After 3 weeks of being fed twice daily, we had definitely had enough of buffets to last us for a lifetime. Decided to check into apartments with kitchen facilities, again booked via the thomson.co.uk web site. That they were cheap and clean is about it.

Vista Blanes is a 3 story (no lift) apartment complex, arranged in 4 blocks of about 40 units. Although it doesn't have a Kids Zone tag, it is obvious that such complex are targeted at families with young children. There were games and the like organised around the pool every day and bingo and such things at night, but nothing running too late.

The pool appeared to be the only facility at the complex, and was well used and enjoyed by the children. There seemed to be a several Spanish families there as well as English, and the Thomson holiday reps were only on site at certain times every day rather than being there full time. In truth we do our best to avoid the reps, but the English Package Tourist would be a bit lost without them to sort out every minor or major occurrence during the holiday, so there is a phone number if you need them whilst they're not there.

The apartment itself was a bit basic - the sofa could be turned into a bed, so was therefore very uncomfortable for sitting on and there was no TV or radio. There was a very small but reasonably well equipped kitchen with a 2 burner hob and microwave oven. There was a brush, mop, ironing board and iron, but no washing machine on the premises - I'm sure a coin operated one would more than pay for itself - and towels and bed linens were changed/rooms cleaned twice weekly.

The basic nature of the apartments was all around the complex inside and out - no foam mattress on the pool sun beds, a tea towel but no dish cloth or initial toiletries, and who carries washing up liquid around with them? (Of course we do - enough to last about a week). There was a small supermarket attached to the complex where prices were about the same (or in some cases cheaper than) the larger supermarket a couple of minutes walk away on the main street. The car hire available at the complex was far cheaper than at either of the other two hotels we had previously stayed in on Minorca, probably comparable to those available in the town of Ciutadela which is about 10 minutes away by bus or a very pleasant 30 minute walk. Being a much larger resort area and closer to town there were as many holidaying Spaniards as other Europeans and the bus service is very regular and runs later than is the case on the more isolated resorts.