Aqua Hotel Onabrava

1 reader found this review helpful

Excellent hotel, very clean. Maid service very good, nothing to much bother if you ask for anything.
Meals though are very German and Dutch orientated apart from that they were enjoyable.
Animacion team very good, in fact they are excellent. They try to get everybody involved, if you don't want to do it they don't pester you.
All hotel staff very friendly and approachable, all in all highly recommended for all ages.
Would go back again.

1 reader found this review helpful

Just returned from 2 weeks at The Ona Brava Hotel 8-22 June 2006. Hotel very clean and spacious, good reception and facilities. Room excellent with good sea view (No.521).
Downside was the food, not 4 star standards, have had much better in lower grade hotels.
Location on promenade at Santa Susanna, nice quiet area, with more entertainment only a short walk away. Beach very gritty sand and not to safe for young children to bathe in sea, steep drop into water.
Summary, Hotel very good, area very nice, but eat out.

Spent 2 weeks HB at Onabrava Hotel. Rooms were spotless and spacious with 2 x double beds & large balcony overlooking pool with sea & mountain view.
Hotel staff were good, nice reception area & pool - the hotel in general was spotless. Gym & indoor pool etc were additional cost.
Excellent choice of food on most days, some days better than others.
Good beach nearby with nice clean & safe walkway directly outside the hotel which had market stalls (not too tacky!) at nights.
Only downsides - naff entertainment in hotel (to be expected in hotels!) & not much to do in the resort itself however great rail link (across the road from hotel) leading to Barcelona, where there are tons of things to see and do.

Fantastic hotel. Clean and everything that a four star hotel should be. We arrived by coach and immediately checked in. The rooms were spotless and with balconies overlooking the sea. Most rooms appear to have two double beds and plenty of space.
The food was excellent with a wide choice to cater for all tastes. The hotel staff were very good and the hotel was full over the Christmas break but everything ran smoothly and efficiently. It is worth mentioning that the choice and sheer quantity of food on tap is amazing. Drinks are not included in the main meals although coffee and juices are free with breakfast.
Everything about this hotel is good. The pool which we couldn’t use due to it being too cold in December would have been ideal in the summer. There is an indoor pool and gym although this is charged out at 6 euro.
Safety deposit boxes are advisable. These can be rented for 26 euro with 10 euro refunded when you hand in your key and check out.
We booked with Festive Getaways on a coach trip from the UK. 24 hours in a coach is a nightmare and we would not do it again but the hotel more than made up for it. The tours are very expensive for what you get and public transport is so cheap and efficient. You can get to Barcelona and back on the metro for 7 euros rather than pay 30 euros for a coach tour.
Make sure you visit Montserrat too. Its about half an hour from Barcelona.
Santa Susanna is a small resort which is beautifully maintained with clean wide walkways and promenade. The sandy beach is beautiful and stretches for miles.

My elderly mum and myself, arrived early in the morning check-in was straight forward with very well presented, friendly, English speaking staff. Hotel décor is very tasteful and modern.
Found our room on the 4th floor which was quite a good size, clean and tidy with everything you’d expect from a 4 star hotel. The room was quite spacious for the two of us....two large double beds, clean linen on the beds, a TV (lots of channels mainly Spanish and German, only 2 English channels, both news ones), a safe box (which you can get a lock and key from reception, costs €23 for a week of which €10 is a deposit that you get back on check-out). The balcony area is quite nice (ours overlooked the sea) and the bath/shower room was absolutely spotless.
The food was of a good standard a lot of choice due to the variety of guests in the hotel, such as Spanish, German, Dutch and of course English. I must say though there was not a lot of food for kids and it did go cold very quickly (due to hot plates not being too hot and cool air-conditioning). Overall though the food was good and you could eat as much as you liked so you wouldn’t go hungry. The restaurant staff were very good and were very quick with cleaning tables, bringing you drinks etc.
The hotel location was good, very quiet and a five minute walk from bus stop to Malgrat de Mar (€1.15) and a train station, where you can get the train to Barcelona (only €6 return, bargain!) which in itself is a fabulous city.
The hotel entertainment was a bit naff, some nights there was virtually nothing on at all, so we went to a different hotel!
I'd definitely visit this hotel again, it was just so nice and quiet.
As far as the resort goes…
Santa Susanna is quite small and quiet, ideal for families, couples and older people who just want to sit back and relax.
My mum has problems with mobility and she found the resort perfect… no steep hills in the general vicinity of the resort.
The beach is about a five minute walk from the hotel, the only downfall is that you have to walk down an underpass (under the railway lines) to get to it.....the beach is made of quite course sand and shelves off quite steeply into the sea (so be careful if you have kids with you), but very clean and it wasn’t busy at all when we went there in mid September.
There are a variety of small modern shops and cafes nearby which are very quiet and relaxing, if you want more life and action, walk about 500metres down the road to Malgrat, where there are lots of shops and restaurants and it is a lot busier. At night lots of little stalls are set up all along the main street selling everything from beaded jewellery to shoes, there is also a market on every Tuesday.
It is spotlessly clean and tidy, its very modern and feels very safe, especially when walking around at night.
Entertainment is a bit on the thin side though….apart from the hotels there’s isn’t a lot going on at night and during the day we tended to get the bus to neighbouring Malgrat or get the train to other parts of the Costa Brava (Barcelona, Blanes, Calella). There were boat trips available and water sports on the beach if you’re feeling energetic.
We would definitely visit Santa Susanna again.
We booked with Thomas Cook and my only criticism is that the Reps were a little too young, we’d have liked to have seen an older, more experienced Rep who had more knowledge of the local area and who took more interest in the holidaymakers and a little less on themselves and the fact that they were going home in a few days. This Rep in particular gave us very little information on the area and as to who would be taking over her post. Also there was very little choice when it came to excursions, a trip to Barcelona (€40) which you could do on the train, a jeep safari which wasn’t appropriate for older people and a medieval night (which we booked, but the bus didn’t show up after we walked to the "convenient" pick up point with was a 30minute walk from the hotel - also €40, which was refunded to us).
Never mind, overall we had a great holiday in a fabulous hotel.

This hotel was visited for a Christmas break, and was virtually full. Despite this, it coped well with the crowds, except for one day of bad weather; this happened to be Christmas Day, so people were not out and about on trips. As a result the public seating areas were unable to cope, but this combination of circumstances would not normally happen.
All meals were buffet self-service (except Christmas Eve gala), with a huge selection of hot and cold items to suit every taste. Sometimes the hot items were a little on the cool side for British tastes, but a self-serve microwave oven is available.

The decor of the hotel, which is fairly new, is opulent, and the public areas are spacious.
Bar service is efficient, and prices are slightly higher than outside, but fair for a four-star hotel.
Location is close to the beach, but the town centre is about a mile inland. There are level walking routes to the nearest costal towns either side, Malgrat de Mar and Pineda de Mar. These can also be reached by the half-hourly coastal railway service, whose station is just across the road from the hotel. This also serves Barcelona (2.75 euros each way), and every other train continues to the airport - ideal for independent travellers.
The only fault found is a lack of non-smoking seating in the public areas, especially the music bar which hosts the evening shows, although the dining room is totally smoke-free

We are a family of four and this hotel is a must! From start to finish the service was excellent all round. The staff were always obliging and the hotel was spotlessly clean. The room had two double beds and ensuite and was ample for us all.
We have never eaten as much fantastic food. There is such a wide selection of many local and international dishes...whatever your taste you would find plenty to eat. It is a self-service buffet but chefs are on hand as they continue to cook fresh while you watch.
The staff obviously love children. The pool is big with Jacuzzi area and shallow pool for less confident swimmers. The hotel boasts an indoor pool and gym as well as various in-house beauty treatments. There are unobtrusive kids` clubs and family fun. Cabarets are put on at night but these did not begin until 10 o’clock when we were all ready to go to bed. This did not put us off sleeping as the cabaret area is well away from the rooms. The hotel is situated in an unspoilt area with the train track available close by. We hired a car throughout our stay and there is ample car parking space.
It provides absolutely excellent value for money and is extremely child friendly. Can’t wait to go back!

Best four stars I’ve stayed in. Clean, fresh, new building, good selection and quality of food, staff excellent and helpful, good range of facilities (disabled and children’s). Good transport link to Barcelona - the train stops opposite the hotel. 5 minute walk to beach and a pleasant new promenade with good range of boutiques, cafes parks, and shops. We are thinking of breaking with tradition this year and are considering returning here.
Only advice is to watch out for the departure times back to UK. Our flight to Belfast was 14 hours after check-out time so we had to pay extra to get a room for the remaining time - we took it as we have a young child. The manager charged us the six hour rate for these 14 hours.

This is a hotel that I would recommend to anybody. Disabled facilities were excellent. Food unbelievable.
Hotel staff very helpful and professional.
The only downside (which is only very minor) is that the pool was a bit on the cold side.
Overall one of the best four-star hotels we have ever stayed in.