Well this is my second time to Estival Park 2 and I loved every minute of it. I was there in June last year and it was good to see some familiar faces working there again.

Room was great with air con (much needed as even in September we enjoyed temps around 30 degrees c).

The bar staff are a lot friendlier than the restaurant staff though, I think they are not allowed to converse with the guests, (not a smile on any of their faces). Apart from that the hotel is great.

The kids seemed well entertained throughout the day with the entertainment that was put on, and at night the entertainment was good also, although I never saw much of it as we spent most of the night at the beach front having romantic strolls on the beach.

The pool was kept very clean and plenty of sun beds to go round.

Food was good and a good selection for all appetites.

I recommend this hotel to all ages and will definitely return again but not next year (going somewhere else this time).

We stayed in the Estival Park Apartments for 1 week only - thank god!
The apartments, based in the grounds of the hotel complex, are absolutely minging and need a few bob spent on them. We complained to the hotel, but they said it was nothing to do with them - they are owned privately and then hired back to the hotel on a seasonal basis i.e; it was up to the owner to fit air conditioning etc.
So we opened the windows at night, only to spend 4hrs chasing mosquitos around to stop the kids getting bitten.

Whoever lived in the apartment above us, obviously owned it, as you could hear his dog running around at night, him snoring and even using the toilet! And that was in between the 'thump'thump' from the clubs down the road until 5.30am. The apartments are NOT the place to stay in and they were a disgrace not just to the Estival park Hotel, but to First Choice holidays as well, for advertising them! (Do these people not read these reviews before publishing their next years brochures??) - I will never travel First Choice again, and their Rep was worse than useless.

NOW THE HOTEL on the other hand, was a different storey. Although we stayed in the minger apartments, we had access to all the hotel facilities. The Hotel is spectacular and very well run (maybe a little under-staffed though - everyone running around in a panic). There is a huge choice of entertainment each night and lots of seats etc. Food is good too, with chips, pizza & ice-cream for the kids. We tried to upgrade to the hotel but they said they were fully booked (likely storey... they didnt like people complaining). Most people in the hotel were 'All-inclusive' which meant everything was free. It was a great deal, and thats what we're going to do next time.
But just to get revenge on the hotel for us having a minging apartment, we went to the hotel every night and ate the 'All-inclusive' food, which was just laid out all over the place. Nobody batted an eye-lid and it was delicious. Kids had a ball.
We're going back here for definite, and all-inclusive (this time officially!!).

An excellent hotel - one I would highly recommend. La Pineda is a much quieter resort than Salou and in my opinion much nicer. There is long strip of shops and bars that get busy but not overcrowded.

The hotel was cleaned to a high standard (even the windows were cleaned daily) and our rooms were always spotless.

The buffet style meals always had plently to choose from and we certainly did not go hungry (and I am a fussy eater) and if you didn't fancy going in the restaurant for a meal the bar served lots of different snacks (chips, bacon sandwiches, cakes etc).

The staff overall were great. Always willing to help and my kids absoutely loved one or two of them. The girl who ran activities during the day always worked with enthusiasm even though some days there was hardly anyone willing to join in with her games!!
The restaurant staff worked from early morning to last thing at night but always wore a big smile.

The entertainment of an evening was a bit hit and miss - but I have to say we particularly enjoyed the Karoke and also one or two of the bands.

Overall I would give this holiday a massive 10 out of 10.

we stayed in hotel estival park II (all-inclusive)and we have got to say that it was one of the best all-inclusive hotels that we have ever stayed in- we was even told by our rep that we picked the best hotel (she was right)i mean what do you expect i bet all the people that stay there certainly got their moneys worth. the hotel was clean and we had a great veiw from our room looking right out to the sea.

The location was excellant! just a 2 minute walk from the beach which was clean and well presented palm trees all along the way. there was a water park also just down the road all local ameanities. (now i'm going to stress this i can be the fussiest people going). there is also tennis courts(outdoor and in) a gym complete with the latest equipment, jaccuzi etc.

the food was quite good buffet style and a great variety i mean it could'nt have been that bad as people we're paying to eat there as well. and you have the choice of eating at estival I&III as well. I agree in some respects about some of the staff they could have been a bit more helpfull but you get that everywhere including england.

there is one thing i will say anyone who goes all-inclusive that only local drinks are free cocktails and brands have a 1 euro suppliment (local brands cover almost everything so from their versions of vodka right through to things like the equivalent to tia maria and they ain't worried about measurements either!! just be carefull after 11.30pm as you have to pay after that i had as little incident where i asked for a coke and a southern comfort and coke which cost me 9 euros of course by then i'd had a few and wasn't really bothered but the next day my partner looked at the reciept(yes they give reciepts) and they had charged me for a shot of jack daniels as well?! but there you go too late to go back but others be aware.

other than that i have no other complaints we did alot of sight seeing afterall who goes on holiday to sit in the hotel all the time just because its all-inclusive.
i would'nt hesitate in going back.

The hotel was clean.

Linen changed regularly.

Food was ok (those doughnuts biscuits things lovely) but sometimes if the food wasn

Please keep in mind as you read my report that I am a retired Travel Consultant and usually TC's are very critical having traveled most of the world and expecting the best for our clients.

We spent one week at the Estival Park and were in Building I. Checkin was in Building II and you had to roll/carry your luggage to the other building.

Checkin was quick, but there was no crowd. After seeing our room which looked out over the roof of the dining terrace and stuck in a claustrophic corner, I went down to reception to inquire about the availability of another room with a better view. The Front Desk Manager was rather rude and put off that I would even ask for another room. She said nothing was available, waved me away and told me to come back on Sunday -- (we arrived on a Friday). I never went back as I realized it was a futile effort.

The room itself was quite nice and it was clean. Small, but nice and clean bathroom with a bidet positioned where it was impossible to use. Towels were wonderful and bath amenities were fine.

Only one English TV station which was BBC World News and that gets a little old after a week, but what the heck -- you're not there to watch TV. Several Spanish stations, Russian, German, Dutch and French which seem to be the Nationalities of most guests.

The room was very quiet except for the nightly entertainment which seemed to ECHO from our corner room. Loud, very loud.

Our air-conditioner went out one day and wasn't repaired for over 24 hours. Thank goodness the weather wasn't really hot. We left the patio door open all night to sleep. We did feel safe, but you never know.

The Euro 2004 games were going on and broadcast on a large screen TV in the disco every evening.

The pool was really nice and clean. Patio area was vacuumed every night. They allow glass containers at the pool, so I would be careful about going barefoot around the pools. The water was rather salty...but pleasantly warm. The only problem around the pool area was the saving of sunbeds by people who would not abide by the rules. There was a sign posted which said reserving a sunbed was prohibited, but when I asked the towel boy at the towel kiosk about it, he just shrugged his shoulders and told me it wasn't his 'job' to police the sunbeds. There were far to few umbrellas and those were taken by 8AM in the morning with people's towels. Some of these people never showed up all day long -- so a wasted umbrella and too much sun for someone who didn't want to be in the sun all day long.

There were no waiters/waitresses circling the pool and offering to take orders for drinks. I feel the hotel misses out on lots of revenue this way. You have to walk inside and get your drinks at the bar. And I agree with the previous poster about the RUDE Bar Manager! What a creep! We got good service from a new employee from Morocco, but the Bar Manager dealt him a hard time and for what we couldn't figure out.

The daytime activities by the pool were fun. We participated in most of them. The 'animacion' staff of young people were very upbeat and energetic. They did a good job; however it was difficult to get people to participate. Not a fun crowd at all....rather boring except for some nice English and Irish people we met. As the previous post stated, the Russians pushed in line, reserved the sunbeds and were generally obnoxious. The hotel was primarily Russian guests, along with English, Irish, French and a few German.

Now to the food! Yuk, yuk, yuk -- recycled veggies everyday with chopped up leftover meat in them. The meats available were lamb, pork, sausages, chicken and fish. One night there was a fabulous looking seafood buffet, but no crab crakers to crack the crabs. I found out you were supposed to put the crab claw in your napkin and beat it with a knife to break it.. Sheeesh!

In all fairness, the breakfast was nice. If I went again to this hotel, I'd only do the B&B as the buffet gets real old fast. They need a better assortment of fresh veggies. The paella was nice and you could make a nice salad if you wanted the same ingredients everyday. The desserts were fine with a favorite being cherries, strawberries and fresh cream.

The only reason I wouldn't visit this hotel again is because of the food and because of the negative attitude of some of the staff, particularly the front desk girl who couldn't be bothered.

This was our first occasion to holiday in Spain. The Hotel was Estival Park in La Pineda, Salou - Costa Daurada

The Estival Park Hotel is in a quiet location in La Pineda, with the beach just a 2 minute walk away. Highly accessible to other areas: Barcelona 1hr drive, Salou 10min, Tarragona 10min, Montserrat 45min. There are 3

Recently got back from an excellent holiday at Estival park hotel. We stayed in the Estival II (all inclusive) and found it hard to find any major faults, only annoying niggles.

The food was not bad at all, plenty of choice and varied selection. Salad bars, hot dishes a plenty and some lovely desserts (how they can serve so many strawberries I do not know!) Staff in the restaurant were polite, courteous, efficient and friendly, a few of them fell in love with my 20 month old son so we got excellent service!!

I found that the standard of cleanliness in the hotel was excellent, rooms were cleaned daily and if you want your towels changed daily throw them in the bath and they will change them. (Some ECO thing to help with the environment so if you like the planet dont use so much soap powder (or something like that!!))

I was particularly impressed by the guys who 'vacuumed' the pool every morning! Cleanliness around the pool was pretty good too.

Hotel is located a short walk to the beach and shops(5mins max even with 2 kids!) but beware of spanish drivers on the main road! there ARE zebra crossings but I think all the spaniards missed the public information films about them as they rarely stop at them even if your in the middle! be warned!!!

The front desk staff are helpful, well informed and spoke excellent english (we always expect that though dont we?!?) How good is YOUR spanish.....?

The waiters were excellent. If your on all inclusive there is no additional charge and as the bar area is quite small this saves you queueing (with the russians and germans!! but we didn't experience a problem with them queue jumping)

Special mentions to Robert and Nino who were fantastic with us and our 2 kids. Robert would even find time for a chat or just to help our spanish!

Bar staff were a little surly at times and do not seem to like children that much! (1 card 1 drink!!) but look out for Miguel..he is a laugh.Paco is a miserable sod though!
Entertainment (animacion) staff were excellent. Our four year old daughter fell in love with the excellent hotel run kids club (also free!!) especially Bea and Beatriz (absolutely bonkers) and our daughter was still in there 10 mins before our coach pulled up to leave. They all deserve a mention but there are too many names to try....
Evening entertainment was very varied. only one act was duplicated throughout the 2 weeks and even they tried to do a slightly different act.

The hotel animacion staff did one show a week and they were, shall we say, enthusiastic if not quite on the mark. One gripe... because the hotel caters to guests from britain, russia, germany, holland and spain itself (oh and french) the introductions were done in all these languages so even a short hello, good evening and welcome lasted about 5 mins!

Beware..... the 'ONDA ONDA' dance is highly addictive.... you have been warned!!!!!!!!!
If you have older children (teenagers) they may find the hotel and resort has little to offer but who can keep a teenager happy anyway?

On the whole this is one of the best holidays we have ever had and our first family holiday with the children so I fear we may judge all future holidays against this one.

Hi..we recently returned from the Estival Park 3..so I thought I'd have a look here and add my thoughts on the hotel.

I agree with most of what the previous message said ..can;t remember the authors name!..but would also like to add a few things.

We stayed in the EP3 which was an excellent hotel..very comfortable..the rooms were the best I have seen anywhere in Spain, even had fresh flowers in bathroom! The air conditioning was a welcome relief as it was nearly 40 degrees most days!

Yes,,the food was fantastic..the restaurant light and airy..very modern..newly decorated I thought..didn't like being stopped at the door every night by the rather stern looking lady acting as maitre'd..had to show dining card permit each time which got very tiresome after first few days when you know that they know faces and its obvious you are residents!

The pool was lovely and yes..there did seem to be plenty of sunbeds available at any time of the day..only complaint there would be to provide more parasols because not everyone wants to lie in direct sunlight!

The evening "entertainment" ..in my opinion was indeed dire!! We didn't stay at the hotel every night because we like a walk out to see some life and quite honestly it was cooler and much more pleasant along the seafront..but the "shows" we did catch were apalling..the stunned faces of the audience said it all..apart from the Russian contingent,,who whooped with sheer delight at the chance of doing the Birdy song and other traditional holiday dances! There were an awful lot of Russians and other eastern block nationalities..all with the same mission in life,,it is only the british that queue and wait their turn,,it seems it is only us that actually have any manners in such things..so that did get very annoying..having your children pushed out of the way by these rather loud and sometimes vulgar people simply to get their ice-creams first!!

All in all we found the hotel and the resort of La Pineda to be very cosmopolitan and a lot more sophisticated than its neighbour Salou.There is really only a handful of bars with any life in them at night,the one that stands out in my memory is "Azucarrrr" ,,pub de salsa..about half way down to the main town area,,it vibrated with salsa and dancing every night and a very handsome salsa dancing spaniard got everyone up and shaking their groove thing! T'was great fun and I'm sure I looked a complete idiot ..but then no-one knows you on holiday so it does not matter!

As for the all-inclusive part of things..well forgive me for this but in my experience mixing AI guests with other types never works because people always think the grass is greener and there is always a lot of moaning and groaning and indignance when you are told by the family with 6 kids that they only paid