“Pleasant enough experience”

Just back from a week here with my elderly mother. There are both positive and negatives about the hotel, but overall our stay was pleasant *POSITIVES* - bar staff very friendly - extremely clean - close to town (15 min walk to main strip) - room spacious - plenty of activities by the animation ... more

Just back from a week here with my elderly mother. There are both positive and negatives about the hotel, but overall our stay was pleasant *POSITIVES* - bar staff very friendly - extremely clean - close to town (15 min walk to main strip) - room spacious - plenty of activities by the animation team - breakfast busy but plenty of options. Juice from machines never cold though *NEGATIVES* - air con in room rubbish - absolute joke trying to get sunbeds. You need to be down at 9.30am to queue and when the doors open there is a stampede. Clearly not enough sunbeds for the number of guests and many are old, broken or don’t change height for you to sit up. This is something the hotel really should invest in - reception staff not overly friendly - entertainment in evening starts too late, 11pm and often all in Spanish Overall the hotel is fine but some small improvements could make it a lot better. Very close to aventura theme park so would be a good base for this.

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“Good hotel”

I booked two weeks half board through tui as came to salou last year and really enjoyed it Last year we stayed at the Villa Romana next door, i chose this hotel this time as managed to get two weeks for almost the same price as previous holiday and standards advertised appeared similar. Both ho... more

I booked two weeks half board through tui as came to salou last year and really enjoyed it Last year we stayed at the Villa Romana next door, i chose this hotel this time as managed to get two weeks for almost the same price as previous holiday and standards advertised appeared similar. Both hotels are large hotels and in my opinion offer the same standard of service. Positives. All staff are very pleasant and welcoming, had an issue with balcony door not locking which was sorted very quickly with no fuss. Hotel is very clean and tidy, air con works fine and room was suitable for our needs, we had room on the fourth floor which overlooking pool area. Shower was excellent and beds very comfortable. Hotel is in a good location with a short walk to salou and the theme park and transfer from hotel only 30 minutes. Breakfast choice was good and pool bar is nice, food and drinks at pool bar both reasonable price and quality and service excellent. Entertainment in evenings was mostly good fun and a nice atmosphere. Negatives. Choice of evening meal was terrible - variety and standard was poor, food was cold and on occasion not cooked through. There were chips and nuggets etc in case the other more continental choices didn’t appeal but even these were cold and rubbery, I couldn’t understand why the quality in the evening was so poor. In the end we mostly gave up with the restaurant and went to the Robin Hood bar in Salou for food which was lovely although it was annoying having to pay for food out when we had gone half board but needs must. Pool situation in the morning was ridiculous, to see adults queuing with towels at 830 when they don't open until 930 and then see them running to secure sun loungers with their towels was embarrassing and cringe worthy - once towels were placed they would then walk off and not return for hours, this made securing a sun lounger after 10 impossible and caused issues with planning the day. Wifi - shocking, constantly disconnecting and very slow Hostility - i found all staff at the hotel lovely, very cheerful and happy to help however when away from the hotel in town i noticed a lot more rudeness from locals especially in shops, on a number of occasions we were totally ignored whilst waiting to pay for items and when we were served we received a somewhat frosty reception. This was very noticeable in Barcelona where there was borderline hostility from shop staff. Ive been to Spain and Salou in particularly numerous times over the past 30 years with no such issues but there was a definite change on this occasion which did get slightly tiring and annoying after a while. I would recommend the hotel but would be mindful of the food and sun-lounger issues which could be easily resolved by the hotel. On reflection I think booking bed and breakfast would offer better value for money if you are looking to get out and explore the local area each day or if you enjoy having a nice meal in the evening. Things to do. We did the Barcelona day and night trip which was excellent. We also went to see Barcelona FC play which is a really good experience if you get chance, we booked both trips via Tui and there were no issues at all, both ran smoothly and the reps / guides were brilliant. Portaventura was a good couple of days although long waits for rides. Overall in my opinion a very good hotel and lovely holiday although due to the hostility outside the hotel this will be the last time we visit Spain for a few years as it did put a bit of a dampener on the trip overall.

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“Average NOT 4* standards”

Firstly, Average hotel.. not 4*, wouldn't go back. We have just got back from 8nights staying here and it's a mixed bag! PROS: Rooms not massive but clean and perfectly fine. In a quiet area, yet walking distance to beach/shops/Port Aventura etc.. (20mins) Food ok.. got better through the week b... more

Firstly, Average hotel.. not 4*, wouldn't go back. We have just got back from 8nights staying here and it's a mixed bag! PROS: Rooms not massive but clean and perfectly fine. In a quiet area, yet walking distance to beach/shops/Port Aventura etc.. (20mins) Food ok.. got better through the week but had much better selections at previous 4* hotels. Pool not massive but never too full, Aqua dance-aerobics good fun at 11.30. AIR CON - mentioned a few times in other reviews but ours was fine CONS (a few!) Only a handful of staff are friendly, most are just rude! my husband was completely ignored the first time we had a look in at the Irish Bar in the hotel, waiting to order drinks, time after time, if you were Spanish and walked up to the bar, they got served. We just left and didn't go in again. No Tea/Coffee facilities in room.. Balcony but no table or anywhere to hang towels, swimwear etc, had to lay them onto the chairs we were meant to be able to sit on! .. definitely NOT 4* standard Water - none readily available!! They charge 2 euro for a 500ml bottle of water! We discovered LEVEL -2 (where mini club/games room are) are vending machines, where you can get a large bottle (1.5l/2l can't remember the size) for 2 euros!! Don't pay bar prices for water! Note: No drink included with the evening meal, we just got a water (as above) but for 3 euro as you can't take your own drink in! Loungers - there were a selection of people who would run to get a lounger at 9.30! But there were plenty available, after this time! Quite a few were damaged though, most didn't sit up/not adjustable. Not the most comfortable if you wanted to read! Entertainment - Average, but then again its rare to be blown away by hotel entertainment! All VERY Spanish orientated. Very little Spanish translated. We did try bingo one evening.. gave up in the end! There was a movie quiz one night which was good. Reception staff - It turns out, were not particularly helpful - asked how best to get to Parc Sama and were told taxi, as the bus would take a long time. Told around 10-15euros. They ordered one for us, it was taking quite a while so we cancelled it and decided to walk into the centre and the taxi area. We called in the Tourist centre on the way down. Turns out a taxi would have cost us near 25-30 euros! They also did say its not an easy place to get to by bus (takes two) So we ruled that out.. Asked about breakfast as we were being picked up at 7.25am (it starts a 7.30am) I was told we could go in at between 6.30-7am to get cold items etc.. but they would be cleaning 7-7.30. When we came down at 6.45, I spoke to someone at reception (night time staff) he looked confused said there was nothing out yet, only the biscuits and tea/coffee machines. he said we could of course get a coffee etc, when we went in, there had clearly been other early leavers, as there were pre made plates on one table (fruit/yogurt etc) It seems the previous receptionist failed to mention that this was an option! Also upon check out.. all we got was an 'Ok' when I handed the key, no warmth from this lot! I would like to note, we can speak basic Spanish, we are always smiley/polite but here, we may as well have been something stuck to the bottom of their shoe and I don't know why. Hence why I wanted to write an honest review. We have been to far far better 4* hotels. We have also stayed in mainly Spanish hotels (and often prefer them) not this one, very disappointing. Also just a note.. if booked with TUI there is no rep here. Its a shame, I do think the Spanish tourist tensions are filtering through, definitely to some of the staff anyway. Salou itself is very touristy, it was packed, Great place if you prefer that type of holiday, loads of bars and restaurants to choose from. Not really our style and didn't realise that when booking, there is not much 'culture' around to visit. In summary, I would not recommend this hotel. It may have been good once but not so much now, much better out there and the price clearly reflects that as it was a little cheaper than others similar. Pay the little extra if you can!

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“Not a 4 star”

Hotel is very clean and I found all staff very friendly and they worked hard, especially the cleaners and the restaurant staff. Didn't have any issues with getting to the pool after 10/11am and getting sunbeds. Entertainment all in Spanish but we got the gist and some of it was really quite funn... more

Hotel is very clean and I found all staff very friendly and they worked hard, especially the cleaners and the restaurant staff. Didn't have any issues with getting to the pool after 10/11am and getting sunbeds. Entertainment all in Spanish but we got the gist and some of it was really quite funny! Location is about a 15 minute walk to the beach & main area (use the back gate but be aware it it bolted after 12pm). Rooms quite small and beds not the most comfy. Bathrooms need modernising. Air con works better if you leave it on low constantly (ask for 2 room keys!). Food wasn't the best. Breakfast was fine but lunch & dinner was luke warm undercooked meat and lots of seafood. We ate out a lot even though we were full board. The main issue for us was the constant smoking around the pool bar and sunbeds. One Spanish guest even left a pile of cigerette butts on the floor of the pool bar where people were walking around with bare feet. People smoking on balconies also drifted into our room and there was always a smell of cannabis in the corridoor. A lot of people staying at the hotel also thought it was totally acceptable to come in really late at night (1-2am) and let their kids run screaming down the corridoors then go into their rooms slamming doors and shouting at each other. We hardly slept all week. We had a good holiday but sadly wouldn't return to this hotel.

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“Nice quiet stay”

Nice place with friendly staff. We stayed for 8 nights and had a nice stay. We had half board and the food was ok, there was a good choice but the quality wasnt great for the dinners. Breakfast was better with fresh breads and a nice selection. There was no shortage of sunbeds throughout the day... more

Nice place with friendly staff. We stayed for 8 nights and had a nice stay. We had half board and the food was ok, there was a good choice but the quality wasnt great for the dinners. Breakfast was better with fresh breads and a nice selection. There was no shortage of sunbeds throughout the day but a handful of geniuses would still queue and sprint for the beds at 9.30! The rest of the hotel would stroll out and get a bed no problem at anytime. There was 2 lifts for our block and they took forever to come. We found it quicker to use the stairs. The rooms are on the small side but were comfortable and quiet. The place is absolutely spotless and the rooms are cleaned daily. There is an Irish bar but its hidden away a bit and we only had a look in. It's a nice place if a bit dated in some areas. The staff are lovely and make the stay a pleasant experience.

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