Reviews of Venecia Park Hotel, Salou, Spain

Never again

Overall Rating:

3/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

Direct Holidays

Submitted By:

cougar571

Comments:

Sorry for the delay in my review, I've had a busy couple of months, well here goes:-

Hotel.
Not a bad hotel per se, it is, after all, a 3 star, but leaves a lot to be desired.
The rooms were adequate, although the cleanliness was sadly lacking, our rooms were cleaned, & I use the term loosely, 3 times in 2 weeks, towels changed 4 times & the bed linen wasn't changed at all during the 2nd week!!
The public areas are dismal & dated, although the pool area is OK.

Facilities.
Not many, those that are there were usually 'Out of Order' or closed.

Pool area.
Nice pool area, but try playing a game called "Hunt the ashtray" & when you find one play "Hide the ashtray" there were about 6 of them for everyone to share.

Entertainment.
Sub 3 star, it was absolutely diabolical & geared solely for the many Spanish guests.

Bar.
Ha ha ha, queues a mile long in our own section for AI punters, forget about service if there are Spanish guests at the 'pay bar' which there invariably was, they WILL get served first, while our queue gets longer.

Snacks were a joke, I ordered 1 hot dog & 2 chips, 15 minutes later 3 portions of chips turned up "Where's my hot dog please?" "On way" another 15 minutes elapsed & I asked again, "Run out" was the answer, this was the prevailent theme throughout.
Drinks are served all day & evening in little plastic tumblers, fair enough during the day or around the pool, but at night?
Hot drinks were also served in the same tumblers, which I refused to use on the grounds of safety, I managed to persaude them to use proper cups. This wouldn't be so bad, but if you actually paid for a drink you got glass/cup.

On the one occassion I dared to complain about the service, after waiting for nearly 20 minutes for a drink, I was stunned by the receptionists response..."So what do you want me to do about it?" I pointed out that, as a guest, my first 'point of contact' was reception & would she please ensure that the Manager was informed, "Nothing to do with me" was all I got, next time I walked through reception the Manager asked me to go into his office, this I did, he asked me if I'd had a problem, I told him about the waiting, his reply stunned me even more .... "If you complain again I will call the police & have you arrested" needless to say that was the first & last complaint.

Staff.
See above comments.
Plus, there are 3 members of staff that won't be there for long ..... they are to good, they are happy, they are pleased to be of service, they are helpful, they are friendly. Unfortunately the only name I can remember is Michael in reception, the other 2 worked behind the bar, the rest of them I found to be surly, arrogant & downright rude, that includes the management.
I know you're all thinking that they were like that because I probably was, but I can assure you I treat everyone with civility, I try to speak their language, I am friendly & polite, I always say 'por favor' & 'gracias'.

Area.
Quite a good location, close to the small beach, not much further to the big beach.
Close enough to all the amenities of Salou, although it's 2/3rds of the way up a steep hill.

Would I go again? ............... Not if you paid me 10 grand!!!!

Not Bad

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2008

Tour Operator:

Sunshine.co.uk

Submitted By:

smiggy70

Comments:

On arrival to the hotel we thought it was very nice the man on reception was very friendly, the rooms were very clean, the food was lovely for the first 2 days, after that it was rubbish, it was chicken every lunch and every night, we both ended up with the runs for a couple of days, we ended up eating out at the 19th hole its a great little pub just round the corner.

The hotel itself is nice, it's clean and the staff were friendly enough, the dissapointing thing was the food and there was only entertainment 2 nights out of the 7 we were there, as for salou it's lovely the main beach is really clean loads of shops and plenty to do, i would go back to salou but don't think i would go back to the hotel.

my partner,step-son and myself...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

travelclub

Submitted By:

Miss J Gow

Comments:

my partner,step-son and myself stayed here for one week all-inclusive...... weather great, hotel good the only thing that put us off was we were supposed to be all-inclusive but not everything is .there was a seperate part for all-inclusive and another part for paying customers . when you went to the bar if there was paying customers standing then they got priority ,we were left waiting until someone was available there was no staff,and the ones that were there im afraid were not very nice....they made you feel like a second hand citizen.....but that didnt put us off.... the containers that you got through the day were the same one's you got at night small and plastic...... food i thought was good that was a first for me normally i cant eat the food again in the restuarant ths staff the rooms were big enough and got tidied up most days.....you get what you pay for in the end

"Fab Hotel"

The...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Global Late Deals

Submitted By:

Miss D Gibb

Comments:

"Fab Hotel"



The Venencia Park is a great hotel rooms very clean, same goes for the rest of the hotel. In the centre of everything (lots of shops and pubs/clubs near by) also only a 10 minute walk from the beach where all along the beach there is more cocktail bars although can be difficult to get a seat down at the beach as everyone has the same idea of going down there for the breeze at night. We were all inclusive and the food was ok plenty of selection and snacks served all day (hot dogs, chips, burger and toastie) they also had a large variety of sea food most nights for dinner with the usual meats potatoes and chips along with fresh salad with lots of choice everyday for lunch and dinner. Don't have a bad word really to say about this hotel yeah its not 5 star but if you didn't pay for 5* then please do not expect that as some of the reviews I read before I went made this place seem like the hotel from hell and I was a bit put off but what a lot of nonsence I soon realise this was people complaining just for the sake of complaining. Trust me this hotel is very clean, staff were friendly and great location and that is all you need for a good holiday.



Bad Points - smell of sewage every so often but Salou is know for this, bar staff give you silly wee plastic cups but nothing that will ruin your hols we had a great time and would stay at this hotel again.

like everyone else, we were very...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Med Hotels

Submitted By:

Mr J Barker

Comments:

like everyone else, we were very nervous about going after reading the reviews.

damn good job we didnt listen to them and went anyway.

we went with 2 kids, 5 and 7, both have asked if we can go back for 2 weeks next year, i dont think i need to say anything more than that!!

but i will.....

the hotel was clean, the staff were friendly, the room was very basic and the only english speaking channel on the TV was CNN, but who cares about the tv!

the air con didnt work on our arrival but a quick trip to reception and it was fixed.

other people have complained about the staff being rude, we only had one incident with rude staff, my partner was at the bar, the bar man was very grumpy and a bit rude, but then he was being shouted at by about 10 english guests who didnt like to queue!

the following day the barman made a point of apologising to my partner even though we made no complaint.

so to all you out there reading the other reviews and thinking oh god what have we let ourselves in for, the answer is simple, a very good holiday that we plan on doing again next year.

Having read the previews reviews...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

2Can Travel - Teletext

Submitted By:

Miss E Martin

Comments:

Having read the previews reviews I was dreading what this would be like. Its really not that bad, you get what you pay for. My partner and I have a 3 year old and a 6 year old and they had an absolute ball. Basically, the rooms were fine and safe and had everything we needed. The childrens pool was basic but adequate and the adult pool was large and also adequate and clean. There is a lifeguard who is on the ball and does not let anything go past him!! It was a safe environment and the food and drink on an all inclusive basis was perfectly acceptable. There was nothing for us to complain about at all and we couldnt understand why so many people had written horror stories about it. I think if you are looking for something to complain about then you will find it. Its a great family hotel, and nothing to worry about. The only thing we could pick fault with was that the bar staff were a bit grumpy and certainly took their time making snacks and getting drinks but to be honest who could blame them!!! You have to remember that this a 3 star hotel in Spain, not Britain and you should be ready to accept the fact that you wont get the same service over there as you get in England. The food was a bit repetitive but there was plenty of choice, its not a la carte but again, it was more than adequate. There is entertainment on at night for the kids, its not total quality but the children dont know that and they loved it regardless. The bar area shuts at midnight and they are prompt at getting you out but there are plenty of family bars directly across the road which stay open later if you want to stay out. All in all we had a lovely family holiday, no disasters and nothing substantial to moan about so everyone else that has slated it, you need to pay more money if you want perfection!!!

I don't understand what people...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Lastminute

Submitted By:

Miss Anon Anon

Comments:

I don't understand what people mean when they say this holiday was the worst holiday they've ever been on. Obviously they've never been to Kos in Greece then they'd have something to complain about!

I came to Salou with my boyfriend for a week and we had a great time.

We had no problems with the food and thought there was a huge choice and it all tasted lovely.

The only problems we did have was that the air conditioning in the room was faulty and our shower wasn't fixed on the wall properly and we didn't have hot water for a couple of days - however, saying this, we reported it to reception both days and both times the hot water was back on within the hour which wasn't really a problem.



Some of the staff aren't too polite but I wouldn't say they were particularly rude and it didn't bother us at all.



Salou is a lovely place and although the night life wasn't really busy, e.g. big clubs, etc. there was lots going on and we loved it!

The beaches were lovely and are really close to the hotel - you can easily walk there in like 5mins or 10mins if you go to the big beach.



Overall, I loved this holiday and didn't want to come home.

Welcome to Hotel from Hell, this...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

ThomsonHayes Travel Middlesbough

Submitted By:

Mrs M Wardle

Comments:

Welcome to Hotel from Hell, this hotel is definately not suitable for the Disabiled or for Familys, it is situated on top of a very steep hill and has no real entertainment for children.

Throughout your stay you can expect to be kept up at night by up to 300 unsupervised Spanish teenagers on 2 or 3 day school trips who stay at the hotel.

Most off the staff are very unhelpful when you complain about something like no towels or Air-conditioning in your room, usually with the responce "its not my problem".

Do not expect much help from the Rep, he will willingly sell you day trips but with problems his reply is normally "it will be allright".

Spanish people who are not guests, are allowed to come into the hotel and use the facilitys off the All inclusive Areas, to the detriment of the paying guests, and "will" receive preferencial treatment from the bar staff.

Most of the bar staff treat the All Inclusive Guests with disdain and are openly disrespectful to them.

In the Restarant, although there was a good choice it was usually luke warm but a Microwave is available to re-heat it, you need to like Chips as they are served with every meal.

Finally if your child has an accident, do not expect the sheets to be changed, the cleaner will not do it.

Me and my girlfriend had read...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

uktravelshop

Submitted By:

Mr J Anon

Comments:

Me and my girlfriend had read the reports before we travelled, so we were quite dubious to start with anyway. but the hotel isn't that bad really its just all the staff that work there.

They are totally ignorant and rude, when you ask them for anything they just scowl and roll thier eyes, i think that they're noy very fond of any british people.

I would never go back there and i'm so glad that we we were only there for just one week.

been to this hotel before and we...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

May 2008

Tour Operator:

internet

Submitted By:

Mrs E HOLMES

Comments:

been to this hotel before and we have booked again for september.hotel is clean and the staff are very friendly.food was good if not much choice may be better in peak season

My husband and I booked a last...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Mar 2008

Tour Operator:

2 can travel

Submitted By:

Mrs V E Bathgate

Comments:

My husband and I booked a last minute holiday to Spain for some sunshine. We booked all inclusive and the total holiday cost including flights transfers etc was £550 which we thought was a good deal for 7 nights!

We did get our sunshine and we did feel like we had been away for a long time but we also got a fair amount of food poisoning as the buffet food was reinvented every day to a point where even the salad was starting to go slimmy!! It was extremley dissapointing to say the least. The bar snacks were not any better and there were no healthy options on the snacks on offer. So needless to say we ate out quite alot which kind of missed the point of going all incusive.

The day we arrived was the hotels first day open (so the receptionist told us) and they wern't very organised. The all incusive bar wasn't open still covered in dust so we were instructed to use the public bar where some of the bar staff were less than welcoming and made you stand at a certain point of the bar to order as you were a all inclusive customer or second class citizon. We went outside to the pool area which was being cleaned a good sign you might think? Well the pool maintenance man was still cleaning the pool when we left a week later and from what we have seen of the methods of cleaning the pool WITHOUT EMPTYING THE FILTHY DISEASED WATER but by simply sucking some of the slime up off the bottom and putting lots of chemicals in it! We were not impressed and we would warn anyone who is going to stay at this hell hole not to go in the pool.

Just one more thing my husband and I both work in a school so we were not too impressed to see 250 Spanish school kids staying at the hotel with about 5 adults to look after them and look after them they did not. At the buffet table they pushed you out of the way and after 9pm they were running riot all over the hotel. Shouting up and down corridors, playing with wheelchairs, shouting out of their balcony's, playing music loud and lots of banging. It did not help that the stud walls were very thin anyway but this went on every night until about 3-4am. The hotel had one security guard who obviously wasn't much use and the adults responsible for these teenagers were no where to be seen and as always the hotel staff said sorry but did nothing about it.

When we finally got to going home the transfer bus did not turn up and we had to get a taxi to the airport. What a typical end to our holiday. If we have learnt anything from this experience you get what you pay for so no more last minute cheap holiday deals for us

I thought the holiday &...

Overall Rating:

10/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2007

Tour Operator:

Travel Republic

Submitted By:

Mr M Gilbert

Comments:

I thought the holiday & hotel were the best i have been to!! The staff were very friendly especially the Receptionist that greeted us when we arrived and always seemed to be working.

Hotel was clean & tidy, pool was a good size and cleaned regularly. There was a big patio area on the front of the hotel with a small outside bar which served up untill 12am.

The only bad point was the food could be a little cold but there were microwaves if you wanted them. There was alot to choose from & the breakfasts were really nice.

Beach is really nice, as is the town itself. Theres a water park & huge theme park just 20min walk away.

Overall a great holiday and i can't wait to go back later this year!!!

Our holiday was quite good we...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

2can Travel

Submitted By:

Mr Wm Skeldon

Comments:

Our holiday was quite good we went as a party of 8 with two children under 5 included.



The accommodation was basic but clean, the all inclusive service was ok, the food wasn't that clever, but the drinks were very good.



The entertainment in the evenings was excellent, the best thing was the children’s entertainer a young lad working 14 hour days he was so good my kids cried when we had to go home.



Plenty of shopping for my wife and plenty of good places to eat within the vicinity of the hotel and plenty of decent bars to watch football in.

Having read the reviews after...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2007

Tour Operator:

Lastminute

Submitted By:

Miss MJ Bradbury

Comments:

Having read the reviews after the holiday was booked, I was dubious to say the least but realised a holiday is what you make of it.



Myself and my partner arrived mid October as a last minute deal, all inclusive and were greeted by the friendly, English speaking receptionist. To my surprise the room was very clean, basic but clean and the pool area was cleaned each morning.



Worrying about the food (which I needed have) I was delighted to see that there was quite a varied menu on offer each meal time and the manager greeted the guests each evening.



There was some entertainment on which was mainly aimed towards children in the form of mini golf competitions and quizzes but there was also music on in the pool bar each day.



On a whole I had a brill time, there are some great beaches surrounding the area and the town is a short distance away with its impressive fountains and shops. (cocktail bars on the front). If you're in good company and the weather stays sunny then you'll be in for a good time! It isn’t the Plaza but for what you pay for get a great deal!

This is the worst hotel we have...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2007

Tour Operator:

Med Hotels

Submitted By:

Miss A Dodkin

Comments:

This is the worst hotel we have ever had the misfortune to stay in. On first appearance it seems ok, quite clean and tidy, rooms basic but ok.



The bar staff are quite rude and sullen, queued for some time to get drinks and then often didn't get what we asked for.



As for the food... well to say we were ill is an understatement, I don't think I've ever been that sick in my life. The food is kept at the incorrect temperature and tastes awful, when we complained we were told to use the Microwave or eat out!



We had to have several days off work to recover from this "holiday" when we came home and wouldn't go there again if you paid us.



Salou is a lovely place however, lots to do for families and good night life in the evenings.