Mallorca Family Hotels with a Game Room

Mallorca works for a game-room holiday because the hotels that have one are big beach resorts built around families, with pools, playgrounds and animation in the same grounds. All five on this list also have a spa, so parents get time too. Cala Millor gives you four options on one walkable seafront, while Port d'Alcúdia suits families who prefer the long, shallow beaches of the north.

Hipotels Hipocampo Playa is the best rated of the five, with 9.0 from 962 reviews, and the one I would start with for younger children. It is a four-star beachfront resort on the Cala Millor strip, with a game corner for table tennis and billiards, board games at reception, two outdoor pools and a children's pool with a shallow end. There is also a full-service spa and a playground. It has no kids' club in its listing, so the games here are more relaxed and easy for parents to join, which suits pre-school children who still want an adult close by.

Marins Playa is the most reviewed hotel in Cala Millor on this list, rated 8.7 from 1,764 reviews, and the most organised. Its games room hosts daily tournaments, and the kids' club runs an animation programme through the day, so school-age children have a schedule if they want one. The resort is on the beach, with a children's pool, a playground and three restaurants, one of them a buffet with children's options. Baby safety gates are available on request, a detail that helps families travelling with a toddler and an older child at the same time.

CM Castell de Mar sits at the quieter end of Cala Millor and is rated 8.9 from 391 reviews. Its games room has table tennis, billiards and a cabinet of board games, and a kids' club with animation runs through the high season. The playground is next to the children's pool, so one parent can watch both at once, a small layout choice that makes a real difference with two children of different ages. If you want Cala Millor's beach and its animation but less of the main strip's activity, this is the four-star I would book.

The other two cover different needs. Hipotels Hipocampo Palace & Spa is the five-star of the group in Cala Millor, rated 8.8 from 633 reviews, with larger pools, a spa with a hammam and an indoor circuit, the same game corner with table tennis and billiards, a children's playground, a buffet with children's options and babysitting. PortBlue Club Pollentia Resort & Spa in Port d'Alcúdia is the most reviewed of all, rated 8.3 from 2,056 reviews, with table tennis, billiards and a year-round kids' club, useful outside summer, plus babysitting and calm northern beaches nearby.