That does seem a bit silly. Friends of ours used to go every year in May for 2 weeks.

yes we do think its nuts .
maybe they are redecorating .
we have friends who go from the 10th of may for 2 weeks and we hear that they are shutting a little earlier.

Unless it's to do with the lack of folk booking now with the economy being the way it is. Perhaps not so many folk can afford holidays any more. I noticed last year that the hotel wasn't very full when we went on 26th June for 2 weeks.

this is what annoys me about hotels and tour operators.if the hotel knows they are not going to be open then they should not accept bookings. at the moment you can still book on-line through ferris for april.
i would be very unimpressed if i booked with them and then had to go to another resort because they did not inform everyone that they had no intention of opening before the end of may.
i would think the delayed opening is more to do with rebranding the hotel rather than lack of numbers, but i do think that the numbers have been dropping for all costa brava resorts for the last few years

roda girl,
when are you booked for. is it early june?
i would start looking at other hotels so that you have a clear idea of which hotel you will accept if the maripins does not open on time. there are some 3* hotels that i would not be happy moving to.
at least harry shaw seem to be on the ball, but if the maripins does not open on time it is good to have a plan B.
fergus hotels are still showing availability for the start of may on their own website so it looks as if they are not telling the whole story to prospective customers.
maybe they are going to do as HTOP do and just keep taking the bookings and move you to another hotel in the chain when you get there. as the maripins is their only hotel in Malgrat this could mean a change of resort.

we have already booked for june . harry shaw has confirmed that june is ok but early may is not . we have friends that were thinking of booking for may as they do this every year , and there friends had already booked for the same time they were then told the hotel would not be open till 25th of may so they decided not to go at all.

We booked last week for the Maripins to go on 19th June. We emailed the Maripins hotel direct and got a reply immediately from the Manager with a price for us, etc and confirming our rooms. We don't go by coach, we fly there.