Internacional II Aparthotel

6 readers found this review helpful

My 3 friends and I were pleasantly surprised by just how nice the receptiona area of the hotel was. Very clean and tidy looking. Staff were efficient and were able to get us into out room within minutes of arrival. Not sure if you are aware or not but you will be asked to leave a 25 euro per person deposit which you will get back if you look after the room. Despite being billed as having a microwave and kitchenette type facilities for self catering, all we had was two electric rings and a toaster. There was no microwave, no kettle or washing machine. We had a little fridge freezer that turned into niagra falls everytime you opened the door. We contacted reception and it was fixed within hours, they also brought us a kettle. You know us english with our cups of tea =)Bathroom was immaculate and the shower really had some power in it, it was superb with a constant stream of hot water. Excellent wardrobe space and the room itself was clean and tidy. We had clean towels regularly and had no real complaints at all about housekeeping. The location of the hotel is good too and there's loads of little shops and beaches near by.
The pools were immaculate, well maintained and clean with ample sun lounger space and a smaller pool for kids. It is incredibly noisy though. Salou is a mecca to the irish and while they are lovely people, they are SO loud! The entertainment at the hotel is a bit lacking and that would be the only real downfall of the place. We found the best entertainment to be next door in Sinatra's bar. Also at Sinatra's, for the bargain price of just 5 and a half euro you will get the nicest full english breakfast ever. I didnt know whether to eat it or climb it and the girls in there are so lovely. Nothing is ever too much trouble for them. The meals are lovely and are really reasonable price wise. I cant recommend them enough.
I would encourage anyone one staying at the international II to go out on the catamaran excursion. Its 38 euro pp but you are out at sea for 3 hours and all drinks- alcoholic and soft are included. Transport to and from the boat is also included.
I would however strongly advise women to take care when using public transport. My friend and I took the bus to get to a local market we had seen advertised in the hotel and while we were on the bus, a man sat next to my friend and tried to put his hands up the leg of her shorts! In broad daylight on a bus! Then when we got to the market, my bag was slashed from top to bottom and my purse stolen. The frightening thing being, I had NO idea whatsoever as we were barely stood still long enough for it to happen. Whatever they had used to cut my bag was sharp enough to cut the corner off a book I had in my bag and went straight through to the other side of my bag so I suppose I was lucky not to have been hurt. In short, a trip to the market caused us to be molested and mugged all within the space of 30 minutes! When venturing out anywhere, keep your wits about you at all times and NEVER carry large amounts of cash. Keep an eye on you pockets too and gents, NEVER put your wallet in your back pocket cause it'll vanish and you wont feel a thing. The police arent interested either. They just said they didnt speak english and pretty much pooh-poohed us away. Suffice to say we returned to the hotel a lot faster than we planned.
Bad things aside, we had a fabulous time in Salou and I'd go back there again and wouldnt hesitate about staying in the International II.

2 readers found this review helpful

There was me and 3 of my mates, our first holiday away 2geva and it was really goood!!
All staff are freindly excpet one man (security) seemed a bit weird.
The reps all speeek english and most of the staff do too. You can go out on a pub crawl.
We ate out most the time theres a good english resturant right next to the hotel on your left sinartras i think it was called. We only ever had some lunch at hotel or breakie was nice tho took it down to the beach, not that long a walk about 10 mins away just walking back up is a big hill!! so make sure u dont take too much to the beach with you.
There is also a super market right next to the hotel if you wana get bits n bobs!
The poole is good fun we took part in volly ball aimed at all ages!
You have some water sports at the beach.. we got a peddle out good fun!
Some markets and shop are about 5 ten minute walk from hotel.
Some good bars to start off in, english are charlie chaplins or idols which do really nice cocktails! and cheap!! theres always ppl giving out free tickets to get into the clubs
One night we got a cab out to PACHA (its massive!!!!) its like a whole village! Bob sinclair was playing there!
Rooms were ok 4 4 of us two single beds then a sofa pull out bed with a good sized balcony, careful when drying bakinis out there though as ours flew off into some one belows balcony.
There is a kettle and sink and fridge and some cutterly but not the cleanest.
We also had some ants, i fink we killed them all!
Overall had an absolutely wicked time!! wether was great!
And also we were warned by a girl who worked out there not to walk the short cut way as there were muggers!!

1 reader found this review helpful

Don't know what everyone is moaning about its a self catering appartment not a 5* hotel. Room was small & basic with only 2 cooking rings & kettle but clean. Couple of our lights weren't working but were fixed immediatley with no problems. We stayed for a week 2 adults & 2 kids, towels were changed twice & toilet roll everyday(didn't expect toilet roll as self catering so had already bought some). You had to take out your own rubbish but that seems to be the same in the surrounding accomodation or any other self catering holiday I have been on.
I was dreading this holdiay as had read other reviews but I would book this hotel again as staff friendly, excellent location & much cheapness & deposit (£60 or 100euros)returned without a problem.

Well I wasn't going to write a review on this hotel but I feel after reading a few before we left and since we came back I would like to say what I thought. I was nervous about going to this hotel but when we arrived at about 10.30pm we checked in fine arrived at our room which fine and clean also. There are quite a few beches nearby but we always went to the same one which was down a huge hill! The hotel is off the busy strip so were not bothered with noise at night at all.
Anyway we paid for this holiday on a very small budget, we were not expecting the hotel to be super nice. We were there for 4 nights and once the cleaner did come in to chnage the sheets and new towels but we were still in our beds so we told them to go away again. So our sheets were not changed while we were there, but if we hadn't been out till all hours of the morning they would have been.
The worst area of the hotel would be the ber/eating area. Not that it's dirty but it does need a bit of bringing up to date. The pool area was nice and pool was clean. Reception were friendly and the rest of the staff seemed fine also.
There is a 100euro deposit but if i'm honest i'd say thats pretty standard these days and also leaves you money for the airport.
Go with a open mind and don't expect too much for your money! After all it's a 2 star hotel!
Overall we had a good holiday and if I was looking for another budget break I would stay here again.

1 reader found this review helpful

We stayed here from the 7th till the 14th oct, with our 2 sons (14) and our daughter (20) her friend (18). The hotel had zero tolerance for the younger generation. The appartment was really smelly due to the toilet, we had ants running all over the apartment,in the whole week we stayed there we did not get our sheets changed. Our electricity kept going out so we couldn't get a cup of tea when we got home at night. We felt the place was really run down, and the veiw of plastic chairs and trees was not very nice. The maids and receptionists were friendly enough but the rest of the management were not so nice. We loved Salou and found a fantastic friendly pup (Raffertys) but would never go back to International ii. We know we paid for basic but we all felt it was really below standards compared to other holiday appartments we have been to in the passed. Portaventura is a must it was fantastic.

1 reader found this review helpful

I wish i'd paid more attention to some of the bad reviews of the internationale II...
i can confirm upon check in, deposit was 100 euros, which seems high to me, but we accepted it and moved on, room was extremely basic though, with limited "self catering" facilities as others have mentioned, with only 2 pretty useless hobs at your disposal with no cooker, no grill, no microwave, no kettle and no toaster (although you can rent kettles and toasters on a daily basis if you wish!)....there was also no tv in the room and i feel silly mentioning that, as i've always been one to say "we're on holiday, what do you need tv for?" but i suppose it would of been nice to have one for in the evenings while getting ready to go out etc and i think families with small children would especially miss it, so i'm mentioning it here...
the room absolutely stunk of drainage on arrival, although that cleared by the second day, still, very unwelcoming arrival and there isn't much of a view from any of the balconies as far as i could tell, just the hotel across the road and lots of shade....the room was not cleaned once during our 5 day stay, we had one towel change but no bed sheet change and the bins werent changed at all, which i'll come back to later..
on the positive side, the pool is a decent size (if perhaps the coldest one in the world) and its based in a decent location with a short walk to a beautiful beach up the hill, and a short walk downhill to the strip, with endless bars/restaraunts and shops.....the entertainment is your usual stuff, very good for kids and half decent in the evenings for the adults......the bar staff were friendly and the breakfasts were ok, but for your evening meals you're best staying away...we found "richards" up the hill to be the nicest place in the area foodwise, very friendly irish place....
as a last thing i must mention our check out, whereby we had to wait while the staff checked our room before we could have our 100 euros deposit back...and after waiting 10 minutes, the lady from reception returned, with the bags from our bin in hand, plonking them in my lap, telling me to take them out before we'd get our desposit back!
was quite funny in retrospect, but looking at other reviews it looks like we're not the only people this has happened to...we shouldnt of been surprised really though, that after cleaning the room ourselves for 5 days and re-using the same bedsheets, that we were expected to play binman too, as overall it is what it says on the tin, its a cheap BASIC hotel and as many others have stated, you do get what you paid for here.....which is not much!
avoid if you can afford somewhere else, and if you cant, remember to take out your rubbish!

Having mastered English at an early age, the language barrier was overcome at speed.
On exploring Salou, it became evident that both the English and Irish have colonised, and thus 'Internacional ii' lives up to its name.
At reception my boyfriend and I were greeted by a young woman with a very nice smile that endured heavy working hours, the most crude 'entertainment' I have ever witnessed and the relentless and uniform tack of the warped fairytale town. Reception was spacious and clean, characteristics alas that were not shared by our 'studio apartment'.
The key worked. Triumphant, we entered the room, and were greeted by a puddle of hairs under the fridge. Avoiding it as we dragged our lugagge inside, I was delighted to find a mop on the balcony. Unfortunately the mop head was insecurely attached to its pole and so the endeavour verged on fruitless. Four flipflops were retrieved and efforts not to touch the floor with naked skin for the entire week proved successful for both me fella and me. Uniting the two single beds revealed a used tissue from previous inhabitants and although it was swept away by the brush provided (one piece; structurally solid) the image lingered as strangely symbollic.
Aware that Salou is a place of party, we knew that the BYOLS principle applied. Liquid soap as well as the cutlery, dish cloths, christmas cake and fairy liquid that we brought with us, was invaluable.
The shower was good if not excellent. The strong cleansing spray evoked memories of splashing in the mediterranean. The curtain rail collapsed once but the fault was mine, as I attacked it too vigourously in my excitement at having found a clean haven in the midst of the...'studio apartment'. It was easily re-assembled and did not happen again.
The two hobs facilitated the cooking of various delicious meals, centered around fried onions and couscous. The numbers on the dials are inconsistent with the level of heat emmited but this was quickly adapted to by the master chef that I was living with.
Maintenance problems were attended to with alacrity. The plumber beat us upstairs after we had voiced concerns about drainage problems and the sink was cleared in seconds. When the electricity cut out, a flick of the switch in the fusebox restored power immediately.
These mixed reviews show that comfort is relative. If 'basic' means liveable but unpleasant then that word describes this hotel. 'Cleaning' arrives early on Thursday and Sunday and provides new towels. The mop and bucket accompanying the cleaners appears to be decorative, and in the surroundings of Salou this is plausable. I had no problem carrying out the trash and credit is due to the cleaners for doing this for us on their early morning visits.
Should you stay at Internacional ii?
Yes.
With the 'last minute' deal I travelled on, the €183 I spent covered flights, all taxes, coach tranport to and from the airport and seven nights' accommodation.
Salou is worth a visit if you feel out of touch with your own hibernocentric culture. The beaches are lovely and clean. Dotted by the seafront are identical shops selling playboy beach towels and offering hair-braiding services. Ice cream is always nice.
Why you should really stay in a place like this is because it is an hour by train away from Barcelona, an unusual place in that its first language is Spanish. Port Aventura is wonderfully fun, particularly if it is your job to reassure a reluctant and fearful companion that Spain's adherence to guidelines of basic (in this case safety) requirements is total. The sun helped the appearance of the town, a little.
The three stars awarded to Internacional ii may be a case of the establishment rating themselves. Mine are on account of friendly service, cheapness and proximity to Danny Boys.
I had a wonderful week and yet I hope never to return.

Just back after a week in Internacional II in Salou with a friend. Stayed in these apartments once 7 years ago. Have gone down hill since and the rooms are 'cleaned' only once a week with the towels being changed twice since we arrived. You have to take the rubbish out yourself to big smelly black bins at the side of the Aparthotel or you don't get your 100 euros back after checking out, not impressed!!! The food in the internacional II is ok but some of the food can be quite expensive. The pool is good with gorgeous men from Dublin and England to look at!!!! Two in particular!!! Would highly recommend the Comedy Club and the 19th hole across from the apartments to eat out at night, the food was yummy except for an onion ring that was cold in the middle. On the whole the studio apartment was very basic so we got what we paid for.

1 reader found this review helpful

just got back today 17/08/08 had a fab time,just like many other peploe i also read the reviews and thought o my god want have we done!!!!!!! BUT everyone to their own.The hotel was fine,room clean and well looked after,pool ideal and all staff very friendly,liked te fact that there was something to do for all ages.Must recommand "THE COMDEY BAR" 1st class food,portions huge and the owner BRIAN very friendly man.....Also try the Metro steak house nice... .Even thinking about going back next year,defo a place for families.A really good holiday......

Made the stupid mistake of reading all the reviews the night before we went, but decided to give it the benefit of the doubt as a hotel can't please everyone.
There was 8 in our group (2 families), picked up from the airport by 2 private taxi's arranged through Jet 2 and taken straight to the hotel which was just over an hour away very quick and comfortable. Booking in took approximately 5 minutes the only shock being the 100 Euro deposit per room which wasn't expected but then offset by a pleasant suprise that the air conditioning was actually free.
The lifts were old style but still worked but sometimes they were very slow, the rooms are quite basic and small, our children were 10 and 6 and we found it small, but still clean and comfortable. The only real gripe was no drawer space and only 4 shelves in wardrobe so I ended up living out of the bottom of the wardrobe. The bathroom was clean but every now and again the drains would give off an odd smell but this was combated by keeping the door closed. The cleaning staff were very friendly and we managed to get clean towels when ever we asked.
The bar, pool and entertainmet facilities were good, the kids really enjoyed themselves which made our holiday good to. The main entertainers were Tom and Nicola who did a fantastic job along with support from Alex, Russ, Mad Nick and Nick take the time to talk to them they work some long hours but are always smiling and approachable.
If you manage to get on stage for the plate game beware of Nicola she is very good at protecting the jackpot.
Daily bingo, kids activities and waterpolo between 11am - 4pm then back again on an eveing for quizzes, kids disco and fun, adult drinking games more bingo and the world famous plate game between 7pm - midnight. Adults beware - if you don't like neat peach schnapps, vodka and gin don't go on stae, fortunately I do.
Also 3 days starting at 4pm there is live entertainment on stage (these faces will become familiar as you go round Salou as they all play many different parts in the different shows)
Overall the rooms are just somewhere to ge yur head down, we all had a fantastic holiday and met some fantistic friendly people.
There is plenty to do outside the hotel, I recommend Richard's Tavern for quality food and portion size but further up the road is the Britannia Pub that does a mix and match breakfast each item 50c, very reasonable and also good quality.
Check out Idols and Charlie Chaplins and whatever you do don't leave Salou without tryng a fat frog, there awesome.
All I can say is those people that have not enjoyed themselves must be lifes complainers, those people that aren't happy unless something is wrong and they can tell the world abot about it.