We booked our trip on the internet and thought that the presentation of the hotel group was good. It wasn't until our arrival in LLoret that we realised that the Olympic Garden Hotel was the oldest of the three. The entrance is to the hotel needs a good face lift and the plastic flowers in the lobby probably says everything. Not a good start.
At check in we presented ourselves as a family group. We had phoned the hotel to check that all the rooms would be together so that we, as grandparents, could enjoy our seven grandchildren being together, and able to visit us easily. We had all come from differing locations; Qatar, Belgium and Spain.
The first thing to go wrong was that the "family" rooms were on the ground floor, whilst the double rooms, on the second. Not what we had asked for, but were told that that was the way the hotel was planned. I asked to see the family, or group rooms, as they turned out to be. They were adequate, but certainly not what I had seen in the presentation on the internet. The worst thing was that the balcony looked over the huge pipes which fed the air-conditioning(I think) and, worse than that, they overlooked the outdoor "theatre" where all the shows and entertainment took place every day and evening until midnight.!! Horrendous. All the kids are under 10 and the youngest 2. How they could call them "family" rooms I have no idea.
Needless to say I asked for everyone to be moved. This took a lot of haggling and stress at the hotel desk. After seeing at least three receptionists, I asked to see the Manager. She eventually came and I was told that the hotel was booked and that there was nothing they could do!!! I then threatened to take all 17 of us out of the hotel and asked for a complete refund. She went away and came back 15 minutes later......... If we cleared the rooms very quickly, she would upgrade the families to one of the sister hotels "Olympic Palace" where people had not yet booked in. Poor people who were given our rooms!!!!
We were taken to look at the other hotel and rooms which were in a completely different league. This is what we thought we had booked. The bedrooms were definitely 4/5 star and so were the other areas of the hotel. We were told, however, that our rooms would remain the same, in the other hotel. This, actually, wasn't too much of a problem as the hotels do interconnect through passages. So, the "group" were split and our idea of kids being able to visit, out of the window and..... Guess which passage led to the other hotel........ the original family area. Yet another thing which is totally wrong and very badly planned as that corridor had constant "traffic".
So, the above is a very strong message to any family who wishes to visit the Olympic Gardens Hotel..... DON'T!!! The accommodation is more for groups that families. You may get four young girls or boys, or both next to you, as there is no distinction as to what type of groups stay in those rooms.
As far as the rest of the hotel complex is concerned it has it's pros and cons, like all other hotels of this type. The pool areas were generally kept clean although the grassy areas around the lower pools get very muddy and don't look very good. The upper area, which is overlooked by the Palace bedrooms, is all astra turf and a much better area in which to relax. It is also away from all the noise of the games and music.
The food in the Olympic Gardens hotel was very mediocre. We ate there on the first day and then were "changed" and allowed to eat in the Palace. What a difference!!! Again, that hotel can definitely be called a 4/5 star hotel. I would give the Gardens a 3 at the most.
I hope you have found this useful. If you are travelling from Britain please remember that Spanish hotels do not usually provide tea/coffee facilities in the rooms, so it's good to take a travel kettle if you're used to your morning cup!!!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC