Golden Costa Salou

My boyfriend and I have just returned from a weeks stay at the Golden Costa Salou. The hotel itself was stunning, however, there are a few things future guests need to know! Our flight from Gatwick was at 6:00am, we landed at 9:00am (Spanish time) and got to the hotel around 10:00am. The transfer was nice and quick from Reus airport. Upon check in we were told we couldn’t get in to the room until 2pm. Bearing in mind we’d been up since 1am and was not previously told this by TUI or anyone prior I was really disappointed. We were allowed to drop our cases in their luggage room which has no light and the door doesn’t stay open. Sounds petty but when you’re knackered it’s really irritating when you are trying to get stuff out so you can make the most of your first day (which was wasted due to the silly check in time) So if you have an early flight, pack pool/beach stuff in your hand luggage! Breakfast finishes at 10:30am, we were not offered this on arrival and also despite paying for half board we were told by reception that we would have to “lose it” when asking how we could receive our breakfast on departure. So we were 2 meals down, I asked if we could swap to lunch and this is when we were told you just lose it. The food isn’t all labelled so it’s a guessing game sometimes, it’s near enough the same every day and it’s never hot. Always cold. The waiters don’t really speak to you or even smile sometimes. On one occasion we were not offered a drink until we had finished our meal. However, the Male staff member that greets you to the restaurant is very smiley, happy and friendly. TUI advise this hotel is a short walk away from bars and restaurants. These are very limited and there’s 2 restaurants/cafe/bars around the corner and the others are a 5/10 min walk away and there’s probably about 20 different shops bars or restaurants. We ordered a taxi in to main Salou which cost around €12 each way to have dinner on 2 nights. There was so much more to do there and a much more busy and fun place. The receptionists were very helpful when calling a taxi. We did not go to the beach despite it being at the end of the road, others advised it was lovely and warm but to be frank it’s probably the ugliest beach I’ve ever seen. English beaches are more scenic and that’s saying something! Rooms were cleaned daily, ice machine on every floor and the hotel gift you 4 cans on arrival in your mini fridge and 2 bottles of water daily which is a lovely touch. Our TV was huge and had Netflix which we definitely enjoyed (we used our own log in). Aircon and safe are free and very good. Shower is fab too. The bar staff and entertainment staff are lovely and very friendly. Drinks were quite expensive, a Cuban and a cocktail cost us €16 a time. You’d expect a cocktail to be around €9 but €7.50 for a Cuban when the pound to euro is pretty much the same is madness. You’d pay £3.50 for a double in spoons! The cleaners were very friendly and always tried their best to communicate with us to help us with pool towels or just to wish us a good morning. Best sunbeds are down the bottom, at the top is mostly shade in the afternoon. Rooftop pool has no umbrellas so we couldn’t sunbathe up there as we’d just burn. Overall we loved our stay and would come back! I apologise if this review sounds negative we really did have a good stay. I think it’s good to be honest to help others know what to expect. The comments made are to be expected as teething problems due to the age of the hotel and I’m sure the hotel can easily improve on these areas as some things mentioned in other reviews I did not see/experience. Some comments (beach & location) are obviously no fault of the hotels.

Amazing holiday, total relaxing...drinks on arrival could not fault the room with a sea view. Staff couldn't be more helpful if they tried. Very highly recommended 10/10 . Plus a very handy vending and ice machine at the end of out corridor.