Costa Dorada Holiday Reviews

A great place for a beach holiday. Enough shops, great weather. Clean streets and not to much interference from hawkers

The resort as in the resort that the houses are in, seemed to be very pleasant as we entered. The swimming pool came across a lot smaller than on the pictures shown and was full of kids ! No sun loungers or garden furniture to be seen so it was a case of lying on the grass. The beach however was only a 2 min walk from the resort and was lovely. Quite small so got very busy in the day, but they rent out sun loungers and have a bar there which is handy and saves a walk into the nearest town. The sea was also very clean.

We found the resort to be okay until our other family members who were staying in a house a few doors along were broken in to and had money stolen, games consoles, credit cards and jewellery. The patio door was broken before they moved in which is what the holiday home company had warned them about and to be extra careful, which didn't seem right anyway ? This incident put a bit of a downer on the holiday and we didn't feel safe in the 'security' of the resort. I would not advise anyone to stay here as the main town Salou is a 40 min walk, or 10 min to the bus stop and then another 10 min bus drive. The small town, Cap Salou, is a 15 min walk away but there isn't much to do there. We visited another beach town along called La Pinea which was much nicer and a 15 min walk away, try staying there !

Portaventura is a theme park so can't be rated on beaches and eating out etc. That being said apart from the hill walking it's a brilliant park. I would recommend walking through the Far West to Mexico to China and then to Polynesia. That way round you don't have to walk up there adaptation of the Great Wall of China. In High Season it's open till Midnight so no need to rush around it. We went there about 8pm most nights, it helped that when staying at El Paso you had free entry whenever and whatever time of day you wanted.

A great place to visit with rides for all ages.

Try the waterfront restaurant. Waterpark excellent. Beach is lovey and clean. Sunbeds And umbrellas for hire. Bus service to sAlou and port aventura brill.

La pineda beach is beautiful. 5 euro for a sunbed which includes a beer or water. Good bus service and have a train ride which costs 3 euro per person. Theme park was ok i found it to be very dirty full of chewing gum every where and no staff around to help or ask. Service in the park was very slow.

The resort is ok but the distance between the bars is quite a way and there was no night entertainment for children

We enjoyed everything about Portaventura and recommend it as a great place for families. We spent most nights in the theme park and the days around the pool at the hotel or water parks, we plan to go again in the future.

Salou is a typical Spanish resort that offers something for everyone. Although it is not the most picturesque of places, it has a lovely beach and promendade, which attractive fountains that light up at night - the light show, on every evening is certainly worth a visit. There are plenty of shops, bars and restaurants, one or two nighclubs, and, for something a bit more quiet and sophisticated, it's really easy to take a short trip into the neighbouring resort of Cambrils.

We only really went down to Salou town twice in the week, the first time it was red hot and busy but we did get seats and a shade on beach for 10 Euros. (Don't know if that is good or not but i haggled him down from 14 Euros). Unfortunetly I was dissapointed with cleanliness of the sea,...Some rubbish and other, er, items were in there with us!! I then got an ear infection and had to get some antibiotic ear drops from chemist to clear it up before our departure. ( otherwise i would have had to see a Doctor before leaving to say if I was ok to fly!)Thankfully it did clear up. The beach was lovely and sandy and clean and overall very nice.

Very close to shops and beaches and the PortAventura themepark and Aquapolis. Lots of shops although the shops sold pretty much the same thing so there wasn't much different.

The main street in Salou pretty much starts at the bottom of the hill, if you turn left when leaving the hotel and walk down the hill this is your typical spanish tourist stretch, lots of gift shops and restaurants. Be warned as you walk further down this street you will get more and more leaflets for restaurants, which can become a pest. Particularly at "leaflet corner" as i came to call it, - this is a roundabout were lots of local restuarant staff stand and try and sell their restaurants to the tourists. After this roundabout you will start to see less and less restaurants and more clubs and pubs, and by the way if you do get offered leaflets, in my experience its better to just take them and walk on. If you say no, they tend to turn on the hard sell on in order for you to take one!

You can walk around salou in a couple of hours if you wish its not big There is a market about a mile down the main strip from your hotel, but there is nothing there you will not have come across on your journey to it!

We did eat out about 4 times when we were there, just for a change. Richards tavern situated near the hotel is a good choice portion sizes are quite big so bare this in mind - nice atmosphere, no hard sell leafleting for this place and food was good. Uncle sam's steakhouse was also impressive, this is located in salou's main area, don't worry you will get a leaflet at some point presented to you on this place!

There are a couple of supermarkets near the hotel, one if you turn right and right again out of the hotel and the other if you turn left and walk down the hill its on your right. You can get juice, water, chocolate and sweets as well as english newspapers much cheaper than the hotel. If you head a little further down the road you will come across a Spar shop down one of the side streets on your left.

Prices out and about are not as bad as we thought they would be, you can get a pint for £1.50 very easily and generally speaking prices are not to different to uk for milk, sweets etc.

If you head for the main beach at night, try and get yourself to the fountain at about 10pm - they have a light show and entertainment which we heard about but never managed to actually see.

Transport Ok this is the bit i think you might find the most useful. As i said above you can walk around salou and its a good nightly activity to do as there is always a buzz about the place. However, you can also get around salou using the little train. This is essentially a golfing cart or tractor made up to look like a train which pulls two or three carriages around salou. There are different routes but there is a stop near the hotel, and it costs 3 euros for adults and half this for kids, for the whole journey - all the way around and back to the same stop if you wish. However its not a hop on hop off, you will need to pay if you get off and want to get on again. Note you can also get this train to portaventura as well if you wish. We got this back from the park a couple of times made a nice change from the bus.

Plana buses seem to have the monopoly on buses in salou. Plana reps stand by the major stops almost all the time, they wear high viz jackets so easy to spot and all seem to speak english. You can get buses around salou to barcelona, tarragona, and Aqaupolis (water park)

We found buying a top up card for the buses from a local shop, topping it up with 10 tickets for 9 euros was a good way to go. When you get on the bus you simply scan the card, 1 ticket per journey whatever the distance works well!. Note you cannot top the cards up on the bus but there are enough tobaccanists and supermarkets that do this. All buses have air con and this is great after being in the sun for some time.

beach front clean can get very busy loads of thing to do eg boat rides , bike hire, resturants and bars our kids enjoyed the climbing frames on the beach.didnt spend much time down the beach as there is plenty to do withinn the PortAventura park

Cap Salou is a resort for families with small children or couples who do not like a heavy nightlife.

Great Resort Brilliant Place for everyone and set in a great place Portaventura is home to the worlds fastest ride Furious Baco

There is plenty of shops, bars and restaurants. There is a wee tram service which allows you to get about in salou.