The Hotel Coral is very conveniently situated in the town centre opposite the Church and near the beginning of the main street of the charming town of L’Estartit and is near to shops, cafés, restaurants and banks as well as being only a short walk away from the excellent beach. Having a 2-star rating, it has a very imposing front elevation and many of its facilities are better than those of many hotels I have seen in this category, the dining room being particularly attractive and the reception area, with a comfortable, small residents’ lounge leading off it and the staircase leading to the upper floors is of a good standard. There is also a 4-person lift for those not wishing to tackle the stairs. Car-parking can be problematic in L’Estartit but the hotel has an arrangement with a nearby hotel to pay for the use of a parking space which, though not cheap, takes away the worry and hassle of finding somewhere to park.

The rooms are fairly basic but they all have an en-suite bathroom, a balcony and a lockable wardrobe. Some reviews have commented that the bathrooms are rather old-fashioned and this may be so but it is hardly a problem since everything works as it should. We had a room overlooking the square for our first week with views of villas on a green hillside – there are no high-rise blocks here! It must be admitted that there is some noise – this is Spain after all – but closing the shutters and windows did shut most of it out. Our second week was spent in a room at the rear overlooking the pool area, which was much quieter and also had the benefit of a free-standing air-conditioning unit. Live music for dancing until midnight was provided from an open-air stage near the pool, with an excellent weekly flamenco show once a week, so ‘early nights’ are not really an option but hey, you’re on holiday! It was very pleasant indeed to sit on our terrace watching the shows, which we enjoyed very much. It should be stressed that most guests were Spanish or French and invariably of a good standard of behaviour: there are certainly no ‘lager louts’ or drunken idiots here, even in high season.

The staff at the Hotel Coral were all very competent at their jobs and invariably friendly. Worthy of special mention is the manageress, Susanna, who worked long hours and ran the place superbly well, always with friendly, hands-on professionalism. She dealt personally and immediately with any problems which arose, running the hotel as though it were her own and it was a privilege and pleasure to deal with her.

We very much enjoyed our fortnight at the Hotel Coral and hope to return again.