Reviews of H10 Mediterranean Village Hotel, Salou, Spain

Cap Salou is a lot quieter than...

Overall Rating:

4/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2004

Tour Operator:

Airtours

Submitted By:

Miss H Warner

Comments:

Cap Salou is a lot quieter than Salou centre, it has 5/6 bars which all serve food till around midnight. Don Poncho’s which is directly opposite the hotel is great and the owner is very friendly.



The hotel was horrendous if you were a couple with no children and looking for a nice quite and relaxing holiday. We went away in September thinking there would not be many children there due to schools being in - we could not have been further from the truth. The hotel was full of screaming children who had hardly any supervision probably because their parents could not be bothered. We were encouraged to have a pool side view this was another big mistake as the evening entertainment went on till 12midnight and the outside bar did not close until 2am and people are not considerate over the amount of noise they make. So in short if you want to get a decent nights sleep don’t get a pool view - saying that though, when the rabble did decide to turn in they turned the hallways of the hotel in to party alley, this was not a one off, it was every night. I am not opposed to people staying up late while they are on holiday but it would have been nice for them to realise that not everyone wants this. The food was acceptable, being the least fussiest vegetarian I found something to eat all the nights we ate there but I would not say the quality was good - other than the desserts and that was a little hit or miss. Breakfast again was fine for me as I would have cheese/boiled egg and rolls. My partner being a non veggie but quite fussy had more of a problem with breakfast and gave up after 4 days.



Overall I would recommend the area, it was wonderful, we found a lovely beach between Cap Salou and Salou which was lovely and preferable to the main Salou beach which was very crowded - La Pineda had a lovely beach as well and looked really clean and tidy. Tarragona is a must for anyone interested in ancient history, if you go to Barcelona take the bus, it may be more expensive but at least you get a seat, we went on the train 1hr 15 mins each way and had to stand all the way there and back - not good.



I would not recommend the hotel, the Spanish staff were very helpful, the British staff and rep were worse than useless. It was definitely not what Brits would expect from a 4 star and only gets this because of the indoor heated pool! I feel really let down, this was an expensive holiday - one we couldn’t usually afford and I felt exhausted and in need of another holiday on my return.

Hotel suitable for: Families...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2004

Tour Operator:

Direct Holidays

Submitted By:

Ms Sue Donym

Comments:

Hotel suitable for: Families with children, people with hearing difficulties, couples that have had an argument.



Not suitable for: Honeymoon couples, people who hate music, keen swimmers and the nervous.



Best points: Entertainment for children and hotel staff - especially the reception staff, who constantly seemed to do their best under the great provocation of having to talk above the sound of a waterfall.



Worst: The constant noise - not only in the hotel (you can hear the people next door clearing their throats) but around the pool.



What you really want to know:



Follow the guidelines of other reviewers and don’t arrive before 1.30pm.



Take earplugs if a poor sleeper.



Watch the drinks bill in the dining room -this is the only bill in the hotel that is not itemised, so add it up before you pay it on the way out of the dining room. We drank the same thing every night but out bill varied, depending who was on the till.



Restaurant has a counter for vegetarians -and dieters in the morning... through the latter was not over popular. Children’s' counter.



Tomatoes - always a giveaway as to the quality of the food - not so good. Greenish and not as good as in the shops.



Heat of fried breakfast:

Medium to cool. Eggs not runny enough, bacon streaky and you would need to be an experienced heart surgeon to separate bacon from rind.



Choice of food:

Style - executive canteen but something for everyone from chicken nuggets and fish fingers to exotic fruit for breakfast. Puddings strangely similar in texture and taste but of different colours.



Percentage of waiters/waitresses who openly hate the guests:

Very low. Most of them are quite smiley and very good at re-setting tables etc.



The tattoo count is around 1 person in 5.



Quite a few guests from Ireland, Scotland - and indeed hotel has a Celtic pub. Some from Essex and the north, sprinkling from Wales and quite a few from the London area... although we may not have stayed during an average week.



Guests read: Mirror, Sun Mail and Scottish tabloids, News of the World and Sunday Mirror.



Lifts:

Always in working order and never had to wait over 90 seconds for one.



Bully count in the swimming pool: Only two Mad Dad’s and one Over-Competitive Dad but the pool was very crowded. Ball games, lilos, even inflatable caterpillars.... not a lot of swimming possible due to lack of space. Lifeguards were attentive to the swimmers and not to their own fingernails and other body parts.



Sun chairs: You have to be ready for the early morning dash for reclining chairs but you can still pick up flat ones, without mattresses around 10am. You will be shoulder to suntan-oiled shoulder with fellow guests.



Nasty pink carpet the you find in practically every British hotel:

Thankfully, as the hotel is new, so the decorations did not cause any major tantrums from pernickety lady guests or Laurence Llewellyn Bowen fans.



It has the usual ceramic floor that acts as a magnet sand for you to step into the bed for a sandpaper finish during the night. Take light sock slippers if you have a Princess and the Pea complex about sand.



Room size:

The hotel board rooms are split into three - bedroom, bathroom and balcony. The bedroom area is small compared the other two. Suitable for two adults and one child - or a very thin, agile family of four. Bathroom fixtures were all present.



Hair care:

There is a hair drier in the bathroom but it is one of those that you come out looking like the mad professor from Back to the Future if you use it. Suitable for those with crew cuts and the very short sighted. If you care about how you look take your own as this will save blocking the bathroom for everyone else.



Bathroom tile mould :

Clean and tile mould almost negligible. Not even rating the grey mould standard - as in so many hotels - and certainly not the disgusting brown or dreaded two-tone black fungus.



Entertainment:



Usual stuff, magic, parrots on bikes and acrobats with hoops and unicycles.



Tribute Four Tops/Temptations or whatever were an hour late and then sang ' The Green Grass of Home'. But, being megastars, they obviously got away with it.



Hotel Entertainment: was run by man over 40 with a ponytail, black eye liner and a strong tan. He may be your cup of tea.



Hotel entertainment team: Very good and displayed no signs of mental breakdown, despite having to sing the same songs over and over again and try and flog the kids CD's. Children enjoyed them tremendously.



Safety of children:

Security could be improved. Saw escape from compound by two street-smart kids, so it can be done.



When venturing out:

Watch you bags/wallets in Salou, something of a hotspot for pickpockets it seems - yes we got done, but thankfully only traveller’s cheques - and we’d been warned!



Be careful when boarding buses, and especially the little train. Also do not pay much attention when nice young lady tries to sell you something very small in the street. Apparently they work in gangs - one to dip and two or three to pass to. We were dipped by a middle-aged British woman and two teenage boys.



Police: Didn’t see a policeperson all the time we were there..... Well maybe a glimpse as their cars sped past.



Salou also seems to be entirely full of seaside shops. We could buy 40,000 varieties of towels/purses/ornaments/ T-shirts but didn’t find anywhere selling stamps or a chemist. However, only went in once due to mishap so there may be unexplored parts bursting with chemists.



Plenty of good beaches - look at the postcards in reception on Day One and find the one that appeals.



Direct Holidays - Missed Rep Stuart’s initial meeting as on urgent holiday business but must say he was a trier - posting notes under our door practically every day.



Seemed a nice enough chap when we said goodbye to him on the way home. He was on site a lot so we were confident that Stuart would have been as keen = as keen can be = to sign us up on any tours necessary.



All in all:



Booked late and got a cheap late deal - and got our money’s worth. Hotel not British 4-star standard but tries hard to be Spanish 4-star one.



Would we go again?:



Quite a few seem to return to this hotel but we like to get mugged somewhere different every year.

When I came with my family in...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2002

Tour Operator:

Direct Holidays

Submitted By:

Miss E Whiting

Comments:

When I came with my family in September 2002 I loved it! I went with my family and the rooms were lovely. the bathroom was clean and the beds and towels were changed regularly. The entertainment was great but got a bit boring after 2 weeks.



The pool was good but there is 3 things I was not so keen on:

On one side of the fountain there was some green gunge stuff and all there was to do was swim. It was also a bit cold.



The food was lovely to! In other hotels I have stayed in the food has been very salty but the food here was good.



I am going back to the same place in May 2006 and I cant wait. I would recommend it to anyone with kids under 16 and for young adults.





(sorry for any spelling mistakes as I am only 11 years old.)