Rafa Nadal Academy Residence in Mallorca

My husband and I stayed Sat-Thurs at the academy. We are UTR 7-8, for NTRP he’s a 4.5 and I’m a 5.0. The Hotel If you like tennis, you’ll love staying here. The courts are amazing and you’re surrounded by people who love tennis. There is an energy you’d miss out on if you played tennis here but didn’t stay at the hotel. All the basic hotel aspects of the academy are nice: rooms are comfortable, staff are helpful, everything is clean. The food was alright. Did the job but nothing special in our opinion. Would kill for them to have some smoothies/protein shakes on the menu. The Tennis If you’re of similar level to us, some tips i wish we would’ve known: - book private lessons in advance and do some research on which pros you want and specify, otherwise they’ll assign you someone (and some are better than others) - we did a few days of stay and play (advanced, group c) and the half week daily doubles. Stay and play was roughly 4.0 level, with a couple people who were 4.5 level. It was fun, but not a ton of valuable instruction. Daily doubles was great, in part because no one else signed up so we essentially got a private lesson. If i were to return I would skip the camp and just book 2 hrs of private lessons for a week. - they run a more competitive week long camp in the summer months that ended the week we arrived, from what i can tell the level would’ve been higher - our sessions were in their covered clay courts which helped with the heat (no sun) Things to do other than tennis - we were so tired after playing 2-3 hours that we mostly spent time at the beach. There are some good ones only 15-20 min from the hotel. I would rent a car! Overall we had a great time and will be doing more tennis trips like this.

Have done 2 weeks of Junior Tennis Camp. One without and one while staying at the Academy… Tennis: There really isn’t much training. They just let the kids play, and play, and play… On the last day there is a ceremony where everyone gets a participation trophy. Fun fact: in both weeks we were there, it was always the biggest cheater in the whole team who received the sportsmanship award. One driver of this is that the “coaches” didn’t watch what was happening on the courts. Even on the final competition day… Key “value” taught: “Cheat as much as you can…” Organisation: They have an app that rarely works. Forget the schedule on the app. It constantly changes and you will never know where your kid is or is supposed to be… Yiu get access cards for the Academy that only work 50% of the time. Other: - We had some heavy rain upon which everything broke down for the rest of our stay. No spa, no pool, building materially flooded. Zero compensation. - You will virtually never get towels for the gym (or the pool, IF it’s open). Need to bring your own, but not from your room as that’s not allowed… - Around 2/3 of water stations don’t work - On the last day the kids have a ceremony, BBQ and festives. The parents, aka folks who paid for everything, don’t get anything - they can watch with no food and not even a glass of water. Awesome way to end the experience in a memorable way - You get free access to the Rafael Badal Museum - except you never get access because it’s always booked out Bottom line: Mass factory, highly commercialised, you are just a number.