Barrosa Park Reviews

A group of 16 people used this hotel in April 2008 and agreed it to be one of the nicest hotels they had attended as a group. It was a golfing holiday and the great weather helped but you will no be disappointed with the standard of this hotel

Returned a couple of days ago from a fab holiday! Booked about 2 months before we went and so paid ful brochure price. It was worth it though. Great hotel and great location. There are 4 hotels in the little complex they are: Barrosa Park, Barrosa Gardens, Playa la Barrosa and Barrosa Palace. The latter being an a la carte hotel so very 5 * and plush! The playa la Barrosa was a smaller version of ours and the Barrosa Gardens looked the same but the pool was a lot smaller and in our opinion, we were staying in the nicest there even if it was just half board.

When we pulled up outside the hotel we were impressed. And the lobby is very nice. Our room was in block 2 (there are about 4 different blokcs or 'annexes') We were a bit worried by this but it was better really as you can escape the hustle and bustle!The hotels boasts a big swimming pool with separate kids pool and tons of sunbeds! BE WARNED, THERE IS A LOT OF SPANISH AND GERMANS HERE! There was so many sunbeds that there was no need to reserve them but they always did!!

The best feature must have been the short walk through the sand dunes to the beach! Quiet, long sand and a beach bar. Perfect. There is a bar restaurant at the side of the pool for snacks at an extra cost.. But take your own butter!! Showers and toilets by the pool... free beach towels which you can exchange every day.

There was possibly was the slightest of favouritism towards the spanish guests though. Good selection of food and alot of seafood! Some of the cutlery and glasses where dirty a few nights which is a bit bad for a 4* hotel.

Went on a excursion to Seville but we were not enjoying much as the food was abit naf and it is VERY built up... we ended up in Maccy D's for lunch!

Evening entertainment the usual... Elvis impersonator, cabaret etc etc.

Overall.. nice holiday.. all the staff were pleasant and greeted you alot. Recommend! Area quite quiet with not much shopping or bars. Don't go to the marina.. there is nothing there!!

Have a fab time and enjoy a relaxing holiday.

Just returned from a 4 star all inclusive late deal through Portland and what a wonderful time we had.
We worked out that the 4* AI choice would be between Club Riu Chiclana or Barossa Garden part of the Hipotel group.
As we have stayed in RIU Clubhotels several times before and always been impressed,when we were allocated Barossa Garden we naturally were initally disappointed(better the devil you know etc!!) but our fears were totally unfounded and we had a great holiday.
Food was excellent, very local with various theme nights - The Andulusian Night was something else - the seafood was extraordinary and service was quality from the reception staff to the restaurant staff and 99% of the the bar staff (with 2 miserable exceptions who need smiling lessons!!)

agree with everything the previous reviewers have said. Also the Kids Club was exceptionally well run - others AIs of similar standing tend to be token gestures - our 4 year old loved it despite all the other little girls being Spanish or German.

All in all a wonderful holiday and a real piece of Authentic Spain - you will need a few words of Spanish if you venture from the Hotel.

The Beach was amazing - miles and miles of white sand - no wonder the Spanish have tried to keep this Costa fairly quiet and to themselves.

Visited Cadiz - a lovely old seaport city - you must visit the fish market here - I have never,never seen anything like it- the varieties of seafood on sale were incredible.

Also one of million of seafood ";tapas"; bars are worth a try - No Benidorm burger bars / Fish and Chips shops here!!

Would have liked to visit Seville as well as reports said this was worth doing - wished we had booked 2 weeks though.

All in all a lovely holiday and we will be going back next summer.

Fab hotel(apart from the room not cleaned when we arrived but some times these things happen) 5 mins from the beach which was excellent with beach bar especially for the barossa garden hotel.

The hotel is near a small shopping centre if you need to buy an english newspaper as the hotel shop only sold the papers from the day before. Lots of Germans throwing their weight about but don't let that put you off. food was good if your into the sea food but if you don't like sea food there is always the kids buffet to choose from.

The entertainment was fun to watch especially when they took the mick out of most of the countries in the world. The animation team did most of the entertainment except on a monday when they would have live music.

We travelled on a Thompson Pricebreaker from Gatwick - which from Nottingham adds a quite a bit to the journey. We used off airport parking at Courtalds which was efficient and transfers are short.

The flights were fine and we found the in-flight meals (which we paid for) excellent.

We knew that we were in a four star hotel and had narrowed this down to the Barrosa Gardens and Riu Chiclana. Based on what others have said I think we got the best of the two - but have no personal experience to back that up.

The transfer took about an hour.

The Barrossa Gardens is well worth it's four stars in our opinion. The public areas are fantastic - you can always find a quite place to sit and it is imaculately clean.

The rooms are a good size and well equipped. The walls are solid and we heard little noise from other rooms - except for furniture dragged across the floor of the room above - why do people do this after mid-night? Perhaps I do not want to know! They have locally controlled air conditioning. There are hair dryers in the bathroom and satellite TV (limited English channels but who wants it?) We had two rooms with three beds - the third bed was very comfy.

Maid service was excellent - towels were changed every day, night clothes folded etc. Thinking back we hardly saw the maids so they also work at appropriate times - no early morning knocks - which is nice.

The restaurant was always clean and at dinner you were welcomed by a floor manager and shown to a table. Otherwise you found your own table. It did get busy at certain times in the evening (7.30 till 8.00) and we had to queue outside for about five minutes but no big deal. There were six of us and again the restaurant catered well for this - the only problem being caused by selfish couples who seemed to like the room on the bigger tables.

We were All Inclusive. The drinks, though not branded, were fine with cocktails included. The lager was nice too. The kids had the usual Coca Cola range (Fanta Sprite etc and also kids cocktails which ours loved) There were also ice cream cones available from the bars with a wide range of flavours. There is a pool bar and a beach bar which is very handy.

In the restaurant the food was fantastic - with a massive choice at all meals. There were hot plates where the chefs cooked bacon, eggs, omelettes and pancakes every morning and a range of meats and fish at lunch and dinner. There was a kids buffet at night but our older ones used the adults section most times. The food is Spanish and or continental (they have themed nights) and so you need to be a bit adventurous but the quality was excellent.

There is only a very limited range of 'snacks' (compared to previous AIs we have been to) which might have been a problem if we had not found the restaurant so good.

The facilities are excellent. There are two outdoor pools - both of a good size - one where the children go more and the activities happen and a 'quieter' one (nothing official but this is how it seemed to pan out).

There is also an indoor pool which is nice to have if it gets a bit cool (the kids used it but we did not need it).

You can get towels for the pool (small deposit) which you can exchange every morning if you want to. You can also take them to the beach - it really cuts down on packing.

There is an underground sports area (huge) with golf driving nets (clubs available), shooting range (Archery and pistols and rifles), very well equipped multi-gym, ten pin bowling alleys (about half size) aerobics areas and pool and table tennis tables (all free). And an internet room with free access.

Outside there is a sand volley ball court a Boules area and six crazy golf holes.

The animation team organise things all day which you can join or not - no pressure. If you win you get a certificate and prize - it is all very friendly and good fun. I have to mention Marky (who looks like Tyrone off Coronation Street - though younger and more handsome) and Andy who is very handsome indeed (there I have kept my promise...Colin Powell).

There is a hotel run kids club which again is well run and keeps the kids occupied if they fancy a change from the pool/beach.

The beach is fantastic - golden sand which stretches for miles. The sea is tidal (it is the Atlantic) and the waves are high sometimes - but while we were there there were no red flags and even our seven year old loved it. You do need to keep an eye out though. There are sunbeds and umbrellas on the beach which you have to pay for (3 euros each I think). We used the beach most days but in short doses, if you were to spend any time there you would need to have shade.

The resort is really purpose built and mostly very new - but none the worse for that - it is fairly low rise and well landscaped. There are a range of shops for the basics and a few restaurants. Things are a bit more expensive than I recall in other places but if AI you do not need to buy much.

On the last day you can keep the 'pool towels' until you leave which again is very helpful. You can also book use of a courtesy room with towels provided.

We have gone on a bit but hope you find it helpful - it is a very nice hotel and resort.