“An honest review….the good the bad and the ugly”

Ok,let me start by saying I was quite concerned about staying at this hotel after reading the mixed reviews (some of them made it sound like Guest house paradiso) online before we left but I went with an open mind. If you want an honest review that will give you the good the bad and the ugly… re... more

Ok,let me start by saying I was quite concerned about staying at this hotel after reading the mixed reviews (some of them made it sound like Guest house paradiso) online before we left but I went with an open mind. If you want an honest review that will give you the good the bad and the ugly… read on. We arrived to a big spacious extremely clean lobby. There was ample parking( but it is out of season). The welcome was warm, the atmosphere was chilled and family friendly. We were all excited. We got our room keys swiftly and went to investigate our home for the next few days. The room itself was a standard size. Clean and airy with clean bedding and clean towels(these were actually brand new towels). The shower screen was broken and the toilet didn’t flush. We also had a sofa bed for the two children and not two beds as expected. I went to the reception to raise my concerns and asked them for bedding as the sofa bed was bare. Unfortunately I had to go back three times over the next 8 hours to ask because the cleaner//maid seemed to have forgotten us. In the end I asked for the bedding myself and fitted them to the sofa bed. It wasn’t ideal for the two kids but we made it work. It wasn’t horrific or torturous either. I made my own children’s beds at home every day so I didn’t cry about it. We went down for dinner. I will say Dinner the first night was not great… every single thing we put on our plates was cold…. however we were there very late so didn’t expect there to be much left. This was not the fault of the hotel as such. It was our timing. The hotel was quiet over night the first night. Our balcony was facing Ferrari land which was pretty cool to watch. We slept very well! The next day we headed down for breakfast. There was plenty to eat. I would say that the food in the mornings is plentiful. Fresh pastries, fruit, eggs bacon toast cereal etc. It was hot and freshly cooked. We enjoyed the food and headed out. On a side note… People who are saying the food is “inedible” are just very very fussy. I’ve stayed in hundreds of places across the whole of Europe with my job and my advice is.. if you want luxury food… pay the price for it. I’ve stayed in five star hotels that have food very similar and I’ve stayed in two star hotels with the same. It is what it is. This is basic food but plentiful. The staff work very hard to keep it coming and keep the place clean. When we got back for lunch our room had been tended beds made and all the broken things were fixed. Lunch was our favourite part of the day food wise. It always had lots of fresh salad meats fish and carbs. I warn you though.., the pasta is not serve yourself. It is cold because it needs to be blanched in boiling water and I have seen a few naughty servers watch English people fill their plates and not tell them. I found out the hard way and the joke was on me. Me and the “chef” had a joke about it when he realised he knew that I knew he wasn’t gonna tell the guests next to me, so I did. Cheeky…. So I would say ask politely (and try to ask in Spanish for the love of god you are in Spain! It’s not hard to try. ) for it to be heated and they will happily oblige. The desserts are lovely. Especially the rice pudding. I admit I am going home slightly larger than I arrived. Dinner on the last night was incredible. A real effort had been made with a chocolate fountain. Profiteroles. Fresh fruit and fresh cream. If that was every night I can honestly say I would not have eaten anywhere else all week! If you have very fussy children or children who eat anything (I had one of each with me) you will still find something for both. I had one child eating fresh tuna cooked on the grill, rice, salad and veggies and one eating plain pasta cheese and bread. They both ate numerous puddings. The fresh water and juice available in the morning at no extra charge is a nice touch. If you go in with an open mind and remember what you paid I’m sure you can find lots to enjoy for the value of money. The pool. This was my only real complaint all week. The pool is NOT HEATED. it is freezing cold. Infact so cold my little one couldn’t bare it. There were blue lips and teeth chattering all round. If you go in warm weather though it will be refreshing. The slides are great fun. Mine spent half a day every day in between trips out there. And there are loungers for parents to sit and watch and catch some rays. The staff are all wonderful. Pepito is a god send. Infact the whole team in orange are great. You must try bingo. It’s hilarious. We all had a laugh and my seven year old won. The other guy with pepito swapped the bottle of bubbly for two cokes for my kids. They made my boys birthday very fun. The lady in the animation team also acted very quickly when My daughter got into difficulties in the deep end whilst they did inflatable fun and did it quickly and calmly without panicking my child. I am grateful for the way it was handled. Overall we had an absolutely fantastic week. The hotel was exactly what we paid for and more. I am actually very surprised by some of the comments made about this place. It exceeded our expectations massively…. And I’m pretty hard to please. For the price we paid it had everything we could have asked for. If you want a family friendly hotel with great staff, plentiful food, fun and games and memories that will last your little ones…. This is a perfect place. I also took my mother who is in her 60’s. She chilled out all day whilst we went on excursions and she also thoroughly enjoyed her time here!! They say you get what you pay for but in our opinion we got so much more. I would go back again. If I could change anything it would be the pool temperature. If I could have more of anything it would be that rice pudding. Thanks to everyone at the hotel for a fantastic time. You work very hard and are likely not paid nearly enough to deal with the people you have to complaining about the most ridiculous things but we aren’t all like that and some of us really appreciate it. See you in a couple of years when mine are big enough to go on the bigger rides at portaventura xx

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