Friday 29 May 2009

Hotel Salou Park - Spain

Incredible structures by Gaudi, the Nou Camp, fantastic museums, I could go on and on...except this is all in Barcelona, 60 miles from the hell that is Salou.  Of all the holes in Salou this appears to be the worst value for money, quite a claim.  A four star hotel which has been given a rating of 3.18 by the travellers and quite a bashing in the reviews, this gives a score of -0.82.

"Myself, my husband and my three kids aged 4, 2 and 1 stayed at this horrific hotel last month and i still havent got over how bad it was. First of all one of our cases went missing and this was the start of bad things to come. On checking in we were told that we only had a basement room with no balcony and we requested one on booking this hotel beware of this!! We were then told that we would have to pay £150 to upgrade to a balcony room and when i enquired if a cot had been put in the room she told me it would be £60 to hire a cot out. We were £210 down before we even went to our accommodation!! Its not as though this is even a cheap hotel. It rates itself as a four star but i would rate it maybe two. The rooms are cramped and tiny and not at all child friendly, there was glass on top of the bedside cabinets that my kids kept pulling off, my kids were constantly hurting themselves because of the lack of space in the room and the beds themselves were camp beds!! The food ( we went half board) was absolutely disgusting and myself and my husband both had diarrohea and vomiting for two days at one point, i witnessed completely uncooked chicken for kids meals!! the pool is small and cramped, no sunbeds are left every morning as the towels go on at about 5.00 am and then people bog off all day and return to the pool late afternoon which nothing was ever done about, to cap it all off the entertainment is very loud and our kids could not sleep until at least midnight each night which was hell for us and the icing on the cake was my baby girl who is 12 months old got sick the last three days there and when i got her home i took her to hospital as the diarroeha was so bad and they confirmed it was salmonella!!! Dont go here if you want a really bad holiday, the only thing thats good about it is the location which is right next to the beach and nightlife. THE WORST HOLIDAY IN MY ENTIRE LIFE !!!! BEWARE"

"We arrived at the hotel to the sound of agga do do do, this said it all really. We went as a family of four, we had a small room with 4 beds stuck together, it was awful! Tiny balcony over looking a tiny pool for the size of the hotel. All staff were very very very unfriendly, especially the resturant staff who never smiled at all.salou is for people who want to stay out all night and party ,it is not for families who want a fun happy relaxed holiday. One good thing was the maids kept the rooms very clean and worked hard. ONE THING FOR SURE WE WILL NEVER RETURN TO SALOU AGAIN !!"

"Just back from Salou and this hotel is the worst Ive ever had the discomfort to stay in. My husband and I had booked the hotel next door, the playa margarita but when we arrived were told we had been put in the hotel next door and on seeing 4 stars on the wall were fairly pleased at the apparent upgrade as the one we booked was a 3 star! When we got to our room it was obvious this was no 4 star hotel, we had booked a double room but instead got 2 single beds pushed together, the beds were rock hard and the pillows were flat. The hotel was spotless but the decor was very old and the facilities were minimal. You had to leave a deposit of 5 euro to get a remote for the tv, the air conditioning didnt work, you had to pay also to use the safe and fridge. When I complained about the room I was met with hostility, the reception staff are rude and unhelpful. The room was clean and I never like the idea of strangers touching my things so I put the 'do not disturb' sign on the door to stop the cleaners coming in to the room, but they came in anyway. When I complained about this the twit at reception telephoned the cleaner and told her I complained that the room was not cleaned properley so the next thing I know there is an angry cleaner at the door screaming at me for saying she hadnt cleaned the room. I tried to tell her not to clean the room but she didnt listen and ignored the sign again the next day!! The food was ok, nothing to get excited about."

"Room was small pokey, cold, dank and smelled of cigarettes, sound insulation was non existent. Which is a problem when the kitchen staff begin at 7am and decide to empty bottle banks at 1am. people running and screaming up and down the corridors at all times.

Dull, uninterested staff, poor food but hey the location of the hotel isn't too bad. You even have to leave a deposit for the TV remote!"

"this place is actually just terrible!! wouldnt pay ten euro for a night.... firstly we went with another couple my self and my boyfriend and my friend and her boyfriend. we picked the salou park as it said 4stars and the pictures looked nice. when we arrived the receptionist was just disgusting how rude she was her name was samantha and she was horrible. we had booked two rooms but because we didnt recieve our confirmation from alpha rooms she only gave us one room even though we had proof we payed for two. she actually couldnt of been more rude and shouted at us when we asked NICELY was it not two rooms and we were only given one key between four of us. the room was horrible balcony so dangerous, we were given the room over looking a construction site, and we had payed extra on web for sea view. the toilet kept leaking and they didnt care!!we arent even fussy i dont usually pick four stars just the basic. there was no fridge, staff very unfriendly. oh forgot although cleaners came everyday the sheets had make up and poo stains on them no joke, and ear wax on one of the blankets, had to pay for tv, it looks decent when you walk in but my god it is not! also your not allowed lock back doors for security reasons!!How stupid! "

"I dont usually write reviews but i felt i had to with this place!
receptioists really rude, not one nice receptionist in the place, staff unpleasant.
air con loud doesnt exactly work, no fridge, room like a hostel!! i was so upset staying here. i stayed with my two friends for a break but it was no break!!rooms freezing and it was warm there, strange?
we could not lock back door which made myself worry as we were on a low enough level, pool freezing and dirty!!like a bath! breakfast in the all in clusive was a disgrace!

no nice bar food, not even a baguette on the menu with an egg or bacon! this place really horriefied me! i wont be back.
Was thrilled when i checked out, also sheets not the cleanest and blankets very old! how they are a 4 star hotel is beyond me.Dont go here people, you will be disapppointed..."

"I would not stay in this hotel again and would question how its 4 star ratting was awarded. At the side of the hotel swimming pool is the hotels name and only 3 stars. I am not sure if this was an old rating or a disgruntled guest removing a star. A warning the hotel is clearly aimed at other languages than English, this ranges from entertainment to information. The hotel boasts about its sea view but you need to pay extra above the standard charges to get that view (extra charges are a big thing at this hotel), even when they have empty sea view rooms. The reality is there were many 3 star hotels in the area I would have preferred to stay at."

"First let me say, what a shame.
Having perviously visited this hotel in 2005 & 2006 and now for the 3rd year (2007) i will NOT be returning back.. what a shame..

Firstly, the food is usually delicious and of good quality and good choice. Thats changed, it has now been very repetitive and quite disgusting. One night i even suffered a very bad upset stomach etc due to the food there!

Secondly, this year, in most of the rooms the air conditioning did NOT work.. leading to many warm stuffy nights. This then caused us to open the balcony doors therefore getting little sleep due to early hours of the morning spanish residents running around drunk around the streets shouting and screaming..

Thirdly, people (i know this is not down to the hotel) are a lot more rude and inconsiderate this year. You would be sunbathing and go into the bar to buy a drink or nip upto your room and steal various things, from your sun loungers and umbrellas to your inflatable pool toys. How petty?

Fourthly, when we arrived we got told at reception that we were quoted a wrong price for our room, and were charged an additional 500 euros on top of the said amount. Leaving us very short of spending money and gobsmacked!!

Salou in general this year is a dump. The streets are full of overspilling sweage and bad smells around the whole area of salou. The streets are crawling with druggies and places such as cafes, bars and nightclubs are dead, with very few people in them. It used to be a lovely family place that i spoke very highly of, (as previously writing a review supporting it!!) but i am very dissapointed. For the quality of the area, beaches, hotel etc, i would expect this to be a cheap holiday. However with standards dropping and the price remaining fairly expensive (even for drinks in and out the hotel, with it being 6.10euros for a malibu & pineapple or a rum & pineapple.... UNBELIEVEABLE) i definately next year will be searching for a better deal!!

Very dissapointed this year.. what a shame."

"We booked this hotel and the transfers from teletext, through Travel Gems, our stay was for 7 days starting 21/06/2005, we paid £299 per person + £30 transfers.
We got off to a bad start as on arrival at the airport there was no rep or transport for us, however we managed to get to the hotel thanks to a great deal of help from a Thopmpon rep( he gets 5 stars).
The room with a balcony that we booked turned into a ground floor room (no balcony) overlooking the bin area with no chance of a change as it was fully booked.
The air con was not working fully and despite complaints over the week was still not working when we left.
The restaurant was small and on an evening guests were made to form a line outside awaiting a table. The food was bland and the same choices were repeated every day.
The pool and bathing area is very small with all of the sun loungers having peices missing or cracks.
The entertainment on the evenings may have been worth watching if one could get a seat away from the spanish people who walked in from the street to watch their friends/relatives perform. 
On the last day however a very large group of new guests arrived ( all Spanish), the staff then brought out all new sun loungers.
The food in the restuarant all of a sudden became very tasty with a great deal of choice.
I'm afraid this hotel appears to me to cater for the spanish guests ahead of the others.
The transport back to the airport did not show again and after repeatedly trying to contact Travel Gems we had to pay for a taxi."

I'm starting to think that -0.82 is quite a good score for this hotel, perhaps it will be lower by the end of this summer.  If you want to see the reviews for yourself then go here.

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