Festival Village

1 reader found this review helpful

We stayed here as a family of 4. Two adults, and two children (11/16). Upon arrival late afternoon, we were greeted by the very friendly staff (management), and were swiftly checked in. We booked as self catering, but were given the option to upgrade. This probably works out cheaper than buying the package from the operator as half board, or all inclusive. We chose to upgrade to half board only and not full which would have included all drinks and chips from the bar. For this, you do not have to wear a wristband as you are asked for your name and room number when dining. If you go all-in, you have to wear a wristband so be prepared for a white ring in your tan!! The food is pretty good, with a good variety to suit all each day. It is self serve bufet style, and you can keep going till you are full. The dining area is perhaps a bit too small meaning you might have to wait to be seated at times. The most we had to wait was only about 5 minutes max. The hotel is all air-conditioned. There is a games area with about 5 pool tables, air table hockey, and some other games such as video tennis, and a car racing game (two seats). There are TV's all over the walls, but the sound is never up! The pool tables are very close together making a game difficult. Each table takes 2 x 1 Euro coins. Out on to the sun terrace with about 4 or 5 tables, and down the steps to a much smaller than expected pool area. This is one of the reasons I marked this resort lower. Some clever photography was done in the pictures you see. The pool and surrounding area is actually very small for the size of the hotel, and is always over-crowded. Also, despite a note in the paperwork you get requesting that you do not, loads of people ignore this, and "mark" their sunbeds with towels early in the morning and go back to their rooms. This means you will be very very lucky to get a sunbed, and either do as they do, or go without. The staff really should enforce this, and remove the towels from offending beds and leave them in reception to be collected. It is really unfair on abiding guests. One other reason for lowering my mark is that the soundproofing in this hotel is non-existent. You wont get much sleep at night. We had noise from noisy inconsiderate guests next to us on both sides, above us, and below us. To top that, the main road is very close, and you hear that also.
The rooms are surprisingly big with a small kitched area with plenty of utensils and equipment (fridge, microwave, cooker, etc). There was a large bathroom with bath/shower, toilet and bidet (does anybody actually use those things ??!). The main area had 3 sofas that can nbe slept on by one person each. There was then a separate bedroom with two single beds pushed together. Both the main room and the bedroom had patio doors leading out onto the large balcony area. The main room has a very small TV with barely no channels and poor reception. THere is one air con unit for the whole apartment.
Our flight was in the evening, and we had to check out by 10:00AM. However, you can leave your luggage in the luggage room, and continue to use the facilities. There is also a shower room and towels available to shower before you leave for your flight.
The rooms have a safe which needs the lock and key. THis is from reception and was I think 15 euros with either 10 or 5 of that as a deposit (cant remember which). A 90 euro room deposit will also have to be paid. We got this back straight away as soon as we checked out.
There is a fair sized supermarket on the ground floor.
NOTE - The tour operators will offer you excursions. Be aware that the hotel itself can also offer these at a much cheaper rate!! If you walk out of the hotel and turn left, the very large beach in La Pineda can be reached. Buses are fantastic and run 24 hours every 15 mins in the day and 1 hour in the night. A trip to Salou was 1E 85c each (one way).
Evening entertainment was "ok". Fine for smaller kids, but not so good for teens. We saw a good parrot show.
I think that covers most things. In summary, because of the noise levels between rooms, and lack of staff policing the request to NOT "reserve" sunbeds, I would NOT personally stay there again, and would suggest you bear this in mind when you book yourself.

3 readers found this review helpful

Well thankfully for my family we only had the displeasure of staying here 1 night to visit port aventura before travelling on to our regular spot on the costa brava.
This accommodation should urgently have a face lift as the exterior once you get into to the prison like aparthotel is grubby and filthy at best.
The staff on reception where a disgrace and the so called Manager was a sarcastic arrogant man who believe me has no time for the british.
When we got into our apartment the apartment was clean and funcional but I am afraid that is the best compliment I can leave
Salou and Port Aventura are brilliant and with Spain suffering a similar recession to Uk I would highly recommend spending your well earned money elsewhere
It is also worth noting that this propery is out in the sticks approx 40mins walk into salou, the pool is small and overcrowded and the animation is at best 2 out of 10.

2 readers found this review helpful

we have just returned from Festival Village and we had a great time. The hotel was spotless the staff were very friendly especially the bar staff and Maggie the customer relations lady. We upgraded to half board and all inclusive drinks which saved us a fortune and we thoroughly enjoyed the food.The thomson reps Matt and Liz were really friendly and helpful as were the entertainment staff Kate and Julie.Not much around the hotel but La Pineda is a short walk away and buses to all nearby towns stop right outside the hotel. We are a family of 5 and we all had a great time and we will go back to the Festival Village.

3 readers found this review helpful

DONT pay any attention to the bad reviews.
This hotel is very clean, the staff are friendly, the entertainment is great.
We didn't eat there as we ate at the local restaurents but did come back in the evening for the entertainment.
The pool is great and the kids loved it.
The area is gorgeous, the beach amazing. It was 15 minute walk away, and you had to walk to any restaurents BUT it was well worth it. The weather was fantastic - 27 degrees in May!!!!!
Room was very clean and we had no problems.
Make sure you go to Aquopolis. This is the best place ever. The kids will love it (and the adults too!)
Portaventura - good fun, but don't waste your money buying a 4 day pass online as one day is more than enough!
100% recommend and we will be going back there.

1 reader found this review helpful

We stayed her in june 2008 family of 5 and used the hotel only as a base for using the Portaventura theme park. we found the hotel fine, rooms spacious and clean, maid service came every day clean towels etc we didn't sample the food or entertainment as we spent most of our time in Portaventura so cannot comment but if you are self catering there are lots of lovley restaraunts in la Pineda and Salou and the food is great in the Theme park.
Going back to Salou this year but staying in Portaventura hotel but I would recommend this hotel although the area is very quiet but La Pineda is only a short walk away.

2 readers found this review helpful

well what can i say .reading all the reviews before we went i was a bit taken back ,,got there and was suprised room was clean ,booking in was easy , staff was friendly ,,entertainment was great to ....only disapointment was we r about 15mins on a bus to salou town . bus cost aabout 9euros each way for 4 but be careful as 1 driver kept charging us for 5 and when we told him he said me no talk english lol ...we got wise in the end we did . pool was cold sea was warmer and is a short walk from hotel we were lucky the weather was fab .great pub down the road the knights inn and is very reasonable priced .....staff r great really friendly .

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1 reader found this review helpful

me and my husband went and stayed at festival village last september, i cant see why people are moaning so much!! its not a 5* hotel but we found the staff really pleasent and helpful, the rooms where really big and clean, could easily fit a large family in them, the entertainment was good in the evenings but we didnt watch every night as we was eating out in the town of salou, i would have to say if you booked festival village you wouldnt be dissapointed we liked it and felt comfortable and we are going back this september with our child and cant wait!!!!

1 reader found this review helpful

Do you like Butlins ? If so, you will probably like this hotel. Easy as that. Basic accommodation, acceptable food and plenty of entertainment.
OK, a bit more detail... We booked an off peak holiday during October into a half empty hotel, so please bear this in mind if you are thinking of going during the peak summer months.
We arrived at 11.00 and got checked straight into our rooms. We knew about the deposit, so no problems there. We had a 2nd floor pool view room which was clean and tidy, fresh towels, loo roll etc. It takes a bit of time to get the safe deposit box key, so they ask you come back when everyone is checked in. I gather the main block rooms are better than the 2 side blocks, even if the main block gets very little sun. No broken furniture or dirty floors, just basic, clean rooms, although the sofa beds are really only for young children.
The pool is about average for the size of hotel, but space in the sun is a bit limited. (And yes, we did have lots of sun even in the last week of October !)
We had booked the half board and drinks package. The bar staff are a bit miserable and bored until you get to know them. Try a bit of Spanish and treat them with respect and they soon warm up. Breakfast is excellent. Full English fry up or continental, as much as you can eat buffet. Lunch ia not included and the bar only does pizza and chips. We just headed into Salou (Bus) or La Pineda (20 minute walk) and found a different place every day. Evening meal has at least 4 main courses, plus salads, soup and piles of chips. Menu was different every evening with a theme (Chinese etc.) to the food. The only issue we had was the food was not always that hot, so a bit of a worry regarding food poisoning. Cap Salou was very quiet (Closed in fact !), so La Pineda was the best option. The beach was clean and the cafes were at least open !
The buses are a good way of getting around. €1.95 per person to Port Aventura, €1.65 - €1.95 to everywhere else. If there are 4 of you, a taxi might be cheaper. We also liked Tarragona and spent a rainy afternoon in the shopping centre as well as the museums and Roman ruins. The buses stop right outside the hotel to all destinations. At busy stops, buy your tickets from the booth or ticket office as they don't sell them on the bus if there is a booth.
Kids club was good, with excellent staff. Evening entertainment was good fun with something different every night. The comedy magic show is well worth staying up for.
Ignore the chavs who let their kids run riot, trash the hotel and then complain about everything. Evenings can be noisy, but as the bar shuts around midnight, it soon goes quiet.
Maggots in the carrots and dirty rooms ? Are they sure they stayed at the same hotel ??

There was 6 of us we went on this holiday as a last minute deal we arrived on the friday and upon arrival we was told that we needed to leave a 70pound deposit for our room so i left the deposit we got our room key and off we went to a seperate building well we went up to the 2nd floor in a tiny lift we all went into one at a time and we opened our door to the apartment we was pleaently suprised it was qwite big a nice balcony we chose our room and put our cases down we then sat at table and my other half offered me a cup of tea so i said id love one as you do when you have been on a long journey so we had to plug kettle in and there was no bench space as the microwave was on this and you had to keep changing all the plugs about so we then decided to have a shower well the shower door was broken and after one 2minute shower the water went cold so i got out and thought what are the rest of the clan going to do to freshen up well it ended up that it wasnt my fault the boiler is tiny and only heats enoughth for one shower and you have to wait for it to re heat for the rest............... even thougth it was an apartment that sleeps upto six..........so we set off down the beach when we came bck it was qwite late so we thought we would eat at the hotel it was 9euros for a three course eat as much as you like buffet so we paid all six of us we included my two children and i tucked into my dinner as i was starving and was eating away when i saw something moving on my plate............. i stopped looked and it was a maggot i picked it up moving on the carrot and put it in a servette and took it to the reception i was explaing what had happened and showing her my maggot when relisation of what i was saying hit me ans i just made it to entrance of hotel when i was sick everywhere i came back in to the hotel manager who said to me that i put them in the food i tried to explain that 9euros was realy cheap and we wouldnt get that in england so why when i thought the mealwas a deal would i do that i explained i wanted my money back he then told me that he was going to kick us all out of his hotel including my two children i asked to speak with the owner he told me no i then rang the rep as i was starting to panic i rang her emergancy number off the board and no one answered me all night no one rang back come the following day at 9oclock i went down to see the rep who moved me apartments at a cost of course the whole thing was a nightmare not only had i eaten maggots not been able to have a shower make tea and toast been told i was trying to rip the manager off i then had to pay money to be moved the worst of it was the rep wasnt bothered at all even thought i gave her my maggot still alive she moved me hotels charged me and nothing else was done about it ...........................

after reading all about this place i wasnt looking forward too going to festival village..when we arrived the place looked as like all the others,so wasnt too bothered.. when we got in there, people say that you cant check in before 3pm,that is lies, we got there at 10am and was given the keys straight away.
looking around,it looked very clean and people was very frendly,so all good..
we got our keys and went to the room and again, due to the bad reviews i wasnt looking forward too what i was gunna see... but again,the room was very clean and had all you need.it was abit basic but like i say all you need..all the beds was clean,floors was clean,and the cleaners came round every other day..
the entertainment was all good,considering it was end of season. we meet alot ov nice people there,ie, JULIE,MATT,they really did try.over all the place is ok and i wouldnt listen too all the bad reviews..