Catalonia Gardens

Arrived to Spain on 23/8/11
After a 1hour and half transfer from Barcelona airport we arrived at Catalonia Gardens We had read some reviews on here after we booked and was quite worried that it would be as bad as it was but unfortunately it was and I guess people could say that is our own fault but we were just hoping the reviews were from tourists who expect to much from cheap holidays. where to begin
1. Arrived myself partner and 2 kids to apartments to a sign saying the place was closed pick up keys from Salou suite hotel with a little map of direction. so had to leave my partner with kids to find place whilst she had 2 kids running round and the suitcases at restaurant/bar that spoke very little English.
2.Arrived at Salou Suite and was waiting at reception in a queue for nearly an hour as only 1 person on reception who wasn't exactly in any rush. When it got to myself in queue she told me room was not ready yet and I would have to wait a further 1 hour whilst room was cleaned ! I told her I was unhappy due to sweating with the 35 degree heat and felt disappointed room was not ready when it was nearly 3pm she just said come back in 1 hour we are staying at the Salou Suite apartments
3. Came back after 1 hour to this apartment hotel of which we did not initially book, we booked the Catalonia gardens but during the week this seemed to be quite the normal thing with the Ibersol chain of hotels/accommodation to do this.
4.Got to room and god only knows what the cleaner did within the hour that she was cleaning room as it looked and was dirty. We had towels changed once within the week we stayed at the Salou Suite and although we had read reviews about towels and bedding not being changed we would have really expected the towels at least to be changed more frequently then bedding as it was so hot the height of the season of which people are going to shower more when it is 35 degree heat !
5.Swimming pool, a child was sick in pool but they did not clean up the sick !
6.limited English spoken by members within hotel and they always appeared arrogant and rude mannered.
7. Dodgy lifts.
8. Noise throughout the night was quite weird really because as much as I like a drink and party etc. the bars seemed to close about 12am yet the noise and Spanish were yelling screaming up until 7am god knows where they were drinking but this could be a problem if you want to get sleep during 12am and 7am
9. they need to sort drains out within area smells like a sewerage every now and again
What was good !
well not the hotel/apartments lol
but although I have listed the bad there is good stuff to do you just need to get out there and do it beach was lovely, Barcelona was good but expensive and the zoo etc.
Well I have been honest and sincere with my description of holiday. I definitely would not go back to any hotel from the Ibersol chain however i would return to Salou or Spain

just home from a weeek holiday.travelled with a group of friends, some were a bit weary after reading reviews (which must have been false)!!!! But when we got ther we wer extremely surprised..The whole hotel inside and out were spotless!!have no complaints at all.the pool was amazing and there was always sunbeds!!!Very good location and we never wanted 4 anything!! Would definitely recommend this to anyone and we can not wait to return....

My parnter and I visited Salou for the first time and stayed at the Catalonia Garden Apartments. When we arrived we were given a key and asked for a £50 (euro) deposit. The lifts didnt work which was abit of an issue as we were on the 5th floor, so not recommended for young children or if you may have difficulties with lots of stairs! The apartment was spotless, BUT there was a funny smell (like drains). There were a few bits of crockery, but no kettle, toaster ect. There were no cleaning services (but we payed a small price so what do you expect???!!)The pool was relativley clean but there was a life gaurd on hand all the time the pool was open and he was very attentive, so that was good; children were always safe! The 'poolside'bar was shut which was a pain,as you had to walk into town to buy a drink or anything. There was quite abit of noise through the night from locals who actually live in the apartments aswell, but again you get what you pay for!
This hotel would be okay for a group of friends who are not fussy! But our stay was not bad at all!

2 readers found this review helpful

I went with 5 of my friends and after reading reviews i was really worried, however when i got there i was fine, i didnt have to pay any extra charges, the desk was always manned the foyer was spotless as was all the facilities, our apartment was clean with everything we needed, yes it was basic but at the price we paid what does anyone expect? we loved it there the swimming pool was lovely, our balcony was very big and spacious. yes there was noise but its no different to living on a main road. the staff at the reception desk were very helpful giving us information about train times, even phoning taxis for us. i dont know why everyone is complaining maybe they had a bad experience but i had an amazing time, we were only using our apartment as a base camp because we went out alot in the day and the evening. everything was really close by we had a choice of 3 supermarkets in the area that were all very good priced, there were buses running all the time to various locations. there were two beaches around which were both spotless with very clear seas. its in an amazing location and is spotlessly clean. we had no problems and will definitley be going back next year!

we arrived at 11pm on wed 5th may to a closed reception all boarded up, the whole place looked closed. went across the road to the International Hotel reception told us we had to get keys from salou suite hotel along the main road, then 2nd on the left, with our cases and a 7 year old this isnt easy.we were charged50 euros deposit and got the keys. The entrance looked ok. the lift was stinking of urine. the apt looked quite clean on the 6th floor.In the morning we looked at the swimming pool (it has been closed for years it was full of green stagnant water, ) reception was boarded up, bar was closed, it was all closed. playpark was full of broken glass.locals stay there with dogs, cats etc.
this is not a holiday hotel. On Thursday we wnt to salou suite to complain we wre told to come back at 6pm that night, when we got back to our apartment it had been broken into and completely emptied. all clothes, cases everything gone the patio doors do not lock at one side when you think thay are locked. We got moved to the Arquiss apartments across the road from Salou suite. it was being renovated, no pool opened, no reception, no bar,no steps to get in, just planks of wood. Apt was ok, but that was it.In the morning men were using drills from 8am to remove tiles on all walls. the worst holiday ever. In salou a cooked chicken is 10 euros, a cheap vodka and skooshy coke 5 euros, a game of pool 2 euros, a pure rip off i will never be back please dont go if you can change it.

All i can say is, i think most of the people who have given poor reviews must have had very high expectations!
i thoroughly enjoyed my stay here and am returning again to salou this year, admittedly not in this hotel as we found an offer that was cheaper however would not have a problem with returning to this hotel.
on arrival we checked into the reception at catalonia gardens, not the international which many people have said. we were greeted by the friendly receptionist who said our room would take 10 minutes to get ready so we had a drink at the bar (which was cheap, and had a very good happy hour!). we did have to pay a deposit of 100 euros but between four of us, that was no problem (in fact it helped as it ensured we had money for something to eat at the airport on the way home!!)
our room was very spacious with a fully functioning kitchenette and a perfectly fine bathroom (no mold or cockroaches!!) we had clean towels everyday and always had toilet roll!!
the pool area was lovely, very big, always had sun beds available and there was sun until about 6.00pm also there was ALWAYS a life guard on duty (usually around the children's pool)
not once during are stay did we hear of anyone being broken into or did we see anyone selling or doing drugs. and if they were likely to approach anyone to sell drugs it would have been us as we were a group of 4 18-20 year olds.
salou in general is an absolutely fantastic place and would give it 10/10. its very clean and very modern with lots of fancy fountains and waterfalls around. they have one waterfall that they made a show out of, by projecting different colours and pictures into the water (AMAZING!)
the beach is lovely, to rent a sunbed with a blind for shade is very cheap- perfect for protecting small children from the sun. theres lots of activities going on on the beach aswell, such as jet skiing, banana boats, pedalos.
a visit to porta ventura and aquapolis is a must!! and for any of you partiers the night life is amazing!! good clubs are 007, bustop. kiss, croks, and pacha is a short bus ride away which goes to the early hours of the morning!
SO DONT BE PUT OF BY BAD REVIEWS!! EVEN IF YOUR PUT OFF BY THE HOTEL DONT LET IT PUT YOU OFF GOING TO SALOU...ITS PERFECT FOR ALL AGES!!!

1 reader found this review helpful

IF YOU ARE DUE TO GO HERE THEN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT!!! YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!!!!!!! I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE SCARED, MORE ANGRY AND MORE STRESSED IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!
This place is a living nightmare! My partner and i had rang up to book a holiday, but when we rang they told us that the hotel we had chosen to stay in was fully booked and we were told about Catalonia Gardens. They made it sound nice so we booked it as we were running out of time to book a holiday. Staright away we went on the internet on Travel advisor to find that we had just booked into a hell hole! The reviews were beyond belief so we picked up the phone and tried our best to have our money back, but we were told no! So we had to go.
When we arrived the coach driver told us to ask for our key from the receptionist in the hotel opposite our appartments so we went in there and we told we had to go to the appartment and they would have our key, so we went there and they sent us out into the town with a little rubbish map to find some random guy who we were told would have our key, so we draged our suit cases around the town and found the man and he told us we had to go somewhere else! 4th time lucky! We finaly found the right place for our key and we had to pay 100 euro deposite for it!
We went all the way back to the appartments and dragged our cases up the stairs as we had heard that the lift does not work most of the time! When we got to the top of the stairs we were greeted by completed darkness and loud music coming from the end of the black corridor. We had to feel around for the light switch on the walls!
We got into the room and locked the door behind us as we did not feel safe at all! We did not unpack as we were planning on keeping all our clothes locked in our suit cases for the whole week. I had a look around and found the bathroom was in a state so i went out and bought bleach to clean it with......i dont know about you but i do not go on holiday to clean nasty toilets and baths!!! The shower curtain was moaldy and the edge of the bath was just rusty and nasty! To be honest i dont know what was down the toilet but i was not nice! No one would want a bath in there!
We did not get into the room untill late so we just went for dinner, cleaned to bathroom and went to bed. I did not sleep well at all, and the load music that we were greated with when we arrived continued thrugh the night.
The next day we wanted to go out to the beach, so we locked our suitcases, pulled a spair bed infrount of the apartment door to try and stop anyone from braking in! Put my partnetrs suit case locked in the wardrobe and mine was locked and pushed under the bed. We left the apartment by jumping over the balcony at the back! This is because we wanted to leave the bed by the front door and because we did not want to receptionist seeing that we had left the apartment as we had heard that other people were convinced that the receptionist has somethin to do with rooms getting broken into in the past. so we jumped over the balcony and went down to the beach for a nice first day together.
When we returned we opened the apartment door and we were expecting to have to push hard to move the bed, but to our horror the door just swung open! I was so scared and so shocked. My partner walked in first and i followed locking the door behind me. We looked into the bed room to see my partners suitcase had been cut open with a knife and his clothes were all over the room! My suit case was still under the bed so i thought i was ok, but as i pulled it out i soon realised that was not the case! they had done the same to mine! They took clothes, aftershave, hair straighteners, an ipod, a camera, my toothbrush, my magazine, seloptape and the bleach i had to clean the bathroom!!!! i went running down to reception and went MAD!!! I shouted and shouted telling them what had happedend and i demaded that they did something about it! They just stood there and did nothing, they were the most usless most arragent people i ahve ever met! All they said was that we had to go to the police, that the police would not come to us. But it was too late for us to go and find the police station, we went back to the room and got onto the phone to our parents.
My partners parents had to go onto the internt for us and find us a new hotel to go to as i was not staying there one more second! Luckly the hotel acroos the street had a room free. It was called the mediteranneo which is part of a chain of "Best hotels" and it was amazing. But we could not take all our clothes with us that night as our suit cases were in bits, so we had to put some over night clothes in my had bag and jump over the balcony again to get to our new hotel.
When we got there we were welcomed by two lovley receptionist who were very helpful and very sorry to hear what had happened to us......the kind of responce you would expect from a receptionist!
The next morning we had to walk for an hour to the police station to report what had happened. The police officer did not really speak much english but she helped as much as she could. We were given a form to fill in to give details of what was taken and where we were staying and we were given a copy of the report and a ref number.
We then had to spend the afternoon looking for a new suitcase. When we found some we had to go back to the hell hole to collect our clothes and say good bye to our old suit cases.
Then we had to go and returnd the room key and get back the deposite and make a complaint. We got the 100 euros back no problem, but they would not give us any form or anything to make a formal complaint so they were just usless....like a lot of people out there.
If you are ment to be staying at Catalonia Gardens, THEN PLEASE DONT!!!! THIS IS NOT A JOKE. THE FIRST 2 DAYS OF OUR HOLIDAY WERE RUINED BY THIS PLACE AND WE HAD TO PAY OUT NEARLY £300 FOR A NEW HOTEL.

Not as bad as others say. We were in block 2 room was OK but no air conditioning then again you get what you pay for. Reception was manned and extremely helpfull. We were there for a week and received clean towels and sheets midway through. We only had to pay a 50 euro deposit which we got back no bother Good location and across the road great food at The Comedy Club

STEER CLEAR OF THIS DUMP !!!!!!!
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY......
We arrived at this dump to be told our room would not be available until 4pm,but we could use the pool while we waited. I WOULD NOT LET MY DOG SWIM IN IT!! It had dead flies and bird feathers floatin around and you could see the dirt which was all over the bottom of the pool... AND THATS JUST THE START!!
When we eventually got our key the corridor was dark as the lights did not work, when we found our way to the room there was a hole in the door which looked like it had been punched or kicked through, THEN when we entered we found:
1. one of the windows was smashed,
2. live electric wires just hangin out of the wall,
3. childrens bed was all broke underneath with VERY sharp staples stuck up,
4. washer did not have a door,
5. stains on the sofa (which I cringe to think what they were)
6. dirty brown marks on the bedding,
7. shower holder was broke off,
8. shower head was held together with brown packaging tape,
NEED I GO ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We flatly refused to stay in this DISGUSTING place and left immediately, the worse thing was the man on Reception (who was very pleasant by the way) seemed to take it in his stride like this thing happens every day !!!!!
I have pictured everything and will be taking this matter further...
PLEASE TAKE OUR ADVICE AND KEEP AWAY !!

we read loads of bad reviews about these apartments but had already booked so it was to late 2 cancel but wish we had of and lost the money the place is full of locals selling and using drugs around the place soon as we seen the place we wanted to come home and to top it of on our second last day we was robbed everything we owned was stolen and i no that the people in reception had sumthing to do with it dont no how travel agents can advise or let people and familys go to this place and its beyond me how watchdog have never invested this place as its the broncs hope wen u read this u take it in and dont end up lyk we did as 4 those that its 2 late 4 gud luck and hope it doesnt happen to u as it happens every week there people getting robbed