellent and offers great international/French cuisine with local ingredients and tastes. If there is anything that could be further improved, than we would have wished a bigger variety of fresh local fruits, considering the great choice of fruits available on the island. My wife also enjoyed the nice spa. Altogether - a great five star hotel with a very personal touch.

by Gwenllian llandogo, pembs

A definite hit - something for everyone

We spent 4 nights here and loved every minute. From a super friendly welcome with hot towels and cool drink to great cocktails and live music, it couldn’t have been a better choice. We booked a larger room which was perfect-great balcony, huge shower and plenty of room space as well as a large fridge. TV screen huge too with good channels. No English ones which would have been nice though. Although low season meant food options were slightly limited ,we ate there every night. If I went again I would book half board. Pools, viewpoints and bars as well as breakfast buffet were great. Staff were friendly. There is also a super little walk down to the beach from where you can hike or swim in the manmade lagoon. The location is great for Le Sud Sauvage and there are other eating options nearby. Amazing holiday

by Step-Phil B Brussels, Belgium

Amazing stay and astonishing service

This place will fulfill your paradise dreams... Amazing service, a special thanks to Emilie and Sabine for their true kindness and outstanding smile. Emilie at the reception will never hesitate to share her feelings and good plans for you to know the island better and Sabine will confess how she lives in this paradise... True stories with so much kindness and sharing. The premises is exceptional, the service is excellent and people amazingly kind.

by Wander752335

Not a 5 star hotel - bad service, no luxury

If you are not a French speaker, you should stay far away from this hotel. If you are used to 5 star service, you should stay far away from this hotel. You have been warned - this is not a luxury hotel. I am unpleasantly disappointed and feel a certain sense of my vacation having been wasted in this place. I made the wrong choice of coming to this hotel, which is on me. I wish - in hindsight - that I had chosen the other one that was suggested to me by my agency. I am writing this review on my last day here. For the past 10 days I was trying not to do this, but the man at the reception just lied straight into my face (in a very arrogant and hostile manner) and that tipped the scale. Let’s start with a few positives: 1. The cleaning crew is great. They work hard and the two ladies I met cleaning my room, were both genuine and friendly, speaking great English. So my room is clean, which is great. 2. There are two concierges (Samantha and Julie) that are friendly and speak very good English. They should get a raise because, quite frankly, they are about the only two people at the front desk who give this hotel a semblance of a 5 star establishment. 3. Food is good. But if you are vegetarian, you might go hungry here. Due to limited options, I actually lost some weight here so I am counting the food as positive. 4. Pool area is nice, with beautiful views. The location of the hotel in general is very good. The top 4 negatives (because I have neither the time nor the patience to list them all): 1. More than 85 percent of guest-facing staff does not speak English. It is terrible. This hotel is not ready for English speaking guests. It is irritating and annoying. The personnel at the bar is almost entirely French speaking, so ordering something is real work each and every time. They stubbornly keep speaking French to me, even though they know that I cannot understand them. The woman who picks up for room service already dropped the phone on me twice the moment that she heard me speaking English. The staff at the spa is the same – try discussing what kind of massage you would like to have if they have no clue what you are saying. I usually get massages every second day – here I took one only because the list of misunderstandings that one time was just too long. 2. You can wait at the lounge area at the pool for a whole day and nobody will come and ask if you would like to order something to drink or if you need anything. The only option is to go up the stairs to the bar and order it yourself. When the staff collects empty dishes, they valiantly avoid your eyes so that you cannot order anything else. There is only one man (I forgot his name, Bruno maybe?) who works hard, but the rest of them are more or less just hanging around. Useless. On one occasion, I did not get my order – I guess they forgot. On another occasion, I waited for almost an hour. I usually order a lot, but this time I am actually saving money. 3. The service is sometimes less than 3 star. There were various instances where I made requests (minor stuff, like different non-alcoholic drinks in my fridge or vegetarian sandwich for my hiking trip) and it never happened. With some minor exceptions, the staff are disinterested in their work and not motivated at all to make you feel welcome. Things that are usual in 5 star hotels nowadays (like getting fresh towels at the pool area or a hair conditioner in your room) are nonexistent here. I just asked if I could stay in the room until my transfer arrives late in the afternoon (yes, 5+ star hotels are now actually letting guests do this), and the man at the reception desk shut me down, stating that the hotel is entirely full and this is not possible – without checking the computer. So I checked myself on the hotel website, on boking.com and hotels.com, because if the hotel is full, this would actually be a good reason (despite his poor manners). Guess what? I could book a room for tomorrow. So I guess the man lied in my face. I made screenshots so that I can show them to my travel agency. They warned me about going here, but unfortunately, I did not listen. 4. The Internet connection is so slow that I had issues connecting to work. At many points at the pool, the Internet does not work at all. Or it works for half an hour and then stops working. So if you are like me and have to do some work here and there, find another hotel. If you are a French speaker, meat-eater, do not expect a 5 star service, and do not mind overpaying for your stay in this 3-4 star hotel, you will really like it here. I for one cannot wait to leave this place tomorrow. Which is a good thing I guess, because end of my vacation usually depresses me very much. Not this time - Silver Linings. To the hotel: Do not bother responding to this review with your usual PR response. I just noticed another review from October about lack of choices for vegetarians, and your promise that you will improve. You did not. This hotel is being mismanaged.

by Ashutosh A Guwahati, india

An average property with too crampy rooms

We happened to be at Reunion Island and stayed at Palm Hotel and Spa for 4 nights in October. The room was too small and less said about the ensuite wash area. English speaking waiters were hard to get ... Hardly any dish for the vegans or veggies. Though at the time of booking the hotel mentioned it was vegetarian friendly, but it was hardly so. The breakfast was ok, but there was hardly anything to eat in lunch / dinner. We had to make do by purchasing fruits, bread and butter from the super market. The swimming pool and jacuzzi are the high points of the property. The bar was very well stocked. Too expensive for the services provided.