Light's Out & Off To Bet At Midnight........... (Tossa Beach Hotel (Tossa de Mar, Spain))

Member Name: mythdata

Product:	Tossa Beach Hotel (Tossa de Mar, Spain)
Date:	01/11/08 (392 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice and cheap, ideal for families with small kids..........

Disadvantages: The food, the staff, the other guests basically everything......

Here I am going to review a recent trip me and my husband took to Tossa de Mar on the Costa Brava. Our hotel was less than impressive but for the 478.00 paid we got return flights, return transfers and a seven night stay in a four star all inclusive hotel, so we were not expecting much.

We were very impressed for the money we paid as it was only 239.00 each, you cannot even get a mini break in the UK for that money.

TRANSFERS

At Barcelona air port we collected our transfer and made the two and half our journey to Tossa de mar. The trip was rather daunting as this bus hurtled up very narrow roads that consisted of sheer cliff edge drops on the right hand side.

Other that the very erratic Spanish driver and the frightening experience of the cliff edges, the trip as truly stunning. After dropping other tourists off at LLoret de Mar we continued up into the hills of the Costa Brava, this long wining road followed the cliff allowing you perfect views of the bright blue ocean and the forests surrounding Tossa de Mar.

On arrival at Tossa our driver dropped us off in the centre of Tossa and pointed us in the direction on the hotel, this was less than perfect as we didn't speak much Spanish and the driver didn't understand any English, so basically we didn't have a clue where to go.

Finding the hotel was relatively easy to thanks to the clumsy driver, lucky we pound a lovely Spanish lady who spoke good English and she gave us perfect directions.

ARRIVING AT THE TOSSA BEACH HOTEL

As we walked up to the hotel, we were pleasantly surprised as it was all very modern compared to those surrounding it and it had a huge glass fronted double door and entrance, which supported the hotels four stars and looked really impressive.

Within the reception area we were greeted by three young but very friendly receptionists, who checked us in and gave us all of the information need for our week long stay, we also got branded with ugly blue hospital bands that we had to wear all week and the kids got given red bands, this is to let staff know that the people with red bands cannot be served alcohol.

The reception area consisted of computers for the internet access and huge comfy sofas for guests to read through recommended tours and booked them if they wanted to, but it was not forced upon guests, they could browse at their own leisure.

THE HOTEL

The hotel consists of 122 rooms, in two different apartment like buildings over four floors, the buildings looked nice and fresh as they had just been re-painted salmon pink which is not appealing to the eye, but it did look clean.

You can gain access to all floors by internal of external stairwells and an elevator is also available for guests, but if you are able to climb stairs I would advise you do this as the lift is so small you can only just squeeze two people into it, this then makes waiting for it a lot longer, so it is much quicker to walk the stairs.

The rooms are situated on the top two floors and the reception area, luggage room, bar, entertainment hall and restaurant are all situated on the bottom two floors.

Bar and entertainment finish promptly at 12am as the hotel run a strict no noise policy, so at five past midnight they expect you all to leave and go to your rooms without making any noise. We didn't go directly to bed we skipped down the street to one of the many bars that stayed open until 2am.

THE ROOM

The only way I can describe this room is as very basic indeed, it was very clean and tidy but a little bit on the small side as it had both a double and a single bed in it. There was plenty of storage in the form or a chest a draws, wardrobe and bedside unit.

There is opening glass patio doors that lead out onto a balcony, which was also very small, I would really call it a ledge instead of sun terrace but it had two chairs outside, so I couldn't complain.

The view from the balcony was less than impressive as it looked right into the hotel next doors rooms, so good timing was essential when venturing onto the balcony. I wouldn't have really spent any time out there but as I am a smoker and the hotel has a strict no smoking policy, I had to go out for the odd cigarette.

All rooms came with a television, hairdryer, telephone, balcony, safe (with a small charge to actually lock it up), Air conditioning, kettle, a bath and shower.
As I have said these rooms are very basic and simple, but I feel these rooms would cater for a small family but no any more than two people you would feel like tinned sardines.

ENTERTAINMENT

As far as standard all inclusive hotels go, the entertainment was also very basic but kept children and adults entertained.

The kids club animation is run by half a dozen Spanish youngsters in their early twenties, they did a kids disco between 7-9 every evening which was great for the little kids doing the chicken dance, but every night this was held in the main bar area, so those without kids had to endure screaming brats and the same rubbish songs every day.

At 9pm every night the hotel held the adult entertainment, this isn't to say kids were not allowed in because they were, it just meant that we didn't have to put up with their music. The entertainment over the week consisted of a flamenco show, karaoke, competitions, live singers and bingo.

By checking into this hotel you also have the opportunity to go to the Tossa beaches sister hotel that is situated across the road, here they held quiz nights and other entertainment. So if you bored you could stroll over and see what was happening, here I noticed that there were many pensioners so it was not as lively as the hotel we stayed in.

THE BAR

The bar is situated in the main entertainment hall and also had pool tables, air hockey, fruit machines and car racing games for you to play at a small charge of 1 Euro a play.

The bars drink range was massive, yes it was all Spanish ranging from larger, beer, spirits, juices, cocktails, coffee, tea and smoothies. The larger was refreshing during the day but as the week went on it started to taste funny, or a night I would drink the UKs equivalent to Malibu and coke.

You could only obtain drinks by flashing your blue hospital band and you were limited to two drinks per person, which I thought was mad surely one was enough but now I understand why this policy was put in place, as some people can be so greedy.

The swimming pool buffet is also located in the bar and offers snacks such as toasty sandwiches, burgers, chips, pizza and ice creams. This pool buffet is only available when the restaurant dining times were closed.

The only thing I will criticise about the bar and the restaurant is the fact that they serve all of you drinks in plastic beakers, which in my opinion were never cleaned or washed properly as they always seemed to have lipstick smudged all over them.

THE RESTAURANT

The restaurant is very clean and tidy with more than enough room to cater for all of the guests staying in the hotel, so there is never any shortage of tables.

This restaurant is run on a serve yourself buffet basis, you can eat as much or as little as you want and you can return to the buffet as many time as you like. They try to cater for three courses at each sitting, these being, starter, main and puddings.
My only gripe her was the crockery, it was all cracked, chipped and sometimes still dirty and the knives and forks were even worse as they were all bent and welded with yesterdays food.

As for the food the first few days were fine and sometimes enjoyable, but as the week went on it become very repetitive and we started to notice that the sausages from breakfast were coming out at tea time, but they added a sauce to disguise the fact it was left over's.

The continental breakfast was by far the best sitting for me as I got good old tea and toast, the lunch buffet consisted of pasta and salad every single day and the dinner buffet was stew, pasta, rice and that was about it.

I really don't know how people could eat in the restaurant three times a day, with this same old food. We only ate at the breakfast sitting and grabbed a bite to eat at one of the beaches restaurants that were located nearby.

ALL INCLUSIVE

This was our first all inclusive holiday I have been on, and I have to say I don't think I would do it again as I didn't eat at every meal time and I didn't really drink a lot. I maybe had two drinks a night so I don't think it is worth my while doing it again, but I can see how it would appeal to some.

All inclusive entitles you to the breakfast buffet, Lunch buffet, Dinner buffet, bar drinks soft and alcoholic, pool side snacks and live entertainment.

The restaurant is open for breakfast at 8.30am - 10.00am, Lunch 12.00pm-2.00pm and dinner 6.30pm-9.00pm. There is no need to take drinks down to the restaurant from the bar as it has a mini bar down stairs, which you can also use free of charge.

The pool side snack bar is open 10.30am-12.30pm, 3.00pm-5.00pm and open 5.00pm - 10.00pm for children's ice creams.

POOL AREA

There is a large swimming pool surrounded by big bulky sun loungers, these make it difficult to walk around the pool as they only just fit long ways by the pool. I feel if you tried to pass the lounger by the pool you would stand a good chance of falling in.

The pool has a children area so your kids will be save from harm, there is not life guard so you can go into the pool at your own risk, at the side of the pool there is also a jacuzzi, which sounds good but it was never working while we stayed.

You can only go into the pool until 7.oopm and then it closes allowing the pool area to become a beer garden for the smokers.

OTHER ITHINGS THE HOTEL HAS TO OFFER

The main Tossa beach is located 150 meters down the street, so if you are disappointed with the pool area of just need a change of scenery then I would recommend a visit to the beach.

The hotel offers a money exchange service, which was very competitive with the exchange rate so I would recommend you to exchange cash, but don't change it back as you will lose out. You will be better waiting until you get home.

You have to check out of you room at 10.00am on the day of departure, so they offer a luggage room for you to store your belongings. This is very handy if you have a late flight, but I would advise you to keep all of you valuables, cash and passports on you as they give the key to the room, to any guest that asks for it, so you had better be safe than sorry as they staff don't monitor who goes in and out.

Internet access is available in the main reception area, along with a telephone to call the UK. It is recommended you use the phone down in the reception and not in your room as it will cost you a small fortune.

STAFF

All of the staff speak fairly good English, but you have to get them in the right mood as they can just grunt at you. The bar staff were polite once you started to leave them tips, but if you showed them no respect or didn't use your manners they could be very off with you.

I can understand why the staff are so rude, as they work very long hours and guest treat them like muck. I have to admit I was ashamed to be British just seeing how the brits treated the staff made my skin crawl, as manners don't cost a penny.

After a few days the staff started to be friendlier with us, so I think that they are off with you from the word go and just assume you are like everyone else. Once they realise you appreciate the job they do, by saying please and thank you or even leaving small tips they actually start being pleasant.

The only staff I didn't like was the chamber maid, she never cleaned the room and the shower was in a disgusting state from the word go, we never once had clean towels and my ash tray was never emptied for the whole stay. We are not messy and don't expect people to clean up after us, but surly these are jobs she should have done.

Another thing that bugged the life out of me was the fact the maids started at 7.00am, we were one of the first rooms she would tackle so she expected us out of bed and out of the room at this time in the morning, and hence why we had breakfast every morning.

MY OPINION

I hated the idea of the hospital bands to gain access in the bar and dining areas, it would have been much better with card or key to prove all inclusive status. Not only did I feel branded by the bands but it also ruined my sun tan, as I removed it I had a huge white band around my wrist that I have now been unable to cover up.

The go to bed and shut up policy felt like you were on a school trip, and I didn't appreciate being told to go to our rooms, but to a certain extent I can understand why the staff try to get rid of you, because they want to go home as they have been working since easier that morning.

The staff could be very rude, but if I was being treated like rubbish I would be rude too, wouldn't you? I really had to take my hat off to these guys as some would work 12 hour shifts and combine that with a load of drunks and rude people, it can't possibly be a great job to have.

I hated the fact I didn't even get a lay in on holiday, I just wanted to tell the maid where to stick her duster she never even used.
For the money we paid, we were happy with what we got but I would never go back again. I really don't understand these families that go on holiday and slob around drinking and never step foot out of the hotel, this is basically every person that stayed in the hotel.

Summary: Good for the price but i would never go back............