Golden Donaire Hotel, La Pineda, Costa Dorada (Donaire Park Hotel)

Member Name: sue.51

Product:	Donaire Park Hotel
Date:	15/07/01 (3898 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See Text

Disadvantages: Queuing for materials, Unreliable hotel service, Too few lifts for number of guests

LOCATION & BOOKING
The Donaire Park Hotel, La Pineda, a new addition to the Golden Hotel Chain is situated on the beach on the outskirts of La Pineda, and about 6km from Salou centre. It is only available as a package deal through the Skytours arm of Thomsons or you can book direct with the hotel. The main advantage of this hotel is its close proximity to the water park.

The hotel has 416 rooms consisting of a combination of 3 person en-suite bedrooms and family suites, and offers either half or full board cuisine from around the globe. Guests include British, German, Dutch and French, with the hotel receptionists speaking an impressive range of languages.

RECEPTION
On checking in, we were issued with room keys and meal cards identifying our room nos, what we were entitled to and what times. However, on arriving at our 'suite' we discovered we had in fact been allocated two separate rooms, which with two 12 year olds in tow was not exactly what I had in mind. Back in the UK, we had paid a supplement of £40pp for a suite. Initially on complaining to reception I was told 'tough' there was nothing they could do, however after standing my ground for around 45 mins, they eventually sorted the problem, I believe by moving someone else, not the sort of service you expect from a 3 star 'luxury' hotel.

THE SUITES
Two twin-bedded en-suite lockable rooms adjoined by a lockable corridor, and a balcony for each overlooking the road with a partial sea-view, doesn't sound very attractive but the rooms on the other side of the hotel overlooking the pool are directly above the bar and therefore there is a lot of spill-over noise from the late bar and entertainment.

THE ROOM
The room contains a vanity area, cupboard, security safe (rent 2,200pta + 1,000 deposit per week), TV (only 1 English channel - BBC World - watch the kids with the remote control in the evenings as some of the German channels a
re raunchy to say the least) 1 power-point (travel plug required), 1 Chair, NO FRIDGE AND NO KETTLE. Each balcony has one plastic table and 2 chairs.

Air-conditioning was actually provided Free of Charge (I say actually because in past-experience we have always had to pay buy the day for the unit)

THE BATHROOM
½ size bath with shower, toilet, bidet and sink.

MAID-SERVICE
Unlike many other places we have stayed in, maid-service is provided daily, although they can be rather early, 8.15am on one occasion. Linen is changed every 4th day, and towels upon request by leaving them on the bathroom floor when you require new ones.

THE FOOD
Food was served in an air-conditioned restaurant on a buffet eat as much as you can basis.

Breakfast (8.45am - 10.00am) consisted of:
* Bacon
* Sausage
* Fried, Boiled and Scrambled Egg
* Ham and a variety of other cold meats
* Cheese
* Tomatoes
* Baked Beans
* Choice of cereals
* Choice of fruit juices
* Coffee, Hot Chocolate and Tea
* Croissants
* Pastries
* Every type of bread and bread-roll imaginable
* Yogurts
* Mixed dried fruit and nuts
* Jam, Honey, Marmalade

Evening Meal (6.30pm - 9.15pm)
A wide selection of hot and cold meals including salads, cold meats and veggie options - Drinks extra charge

For an extra charge the hotel will also provide full-board

Whilst the food was reasonable, in order to gain entrance to the restaurant, we found ourselves queueing irrespective of the time we arrived, and no entry was allowed without the pre-issued meal cards which had to be marked off by the Maitre D. If you left your plate for more than about 2 seconds, it was removed without asking irrespective of whether there was food on it or not. This aspect of the hotel spoilt what could have been a good holiday

The hotel also had a reception area containing a vending machine with swee
ts and chocolates and also a cold bottled water machine – 225pta (90p) for a 1½ litre bottle. (these can be purchased for around 70pta in the mini-mart adjacent to the hotel, although sadly there is nowhere to keep it chilled)

ENTERTAINMENT
This was carried out by joint Spanish/English entertainers and consisted of nightly bingo, kiddies discos and flamenco dancers, not really our idea of fun and we spent the latter hald of the weeks evenings at the Champions Bar in Salou town centre, which consisted of a very entertaining DJ, a range of quizzes nightly (for which the winning team received a free round of drinks), and a lively and entertaining Karaoke with a selection of over 3000 songs to chose from. Highly recommended and brilliant.

CHILDCARE
Thomsons provide comprehensive child-entertainment facilities most days and some evenings for kids ranging from 3-12 years old (split 3-7 & 8-12) and offers a comprehensive range of activities which our two deemed themselves far too superior and babyish to even try, so much for ½ hours peace and quiet.

TRANSPORT
We personally hired a car for a few days, bu bus fare for 4 people into the center of Salou was 680 ptas (c£3), and a Taxi was 1,300 ptas (c£5.50), cheap at half the price.
The hotel has no parking facilities of its own which did cause considerable problems

SWIMMING POOL
A small swimming pool was provided, although I gather small is typical of the area, where if every guest had decided they wanted to swim at the same time, could have caused some problems, although with the beach a stones throw away, there was at least some alternative, if you could get near it after 10am.

SUMMARY
An unattractive, looking hotel spread over 8 floors with 4 lifts (2 glass), which because of the number of guests you will spend an eternity waiting for, and causes particular problems for those in wheel-chairs, as we witnessed with fellow guests. The food was reaso
nable, but I found it difficult to handle the constant queuing and school canteen mentality. Personally I felt we have had far better deals for much less money in other areas of the Med.

CONTACT DETAILS
Hotel Donaire Park
43840 Salou (Tarragona) España
Playa del Recó
Tel - 97 737 10 66
Fax - 97 737 11 50
Web-site: www.goldenhotels.com

Or check your Thomsons brochure for 2001 and Skytours from Summer 2002.

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