We found this hotel to be very clean and tidy from the moment we walked in. The staff in the reception area were very helpful. We were a little disappointed not having a room with a balcony, as we like to sit out there in the evenings away from the kids!

However our room overlooked one of the pool areas, so that turned the negative to a positive. The rooms were basic, clean, tidy and with us needing 4 beds they still left us room to walk about without stubbing toes. The room was cleaned every day without any issues.

The restaurant was large and clean, the food was very good with plenty of choice. We have seen reviews that complained about food temperature, but we found it to be fine for us. All the staff in the restaurant were helpful and cleared away to allow us more food plate space, this wasn't too helpful for the waistline!

We would definitely return to this hotel as it was good value for money and a good standard.

This was my first visit to the Golden Taurus Park since 1993 and it has changed quite a bit since then. There is a new section to the hotel that has the family rooms in and two free form pools instead of the one rectangular pool of the old days.

The hotel is spotless with cleaners working around the clock. The towels and sheets were changed regularly during our ten night stay and the room was cleaned to a high standard. The room furnishings are basic but comfortable and we stayed in a family room with a fantastic pool and sea view. Our one gripe involves careless guests rather than the hotel as people would come in from the pools dripping wet despite signs asking not to. This made the lift floors soaking wet and my 11 year old daughter slipped over and hurt herself.

Although the hotel is a lot bigger than it used to be, make no mistake when I say that the facilities just cannot cope with the large number of guests when the hotel is full. The restaurant opens at 6:30pm and if you were not seated before 7pm then you had to queue. Each night that queue would stretch through the main bar and out towards the reception desk and it could take up to 30 minutes before you got a table. The food itself was repetitive and boring. We stayed on a full board basis and towards the end of the holiday we all seemed to be dreading going to the restaurant to eat. The breakfasts are the same every day. You can have a full cooked breakfast, pancakes, omelets, cold meats with a bit of salad, cereals, breads and cakes. Or if you preferred you could boil your own eggs. The selection for lunch was very small and to be honest the dinner selection was poor too. We did have a couple of nice meals, but on the whole we were disappointed with the food.

If you didn't come straight out of the restaurant and take a seat in the main bar for the nights entertainment, you were unlikely to get a table. Come 10pm when the main entertainment started, it was standing room only. I have to disagree with the recent review saying the entertainment was poor as on the whole we found the professional acts to be very good. Particularly the Polynesia night. The way they got those poor guys up on stage to do the Mauri Haka dance was just hilarious and the Beijing Acrobats were great too. But, they also had Karaoke and Miss Golden Taurus Park which wasn't our thing so we didn't watch on those nights. The evening starts at 7:30 with party dances, and games for the kids done by the Thomson reps and the hotel animation team takes over with Mini Disco for the kids until 10pm. So the kids are taken care of for a whopping two and a half hours. Great if like us you had children with you but it must of been a bit boring for couples.

The hotel is in my opinion, ideally situated between Pineda and Calella. It's about 15 minutes in either direction into both resorts where you will find loads of shops, bars and restaurants. Pineda train station is nearby and it's only 7.40 euros for a return ticket to Barcelona, and is FAR cheaper than taking the Thomson excursions. My son and I went to Camp Nou and by taking the train and Metro ourselves, we saved 38 euros compared to the excursion price!

The staff are friendly and helpful, especially Kelli the guest services manager. Her knowledge of the area was second to none and when I asked for the easiest route to the Nou Camp, I was given full and precise step by step instructions on how to get there, the costs involved and train times along with a map on how to walk from the metro station to the stadium. Brilliant. Thanks Kelli!

The Thomson Reps were OK, but Tom needs to learn how to smile and he has very little knowledge about anything and on the two occasions I needed to ask a question, he couldn't provide an answer and I had to ask another rep.

One word of warning, the hotel pools are FREEZING! My kids were rather reluctant to go in them and we found the sea to be much much warmer. But they are charging 4 euros each for a sunbed and parasol. Plus the sea shelves rather steeply just after you walk in.

On the whole, it was an OK holiday and I am glad I went back after 17 years, but I won't go again especially in August as the hotel cannot cope with the larger capacity of guests.

Golden Hotel Pineda de Mar, Costa Brava

DICK TURPIN OWNS THE VENDING MACHINES!

Advantages: Great for the kids, Great Swimming pools Pools, Friendly Staff, Vast selection of food. Clean.
Disadvantages: Expensive inside the hotel, noisy, poor location, gritty steep shelf beach outside the hotel.


Firstly...lets be under no illusions...ITS FOR THE KIDS!
So if your planning a quiet holiday in the sun...NO NOISE..NO CROWDS... I suggest you look elsewhere!
(Unless your taking your holiday out of season when I feel the hotel and its surroundings will be a little less hectic.)

PINEDA and CALELLA. (THE RESORT)

The hotel is located in-between the two resorts.
Pineda to the North (about 10 minutes)or Callella to the South (About 25 minutes)
Or if you wish the two resorts are served by a little road train which completes a circuit between the two towns.
About

we loved the golden taurus,very clean especially the pool area, food nice plenty of salads fruit hot and cold meals at dinner lovely deserts, we liked breakfast best of all and kemo who makes the pancakes at breakfast time is great. there are 2 lovely freeform pools, we didnt have any trouble getting sun loungers.the hotels own animation entertainers we fabulous, the kids loved the activites on offer.not so keen on the thompson kids club and entertainers.there is a good mix of nationalities in the hotel and with france being not far away there are lots of french.the reception staff are excellent especially the english girl that works there

Just returned from a short break at the Golden Taurus and I was SO impressed.
Absolutely spotlessly clean hotel, cleaners around everywhere, all the time.
Fantastic staff, so much going on all through the day for kids of all ages and adults!
Food was great, kids especially loved the pancakes cooked for them at breakfast!
Pineda is pretty quiet but I don't think you really need to go anywhere with all that's going on in the hotel.
We will definitely return here for a longer stay next year and take a few more people along for the ride!

just got back from this hotel and have to say was quite impressed apart from a few niggles that i will mention first. Room was over the main bar and restaurant and so was very noisy so you couldnt sleep til the shows ended at 12.30 am. Also the clanking in the kitchens got on your nerves too, Id booked 12 months in advance and requested a pool or sea view but got neither sadly.The food was okay and you wouldnt starve but it wasnt great. The prices in the hotel were extortionate so make sure u fill up at the mini market a minute away. Internet time was 2 euros for just 8 minutes and for a malibu n coke it cost almost 5 euros(we paid between 2 and 3 elsewhere).The mini zoo at the entrance was in a sorry state and every time i went past there were kids manhandling the turtles.I only asked reception for one request during my stay that was to give me a wake up call as we had an early flight-unfortunately they didnt but the cockeral woke me up.OK now the niggles out of the way the hotel is very clean and the maids and cleaners do a stirling job. The staff were mostly lovely and friendly but the older staff could seem rude and grumpy. The entertainment seemed fine and the kids club was good even though we could only get in a few times because it was too full. The pools were very busy and you struggled to find a sunbed after 10 am.getting breakfast and dinner took a bit of getting used to as its so busy but Jose the head waiter did very well.Rooms were ample although nothing special.We all enjoyed it so with a different room would probably return

i,ve just returned from a 2week holiday at the golden taurus park.i have to say that the hotel was spotlesly clean all the time,the cleaners dont seem to stop.pools were fantastic for both adults and children alike.the resturant was fantastic , if you dont like the food here you wont like it anywhere<try the pancakes>.entertainment was faultless day and night.drinks prices were a bit expensive particularly childrens cocktails.my only gripe would be that at night it can be a bit noisey.our familyroom was next too a lift which kept us awake until at least 3 most mornings!our room was 283 so be warned!apart from that the whole of our group <13 in total> would definetly return.

just got home yesterday 26/8/08 about a 45min transfer from gerona airport. hotel very clean cleaners done a good job. food good on the whole for breakfast- bacon,sausage,eggs(fried,hard boiled you can also boil your own)omelettes cooked to order,beans,hash browns,tomatoes.cereals, ham,cheese,differnt types of bread rolls& bread,jams,marmalades,honey etc.pancakes made to order juices,tea & coffee,flavoured milks and proberly lots of other items i never tried or noticed.
evening meal-choice of about 3 meats i.e. pork chops/steaks,lamb chops /steaks, chicken duck steak,turkey also stews the meats were of cheaper cuts but were still ok.always some fish on the menu and chips,potatoes,pasta,rice,salad ham cheese,pat'e 2 soups,bread and rolls,large selection of desserts.kids food nuggets,fish fingers,pasta & sauce,breaded fish etc.there was a guy cooking food to order i.e. fish,steak,pork steaks etc.they had a chinese night with lovely ribs and spring rolls ,sweet and sour sauce, chicken curry, rices plus lots of other stuff,one night their was paella another mussels lovely, you do get fed up with food after awhile but you always do with buffets.
the hotel staff were mostly good the younger staff friendly the two older men behind bar were miserable.
the entertainment was ok acrobats,magician,tribute to four tops, karaoke etc all the usual suspects we went into the resort to different bars about half of the time.
my daughter(11)joined tribe but only went once as she said she didn't like one of the staff but she enjoyed herself and made friends with other children.it was about a 10-15 min walk to the centre of pineda turn left and i'd say about a 20min walk turn right to calella their is a little train you can catch to both places 1.30e on way and i think 2.20e return.i didn't rate calella to me it appeared dirty,crowded and was just one long narrow street.

myself and family stayed at this hotel for one week in august.i am glad it was only one week could not have stayed any longer.
only two good points hotel clean and weather hot.
the hotel is very noisy with people running up and down corridors,shouting and banging in the early hours.
our family room was over a bar with an open terrace that stayed open til 3.30am!not a good idea in a superfamily hotel when children are trying to sleep.
food cold and swimming in grease.very mixed items each evening meal,nothing to match with to make a meal.
hotel staff rude and unhelpful when trying to make complaint.
entertainment terrible very loud and very reptitive.
hotel very expensive for drinks and food from snack bar.would not recomend this hotel or stay there again

Ive stayed in this hotel 3 times now over the years, once when i was a kid (about 25years ago) then again about 19 years ago with my husband and then last year with my 7 years old and husband. We never had any major complaints 25 years ago and we never last year either. The hotel has been re vamped and extended in the last 19 years but the feel for it has not changed. It is very geared up for kids and, to be honest, if it was just the two of us, we would nt of gone back, even 19years ago it was still geared up for kids and we as a couple was like fish out of water. It always has and proberly always will be a family orientated hotel and its great. Food was nice, repeatative after 2 weeks but it always is where ever you go. Entertainment was good both kids stuff and adults later on. Pool areas are lovely so is the bar areas. Always clean reception areas and the rooms were clean too. Can not fault.