Hotel PortAventura

My family spent three nights here. Bfast buffet was excellent; the evening buffet was excellent too and good value; also location, right next to the park. BUT we got nowhere near the value we paid (just over 140 per night, per person - 1100 Euro for three nights B&B with park entry included too). The furniture is very old, the floor of the room very dirty, I have never been in a 4 star hotel with mould in the tiles around the bath either (I have the photos to prove all this); when the soap ran out it was never replaced, the ancient tiny television had a grainy picture, the mattress was all springs and very uncomfortable. The cushions looked very dirty too. The minibar refrigirator was OFF as well as EMPTY. It wasn't just our room either: the bird droppings all over the hotel grounds indicate a general lack of cleanliness. I never stayed in a 4 star hotel with paint pealing and dirty corridoor walls. The ponds are also very dirty: one of them is green with alga, while the other (nearer the restaurant) is clear thanks to the chlorine treatment but full of leaves and debris. My family is determined that IF we ever choose Portaventura over Europa Park (Freiburg, Germany) or Eurodisney (Paris) we will certainly NOT stay at Hotel Portaventura again.

This was our fourth visit to this resort and third consecutive year staying at Hotel PortAventura. This year was very disappointing - standards have slipped dramatically and it appears that all the effort and investment is now going into the new hotel - Gold River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZc8s7-LiOU this link shows our 2009 experience
Staffing levels are down, cleanliness is poor, aircon was not working properly in reception, restaurants and some rooms. Queues were very bad for meals as well as for the cafe on site and the bar in the evening - only one barperson most nights. Poolside showers were faulty, soap and shampoo were often not replenished and on site facilities have been cut.
It is now a month since I identified these issues at the hotel and have since phoned and emailed from the UK - no responce so they clearly do not care about loyal customers. Disappointing.

5 readers found this review helpful

This was an excellent hotel. When we arrived the theme park including it's 3 hotels were in full Halloween mode. We were unaware of this when we booked but it was all very well done (even though I don't like spooky, spooky!) The down side to the Halloween theme was that there was no escaping it. There was spooky music through every speaker in the hotel, theme park, public toilets, restaurants, it was the same 10 songs on a loop and by the end of our 2 weeks we were sick listening to it! The staff dress up and so do the characters i.e. Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, Betty Boop etc. This is all good fun and my daughter loved it. However, in El Paso 16 rooms had been converted into Hotel Burn. This was done like a haunted house idea, with blood running down the walls, candles, spooky pictures, blood stained bed sheets. It cost 50 euro a night to stay in it and from 8pm til 2am you would get the life scared out of you by Freddie Crouger, Exorcist, Vampires etc. The make-up was amazing and could only be done with special FX of Universal Studios and the likes. These guys were really terrifing and looked the part! This was not for me! For example in the theme park, Port Aventura (which if you are staying in one of the 3 hotels, you get unlimited access to) was full of scary folk and the more scared you look the more they chase you. Therefore, at the weekend, when it was at its worst, I stayed away from the theme park! They have a parade on Saturday night 10pm and fireworks at midnight but don't mistake it as we did as the children's character parade with Woody and the likes, oh no. It's the scary folk again in coffins, black carriages etc. Not for faint hearted.
Having said all that, it was a brilliant holiday. The hotel room was cleaned every day. The overall cleanliness of the hotel/park was excellent. The choice of the food in the buffet was good for adults however, for children it was repetative e.g. pizza, hot dog (no buns), pasta, chicken nuggets. However, staying in the hotel meant unlimited use of any of the restaurants in the park or the other hotels. These restaurants are al a carte but when you book at reception you are given vouchers to the value of 20 euro an adult and 10 euro for a child. You use these to pay for your meal and if it is more then you simply pay the rest. We used the al a carte most nights as the buffet from Fri-Mon was busy with Spanish and you had to queue for dinner these nights.
The pool was really good too but was quiet due to time of year. Pool was freezing! However, this didn't stop my daughter who was in every other day! If you need beach towels you can hire these from reception for a deposit of 15 euro per towel but you do get this back and it saves the hassle of drying your own.
You can use any of the other hotels pools too and same applies with towels there too. The galleon was closed due to the wood starting to rot. So it will probably need replaced and therefore out of commission for sometime. The pool at Hotel Caribe was excellent. It's like a sandy beach right into the water and sand at the bottom of it. My daughter really liked this pool.
The kids club is beside the pool in El Paso and was excellent, the staff are Spanish but they were fantastic with the kids and really went out their way to make my daughter feel welcome and made a fuss of her everytime she went back.
Only one of the pool bars was open and I assume this was due to time of year and that there was not many people at the pool. Club Maya was the one that was open and it sold the usual, beer, soft drinks, toaties, chips, ice lollies.
If you are not keen on a multi-national hotel, then I would give this a miss. The Spanish come to this hotel at the weekend and come Friday through to Monday the guests at this hotel are predominantely Spanish. This didn't bother me at all and as the Spanish obv. found this time of year really cold (they had their jumpers, jeans, boots, hats and scarves on!) they didn't use the pool very much which meant it was never busy.
The weather at this time of year is not very good. Our first week was cold and raining. Being optimistic we hadn't brought clothes to suit this type of weather. It was jeans and t-shirt type weather, not as cold as at home of course but not nice enough to walk about with shorts. The second week was much better and we actually got a bit of a tan before we came home.
If you want to go into Salou, it is only about 15 mins walk. My daughter is only 5 so this was a bit long for her, so we tended to get a taxi which averages 7 euro. If there are more than 2 of you, it is cheaper to get a taxi than use the wee train from the hotel. It takes 3 euro per head. The train is free from the hotel to the theme park, however, we never used it as the theme park was 5 mins walk from the hotel.
The water park, Costa Caribe in the theme park is closed at this time of year and this is understandable as the water is too cold to spend all day in. The Beach Club is also closed at this time of year but the wee train will still take you to the Beach Club beach which is much quiter than the main beach in Salou. However, be aware that there are no shops here open at this time year either. My husband had to walk into Salou to buy some water etc.
The park closes at 7pm Mon-Fri at this time of year but stays open until midnight on Saturday and 9.30pm on Sunday.
DO NOT go to the park on a Saturday/Sunday it is mobbed. You will have to queue 2 hours for the smallest rides that during the week you can walk straight onto. Go Mon-Thur as it is really quiet. The theme park is in 4 parts. Far West, Polynesia, Mexico and China. Each part has one major ride, Far West has Furious Baco, Polynesia has most of the kiddies rides, Mexico has Hurricaine Condor, China has Dragon Khan. I don't like roller coasters just as much as I don't like spooky things but my husband and step-daughter (14) loves them and they thought that Furious Baco and Hurricain Condor were fantastic. My daughter (5) loved Sea Odessey and El Diablo (like a runaway train). The height restrictions for most rides is 1.20m. So she was too small for any of those, which is why she loved El Diablo as it is like a big roller coaster but 2 of the seats have been converted to take children under 1.20m.
I will return to this hotel again but earlier in the year to hopefully guarantee the weather.

5 readers found this review helpful

Just returned from 7 nights at Hotel Portaventura. Stayed 2 Adults 2 Children. Our room was ready when we arrived at 1pm and what a fantastic room overlooking pool opposite restaurant - nice and spacious and the fridge and complimentary 2 bottles of water were much needed in the 30 degree heat!
Reception staff were very friendly and spoke english. Safe in room is free to use and fast trak tickets for park are given out on arrival 2 per person per week, also your room card acts as a fast trak after 9pm.
Towels changed every day and sheets twice a week. You can hire towels for the pool at 15euros deposit each which you get back when you are finished with them. You just take the towels to the gym and they can be changed for fresh ones on a daily basis. This saves a lot of room in your case. If you have any queries just go to reception and they will do their best to help you.
All the restaurant staff were nice and the buffet gave a good choice. You can always find something to eat. Only problem we had were the flies in the restaurant but if you sit close to the entrance inside it was a lot better!!
Portaventura theme park is just amazing from the rides to the shows which are just a walk around the corner away. Our favourite show was China Town and Bubble Bou is also really good, especially for the kids.
The characters around the park and hotel keep the youngsters happy and add atmosphere to the place. A special mention must go to Ralf and Nicholas the childrens entertainers who really worked hard and chatted to the kids on a night and did a fantastic mini disco.

1 reader found this review helpful

Absolutley loved this hotel. Rooms were great, big and modern and cleaned everyday with fresh towels provided. My boyfriend and I stayed half board and the food was great! The biggest bonus about this hotel is that it is the only one that allows you to walk straight into the theme park from your hotel so you can come and go as you please. You can use you're room key to get into the park so there is no need to buy tickets and they also provide you with express passes for the rides and tickets to the water park which is in the theme park.
Pool area was clean and comfortable, always enough sunbeds and lifeguards are all around the pool. I would definatley recommend this hotel to anyone! Also spoke to people staying in the el paso and the Caribe who ended up coming to the portaventura hotel for dinner and most days to sunbathe as it was far nicer. Overall 10/10!

3 readers found this review helpful

My family (myself, husband, son age 13 & daughter age 10) didn't quite know what to expect as we have only ever been to the Florida theme parks and villas, but this holiday was fantastic, due to the fact that everything was within walking distance so no need for hot and sticky car journeys!!
Hotel Port Aventura was very clean and the staff were friendly enough. Reception could be quite busy at times. All staff members, from managers to cleaning staff, were friendly and if you make the effort to learn few easy Spanish words you will always are greeted with a hola or gracias from them.
Our room was clean and bright with two double beds, shower, bath, and wash basin and wash stand. There was plenty of room for all your holiday bits and pieces, including a security safe (a small deposit was needed) for your valuables and a mini fridge that was cool enough to keep bottles of juice & water cold. Our balcony overlooked one of the pool areas although that was due to more luck than anything else as there was rooms that overlooked the big concrete car park. A couple of downsides were our room was a good 5 mins walk from reception, which might not seem a lot but when you've been out all day, the kids are getting tired (you as well!) and your feet are starting to hurt it seems to take forever and the television in the room could have had a few more English speaking channels, although to be fair you aren't going to a theme park to watch the TV.
Breakfast was very good with a wide range of foods from cereal and bacon & eggs to cold meats and cakes & pastries - pancakes with chocolate syrup and small madelene cakes were a firm favourite of my children (well they were on holiday after all!). I can't comment on any other restaurant in the hotel area as we ate in the theme park most nights.
One big plus is that the hotel and park are joined onto each other so you can dash in and out as many times as you like. Our favourite was heading out at about 11am, having a great time, coming back at 5pm (ish) for a siesta and chill out then back out for dinner and more shows, rides and fireworks. Older children can have a little bit of independence - a couple of times our son was all roller coasted out and just wanted to relax so he headed off back to the hotel by himself to chill out with his psp.
Seeing the fireworks at least once is a must, but be warned, to get a good view you will need to start looking for a place to sit/stand about 10.45 or 11pm, as it gets exceptionally busy. Shows not to be missed are China Town, Aloha Tahiti, Fort Frenzee and Templo del Fuego. Rides not to be missed are Dragon Khan, Hukuran Condor and Stampida.

2 readers found this review helpful

My husband and I and our six year old son stayed at the Hotel Portaventura on the theme park at the beginning of August 2006.
We had a nice large airy room very close to the theme park entrance, with a good size bathroom. One kingsize bed and a pull out sofa bed for my son. Mini fridge provided in room was useful.
The public areas of the hotel were very pleasant and nicely looked after, swimming pool and surrounding area was particularly nice. Cocktails in main hotel bar were yummy, if a bit on the expensive side for Spain.
Breakfast (for which you are given a time slot of around an hour) was excellent; a wide variety of everything from bacon and eggs to pancakes and maple syrup to cakes and pastries to cold meats and cheese was available, all buffet style.
There's a choice of restaurants for dinner - we tried the Italian which was very disappointing with mediocre food and appalling service.
Overall, I would stay in this hotel again, but mostly because it is very conveniently located for the theme park, rather than for its service or facilities.

1 reader found this review helpful

Myself, wife and 8yr old son spent a week here in July. The only fault I have would be with the Tour operator, Airtours - terrible.
Our flights were changed several weeks prior to departure from early morning to late afternoon, and even this outgoing flight was delayed, meaning we missed a full day of our holiday.
The hotel itself was set in lovely landscaped grounds, and everything about the hotel was spotlessly clean. The pools were excellent with two specifically for the kids, but all were joined by a series of connecting pools. This gave each pool area its own feeling of privacy. Lifeguards were everywhere, and were quite strict about ball games, larking about etc in the pool. The Beach club was not open during our stay, but did open a week or two after we left. This should give you even more of a choice for sunbathing, swimming etc.
We were staying on a half board basis, and ate our tea in the "Buffet Del Port". Food was excellent, massive choice, menu changed every day and I could not find fault with any of the staff, anywhere in the hotel.
We greeted them all with a happy "Hola" (hello) and thanked them all with a happy Gracias, and they all responded in kind. The hotel is soooo handy to the fantastic theme park, literally nip out the back of the hotel, you are there.
Be careful with the trips, make sure you check when they leave and return. The tour busses do NOT pick you up at the hotel, you have to walk out of the hotel grounds to the main road and wait there. It is a good ten minute walk and obviously a bit of a wait for the bus, depending how good their time keeping is. In the middle of a hot Spanish day, it is not a nice place for the little ones to be, so check details carefully.
We took the Barcelona Fountains tour; it left at 2pm and returned at half past midnight. In saying that it was very enjoyable, with a tour of the Neucamp, Barcelona's football stadium included. HOT TIP. The shop gets VERY BUSY; if you run out of time and are unable to get names and numbers printed on the back of the football shirts, don’t despair as there is another official Barcelona Football Shop in the shopping centre beside the Aquarium, which will do it for you. This is one of the drop off points where you have an hour or two shopping.
The Markets tour was a load of cobblers and waste of time for us, but if you are into stall after stall selling cheap replicas etc then go for it.
Our room had a double bed and a single camp bed. Both were comfortable and the room, although small did the job. We had a nice view but that is suppose is luck of the draw.
We had paid an extra £10 each for the Universal VIP Upgrade for the week. Which allowed you to take breakfast in the Pica Pica restaurant.
It also, more importantly, provided towels and bathrobes, which meant we did not have to pay 15 Euros (refundable each day) every time we wanted towels for the pool. We also got a bucket load of free toiletries, and a daily newspaper, although sometimes it hadn’t arrived by breakfast and we had to wait until mid morning before it arrived in our room. If it is on time it will be given to you at breakfast at the Pica Pica. There is a small shop and it has postcards and stamps and basic essentials.
The best time for tea for us was 7pm, it started to get busy from 7.30 onwards, and breakfast was best at 8.30am.
The theme park was always busy but use your express pass and skip the queues. Unfortunately you can only do this once per ride, but if you hit the park, first thing 10.30am or wait until after tea, the crowds are much less. DO NOT miss the Fiesta Ventura show each night (July & August) at 11.45pm. It is well worth keeping the kids up for, but get a seat on the wall at the harbour in the Meddditeranean village at 10.30pm or you will not get a good view.
Overall we had absolutely no complaints about the hotel or staff, treat them politely, make the effort to speak the basic Spanish works and they treat you accordingly. Go with a different tour operator (our flight was delayed 4 hours on the way back) but stay with confidence at the Portaventura Hotel.
Happy hols

2 readers found this review helpful

My family of 2 adults and 2 children aged 8 and 11 have just returned from the hotel Port Aventura. We decided to stay at the most expensive on site hotel due to the fact that it was right on the entrance to the parks. I wasn't sure that it would be worth the extra cost but it turned out to be a great choice. We used to pop in and out of the park just for an odd hour or 2 here and there because we were so close, when the heat became too much we could nip back to the pool!
We found our room comfortable and modern and the whole resort is beautiful in its design and cleanliness. It has 2 pools both are nice but the larger lagoon style pool is really lovely with plenty of sun beds!
We stayed bed and breakfast, the food was very good compared to all the hotels we have stayed in before. There was tons to choose from and quality was good.
Our only complaint which affected our entire stay was the staff. They were miserable, ignorant and unfriendly. Whether they just don't like English tourists I don't know. After 8 days it drives you nuts! There are a lot worse things that can affect your holiday and if you can get your head around the rude staff you will have a fab time. We have put a letter of complaint in to the hotel in the hope that if people do complain staff will get better.
The grounds of the hotel and the theme park and water parks are superb without a doubt, the rides are excellent if you like theme parks you will love it here. We will most certainly return we just won't expect staff to make us feel welcome!

I just got back from a 7 nights holiday at the Port Aventura hotel. I couldn't believe how horrible the hotel and the rooms were. The room was so bad we had to get moved. The first room overlooked a huge car-park and had 2 extremely uncomfortable fold up beds one double bed, and a tiny single bed obviously not designed for adults.
Reluctantly the unhelpful and unfriendly receptionists finally moved us (with help from our rep). But the second room was no better still horrible fold up beds and now a view of a load of dirt oh and an extremely loud vent above the room just along from us. And the rooms not the only bad thing the restaurant staff at the half board restaurant (Buffet del Port) are extremely rude and the restaurant is always extremely crowded. But of course you could always go to a different one of there restaurants such as the Port Riggata I would have nothing bad to say about this restaurant if it wasn’t for one night where a completely different set of staff was running it.
The food was extremely undercooked and made me feel very ill. I could go on as there was a lot more wrong with this holiday and I don't understand why anyone would recommend it. However the Theme Park is great and so were the excursions but if you do go to Salou find a different hotel! Another tip is make sure you go as a package holiday unless you speak fluent Catalonian, they are very proud of there language and don’t appreciate being spoken to in English! Although this is not a problem once your in Salou.