H TOP Amaika Hotel

Great hotel, lovely accommodation very clean and impressive decor. Food ok good choice for adults but picky children may not be impressed.
Pleasant staff smart and polite, although language barrier may exist. 5 mins from beach, bars, and shops.
Pool warm and inviting although sun beds are snapped up early morning and claimed for the day. Would recommend AI board basis for better value.
Rooms big enough for 3 single beds. Bathroom has bath, shower, wc and bidet, lovely hot water too. Would go back to this hotel without hesitation.
WARNING - my husband had his wallet stolen when boarding a train to Barcelona at Calella station. Young girls 16-18 were the culprits. don't be distracted by odd behaviour, pushing, or being crowded that is when you will be robbed. BEWARE...

I was told about this hotel by a colleague who had recommended it. She had stayed at the Calella Palace and had found the food so appalling they had eaten here most nights. A great recommendation it was.
On arrival the hotel reception is spotlessly clean and rather grand. I watched the cleaners in action one morning and I would challenge anyone to find a spot of dust! The hotel reception staff are organised and we had a very swift check in which was polite and they spoke relatively good English.
At reception are the tour operator’s books offering info on days out and loads of leaflets. A book exchange was also available and a nice seating area. There is a TV room next door which has payable internet facilities if you want to email home.
I had emailed the hotel in advance to request a quiet room so at first was disappointed when I realised we were next to the lift. However we had booked a family room and from what I could tell this was where they were located and I have to say that you can't hear the lifts at all, yes a few people coming in later than us and you could hear them talking as they went to the room but nothing major.
Our room was huge and probably the best European holiday type room I have stayed in. There were 2 twin beds, then my 3 year old got another full size bed of her own and there was another sofa type bed. It certainly wasn’t a squash and all the cases fit under the beds. Beds were made daily and the rooms cleaned daily. The TV has a room. You can pay 20E to hire a remote control but the channels are mainly Spanish. There is a fridge in the room so this is handy to keep a few bits and pieces in.
The bathroom was better than the one I had fitted at home last year. There is a separate shower, 3/4 size bath (take you own bath mats for the little ones as the wet floor could be a hazard), a huge sink are for all the toiletries with a shaving mirror and a hair dryer ( though not the type to get curls straight).
A toiletry pack of shampoos, shower crème, toothbrush/paste, combs, and caps etc were all available and towels changed daily. There is a safety deposit box to hire in the room too. The balcony has 2 seats and a small table but it is a bit hazardous for little people as the bottom foot is not enclosed so we spent a lot of time making sure the door was looked for our little one.
At night it could get a little bit noisy from the parade of bars behind and it seemed to be foreign teenagers, so a set of ear plugs may be worth taking but it wasn’t bad enough to spoil the holiday. The walls are quite thin so depending whether you neighbours snore could make a difference but a good clatter on the wall to our neighbours seemed to stop them.
The restaurant again is beautifully clean and you are shown to your table and drinks are waiter service and the rest is help yourself:
Breakfast: Cereal, fruit, pastries, full English (though the bacon and sausage as you would expect are Spanish), cheeses, hams, yoghurts etc. Take your own tea/ coffee/powdered milk as theirs was dreadful
Lunch: Salad, fruit, Soups, Fish, Meats, Pasta, veggies, cakes, ice-cream etc
Dinner: as above

As with any All inclusive you do get sick of the food but it was to a really good standard. There are microwaves if you want to warm anything and children are catered for, e.g., chicken, fish nuggets...though they mustn’t taste quite the same as our daughter wouldn’t touch them and having walked the whole of Calella to find spaghetti hoops for people taking toddlers my advice is a few of their favourite tinned meals and a tin opener, use the microwave and you should be fine.
The bar area again is really clean. The staff are a bit straight faced but fine really. The standard AI allows non branded anything. You can pay a daily upgrade for branded drinks but with my little one I couldn’t get too ratted so didn’t really mind. The bizarre bit is even though there was 3 of us, with 3 AI cards we could only get 2 drinks at a time, and it seems a bit pointless to get 2, walk back to the bar as if you’re a new customer and start again for the 3rd. There were times on an evening when there was a queue but never more than 5/6 people in front.
The entertainment is standard, a bit of a mini disco then either Brazilian show, magician, flamenco, man on organ, karaoke etc. Not brilliant but not crap either. Music and entertainment off strictly at 12. People still stayed downstairs and around the pool area but the youngsters seemed to go out on the town then.
I spoke to some older teenagers who said the nightlife was great but the drinks were very expensive in the nightclubs, outwardly I sympathised with them, inwardly I was seething...they should be bloody grateful they were going on a bender and not to go and read Goldilocks and the 3 bears twice running!
The beach is a short stroll away, the sand is really coarse, and not that of building sand castles but great for getting off your towels. Beware though the sea is fairly rough with a strong current and about 2 foot in and there is a huge drop off a ledge so it's not for toddlers and there were very few people in the water.
Even parents with teenagers probably wouldn’t want to take their eyes off. There is a lovely toddler park if you turn left at the beach for about 10 minutes. Swing, roundabouts, wooden houses/frames etc and best of all, one way in and one way out....so sit near here.
Typical chatty shops and bars in surrounding area but fine for what you pay for this holiday....and let’s face it to another reviewer if I stayed at the Dorchester in London ...I wouldn’t be bloody staying in Calella!
We flew with Ryan air and the flights were fine. You can only priority board if you just have hand luggage. You will have a right laugh watching people that are trying to see where the plane if to where the gate will be, and when they are wrong they power walk...nearly into a jog but not quite, but thoroughly pretending they're not! No priority for people with kids either but it wasn’t a problem. Luggage 15kg and they will charge you if you’re a bit over so beware!
Transfers bookable separately over the internet...shop around as different companies charge different amounts. A bit scary if you haven’t done this before but believe me as easy as getting on the Thomson's reps coach, they are very visible.
We noted our booking agent for the accommodation had used a Spanish agent so it may be worth a bit of research to find out who these are to save a few quid. We heard others who had booked via teletext but I don't know what they paid. It's a shame a 3 year old has to pay for AI when they only eat the chips, ice cream and try their luck to drink coke but I thought we got a good deal flights, transfer, and accom for £940 for the 3 of us when it was the first Saturday of the school holidays!
Hope I haven't ranted too much but I'm a stickler for reading reviews before I book anywhere.

Hotel spotlessly clean, all rooms spacious. Staff, especially bar staff, very friendly and always smiling and joking, house spirits best yet and large measures.
Large restaurant plenty of food (not overly warm) I would say something for everyone, waiters bring all the drink you want to the table including alcohol.
Only down side was very small pool and pool area- always busy, pool area doesn’t open until 9am so it’s a mad scramble for beds.
Hotel its self excellent for the money- but outside there are a few bars and discos and can get really noisy and rowdy when closing so can keep you wakened in the early hours.
Beach is across the main road, man made very coarse sand so rough on the soles of your feet but good for your hard skin ha-ha.
I visited the Olympic and Calella Palace hotels which are close to Amaika (sister hotels) left asap as very rowdy and not a patch on the Amaika definitely a different class, I would pay the extra and stay in 4 * Amaika.

I and my boyfriend stayed at the Amaika for one week at the beginning of May and had a fantastic time.
This was actually my boyfriend’s second visit as he stayed here last year as well. The hotel is lovely, the rooms are exceptionally clean, and they are cleaned every day. The staff were pleasant and helpful.
The pool is small as other people have mentioned and I would imagine in peak season it will be cramped but we went to the beach which is a two minute walk away and beautiful.
The food and drinks were good. We were pleased with everything about the hotel and the resort. We did visit a few of the other HTOP hotels in Calella and these were quite disappointing.
Hotel Amaika is the best in Calella. It is not your typical tourist resort - there are a few bars but it remains Spanish with lovely streets, gift shops and tapas bars which are lovely for a walk after your evening meal.
The train station is about a 10 minute walk away and from here you can get to Barcelona which takes approx one hour and is well worth a visit.
We would definitely recommend the Hotel Amaika and Calella so much so that my parents are going in June.

Lovely hotel, beautiful decor, themed like the Titanic ship.
All inclusive was much the same as other all inclusive hotels, but it was waiter service in the restaurants and the drinks with meals were premium brands.
The rooms were average but were cleaned every day with fresh towels if required.
The staff were pleasant enough although a couple of waiters could be a bit surly.
It was very early in the season so the nightly entertainment was a bit bland. The odd dancer and a disco every night.
All in all the hotel was great for a quite break, mainly for adults only.

Just got back today from a 2 week stay at the Amaika with my husband, two children, parents and 2 friends.
We originally booked at the Santa Suzanna resort hotel but changed last minute because of the terrible reviews. The Amaika however was lovely.
The decor was smart and the whole hotel was clean. The food was really good with plenty of choice for everybody.
The children joined in a number of activities which included being taken to another hotel for bowling, if the children hadn't signed up for the activities the staff came and found them to make sure they didn't miss out.
A number of people complained about the size of pool and lack of sunbeds but we didn't have a problem with this, obviously if you go out in the morning and then come back at 2 o clock the chances of having a sunbed in any hotel are slim.
The staff we more than helpful, it was my daughters 8th birthday and we booked and decorated a table for 10, the 2nd manager of the restaurant arranged for a cake and champagne.
The only disappointment would be that big groups are allowed to book, there was one stag party there and they became very rowdy by the pool and the language left a lot to be desired, but the management did sort this out.
Overall we had a great holiday at the Amaika, friendly staff, sunshine and plenty to eat and drink.

We had a 6 day break and the only problem we had was the weather.
Food was ok and although not always hot enough, a minute in the microwave did the job.
Rooms were very clean and the service very good.
Obviously if you wanted to be first for your dinner you had to be waited to be seated, but we just waited until later when it was quieter, and no problem.
All in all good value for money.

Just got back yesterday and wanted to add my 10 stars to the reviews.
Had a great time, the hotel is beautiful and very clean.
The food is fabulous; we were spoilt for choice at every meal. I am definitely going again.
It is very easy to get a hangover with the enormous measures of spirits!
Took the train several times, to Barcelona and along the coast in the other direction towards Lloret and Blanes.
Calella itself is a nice shopping area though quiet in March.
The hotel pool is small and we enjoyed the local municipal pool, which was 10 minutes from the hotel. The beach is lovely.

Super hotel, we had a great time at the Amaika. Food was very good, staff efficient and courteous.
Rooms clean and comfortable, well worth a visit we would definitely go there again.
Visited the other hotels locally, you would be amazed at the difference in comfort and quality...
Many of the holiday makers at other hotels came to the Amaika for food and the peace and quiet, met quite a few other people who enjoyed the hotel.

Just came back from a week in Amaika and I really couldn’t find a fault with this hotel.
We had a great time and met loads of nice people and staff were so friendly and the hotel was busy.
Plenty of food to choose from and very clean, maids were in every day, they had good entertainment even during the day. The pool is very small.
I only got back on the 7th March and trying to book up to go again this year!!