“From Check-in to Cheer: A Journey of Mixed Delights”

We stayed in this hotel for one week, half board and were initially worried about the cost of everything. We booked on lastminute.com after a family medical issue scare and needed to get away for a short period and we were certainly not let down! The people staying at the hotel were around a 70/... more

We stayed in this hotel for one week, half board and were initially worried about the cost of everything. We booked on lastminute.com after a family medical issue scare and needed to get away for a short period and we were certainly not let down! The people staying at the hotel were around a 70/30 split Spanish to English, with one Belgian family when we stayed and although 1 or 2 members of staff didn't speak perfect English, it was dead easy to communicate with every single one of them, and they were ALL really polite and helpful. I'm not sure where some of the people in the reviews stayed but there must be some need for "attitude adjustment" as we had zero issues. Checking in was a breeze. We arrived at 11pm and were given our wristbands, and 2 keys for each of the rooms. These did have a tendency to not let us in and three times during our 7-day stay, we needed to get the room keys recoded. This only took reception a few seconds, but it was super annoying having to go down from the top floor just to sort this out. The reception staff were nevertheless very helpful indeed and always polite. We booked two standard rooms for 8 of us (3 adults and 5 kids), and we were a little disappointed that they were just 2 double beds in each room rather than 2 singles and bunk beds. Having said that, the beds were super-comfortable with semi-hard memory foam mattresses. The beds were made every day during breakfast around 9am and fresh towels were provided. Every room has a nice sized balcony with a table and chairs and ashtray. There is air conditioning in the rooms which worked great though it would have been nice to be able to put them on to heat for the one day when it was rather cold overnight. There is a TV with quite a few channels but mostly in Spanish, though there was a Disney channel for the kids who didn't seem to care. The bathroom had a shower and bath combo, bidet, sink, toilet and hair dryer, and we were provided with shower gel, shampoo/conditioner, as well as a brand new shower cap, comb and tissues in sealed packages in the bathroom. The pool and surrounding areas in the hotel were super clean (as is the hotel generally), and there was also a jacuzzi, kids splash area with a small flume, and 3 larger flumes that were opened at certain times, 1-5pm if I recall correctly. The jacuzzi bubbles seemed to be on a timer so they weren't always on which was good for the small kids if they just wanted to paddle around in something less deep, though they loved the splash area. There were plenty of sun loungers all around the pool area and we never had any issue getting one though it was October. The outdoor bar is just down a few steps from the pool area and serves, like the indoor one, everything you can think of. Drinks are reasonably priced with branded rum and coke at 6, Jack Daniels at 9, and cocktails at 7 Euros each. As we were half board, this soon racked up, but we had kids with us, so getting drunk every day wasn't on the cards. If we were to go again though, we would definitely go all inclusive. The drinks are all top-shelf branded ones and are straight from the bottle, so no watering down here! As we were half board, we had breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was served from 8 to 10:30am, and dinner from 7 to 10pm. As there was a gap in the middle, on some days we decided to grab chips or hotdogs from the outside bar which were 3 and 5 Euros respectively, but we preferred to fill up in the morning when we could manage it. The breakfast was the same every day, with a selection of continental breakfast items (meats, breads and cheeses), as well as the English variety; scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, beans, tomatoes, etc. The breakfast did become a little samey, but there's only so many different things you can do with it in my view. The dinners were fantastic. Though there were items that repeated every day, such as pasta, breads, yoghurts and ice cream, everything else changed day. One day we had fresh steak, another they were cooking really thick burgers, another they had some pork in sauce thing. It was so varied that it was hard to choose so we tended to mix and match and try a bit of everything and all of it tasted amazing! There did always seem to be an issue with the service though. Although the cooking staff replaced everything as it went low, the servers left a LOT to be desired. Every day we found ourselves trying to find cutlery and glasses. This is where the hotel really let itself down and is where it needs to focus. Staff seemed to be more interested in chatting to each other than clearing tables. I can imagine how bad this could be in high season. Entertainment is where the hotel really shone, and where the icing was put on the cake. Inside there were a couple of pool tables, and outside there were pool tables, a ping pong table, kids club, main stage, and air hockey tables downstairs, and a small kid's playground upstairs beside the larger flume entrances. There were a couple of arcade machines next to the kid's club but we didn't go in there. The entertainment staff were some of the nicest people. Not just on holiday, but generally. They really went out of their way and put everything into their jobs. It seemed like they were having fun making us laugh as much as they enjoyed their work. Though it's quiet until about midday, they certainly made up for it with bingo every day where you can win a bottle of cava, a free drink or a spa treatment, football for the kids, face painting, zumba, and other activities. Overall, we had quite high expectations for this 4* hotel and it did not disappoint. They do need to concentrate though on their server staff, as that seemed to be the only issue here, and the keycards.

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“La Hacienda, La Pineda, Spain”

Stayed at La Hacienda for 1 week, 24.10.23. We stayed half board, breakfast/dinner, I read all reviews from others, some were awful. I can truthfully say DO NOT LISTEN TO THE BAD REVIEWS, this hotel is beautiful clean, friendly, helpful. From the moment we arrived ALL staff were helpful, pleas... more

Stayed at La Hacienda for 1 week, 24.10.23. We stayed half board, breakfast/dinner, I read all reviews from others, some were awful. I can truthfully say DO NOT LISTEN TO THE BAD REVIEWS, this hotel is beautiful clean, friendly, helpful. From the moment we arrived ALL staff were helpful, pleasant, and smiling. Rooms cleaned everyday, towels changed everyday. Food you could not wish for more, the selection was outstanding catering for every need. Breakfast consisted of: cereals all types, fresh cheeses, meats, salads, sauces, tea, coffee, fruit juices, fully cooked breakfast every day, hash browns, beans, sausages, bacon, toast, etc etc, Dinners everything you can think of, pork, chicken, beef, fish etc, the list of foods available is enormous too much to put on here. Even had halloween sweets and candy floss for kids. Two swimming pools, kids swimming pool, jacuzzi, flumes, tennis courts, etc all great fun. pool bar too and also served food too. entertainment was fun and not all in Spanish as other have said they interpret each day, shows were fantastic, bingo each day for free with free spa, wine, drinks for winners. Animation staff brilliant too. So a big thank you to La Hacienda and Staff for making our stay wonderful.

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“Great value family hotel ”

Just home today from a week staying here. I really wanted to write this review to be helpful to both the hotel and to people booking or who have booked. To sum up, don't worry! The hotel is totally fine. Here are the positives: - extremely clean rooms. Our room was modern, clean and tidy. We ... more

Just home today from a week staying here. I really wanted to write this review to be helpful to both the hotel and to people booking or who have booked. To sum up, don't worry! The hotel is totally fine. Here are the positives: - extremely clean rooms. Our room was modern, clean and tidy. We did see in a few others - they looked fine too. - very comfy bed - cleaners work hard throughout the hotel - public areas are clean. - restaurant caters for all tastes, quality of food is fine/edible and often tasty. - staff are accommodating and friendly. We had to change rooms (not the hotel's fault - the people below us were offensive!). Esteve and the manager were very quick to accommodate us, were very polite and generally lovely. - Staff's english language skills were very good at reception. We didn't expect this, because it's really ignorant to assume everyone in the world can speak English! A bit of Spanish in the restaurant is a good idea - really not hard - agua sin gas , vino tinto etc. And if you need some help then check out Google translate! Have a go! - great kids splash pad and water slides. - excellent area. Lots immediately round, easy access to gorgeous Tarragona and Barcelona. - good restaurants close by - check out Oh La La. - very close to Reus airport. - good access to public transport - get your bus pass from la plana. - very close to beautiful beach. Room for improvement: - it might be a good idea to have more than one person on check in as was quite slow (not their fault, just need more man power!) - bed spread a little scratchy and not the warmest! Tips: - bring travel kettle, tea bags and mugs - if out of season bring a wetsuit for your little one for the pool - if you're a nit picker then the hotel is not for you. It is a little tired in places but it's very clean and comfortable. - don't just hang round La Pineda - head into Tarragona - the old town and historical sites are magical. - this hotel isn't for you if you are expecting it all to be very British (why go to Spain if you don't want to experience Spain?! 🤣) Myths from previous reviews to clear up: - staff are not rude - British people are not treated differently to the Spanish! - several have mentioned a La Pineda smell. Honestly it has nothing to do with local industries. There is an occasional drain smell on the street. It's not everywhere and is very common in warmer climates!!! Thank you La Hacienda, your efforts were might appreciated. We had a lovely holiday.

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