| | De La Costa, Salou, 43840, Spain
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Overall Community Rating: |   5.2 (based on 3 user reviews) |
 Festival Village: Festival Village, Cap Salou by Lizzie Slater |
| Posted 30 April 2005 about a visit in March 2005 | Overall rating: 9.0 |
My partner and I returned from Festival Village last week. We’re fairly diverse in terms of holiday requirements: my partner’s travel experiences have been largely confined to package deals, whereas I’ve tended to grab a guidebook, a cheap flight, and take it from there. To sum up, we were looking for a budget destination, with a mix of sunshine, good food and a bit of culture thrown in. So how did Festival Village measure up for us?
From some of the reviews I've read, my expectations were not that high, particularly as we paid less than £100 for our package. However we were most impressed with all aspects of the accommodation and surrounding area from start to finish.
General stuff
From the bus stop outside, the hotel is approached via a series of steepish steps, fine if you’re fit and healthy, but potentially awkward for those with mobility problems. (We were advised of this at the time of booking). The lobby is typically Mediterranean, light, airy and decked out in marble, with payphones and internet access. Contrary to normal practice, we were not asked for a deposit on arrival. Obviously I can’t quote Festival Village’s official policy on this (we didn’t hang around to see if they’d made a mistake!) but I don’t think the deposit idea is a bad one, most hotels do it and the cash comes in handy for duty-free at the airport. The reception staff were incredibly obliging – we managed to buy a duff phonecard that wouldn’t work in payphones, and they spent ages helping us sort it out. Incidentally, the payphones were so cheap that it wasn’t worth buying cards – three euros was ample for a few calls home.
Rooms
Exceptionally clean, spacious and well appointed. The apartment comprised an entrance hall with sofabed, large bedroom, bathroom and sitting room. Being a bit of a foodie, I was delighted with the kitchen which contained a fridge, hob, grill and microwave, plus a good selection of kitchen implements. I don’t reckon to do a lot of cooking on holiday, but it was no hardship to knock up the odd snack or two, very useful for packed lunches or excursions further afield. Meanwhile the balcony – which spanned both sitting room and bedroom – offered lovely views of the pool below and the surrounding coastline. Sadly we didn’t make much use of this, owing to the April temperatures, but you can’t really fault the facilities for this! The maids came round with fresh linen, towels and loo roll every couple of days. I’d heard reports suggesting that they were rude, but I’d imagine this was down to the language barrier as much as anything – I got by OK with pidgin Spanish and certainly didn’t have any complaints. Staying in low season, there were few problems with noise - on one occasion there was a slightly rowdy group in our corridor, but they were swiftly dealt with by hotel staff. Otherwise, my only criticism is that the apartment was quite chilly at night, and the air con refused to switch over to heating – so do as your mum says, pack a ‘woolly’ and you won’t go far wrong!
Food and Drink
Not bad at all. I struggle to eat breakfast normally, but there was plenty of fresh fruit, bread, and a smorgasbord in addition to the regular English fry up, so it suited the two of us fine. As for lunch and supper, this was fairly standard buffet fair – we eat pretty well at home and my boyfriend seemed happy enough with the hot food, while I got through ample helpings of olives and salads. Pricewise, lunch and dinner were good value at 10 euros, including a drink, while there was also a selection of hot bar snacks available all day, plus the usual vending machines – as a diabetic I found this very useful for a couple of late-night emergencies. Overall the grub was fine but not exceptional, although it was interesting to note the numbers of local people who came to the hotel to eat (particularly on Sunday) which lent a very jolly atmosphere to the proceedings. I’d imagine the hotel catering would quickly get monotonous if you ate there all the time, but with a wide range of restaurants in Salou, it’d be pretty unimaginative not to venture out. Ten out of ten to the bar staff, who were fantastic: charming, helpful, and good at doling out free drinks! Elsewhere on site, a small supermarket opened twice-daily for a basic choice of essentials, although if you’re after local goodies such as butifarra (yummy Catalan sausage with mushrooms) the supermarkets in Salou offer a much better selection and price.
Entertainment
I’d say this was aimed squarely at the ‘average’ British holidaymaker (if there is such a thing), consisting of cabaret, quizzes and plenty of stuff for the kids, who were very cute and looked as though they were having a ball. I must confess it’s not my usual cup of tea, but the entz staff worked really hard to ensure everyone had a good time, and it was nice to return to the hotel after a hard day’s sightseeing/sunbathing, and simply relax at the bar and be entertained. Unusually for an out of season break, there was something different on every night, and the staff were always on hand during the day for any advice you wanted on the area or organising excursions. Yep, the compere chap did insist on calling himself ‘Geezer’ for some unknown reason, but with such great service, who cares? I reckon the best advice would be to cast aside any lingering cultural pretensions and enjoy it for what it is – hey, you’re on holiday after all! The only other thing to note is that the entertainment went on until about 1am – we could hear this from our 3rd floor room. This didn’t bother us unduly, certainly not enough to stop us sleeping, but if this is a problem for you it might be worth requesting a room in the adjoining annexe.
Pool and beach
As for cultivating that vital tan, I really enjoyed the poolside area – it was clean and nicely set out, with palms providing shelter from the whirling winds – the weather was warm but breezy. As the hotel was by no means full, there was no difficulty getting a sunlounger nor anyone hogging beds with towels. My partner was slightly disappointed with the pool, which was unheated and shallow, better suited to intrepid youngsters. He did take the plunge eventually, probably the only adult ever to go in without being dragged in by a child!
In the village there were good beaches and coves within easy walking distance, once you’d negotiated the rather craggy paths. Both La Pineda and Salou have beautiful stretches of sand, but to be honest we didn’t bother going beyond the pool. This was for two reasons: first the blowy weather, secondly at 28 I’m far too old to be lugging beach bags around!
Further afield
Though largely occupied by hotels, Cap Salou was nonetheless very pretty, developed sympathetically in line with the local architecture. Sadly many of the nearby amenities had not yet opened for the season, but we thoroughly enjoyed wandering about in the warm evening air, and it cemented our impression of the village as a quiet oasis away from the bustle of Salou. As has been noted, Cap Salou is somewhat hilly (hence the excellent views) and it’s a steep climb back to the hotel, so perhaps not ideal for older people or parents trailing tired children about.
Luckily, getting around couldn’t be easier. The bus service was brilliant, stopping right outside the hotel - it really put the public transport back home to shame. Running roughly every fifteen minutes, we paid just over a euro each for the trip to Salou, or two to Cambrils – well within our modest budget. Unlike their British counterparts the bus drivers were uniformly polite and helpful, though as with any foreign country it helps if you attempt to speak the language. After all, it doesn’t take much effort to say ‘dos’ instead of yelling ‘two’ as a number of Brits did. Nuff said. As for Salou, well, the main drag is distinctly Blackpool, with numerous British/Irish pubs offering Sky Sports, expensive drinks and largely mediocre food. Having said that, they’re very inclusive places and a good starting point when you’re finding your feet. Happily there are many interesting dining options dotted about – my boyfriend was cautious initially fearing they might be beyond our price range, but we ate some excellent seafood and game for only a couple more euros than the uninspiring stuff elsewhere. If it’s retail therapy you’re after, there’s an abundance of typical tourist traps, offering a blend of utter tat and the odd hidden gem if you look carefully. Towards the Cambrils end the shops definitely move up a notch, with some interesting boutiques if you’re missing your Versace fix! Cambrils itself was smaller, quieter and offers perhaps more of a taste of Spain. We didn’t catch the fish market on the day we visited, but it’s a lovely foodie place with great delis as well as restaurants, plus consistently upmarket shopping.
La Pineda was the first stop going in the other direction from the hotel – we didn’t get along there, but heard some favourable reports from fellow guests. You could also take day trips to Barcelona and Tarragona – we did the former (17 euros each) as I was dying to show my boyfriend around this exquisite city. Opting out of the guided tour, we had a fab day at the Nou Camp and around La Ramblas – a feast for the senses and definitely the highlight of our holiday.
Overall, we were delighted with the whole Festival Village experience – it offers superb value for money and there’s no shortage of things to do in the surrounding area, whether it’s theme parks for the kids, a spot of kiss-me-quick in Salou or a taste of the metropolis Catalan-style. A bit of something for everyone!!
This review is the opinion of a diytravel.co.uk user and not of diytravel.co.uk. |
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 Festival Village Reservations |
| Festival Village: Chavs 'n' Chips by Kathryn Tyne |
| Posted 20 April 2005 about a visit in March 2005 | Overall rating: 3.5 |
If you have small children or like Butlins style noisy entertainment and don't mind cheap canteen food then you will be happy here. A lot of people were clearly enjoying it a great deal.
The food would have been bearable (there was good fresh salad every night but the hot food was unappetising sludge with chips), but it was so noisy we couldn't bear it. The hotel was full of loud, drunk, fag-smoking, Sun-reading British guests swearing at their fat, chip-eating children. Not what you want over your dinner.
If you didn't get to dinner early you couldn't hear yourself think for the entertainment. The compere every night was a short, bald guy called "Geezer" whose claim to fame was Wacaday (remember Timmy Mallett?). He ran a pub quiz every night with questions including "what's the square root of 16?" and "can a man marry his widow's sister?". If you don't know the answers to either of those then this might be your kind of place.
We were in a room rather than an apartment, which was at the end of a corridor and quite dark. The bathroom was cleaned twice in the week we were there, and the bedding was never changed so it didn't smell nice. The rubbish was only taken away once. It was also cold; we tried leaving the heating on overnight but it made a loud noise and kept us awake. We asked for more blankets but they never arrived.
Most nights at about midnight, sometimes later we were woken by the sound of a revving lorry and breaking glass as the bin men came. One night that was added to by an English girl leaning out of her third floor balcony and repeatedly yelling her room number "219!" at the bin men in an attempt to get them to pay her a "visit". Classy.
If you go out of the hotel and turn left, La Pineda is about a 15 minute walk down the hill and has some pubs and restaurants open out of season. It also has a nice wide, flat promenade if you fancy a jog before breakfast. Cap Salou (across the road to the right) is a bit closer but was completely closed in April. Salou is a big but downmarket resort and a lot further away than you think. It's a 35 minute brisk walk along the sea front to get to the first shops; with a pushchair, toddlers or heavy bags it could take you as much as an hour and a half especially in hot weather.
If you want somewhere more upmarket and peaceful with seafront cafés and classy restaurants, hop on the bus past Salou to Cambrils. Tarragona, at the other end of the bus line, has fantastic Roman remains and museums, but you will be hassled constantly by beggars if you stop for a drink outside. Reus is also worth a visit, you can get a bus from Salou and spend a few hours following the town trail of modernist architecture. On balance though, if you thought that last idea sounded interesting I definitely wouldn't stay at the Festival Village!
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| Festival Village: what can i say by Steph Sanderson |
| Posted 12 October 2004 about a visit in September 2003 | Overall rating: 3.0 |
stayed there for 2 weeks 1st family hoilday aboard when i ask for edge of salou did not expect to be miles away so work out very costly for a family of 6 as every way we went ment bus . apartment nice size, cleanlenss 0 it was rotton we were give clean sheets and towels but at the end of 2 weeks must have had 50+sheet and 50+towel as there never took dirty one's away. food was awful so had to eat out, the evening enterment well a couple of good nites and there were with a bloke called little jon he was a kids enterianer but most where perverted like one evening getting children to get clothes of men by the end of the so called game a few men were sat in underwear only then there wanted the men to dance that to me is not family enterment so never again
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