Mallorca With Kids: Our $700 All-Inclusive for 7

We just took all six of us plus grandma to Mallorca for four nights, all‑inclusive, for under $700 total… and it was our first real all‑inclusive experience ever. As an American family of six living in Valencia, we’re usually the “apartment, cook some meals, walk everywhere” type, so this trip felt very different from how we normally travel.

In this post I’ll walk you through what it was actually like: the very touristy resort area in the north, the day in Palma that totally changed how we felt about the island, what the resort offered for kids, how we got around without a car, and how the numbers broke down for flights and hotel. If you’ve ever wondered whether an all‑inclusive in Mallorca with kids is worth it, or even doable on a tight budget for a big family, this Mallorca all inclusive with kids review is exactly what I would’ve wanted to read before we booked.

Why We Booked a $700 All-Inclusive Trip to Mallorca With Kids

We booked a $700 all‑inclusive trip to Mallorca with kids because we wanted something simple, contained, and relatively cheap for a big group: seven people total, three adults and four kids, for 4 days and 3 nights. It was our first real all‑inclusive resort experience as a family, and we were curious how it would work for us with that many people.

We’ve lived in Spain for about 2.5 years now, and we only started doing all‑inclusives after moving here. Before that, this just wasn’t how we traveled. But with kids, and with extended family visiting, the idea of paying once and not thinking about every single meal and snack started to sound pretty appealing. So when we saw an all‑inclusive package that covered two rooms, all meals, snacks, and drinks for around $700 total for all seven of us, we decided to try it.

The resort was in the northern part of Mallorca, basically straight up from the airport and a bit to the right on the map. That location was part of the appeal: not in the middle of Palma, not way out in the countryside, but in that classic northern strip where a lot of family resorts are. We knew going in this was not some ultra‑luxury, once‑in‑a‑lifetime kind of place. The hotel was marketed as a four‑star property in Europe, which we roughly equate to a three‑star in the U.S., and that’s exactly the level we were expecting.

The all‑inclusive part was very straightforward: all‑you‑can‑eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus all‑you‑can‑drink alcohol and snacks. For a group of seven, that math adds up quickly. Instead of tracking restaurant bills for three meals a day and constant “I’m hungry” kid snacks, we wanted a setup where everyone could just go eat when they were hungry and we didn’t have to think about it. That was the main goal: ease over everything else.

This trip also fit into a bigger pattern for us. Earlier, we’d done a trip to Tenerife as a couple, and we both preferred that overall. Tenerife felt better for us as a destination, and when we zoom out even more, Hawaii still feels nicer to us than Mallorca as an island destination. So we didn’t go into this Mallorca trip expecting it to beat Tenerife or Hawaii. We went into it as a cheap, convenient, all‑inclusive Mallorca family vacation that would let us test how this kind of resort works with kids, see what you get at this price point for a family of seven, and use it as a base for things like a Palma day trip rather than as the “dream island” itself.

So the short version is: Mallorca with kids, northern part of the island, two rooms, $700 all‑inclusive for seven people, 4 days and 3 nights, in a European four‑star (U.S. Three‑star) resort. We chose it because we live in Spain now, all‑inclusives are more on our radar here, and we wanted a simple, predictable setup where food, drinks, and logistics were basically handled for a long weekend.

First Impressions of Northern Mallorca: Tourist Trap Vibes and English Everywhere

Arriving in northern Mallorca, our first reaction was basically, “Whoa… this is a lot.” As a first-timer staying in northern Mallorca with kids, it immediately felt very different from other parts of Spain we’ve visited. The area around our hotel felt like one of the most touristy places we’ve visited since moving to Europe, and we both pretty quickly agreed this was probably the first truly “tourist trappy” place we’ve experienced here.

Walking the streets near our hotel, it honestly felt like a strip in Oahu, Hawaii. The same little shops repeated over and over, all selling the same touristy t‑shirts, keychains, water bottles, and generic souvenirs. You turn a corner and think, “Didn’t we just walk past this exact shop?” but no, it’s just another version of the same thing.

The language mix really stood out. Roughly 90% of the people around our hotel area were speaking English. There were a lot of British tourists, but it wasn’t just British. It was a general dominance of English speakers from different places, to the point where it almost didn’t feel like we were in Spain anymore. Compared to most places we’ve visited in Europe, where you at least hear a mix of local language and different tourists, this felt very concentrated and very English‑speaking.

Because we’d seen news about Mallorca before we came, locals being priced out, workers being taken advantage of during tourist season, and the island being overwhelmed by tourism, it was hard not to have that in the back of our minds as we walked around this northern resort strip. Being on the ground there, surrounded by all‑inclusive hotels and the same souvenir shops, you could kind of see how that happens.

As adults, we both found ourselves comparing it to other places we’ve been. We explicitly said to each other that we enjoyed Tenerife more than Mallorca as adults. Tenerife felt different to us in terms of vibe and how the tourist areas were laid out, whereas this part of northern Mallorca leaned hard into that resort‑strip, tourist trap feeling.

The contrast with Palma made that even clearer. When we did a day trip into the city, it felt completely different from the northern resort area, different energy, different mix of people, different sense of place. It was a good reminder that “Mallorca” isn’t just one thing, and that where you stay really shapes your experience.

All that said, our kids absolutely loved it. Despite our mixed feelings about the tourist trap vibe, they still rank this as a top‑three trip they’ve ever taken. For them, the all‑inclusive, the pool, the beach, the easy food, it all added up to a great time. So from an adult perspective, northern Mallorca felt like a very touristy, English‑dominated resort strip. From a kid perspective, it was kind of perfect.

Discovering Palma: The Palma Day Trip That Changed How We Felt About Mallorca

Palma was the day that made us both say, “Oh… this is where we should’ve stayed.” We spent our last full day there, basically from the morning through the evening, and by the time we were heading back to the airport we were both wishing we’d booked at least one night in Palma so we could’ve had two full days to explore.

Coming from the northern resort area, the difference hit us pretty fast. Up north, it felt like everyone around us was speaking English or there as part of a package holiday. In Palma, there were still some English speakers and you could definitely spot a few remote workers, but it didn’t feel overwhelmingly English in the same way. As visitors, it felt much more like an actual city than a resort strip. I’m sure locals in Palma still feel overrun by tourism, but walking around as a family, it came across as a lot more “real” than the resort area we’d been staying in.

We started by dropping our bags at a luggage storage service in Palma so we didn’t have to drag everything around on our last day. That made a huge difference. Once we were free of the suitcases, we could just wander. We walked around town with no real agenda, dipping into different streets, stopping when the kids needed a break, and just seeing what we stumbled across.

A lot of the day was built around parks and playgrounds. We’d find a park, let the kids run around, then keep going. At one point we ended up at a playground with tables close enough that we could sit and eat while they played. We had a meal there, and it was exactly what we needed at that point in the trip: the kids could climb and slide and do their thing, and we could actually finish our food while keeping an eye on them.

Food‑wise, it was very much a grazing day. We didn’t sit down for some big, formal lunch or dinner. We just grabbed random stuff as we went, something that counted as lunch or dinner, ice creams, desserts, whenever we passed somewhere that looked good and everyone was starting to get hungry. It took the pressure off trying to find “the” restaurant and let us just enjoy walking through the city.

One of the kids’ favorite moments was completely unplanned. We found this little bridge over a canal or river feature, and they were absolutely locked in on it. They stood on that bridge watching the water flow underneath for about 30 minutes. No playground equipment, no toys, just moving water and time to stare at it. It ended up being one of those quiet travel memories that sticks with you.

The whole time, we felt very safe walking around Palma as a family. That mattered, especially with kids who are easily distracted and want to explore everything. Being able to relax a bit, wander different neighborhoods, and not feel on edge made the day so much more enjoyable.

By the end of the day, both of us were doing that mental math of, “If we’d just shifted one night from the resort and stayed here instead…” For anyone looking at a cheap family all‑inclusive in northern Mallorca with kids, I’d still say the resort has its place, especially if you’re a group of 7 people and you want the convenience and predictable Mallorca family vacation cost. But I’d also seriously consider building in at least one night in Palma. As a Palma day trip from a resort, it was great, but Palma with kids felt like more than just a quick outing. For us, it changed how we thought about staying in northern Mallorca with kids versus being based in the city, and if we went back, we’d be looking much harder at where to stay in Palma with family instead of only doing the resort thing.

Getting Around Mallorca With Kids: Public Buses From Airport to Resort and Palma

We did this whole Mallorca trip without a car, and the public buses were a big part of why it actually worked with kids and luggage on a cheap family all inclusive Mallorca trip for 7 people. Instead of booking a taxi or a private transfer, we took a public bus from the airport up to the northern part of the island. The ride was around 50 minutes from the airport, straight up through the island and then a bit to the and for us that felt very manageable with seven people and all our bags.

To figure out which bus to take and when it was leaving, we just used Google Maps. That was our main tool the whole time for checking routes and timing, and it worked well. The only time it went a bit sideways was completely on us: we got off at the wrong stop once and then had to walk about 7–10 minutes back with all our luggage and kids, partly through a wooded area. It wasn’t dangerous, just one of those “okay, this is a little more effort than we planned for” moments, and a good reminder to double‑check the stop name before you hop off.

We also used the bus at the end of the trip to go back into Palma. On the last day, we took the bus into the city and stored our suitcases at a luggage storage facility so we could explore all day before flying out. That made the timing work really well: we weren’t stuck at the airport early with kids, and we didn’t have to drag our bags around the city.

This setup in Mallorca really stood out to us because we were comparing it to Tenerife and thinking about the broader Mallorca north vs Palma tradeoffs. There, we just hopped in a taxi for a 40‑minute ride, and it was quite expensive. Tenerife might have similar buses from the airport, but we didn’t use them there, so Mallorca’s easy, affordable airport bus and overall public transport felt like a big upgrade for doing a cheap family all‑inclusive trip with 7 people, especially if you’re staying in northern Mallorca with kids and want the option of a Palma day trip from your resort.

On the money side of things, using public transport also meant we didn’t have to deal with exchanging a bunch of cash at bad airport rates or paying foreign card fees. Living abroad, we’ve had much better luck using services like Wise to move dollars into euros ahead of time so trips like this don’t come with surprise banking costs on top.

For anyone wondering how to get from Palma airport to a resort and whether Mallorca public transport with kids is realistic, our experience was that the bus made family travel without a car very doable.

Inside Our All-Inclusive Mallorca Resort: Beach Access, Pools, and Kid Heaven

The resort itself ended up being a huge part of why this was the kids’ favorite trip. Our hotel was located on the beach, so we could literally walk from the sand straight back into the resort. That setup made the days feel really easy: we’d be on the beach, then wander back for the pool, then back to the beach again without ever dealing with roads or long walks.

The beach in front of the hotel was totally fine, but we sometimes walked down the beach to slightly nicer stretches of sand and a pier that extended out into the water. It was all connected, so we’d just follow the shoreline, let the kids run ahead, and end up at that pier area when we wanted a change of scenery.

Inside the resort, the kids basically moved in at the pools. The property had three or four pools, and there was one waterslide. That one slide was enough: the kids spent hours on it. Most days they were in the pool from the moment it opened until we went out for dinner. We bought them two inflatable pool toys, a dragon and a potato chip float, and they played with those nonstop. Between the slide and those inflatables, they didn’t really need anything else.

Because we were a group of seven, we booked two rooms. That gave us enough space to spread out a bit and still be close together, and it worked fine with how much time we were actually in the rooms versus out at the pools and beach.

There were also these little kid‑focused extras that the resort offered that our kids locked onto away. A woman at the resort braided the girls’ hair with colorful yarn for about $10 each, and they were so proud of those braids. Every night there were kids’ activities: dance parties, painting, and other organized fun. It became part of our rhythm, daytime in the water, then back out at night for whatever the kids’ program was doing.

One of our kids basically turned into the resort’s resident dancer. She danced for about three hours straight at night, came back sweaty for a slushy, and then went back out to dance more. That was her perfect evening, and it was all there on property.

What surprised me a bit was that this hotel wasn’t advertised as some big kid‑branded place, but it still felt very family‑focused in practice. Almost everyone at the resort had kids, even though it wasn’t an adults‑only or kid‑branded property. Later in the trip, we stayed at a Benidorm water‑park‑style hotel that was explicitly designed for kids, and you could feel that difference in the marketing and the setup. But in terms of how our kids actually experienced it, this Mallorca all‑inclusive with kids felt just as fun for them, even though it was technically more of a general beach resort.

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Food, Slushies, and the 11 PM Alcohol Cutoff: What All-Inclusive Really Meant

Here’s where the “all‑inclusive” label got a little more complicated for us. On paper, it covered everything: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks, including alcohol. In reality, it ended up feeling like a great deal for the kids and a pretty mixed experience for us.

Food‑wise, the resort leaned hard into kid‑friendly. There was a pasta bar, a hamburger bar, chicken nuggets, and lots of options that made our kids happy away. The buffet felt very Americanized and heavy, the kind of food we’d get back home in the U.S., just in a different building. One of us basically defaulted to eating a lot of fish because that felt like one of the better options most nights.

Because it was a buffet, we’d get a little too excited when something more interesting showed up. There were a couple of nights where a specific dish appeared, we really liked it, and then… it just never came back. We’d walk in the next night kind of scanning the trays, hoping it would be there again, and then be disappointed when it wasn’t. That pattern happened enough times that it became a running joke for us.

Between meals, there was a snack bar open after meal times where you could grab drinks and snacks at almost any time. This is where the kids really felt the “all‑inclusive” magic. They had wristbands, and they could just walk up and get slushies and ice cream cones on their own. We let them go a little wild with slushies and ice cream every couple of hours, which is not how we normally eat at home, but it was part of the experience they’ll probably remember the most.

For us as adults, though, the food side didn’t live up to what we’d hoped, especially because we’d just come from Marrakesh, Morocco. The food there was so good it raised our expectations, and when we compared the Mallorca buffet to that, it came up short. It really felt like the whole setup was designed around kid‑oriented food first, with adults kind of making do around the edges. In future all‑inclusives, we’d love to see the same level of kid‑friendliness but with better quality and more options for adults too.

The drinks situation had its own twist. Alcohol was included in the all‑inclusive package, but alcohol service for adults stopped at 11:00 p.m., even though activities at the resort continued until around 1:00 a.m. That cutoff felt especially odd in Spain, where a lot of people are just finishing dinner at 11 p.m. You’d still have music going, people hanging out, kids running around, but if you wanted a drink after 11:00 p.m., you were done. It wasn’t a dealbreaker for us, but it was one of those details that really shaped how the all‑inclusive actually felt in practice.

How Much Our Mallorca Family Trip Actually Cost (Flights, Hotel, Food)

The numbers on this trip still surprise me. We kept this entire Mallorca trip for seven people under $700 for 4 days and 3 nights, and that includes flights, hotel, and food. Coming from the U.S., where it’s totally normal to spend $500 or more just for a single hotel room for a few nights (without flights or food), that felt wild.

The biggest shock for us was the flights. We flew a low‑cost carrier, either Ryanair or Vueling, from Valencia to Mallorca, and the roundtrip flights were $20 per person. Not $20 one way, $20 roundtrip. The flight time was about 55 minutes each way, so it felt like a quick hop. This was one of our first experiences with those ultra‑cheap European flights in the $20–$30 roundtrip range, and it really changed how we thought about what a “big trip” had to cost. We’d already seen something similar with another island trip we did to Tenerife, where the flights were about $30 roundtrip, so we were starting to realize these island hops from Spain can be very cheap.

To keep costs down on luggage, we took one checked suitcase for the family and used carry‑ons for the rest. That was enough for 4 days and 3 nights, especially since we weren’t packing heavy gear. Just that one decision helped us stay in the low‑cost carrier sweet spot and not double the ticket price with bags.

The hotel side of it was just as surprising. For seven people, we booked two rooms at an all‑inclusive resort for three nights, and the total was around $500. That $500 wasn’t just the rooms, it was the all‑inclusive package at the highest tier the hotel offered. That meant all meals, snacks, and alcoholic drinks were covered. So once we checked in, we weren’t really pulling out our wallets for food or drinks at all.

When you spread that $500 across seven people over 4 days and 3 nights, plus the $20 roundtrip flights per person, that’s how we kept the whole thing under $700. If you’re juggling expenses in different currencies for trips like this, having something like a multi‑currency account through Wise has made it a lot easier for us to actually stick to the budget we set in dollars and then spend in euros on the ground.

When I compare all of that to what we’d expect to pay in the U.S., again, $500 or more just for one hotel room for a few nights, without flights or food, it makes this Mallorca all‑inclusive with kids feel like a completely different category of trip. For what we might have paid for a single room back home, we got a cheap family all‑inclusive in Mallorca for 7 people, staying in northern Mallorca with kids, with our flights from Valencia to Mallorca and our food all baked into that under‑$700 total.

Hotel Staff and Languages: Why Service Stood Out on Our Mallorca Trip

The part of this resort that really felt four‑star was the staff, especially their language skills. The hotel itself was a European four‑star, which we’d put closer to a three‑star in the U.S. In terms of room quality, but the way the staff handled communication was on a different level.

Most staff members spoke at least four languages. We consistently heard English and Spanish, and most of them also spoke French and German. They had little pins or flags on their uniforms showing which languages they spoke, so you knew away who you could talk to in your preferred language. As we moved around the property, we’d hear them switch between French, German, English, and Spanish with different guests, sometimes in the same conversation block, and it was just normal for them.

At one point we popped into another nearby hotel just to grab a drink, and it was the same setup there: staff with multiple flags on their uniforms, easily shifting between languages with guests. So it didn’t feel like our hotel was a one‑off; this kind of multilingual service seemed pretty standard across hotels in that area.

As a family living in Spain, we’re used to bouncing between English and Spanish, but we openly admit we struggle just switching between those two. Watching people do that with four languages, while working, and while keeping service smooth, gave us a lot of respect for their skills. Even though the building and rooms felt more like a U.S. Three‑star, the staff quality and the language support side of things were genuinely four‑star for us.

Our Honest Verdict: Why the Kids Rank Mallorca #1 (and We Don’t)

If you ask our kids, this Mallorca trip is still in their top three vacations ever. If you ask us… we’re a bit more mixed about it.

From their perspective, the resort was perfect for children. They had pools, a slide, slushies on repeat, dance parties at night, and kid‑focused food that they could recognize and serve themselves. It was easy, it was predictable, and it was fun. When they talk about “Mallorca,” they’re really talking about that resort bubble, and they absolutely loved it. And I’ll be honest: it genuinely bothers us a bit that they put this trip so high, especially when we think about some of the more “impressive” places we’ve taken them that barely register on their list.

From an adult perspective, though, we’d choose Tenerife over Mallorca. When we look at our little island playlist, Tenerife, Mallorca, and Hawaii, Tenerife and Hawaii just feel more impressive to us as island destinations than northern Mallorca’s resort strip. The landscape, the variety, the overall vibe… they line up more with what we like: more authentic‑feeling destinations and better food. Northern Mallorca, where we stayed in the resort area, felt much more like a tourist strip, and that’s a big part of why we’re not ranking it as high as the kids do.

That’s actually turned into a bit of a mission for us now. If we’re going to keep doing all‑inclusives with kids, we want to find future all‑inclusives that cater better to adults too, especially with higher‑quality food. This trip made it really clear that “perfect for children” doesn’t automatically mean “great for adults,” and we’d like both. So now when we research, we’re looking at kids’ amenities and kids’ clubs, but we’re also paying a lot more attention to food reviews and whether the place feels like more than just a row of identical resorts. Tools like ContentFold have actually helped us turn these kinds of trip debriefs into written notes we can look back on when we’re comparing future options.

Ending the trip in Palma helped our overall impression a lot. Those last hours in the city gave us a very different feel from the earlier days in the touristy resort area. If we went back to Mallorca, we’d want to spend at least a couple of days staying in Palma itself, not just in a northern resort. That’s the version of Mallorca we’d want more of next time: still accessible with kids, but with more character and less of the resort‑strip energy.

For our kids, this trip is still the gold standard: unlimited slushies, a waterslide, beach there, and zero walking required. For us, it was a really affordable, really easy break that also showed us both sides of Mallorca, the packaged resort version and the city we’d happily come back to on its own. If you’re planning something similar, hopefully this gives you a clear picture of what to expect and a few ideas for how to make an all‑inclusive work for your family and your budget.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the all-inclusive package include?

The all-inclusive package covers all meals, snacks, and drinks for the duration of your stay, allowing you to eat and drink as much as you want without worrying about additional costs.

How did you manage transportation without a car?

We relied on public transportation and local options to get around, which worked well for our family during our stay in Mallorca.

Was the resort suitable for kids?

Yes, the resort offered various amenities and activities for children, making it a convenient choice for families traveling with kids.

How does Mallorca compare to other destinations you’ve visited?

While we enjoyed our time in Mallorca, we found that previous destinations like Tenerife and Hawaii offered a more appealing experience overall, but Mallorca served its purpose as a budget-friendly family getaway.

Would you recommend this type of trip for other families?

Absolutely! If you’re looking for a simple, budget-friendly vacation where you can focus on spending time together without the hassle of meal planning, an all-inclusive trip like this can be a great option.