Had a brilliant time at this hotel. There was a good choice of food and drink. The rooms were clean . The hotel is in an ideal place and is about 5 mins from the beach. Plenty of entertainment for children. Bit lacking for adults but you can go in the thompson gold hotel next door for that or to Charlies pub which is just a minute away where they have tribute bands. The hotel is very good value for money and would definatley go back again.

Booked in on a half board basis, room OK, bathroom in need of updating. Have to say the food was so bad we ate out 5 of the 7 nights. Full of people pushing & shoving for their food. Was told by travel agent it was 4 star more like 2 star. Will not be going back.

We stayed here the first week of September and loved it.

We didn't get a renovated room, but it was clean and nicely decorated - the bathroom really did need updating but didn't bother us too much. The only problem we experienced was noise on a couple of nights from the tiled floors, it sounded like someone was pacing their room in high heels?! Some kind of sound-proofing would be great here.

Check in, and queueing at reception for dine-around etc wasn't too bad as it was the last week of peak season, but I have read other reviews that it can get hectic.

The hotel overall was lovely with palm trees, nice seating areas and fantastic pools.

Breakfast was a buffet with lots to choose from, cereal, breads, meats, fried breakfast, pancakes and churros, fresh fruit.

The evening buffet also had an excellent selection - there was always at least one meat dish, pasta with various sauces, fish, and usually paella or rissotto as well as burgers or hot dogs, plenty of salad and fresh fruit, sliced meats, cheese and a lovely range of desserts. The only downside was the price of drinks. It cost us £8.90 a night for 3 cokes.

The parks were a 15 minute walk away and there was also a free little train running all day. Queues in Port Aventura park could be very long, many of the big rides topping an hour so we went early to get on all the big rides before the crowds arrived then spent the later part of the day seeing the various shows. I think the express passes would be a good buy and would probably get these next visit.

Ok, lets get straight into it :

Reception - Yes it gets very busy at times but not even close to some the extent some reviewers have stated (i went mid Aug). If its pretty minor stuff then use the phone in your room, way quicker.

Pools - Fantastic, clean and quiet what more can you want.

Food - Plentiful in the buffet resteraunt, breakfast is a bit of a scramble at times but no probs. Use the dine round, the quality at all is excellent.

Waterpark - Get in for 10am and ride all the rides without queues for a good hour or so before the crowds get in.

Theme Park - Very busy and massive. Great variety and great quality of rides. Open till midnight.

Rooms - Quite basic but they have everything you need. Ground floor rooms are the best for families (lots of grass to play on and direct access to the pools). Blocks F, C, B very well positioned.

Already booked for next year, but going in the El Paso as I don't see a need to go into Salou