Coma Gran, Majorca: Review

Hi there! I’ve had a few people asking on Instagram about our holiday to Majorca, in particular about the TUI hotel we stayed in. So I thought I’d write a review of the Coma Gran hotel in Sa Coma, Majorca. Hopefully it will offer some useful information about our experience of the hotel, and also of travelling with young children.

* This is a collaborative post

Booking our holiday to Majorca

Firstly, I’ll start off by saying we booked late. I mean ridiculously late. Three weeks before we went late. It actually worked in our favour as we got a pretty good deal with TUI I think. Obviously this was pure luck and wouldn’t work if you needed to travel during school holidays, as we will be next year. We opted for self-catering as that’s what we did last year and it worked pretty well for us.

Packing

We don’t pack particularly lightly I don’t think, so in terms of hold luggage we had two large suitcases and one small. In the large suitcases we had mine and C’s stuff in one, and the hubby and H’s stuff in the other. We then packed all toiletries separately in the small one as we were a bit concerned about the weight of the large cases. (I think as it turned out they’d have been fine). We then all had a rucksack each and of course the buggy.

I’m so glad we brought the buggy. I had wondered about not bringing it as the twiglets are almost four and don’t go in it that often these days. However, it turned out to be the best decision as they ended up having daytime naps so they could stay up later in the evenings.

Travelling

I so wanted to call this section ‘F**king Off!’ (You will only understand that joke if you’re a Peter Kay fan!)

Unless you’re lucky enough to be able to charter a private jet, you’ll probably be flying with one of the major airlines. As we had booked a package deal with TUI, we flew with them.

Getting to the airport

Aaanyway, so we chose to get a taxi to the airport as it’s door-to-door so more convenient. Plus it seemed to work out much cheaper than parking anyway.

We’d already checked in and had our boarding passes on the TUI app on the hubby’s phone. All ran smoothly. We dropped off our luggage and got a tag for the buggy which we were able to take right up to the aircraft door. Another good reason for having it was that we could dump the bags on it when the twigs weren’t inside.

Flying to Majorca

The flight was absolutely fine. It was only some of the waiting around before and after that was a bit of a pain.

When we flew with TUI last year, we were on a massive plane. Every seat had its own screen in front of it and there was a whole entertainment system built in with tons of films and programmes. The twiglets were super happy watching Paw Patrol the whole time! We were hoping for the same this year but ended up on a smaller plane which didn’t have the same facilities.

What we took on the flight:

I was really glad we had the hubby’s iPad charged and ready to go! (The twiglets don’t have their own yet but I’m thinking it may be time to invest soon?)

I’d also packed a sh*tload of snacks (obvs!) and a selection of new sticker and colouring books, including these Crayola Color Wonder Mess-Free ones.

They turned out to be about the best purchase I made for the holiday. The twiglets absolutely loved them and they kept them entertained while waiting for every meal throughout our whole time away. I bought them from Sainsbury’s but they’re also available on Amazon.

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I would also really recommend busy bags from My Busy Bots for travelling (see my review of these here). They are just perfect for keeping pre-schoolers entertained and they’re educational too.

For more helpful tips, check out these posts:

• Travelling with an older baby or toddler
• Travel game ideas
• What to bring when travelling with a baby

Coach To Sa Coma

The coach transfer to Sa Coma was about an hour and a half I think. We easily found where to get the coach from at the airport, and all went fine.

Arriving at the Coma Gran

When we arrived at the Coma Gran, we were immediately impressed with how clean, light and airy the hotel looked. The staff were friendly and welcoming and we met one of the TUI reps straightaway.

There was an option to upgrade to all-inclusive, which I think most other guests probably were. I think this meant all food and drinks would be included. We decided against it as we like to have flexibility on holiday and not be tied down to specific mealtimes.

We made our way to our apartment which consisted of a bedroom with a double bed, a living room with two sofa beds, a bathroom, kitchenette and a balcony. Again, it was all very clean and well-maintained and had plenty of space for all our crap.

Location of the Coma Gran

The Coma Gran hotel is located right in the town of Sa Coma, which was super handy. The beach was literally a minute’s walk away and there were loads of shops and restaurants right on our doorstep. There was also a Carrefour supermarket about 10 minutes away which was great for us, being self-catering. We stocked up on breakfast food, bottled water and snacks.

We didn’t really explore the local area outside of Sa Coma all that much. However, one day we did have a lovely walk along the promenade to the next resort, Cala Millor, which wasn’t too far.

On our last day we also hired one of the four-seater bike thingies (genuinely have no idea what they’re called!) and cycled there. This was a lot of fun but be warned – it’s much harder than it looks!!

Information

On our first morning we attended a talk by a TUI rep, who told us lots of information about the hotel and surrounding area. There was also a TUI desk in the hotel foyer if you needed to know anything at any other times.

She also told us about the excursions on offer. We chose not to do any of them as most didn’t really seem like they’d be that much fun with two 3-year-olds! We were happy just to chill by the pool or go to the beach anyway.

Eating

As we were self-catering, we didn’t attend the mealtimes at the hotel so I can’t say a lot about the hotel food. Other guests we chatted to seemed happy with it and we did eat lunch in the snack bar there a few times which was really nice. The snack bar was open from 10am for coffee, ice cream etc. They also served amazing pizzas and you could order them to takeaway if you wanted to eat by your sunbeds or in the shaded area overlooking the pool.

As I mentioned, we stocked up on food from the supermarket at the beginning of our stay. So we ate breakfast in our room nearly every day and also lunch on 3 or 4 days. The rest of the time and for dinner, we ate out at the various restaurants in Sa Coma.

We’re very relaxed about food in terms of diet while on holiday, as I’m sure most people are 🤣 So the twiglets tended to eat chicken nuggets and chips, pizza and spaghetti bolognaise on rotation each night. As I’m veggie, I also had a lot of pizza and pasta. Although one of our favourite restaurants, which we went to two or three times, did the most amazing fajitas. And had a bouncy castle which is always a winner!

The Pool at the Coma Gran

The Coma Gran has two pools – the main pool which was a really decent size and the kids’ pool. This was shallow and had a climbing frame in the centre with four different slides. The twigs spent a lot of time in this pool but also loved going for a swim with their armbands on in the big pool. In terms of armbands, the twiglets were using their Puddle Jumpers for the second year. I would highly recommend them – the twigs seem really safe and comfortable in them.

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Water safety is something I’m quite paranoid about so we had the twigs wearing their Puddle Jumpers any time they went in the water, even in the shallow pool. If we had managed to get sun loungers close to the kids’ pool, we’d sometimes let them go in by themselves, always with one of us watching. Or one of us would just go in with them.

We bought a couple of inflatables and water squirters from the nearby shops (no doubt vastly overpriced 😂) and the twiglets had a lot of fun with those. There was also a splash pad with various squirty things too.

Talking of sun loungers, that was the one thing that was a bit annoying. This may be the same everywhere, I don’t know, but if you got down at 9.30 am you would find most of the sunbeds reserved with towels on them. There were signs saying not to do it but I think a lot of all-inclusive guests would nip over early and chuck their towels on before going to breakfast. There were loads of sunbeds so you’d always be able to get one but obviously everyone wanted to be as close as possible to the pool. We tried to not do it to begin with but it was sort of a case of ‘if you can’t beat em, join em!’

Entertainment at the Coma Gran

When we went to the Coma Gran, it was under TUI Family Life.

TUI offer various different options for different types of holidays. For a more luxury holiday, you might book one of their Sensatori resorts. Check out this review by Actually Mummy for some more info 🙂

Anyway, being a Family Life resort at the time meant that TUI had their own huge entertainment team at the Coma Gran. It may well be quite different now as I believe it is no longer under Family Life (or TUI Blue as I think it’s now called!)

So I’ll share our experience, but just bear in mind that the situation is probably not the same now.

Daytime entertainment

There was a whole team of entertainment reps and an array of characters who the kids all loved – Bamse the bear, the Toonstars etc. These can be found at all of the TUI Family Life hotels I believe.

There was always something going on by (or in!) the pool – water volleyball, singing, parades etc. I’m a bit shy with stuff like that and I was pleased that it wasn’t too invasive. You could just choose whether or not to participate in the different activities.

The staff were great at getting the kids involved and there were so many little details which were just so well thought through. For example, each of the different characters gave out Top Trumps cards. Obviously the twigs didn’t get the concept of Top Trumps but they loved collecting all the cards.

Evening entertainment

I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the evening entertainment. Before having children, I would probably have cringed at it all but seeing how much the twiglets loved it was really special.

The entertainment would begin at 7.20 pm with a showing of Paw Patrol in English or German (‘Mummy why are they talking funny?!’) This was followed by a few kiddie acts featuring the various characters. These were interactive and involved the children (and sometimes adults!) joining in and dancing.

Then at 9pm was the main show. The actors/singers were genuinely talented and the shows were really varied and enjoyable. We very much enjoyed our evenings and were usually able to relax a bit. The twigs would sit on the floor at the front with all the other children and we could have a couple of drinks.

Sleeping

As I mentioned, the twiglets got really into the evening entertainment this year. They desperately wanted to stay up for the show every night. We quickly found that this would only work if they had had a nap during the day though! Otherwise we’d be dealing with two overtired and grumpy but very stubborn children.

So we encouraged them to nap, either in the buggy or on a sun lounger by the pool. At night we put them to bed in the double bed in the bedroom and we took the sofa beds. This meant we had the option to stay up a bit later and have a glass of wine on the balcony or watch tv in the living room without waking them.

Our only concern was that the double bed was quite high and it was a hard tiled floor. The twiglets are both prone to falling out of bed, even with bed guards! So I was very nervous the first night. We put spare pillows under the sheet along the sides of the bed as a bit of a barrier, and extras on the floor. As it turned out, they were actually fine and neither fell out once the whole time we were there.

Kids’ Club

The Kids’ Club was FAB! Sending the twigs to a Kids’ Club was a first for us this year, but it was brilliant.

The clubs were for babies up to age 12 I think, and were divided into different age ranges. They ran for two-hour sessions most mornings and afternoons. You could just book online the day before then drop them off and let the staff know where you were going to be. (Ie by the pool).

The twiglets attended the 3-5 year-olds group for two mornings of our holiday. They loved it. They did lots of different activities – ball games, treasure hunts, crafting, water fights etc. The Kids Club had a small shaded outdoor play area too. The staff were great and seemed to look after the children really well. It was lovely for us to have a couple of hours to switch off and sunbathe in peace.

Other Facilities

There were so many great facilities for children at the Coma Gran. For example a large outdoor playground which proved popular with the twigs when they weren’t in the pool. There was a football pitch next to this where some of the outdoor activities took place.

Downstairs by the Kids’ Club, there was even a little soft play room, which we didn’t actually use in the end. It was lovely and air-conditioned so would be a great place to get kiddies out of the hot sun for a while. Adjacent to this there was a baby lounge, with baby gyms, mats etc. And I think there might have been changing facilities. It looked really lovely.

For adults, there was a fully-equipped gym and an indoor pool. Obvs I did not use the gym – I don’t even manage that at home let alone on holiday! There was also a spa which looked amazing and offered a variety of treatments which you could book at Reception. I was so tempted to go while the twigs were in the Kids’ Club but the prospect of uninterrupted sunbathing won!

Sa Coma Beach

We went to the beach a couple of times during our stay. The beach is lovely and all that but the SAND! (I mentioned sand woes before in this post about holidaying with toddlers!) There’s no doubt that it was easier just to stay by the pool and not get sand in every orifice! But we wanted the twiglets to experience and enjoy it so we went.

The beach at Sa Coma had lovely white sand which the twigs loved playing with once they got used to it. (The first time H immediately got sand in his eye! Then had a 20-minute meltdown during which we nearly packed up and left!)

The beach was busy but not too crazy – I imagine in school holidays it probably would be though. As you got to the beach there were blue sunbeds on the right and cream sunbeds on the left which looked a bit nicer.

We went for the cream sunbeds on our first beach visit. We paid 30 Euros for two sun loungers, a parasol, a safe and two drinks, which turned out to be soft drinks. I think this was a bit of a rip-off to be honest. The second time, we went to the blue ones which weren’t much different, and paid half that amount, just without the drinks. Weird!

Conclusion

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this review of the Coma Gran in Majorca, and that it’s been useful. I also hope I haven’t missed anything out! If I have, please do pop any questions in the comments section. I would thoroughly recommend a TUI holiday as everything is so geared up for children. The Coma Gran was a lovely hotel to stay in and we had the best time on our holiday in Majorca. Take us back!

Click here to watch a video of our holiday over on my IGTV channel on Instagram.

If you’re after some films to get you in the travelling mood, check out this post by a fellow blogger 🙂 And for some ideas of what gifts to buy for friends and family, have a look at this one 🙂 And if you’re after a different kind of holiday entirely, then a family cruise might be the answer! 🙂

Thanks so much for reading!

Hannah xx