OK, when we arrived we found out about the 100 Euro deposit on the apartment. Bit of a shock, news to us. Apartment was pretty basic, but spacious - 2 double bedrooms and a sofa bed, bathroom with bath and shower, separate shower room and good size living room, kitchen and balcony. All clean as well. So far, so good.

However, we found the pool to be a letdown... kids were very restricted round the pool by the attendant lifeguard (and no, they were NOT running riot, nor would we let them as responsible parents - but children are usually allowed to JUMP into a pool and PLAY with a ball in a HOLIDAY pool). This was a common gripe with other families we spoke to staying the complex, to the extent some actively started avoiding the pool and went to the beach instead. It appears some of the complex is now privately owned, which explains the pool issues because residents seem to want a quieter life and management rules attempt to give them this... but those enforced rules are not altogether 'family friendly' though and are significantly more limiting than a lot of HOLIDAY POOLS (places to have fun rather than just lie beside or do a length or two?) in other complexes we saw around Salou on our travels. We also found some of the staff on the complex could have been a little bit more polite when dealing with our concerns on the issue. If you want a quiet pool for a holiday suntan session though, this is definitely for you.

The bar/restaurant 'attached' to the apartments was good, very friendly staff. MTV playing, but no real entertainment otherwise - but some nearby complexes didn't seem to mind 'entertainment visitors', if you chance your arm and walk on in.

Because of the pool issue we had to travel away a bit more and the complex is a bit more 'remote' than most, set back from the sea above Cap Salou. 10-15 mins walk (with kids) down to a lovely little beach in Cap Salou, or the La Pineda seafront were our preferred choices. Waterpark in LP very good, but be warned - pricy for the day - 88 Euro for 4 of us. Buses, well... nobody told us about the Plana multi-saver tickets, so we were paying 9-10 Euro one way to Salou/La Pineda a lot of the week, soon mounts up. Take note of that too!

Portaventura, absolutely great... height restrictions for small kids - they'll be fine on a lot of the smaller thrill rides if they're 1.10 and accompanied. Other thresholds are 1.20 (some rides have to be accompanied) and 1.40 for the very biggest rides. Still plenty for all ages to do, regardless of height.

To summarise - complex clean enough... but VERY QUIET and not much for small kids to do, especially with the pool issues described above. If you're travelling as adults or even a family with teenagers who can 'disappear' and entertain themselves, this will suit you a lot better and it would be fine for you. We enjoyed the week OK, but I don't think with small kids with us we'd go back soon.

clean, friendly, secure apartments, close to the beach and pools

Travelled to Salou, nervous, having previously stayed in a Hotel with full board. Completley different holiday for the better. Apartments were clean, spacious and really ideal for the week. The gentleman at reception was extremely helpful regarding the area, just be mindful that reception opening hours are 9 -12 and 4 - 8pm. One area of improvement would be a change of towels during the week, however, there are a substantial amount of towels there initially. Bus service very good from apartment to Portaventura, Salou and La Pineada. Purchase a travel ticket at the beginning, this will save you money. Found some lovely restaurants, The Waterfall in La Pineada is class, great food, and excellent staff. Complements to Chef and all concerned. Uncle Sam's also good as with Chinese down the road from Uncle Sam's. Beach in La Pineada also excellent, very clean. Portaventura as good as ever, just be mindful of the height restrictions for children, must rides require a minimum height of 1.4m, and they are strict on this.

We went to the siesta dorada apartments salou in July. 15 minutes from Rues airport by taxi cos us 45 euro for 6 of us. When we arrived I wasn,t overly impressed by the look of the exterior of the place but when we were shown our apatrment I was very impressed. We had 2 bedrooms with 2 beds in each room and a pull out sofa, 2 bathrooms and 2 showers a bath, good size living room, a well equipped kitchen a balcoy and good air conditioning. The pool was great, a good size and best of all not packed no problem getting a sunbed. The beach was 10 minutes walk and small. There was a restraunt and bar in the complex "treasure island" food and service very good although the bar was quite wasn,t much for kids to do. The area we stayed in was cap salou 15 minutes walk from La Pineda which has a lovely beach anda lovely resort. There is a bus stop outside the apartments which are cheap 1.80 euro. We got a travel pass in tobbaco shops which worked out at about 80 cents. We went to Portaventura I can only describe it as brilliant. We also went to Barcelona on aday trip, the bus company do a deal which includes a visit to the nou camp. We decided to take the train from Salou cheaper than the bus. We were unlucky to go on a Monday because all the museams were closed. I found the supermarkets expensive