Caleta Palace

I have recently returned from a week staying at this hotel - I shall not be returning! The actual area of Platja d'aro is lovely - beautiful beaches (shingle not sand) which shelve very steeply. Beware if not a strong swimmer as will get stuck in the sea waiting for a set of quieter waves to climb out!
Only 5 minutes away from the hotel, there is a lovely long road filled with shops/bars/restaurants - brilliant for exploring. There is also a water park only 15/20 minutes walk away which we were recommended to go to.
However, the downfall is the place itself. A holiday should not be a stressful, but having now returned, I feel the need for another holiday! The British are not treated very well at the hotel - at every meal time, my friend and I sat down and each time we were moved over to the far side of the dining area - crammed into a corner with all the other brits! The head waiter in the dining area was very rude - he actually clapped and pointed to the corner when my friend sat down in another area on one occasion.
All inclusive is brilliant for the bar. A very wide range of drinks was available - ranging from Baileys to Schnapps, Vodka, Bacardi - however the wine is not very good. Except for the Sangria - very strong but nice! However, there was an ongoing issue of one drink per person, which proved to be very inconvenient at times (one night with seriously burned and swollen feet, hobbling to the bar each time). I think this would have been accepted better if some of the bar staff had not been so standoffish and rude at times about this rule. However, it was not helped by a minority of British arguing with the bar staff and demanding that the manager who spoke NO english was summoned!
It was a very spanish place - at one point, all of the children who were not spanish were removed from the pool and only spanish children were allowed in. Whilst on holiday, there were also tons of chldren in large clubs who basically were not controlled. They caused havoc in the dining area - running around, not looking where they were going. This did spoil the week as meal times became a scrum. I am a vegetarian and the food was very poor for me. Fine if you eat meat as there was tons of it! However, I basically had to live on a diet of bread and salad for the week. The food tended not to vary much each day - some fish was served but at times very overcooked and chewy. The deserts were nice - icecream/fruit/various cream filled goodness! But on the whole, the standard of food was not brilliant.
Considering all of this and having saved for this week away - I was very disappointed with the place. The hotel is in a great location, close to everything - but this was spoiled by the way in which we were treated. We were poorly treated simply for being British, even though whilst there we made an effort by learning quite a bit of spanish (how to ask for drinks/what a certain food was/hello/thankyou ect).
If you want a relaxing holiday in a nice resort - DO NOT GO TO CALETA PALACE! It is a beautiful area, but go to another hotel. My friend and I were young, but caused no trouble at all - made every effort saving for a holiday to be treated so badly at times.
Hopefully this has been a helpful review :)
Becky Curtis (Cardiff)