What a nightmare
by TripAdvisor Member Gary&Theresa
Just got back from a Three night stay in Estival Park and I'm i glad it was only for Three days, I always use this site for rewiews having used it for a wonderful holiday in January to the Concorde El Salam Hotel Sharm El Shiekh then to the Bourgnaville Playa in Tenerife in March and used this site again for the Estival Park, When we arrived we were put into hotel no two not the glossy pictures you see in the brouchre, The reception staff were not friendly at all, except Oscar, The bedrooms were ok although we had a lovely view of a roof and chimneys! The hotel it's self is run down compared to other all inclusives we've been to, the pool was more like a pond in a park not inviting at all, there was a good indoor pool which would not be suitable for Children, Worst of all the food is absolute horrible,tasteless, cold, plenty of salads if your on a diet,The snack bar is only open certain times,So the AI is a bit of a wise joke,And to finish things off I fell on the last night slipped on a wet floor cut my wrist on a broken glass no one from the staff came to see if i was alright although they did phone an ambulance, I needed seven stitches in my wrist and when i got back to the hotel I asked if I could have a accident form but guess what they don't have anything like that! we didin't even have a rep at the hotel, we booked with Fleetway Travel,We go away regular and this was the worst holiday, Good Luck for anyone going.
Great Place for an out of season break !
by A TripAdvisor Member
Just had a great , relaxing 3 day break at the 4 *Estival Park , La Pineda - Near Salou.
Firstly took a ryan air flight out of liverpool for a whopping £22 return. Brilliant value for money and arrived early.
We had arranged a transfer to hotel with Resorthoppa - it was 30 euro's each return which when you consider we had a luxury minibus waiting for us on arrival and spot on pick up on the way home was'nt bad value for money - plus as it was a saturday morning the airport was quite busy and the que's for the bus and taxi's quite big ! i believe its a lot easier midweek.
we found out that taxi's where 35 euro's to the hotel and a discounted 25 through the hotel on the way back - the bus was only 5 euro's each way but was quite busy - quieter midweek.
We booked the hotel through Hoteltopia it cost £114 for 3 nights 4* halfboard - Which we think is superb value for what we got.
( although just booked the 4* sol melia daurada in salou for our next trip - same half board for 3 nights at £80! £40 each on its own website )
Anyway the hotel was very busy - they do special weekend packages so lots of happy, cheery spanish familys and pensioners about . Plus a few weddings and a 50th birthday party! could'nt chck in untill 2pm but as the weather was great chilled out on a couple of sunbeds ! pools where lovely, grounds of complex spotless - prices at the bar reasonable. we where suitably impressed !
Room was beautifull - bathroom very luxurious all marble - two twin beds pushed together - furnishings vey bright, modern and clean - we had a balcony overlooking the pool in block one. Very happy.
breakfast 8-10am
evening meal 7pm - 10 pm
The resteraunt was very busy 1st night as we expected so we hit the table about 9 oclock and truthfully the food was fantastic - amazing selection - including lots of very fresh seafood.
its a self service buffet style, with barbecue grill for various meats etc - fresh pasta etc - lots of english, spanish and german foods. incredible selection. waitress service cleaning tables et excellent - bought a bottle of local red wine fo 7 euro's and it lasted me 3 nights-they recork it for you and my better half was happy with his san miguel at euro's a bottle!
breakfast was very good - once again massive selection 1 you would never go hungary in this hotel!
we had a great saturday night - ended up at a spanish weddin reception in the disco - both blocks had entertainment - very packed but excellent all the same - we fell out the disco that was full of people aged 18 to 80 - it was hilarious ! so was the sunday night when there was only 8 people in the disco including me and my partner (all the spanish had gone home ). we still had a great time it was like phoenix nights.
weather was great - 3 days of pure sun - the resort was very clean but very quiet a tiny handfull of bars and shops open - which is just how we liked it! beautifull beach and prom but to be honest you don't have to leave the estival park as it has indoor pool, spa = 10 euro's a day for a pass but free on all inclusive but well worth it as very luxurious and relaxing.
one big plus was the tapas bar above the spa overlooking the tennis courts where you can hire raquets - tapas where gorgeus and very cheap - beer on draught was great. you have to try it especially if its sunny.
The hotel filled up with british pensioners on the monday - they all came with shearings coachs and although all knackered where in good spirits and great fun im 40 and my partners 34 but we loved it.
So i would say to you guys if you want a cheap 4* holiday with lots of extra facilitys and great food then go to the ESTIVAL PARK OUT OF SEASON !
you can get a bus into Salou very easily which is a lot busier.
Why out of season - well if it was this busy in the november what would it be like high season ?
i mean sometimes there was a big que at early breakfast and early evenin meal although we always went down later and had no problems gettin a table.
This hotel and apartment complex is huge but very well planned - its a 3-5 minute walk to the beach and 10 min stroll into town.
We would definatly visit the estival park again - i think april, may and june, september and october would be great for a week's holiday and would do a mini break nov, dec, jan, feb, march. I would give i a miss high season if you want a quiet relaxing holiday - great for familys though.
we loved it.
Dreadful Split Level Rooms
by TripAdvisor Member WendyNottingham
We stayed at the Estival Park from 26th September. When we arrived it was so noisy that I felt like getting a flight back home. We thought that there would not be so many children there as the school holidays were over. .
We were allotted a room a very long walk from the one and only lift. As my husband is disabled and cannot walk far I had visions of spending our holiday on the room balcony. I never did get him to that room!
I went down to reception and they changed this to a duplex room on the lst floor. This was not much better as there were 14 stairs to the bedroom. The stairs were not covered and quite slippy. Fortunetly there was a sofa bed which my husband had to use. It was quite dreadful getting up in the night to use the bathroom, the first night I misjudged the bottom step and badly bruised my arm on the bannister. I am sure there must be a lot of accidents in those rooms, they really are so dangerous.
Having said that, we found the food was excellent, maybe the best we have ever had in a Spanish hotel. Just one complaint there were not enough potato dishes, too many chips. We found the staff could have been a little more friendly. The rooms were kept very clean.
The entertainment was average, a bit of a let down for such a large complex.
Overall it was OK but not a place for over 60s. I might go there again but would insist on a better room.
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Beware!!
by A TripAdvisor Member
My girlfriend and I went here to spend Xmas and boy oh boy was that a huge mistake. The only thing missing from the resort was tumbleweeds. Just about every place was shut and even the shops around. The sports centre was open though which was a blessing. Try the massages there and they are fab (that's the good news, so read on....). The complex is quite big but at the time everything except the main hotel was closed. However, my review would be no different with regards to the hotel even if it was in high season.
There are comments by other reviewers about the staff at the hotel being rude and they are absolutely spot on. You actually felt like apologising to the staff for staying in the hotel and bothering them by merely existing there. I have never experienced rudeness like it and that comes from somebody who's worked in central London for years and travelled to alot of countries. Only two members of staff were friendly towards us and they were in the bar.
We were supposed to be staying there for a week and were looking to get a flight back after a day as it was so bad. In fact, due to Xmas flights, we left 4 days earlier than expected. Other people cut their holiday short too which says alot. Most others were looking for flights back. The rest just existed between the bar downstairs and the restarant upstairs.
TV - Yes, the only thing on there to understand is CNN. Booking Pay-TV films in English was also a problem because whatever you wanted was always given the Spanish version. We told various people on reception and, as per the hotel norm, they didn't care less.
Pool tables - At 2 Euros a pop that's more expensive than the UK !!! Also, the tables didn't return the white ball so your stuffed unless you guard the pockets with your life !!
Games area - A few really old video games and all with Out-Of-Order on them except one. The looks on the faces of the kids when they realised that non of them worked was a picture.
Internet Cafe - 1 Euro for 10 mins which is not too bad. 4 booths and two with webcams.
Entertainment - Errmmmm yeah. Best nothing said here. A selection of things but whether or not they are on is another matter.
Chavs - Everywhere. Say no more.
Outdoor swimming pool - Standard. Nothing special.
Port Aventura theme park - A dreadful waste of money at $35 each considering it's run by Universal Studios. If you have kids then they will quite enjoy it but teenagers and above will be bored out of their minds. It has two rollercoarsters and . The food was also a rip off (paid £18 for 4 chicken legs and 2 prawns in sauce and a 1 litre bottle of water !).
The language - Learn it !!! Ok, you are going to be in Spain so you should, out of courtesy, learn some of it. But what you've learned from Sesame Street and the Fast Show will not get you through here ! We found that nobody in the hotel really knew very very basic English to communicate which is incredibly strange and really isolates you. Again, this is new to me.
Food - Sort of ok but my girlfriend and I had a case of the squilts after a few meals. Food is between 8-10am, 3-5pm and 7-9pm. The choice, in general, was not bad at all. Except that they love making everything very salty which really spoilt quite a few dishes. Then you have to put up with the restaraunt staff which are the most miserable and unpleasant lot I've ever met in my life. And they are constantly hovering to clear your plate. There's efficient and darn annoying !
Conclusion - I'd never ever ever ever go there again even if you paid for my flight, food, accomodation, taxi fares, entrance to the Theme Park, bus fares and additional sports centre expenses !
Great for out of season break
by A TripAdvisor Member
Just back from an 11 day break in this hotel. We read some of the reviews before going and opted for the fully inclusive option. This is great for families as they have a wide range of soft drinks, wines, beers and an icecream machine that you help yourself to throughout the day.
The food at the hotel was good and had a wide range of choices although sometimes depending on the time you went the food could be a bit cold. I would not recommend this hotel to people who are fussy eaters as the food is typically spainish with the odd british dish thrown in e.g roast chicken and chips although we always feel that when 'in rome...' so we were happy to try the local delicacies (although didnot try the pig trotters) but had great fun trying to guess what certain types of food were!
A tip we were given before going was if going out for the day to ask for a packed lunch(do this before 7pm the day before)and you get a sandwich, bottled water, apple, crisps and yoghurt which was great as well.
The staff in the restaurants were not as friendly as the usual spanish waiting staff, I think a lot of this is to do with 90% of guests being on AI and not leaving any tips however the restaurant was always clean and tidy.
When we went there was restrictions on the snack bar however think it due to being out of season although we were never hungry due to breakfast 8am until 10am, lunch in restaurant 1pm to 3pm and dinner 7.30pm until 10pm and snack bar open at lunchtime for a couple of hours and at nightime for a couple of hours.
You also get in free to the gym and indoor swimming pool before 5 pm free of charge on the AI so is great if the weather is not so good off season.
We travelled with an eight year old and there was mini club ( a bit like a creche)and childrens entertainment/club( although when we were there it was just starting up and we never tried it)
We tend not to like the evening entertainment when on holiday however did try this at this hotel and found it to be of a high standard if you like the traditional spanish dancing and culture. Again it is not what we would class as entertainment at home however you are in a different country where their culture is important to them and they take this seriously and if you view it in this manner it should be a great night out.
All in all we enjoyed our holiday as this was the first all inclusive we have tried, we found it to be good value for money and will consider going back again to this hotel although not in high season as I think it would be extremely busy.
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