We've 'done' Cap Salou (noisy, 'Carry on Spain' hotels), Salou Central (good islands of solitude can be found, but they are surrounded by hotels for lads and lasses that want to play Garage music until 4am), so we thought we'd try 'the other end of town'.

Jardines Paraisol is more 'apartments for locals' rather than 'hotels for tourists', which means you'll be closer to Spanish domesticity than wet t-shirt competitions. If you can cope with not being spoon-fed your Sangria-laced vacation and can deal with looking after yourself, then this is as good as any place to park your suitcases.

The apartments are about 10 mins walk from the station; just head North off the platform (use the exit right by the ticket office, don't walk all the way along the platform to the railway crossing) and keep walking up the road past the small children's playground and keep an eye out for the entrance/reception on the left side of the road 4-5-ish junctions up. The road you are walking up leads into Ciudad De Reus, which runs parallel with the main road (on this side of Salou), which is where you'll find most of the nearby shops and restaurants. You'll know you've just missed the apartments when you see the police apartments/ambulance station on the right side of the road. If you do walk up the main road instead (Carrer de Barcelona), you'll eventually see the Intermarche supermarket – turn left in front of the supermarket, left at the next junction (police apartments on the corner), cross the road and keep an eye out for where you want to be. The supermarket will probably be your supplies depot for the duration.

The reception staff are very helpful and will see you to your apartment. You get a kitchenette/lounge (with sofa bed), one bedroom, a bath with shower and a balcony - all fine for up to three/four people (with pairs sharing beds), and maybe one more if the parents don't mind having another young lump in the main bed. Our apartment was clean and well looked-after, with a 'room service' tidy up every day, although you are expected to bag up and take your own domestic rubbish to the recycling bins, which are a left turn out of reception and a short walk up the street. If you are the 'connected' sort and haven't brought your own internet link, there's an Internet cafe just down the road – turn right out of reception and cross the road. There's an Internet terminal in reception, but it's stupidly expensive so give it a miss.

Overall, if you want to live like a local for a very decent price then these apartments are well worth a look. There's no on-site amenities except for the outdoor swimming pool, but everything else you might need is close at hand. We catered for ourselves every night, so I cannot vouch for the local restaurants.

Remember, though, that you are at the 'other end' of Salou, which means a 25-ish minute walk into the main area (unless you take a bus or the road train along the seafront), although there are plenty of shops near the apartments and they are considerably better and less souvenir-y that the other lot, plus you get the bonus of much quieter beaches, albeit they are about 15 mins walk away.

So what's the catch – there has to be be one, right? Well, the only major thing you need to be aware of is that the apartments are opposite a Junior School, and the pupils are greeted at 8.30am, sharp with a rousing tune from the school's strident PA system; so beware if you like your lie-ins. Likewise, there's a serenade at break times and at the end of the school day, but you'll probably be out and about for these performances. I have to say that the music is loud – even at around 100m - so I can't imagine what effect it's having on the ears of the young children at point blank range.

When I first 'found' these apartments online, the daily rate seemed too good to be true, but the accompanying reviews were pretty much all positive and I have to say things turned out well – I can honestly say we'll be back.

The room was well appointed and had all the dishes we needed to cook and serve our meals when we were not eating out. It's hard to find if you don't know the area, we drove around the block a couple times before we found it. We flew into Girona airport and rented a car and drove to Salou. If you choose this option make sure you use google maps to get directions and use the option "avoid toll roads". The lady at the Hertz desk told us that the toll from Girona to Barcelona was 10 euro and although we avoided that particular stretch of toll road we got suckered into paying 15 euro in tolls between Barcelona and Salou on the way there. After that we made sure to get directions to places avoiding the toll road. Also, the train is cheaper than a car rental in my opinion. I wish we had not rented a car and rode the bus from Girona airport to the Barcelona bus station and then taken the train from Barcelona to Salou. From Salou you can reach all the tourist locations by they train. If you don't speak Spanish you'll have a hard time communicating, I speak a little and was able to get by but it was frustrating at times. Salou is an interesting place, we were there in February but during the late Spring and Summer it's probably totally different. The beaches here are very nice and there are a lot of little cafe's and restaurants if you like eating out a lot. Sunday and Monday things are pretty much closed and almost everything closes in the afternoon for a few hours each day. I would recommend Salou as a base for visiting other cities in the area including Barcelona. I would also not mind spending a week here in the Summer when it's time to go to the beach. Jardines Paraisol was a great place to stay.

We stayed in a 4* hotel in Salou last year (in August) but our friends came at the same time and stayed in these aprtments. We liked them so much that we spent most of the holiday at their apartments rather than our own hotel - so this explains why we chose to stay in them for our visit this year.
We were there for 9 days between 25th May - 3rd June. I think the other positive reviews explain these apartments well - they are clean but perhaps a little dated in the bathroom. I think this is to be expected considering what was paid for the stay.

We love this part of Salou which is the residential area and so obviously has a Spanish feel, rather than the touristy other end of Salou which is not what we want from a holiday at all.
But if you want English bars and nightclubs, then this is probably not the right place for you.

The apartments are part residential which for us is a positive as it feels more like a 'home from home' but may not appeal to everyone. This does mean that there are not on site facilities you may get in other dedicated holiday apartments.

We love the pool area but a word of warning if you are going at this time of year - the water slide wasn't on which was a disappointment for my son as he had seen it last year and was expecting it. When we asked at reception they first said it would be on at 1st June. The 1st June came and went and still no water slide - they then said the 15th June.
When our friends were there last year there was no air coniditoning but there were fans in the room. We did not have fans and by about the 4th day the apartment was getting quite stuffy, but when I asked reception for fans I got them no problem (without charge).

Port Aventura was open until midnight when we went last year and it is 100% better to go of an evening so we did the same this year - but when we got there at 6pm it was closing at 7pm! We later found out it only opens until midnight for the main 6 weeks of July/August. So we ended up going back in the day - it is nearly as cheap and more convenient to get a taxi, we were only paying about 7-8 euros for a cab to the park. When we went on the tourist train another time it cost 7.50 (there were 2 adults and a child), so made sense or us to do that.

If I had one criticism it would be that both Salou and the apartments felt a little out of season - everything was a bit dull and lacked the atmosphere that it does in August. I expected it to be more vibrant at the end of May/beginning of June (I have been to other resorts at this time of year and it has been busy). But I don't know if this is a sign of the global economic climate ??
We are looking to go back again in August if we can afford it and we will stay in these apartments again if we can, so this is the biggest indication of all!

We booked this hotel through RCI as a time-share exchange. First of all it was very difficult to find. The directions provided by the hotel where not easy to follow. We had to call the hotel's phone number a couple of times to have them talk us in. But even then we passed by it the first time as it is not well marked and had little signage. It is actually a hotel that operates out of an apartment complex, with the majority of the units being occupied apartments with full-time tenants. Because the units are small, the tenants tend to store personal items on their balconies as well as hanging out their laundry. Therefore the image of the place is not like the photos that you see posted here, instead it has more of a clutered & junky appearance. There is no view of the ocean from this complex as there are many other apartments blocking the view. The hotel tells you that you are walking distance from the water, which is true provided that you don't mind a 1Km walk.

The rooms were small, sparsely furnished, the beds were hard and the bathroom had no countertop around the sink for personal items. No telephones in the rooms, and no internet access anywhere in the complex. The walls and ceilings are thin and offer little sound proofing; so bring your ear plugs.

The worst part was the constant smell of sewage gas in the place. We had two seperate rooms on the same floor for two couples, and both rooms had the same problem. When we reported it to reception they explained that it was "normal". We tollerated it the first night by keeping window and the balcony door open. The next day when talking to the manager she too explained that it was "normal during bad weather". I replied that the weather is normal and beautiful and that they haven't had rain in weeks. She didn't bother sending anyone up to check as this situation was obviously well known to them and there was nothing that they could do about it.

The beach in Salou is spectacular. Lots of little shops and restaurants all along, but by far the best meal in the area can be found at Villa Alexander. The second best, in our experience, is the Arena restaurant in the BlauMar Hotel.

Unfortunately the noxious sewage gas in our rooms could not be tollerated and we had to leave and move to another hotel. No refund and no offer to offset our cost of the other hotel from management.

Even without the sewage gas, I would have rated this place no higher than 2 stars out of 5 due to the other issues and the overall tired condition of the facilities. I recommend that you keep searching for another place to stay.