We were the very first Thompson guests to stay at the hotel El Paso- This proved to be a disadvantage in some ways.This is going to be a very unusual review as in some ways it was the best ever and in other ways we had our worst holiday nightmare. I am only writing this now (just found the website) because we are thinking of going again..believe it or not- and would like to be reassured on one or two pointers.

Firstly we were dropped off down the bottom of a dusty track as the bus driver had not been to the hotel before and lugging the cases up plus a four year old was hard work, I am sure that won't happen now.

The room we were allocated was full of dust as they were working on the exterior and the view was down that dusty track !We asked to be moved and we were immediately, to a much nicer room just down the steps from the pool and no dust, traffic noise or any complaints except for the amount of wardrobe space !! for four people we didn't have enough room for one persons clothes no one else seems to have mentioned this so maybe all rooms are not the same.

Anyway we are optimists and always ready to really enjoy our holiday and everything else about the hotel looked lovely - the pool was fab our son loved it especially the half sunk pirate ship..The layout was very nice I loved the Mexican style of it we took many posed photos with the lovely background.

The park was fantastic and the kids aged 13 and 4 still talk about all those great rides..one thing we had to queue as normal unless it was after 8p.m has this been improved for hotel guests? As for one ride we actually queued for 1hour 45mins - never again! With a four year old who had to pee in a water bottle seal it and put it in a bin as there was just no way out of this packed railed in queue system!

Anyway to the bad points...

We coped fine with chaotic meal times with smallish queues the first week and larger ones the second. We found the food very nice and when in Spain always expect to try different things we did they were lovely! Even if we had to search for missing glasses, cutlery and walk through all three areas of the restaurant doing this at every meal time. But hey the staff were all new and we felt for them too. Especially when one slipped on the very wet floor while carrying loads of plates. It was a fault in the air con dripping water on the floor of the non smoking area of the restaurant which was closed after this incident. So we had to eat for a while in the smoking area.

We took this in our stride but did find it hard to believe that we had to go through a list of three different drinks at the bar before we found one they had..A bar with no vodka or gin?? I found myself drinking whiskey cos it was what was on offer! This is very strange as the smallest beach bars in Spain have the vastest variety of drinks ever.

The pool bar would also frequently run out of coffee, lollies and different drinks and the girl would try her best but no one had given her a stock key as only some staff were allowed one.

We came to the conclusion that the restaurant and bars were missing floor managers and were letting staff in training run them alone. Unfair on the poor young staff getting it in the neck from the less patient guests and unfair on the guests who were not getting it any cheaper to be guinea pigs.. but being our usual happy family group we were having a ball at the theme park and a the hotel pool and letting the niggles go by without much grumbling at all.

Everyone said it's not far into Salou by foot..it is in the blistering heat with whining hot tired children so because the shuttle bus could not be relied on that first week. So we would simply get a taxi ..it was a four star hotel they would be able to phone a taxi firm and book us one..Well no not really...The receptionist explained we could not order one under our name as it that was the hotel policy, she would phone for one to arrive and we could sit outside and wait..and watch other people arriving after us jump into 3 before we managed to grab one as they would stop anywhere on that dirt track for the fist person to sprint up to it. Hopefully the policy on ordering taxis has changed.

Nevertheless the lovely surroundings of the hotel and fantastic theme park made up for all these glitches.

Until at 4.30 am our son crashed through the safety barrier of the top bunk and landed on the hard ceramic tiles amid the splinters of the barrier the staples of which pierced his little arms. He was screaming and terrified as he had been asleep and was bruised on the face chin arms and legs. I am astounded that it wasn't worse as it was very high and luckily his head was protected by the fact he landed on crossed arms. Obviously a lot of things ensued. The hotel got us a doctor immediately, and we were visited by the Thompson rep, who was very nice, at least twice. We were also visited by a manager of the resort who over the next few days subtly tried to blame us and specifically our four year old son for trying to fly off the bed!! My blood still boils as although we received

The following information is based on my recent 2 week holiday (Jul/Aug 2003) staying in hotel El Paso with my wife and 2 children (17 and 14) staying in 2 adjoining rooms.

Overall
An excellent holiday location if you like theme parks. Always plenty to do. Children will love it.

Rooms

Not big but adequate. Double bed could fit 3(!) adults and is quite firm. Air conditioned. Very clean.

Food and Drink

We were on half-board. Breakfast and evening meals (both self service) were good but not outstanding. However, you could get variety by using dine-around vouchers which allowed you to eat at some them park or Port Aventura restaurants instead of at the hotel.
As reported, they have just started charging a supplement of 3 euros if you want a cooked breakfast. We argued and got a refund!
Drinks at evening meals are not included.
The cost of food and drink is dear for Spain since you are captive. If you want to eat away from the hotel/ theme park you need to take a bus/train/taxi into Salou (or about 25 minutes walk).
A nice lunch at the hotel for 4 adults with drinks will set you back about 30 euros (20 pounds).
A pint of Budweiser was 3 Euros (about 2 pounds) and 1 Litre of Sangria 7.5 Euros. Bottled water 1.15 euros for half-litre (dont drink the tap water).
Bar service was good.

Swimming pool

Very good. Large, interesting shape and in two sections. one section for adults (Max depth about 1.5 Metres) and older children and a smaller (but still very big) pool with a themed galleon for younger children.
Plenty of sunbeds but insufficient sunshades. Lifeguards on duty.

Entertainment

Kids club (looked well run), pool games and evening shows (fair to very good). Films shown outdoor on some nights - watch in comfort from sunbeds!

Noise

No aircraft or anything horrendous like that. Entertainment on the outside stage goes on until about 11pm and can be loud. Park fireworks at midnight can be heard.
Cleaners make a racket from about 8am and, about 9am, Mexico themed music starts playing in the hotel corridors and in the main square - pleasant at first but, if you don't like getting up early, you'd cheerfully throttle the singer by the end of your stay!

Services

Guest services at the hotel is excellent. They dealt with any problems and queries quickly and professionally.

Univeral Mediteranea Theme park

Large with plenty of rides and shows to suit all ages. Can get busy. Your hotel pass entitles you to express queueing on some major rides after 9pm so make good use of that!
A lot of walking is needed and the park is on a hill so it can be tiring.

Best show: Polynesia (at night) and Temple del Fuego.
Best rides: Dragon Khan and Stampida if you like roller coasters. Dodgems are excellent.

Water park - Costa Caribe

Ok, but not outstanding. Be warned of tyre hire. They now charge 7 euros (inc. 4 euro deposit) if you want to hire a tyre for the day.
Once hired you need to keep an eye on them (how?) or they can be taken by others (we lost two of ours). The rule seems to be if someone takes yours pick up someone elses - the identification numbers on the tyres are no deterrent. Universal want shooting for this stupid idea which is bound to lead to punch-ups.

Salou

The hotel runs a free bus service to the beach several times during the day or a taxi will cost you about 5 euros if you want complete freedom.
The beach goes on forever and is soft sand. The sea is clear and warm. Shops and restaurants are plentiful and significantly cheaper than the hotel/theme park.

The family Sunbedhogger stayed here from 27.5.03 - 6.6.03 and travelled with First Choice.

Check in - no probs.

Room - fine, No tea or coffee making facilities but this I believe is being rectified. We were on the top floor of the 5 storey block so no balcony, but the balconys are so small they are not worth having anyway. Luckily our room was at the end of the block so noise nuisence was minimal but you could have rooms next door to the bar, lift or vending machines which would be awful for noise as the walls are not very thick.
Difficult to get extra pillows and toilet roll seemed to be rationed.
No cable or pay TV even though thats advertised. So its Sky News or mmm Sky News.(even in the bar, so no footy lads sorry)

Breakfast: You are given a card at check in which allocates a time slot for breakfast. Guest services will change the time for you if it isnt suitable. It seems most people were initially given the early time 8am . If you were later or earlier than your time slot then the greeter gave you a tut and a roll of her eyes .
3 euros for a cooked brekkie even if you just wanted a ladle of beans for your beans on toast. Or like my daughter you just wanted 2 pancakes with syrup then ....3 euros.
The characters didnt start making an appearance until almost the end of the holiday it seems quite a few people had complained. On the last day we had brekkie with Betty Boop, Pink panther, Popeye and his beefy mate (Brutus?) Woody and Winnie Woodpecker, which was great.

Dinner; Yuk, barely warm junk food. Dinner opened at 7 and by 10 past there was a queue to get in which could take half an hour. The reason for this was the Greeter asked your room number ticked you off on a sheet, wrote a card out with your room no. and number of people on it and handed it to you, then you waited again for a waitress to be free to show you to table...All completly pointless. We started going in via a side entrance and finding our own table there were always plenty free.
You could have finished your meal before a waiter had taken your drinks order it was soooo painfully slow. You couldn't order a drink at the bar and take it in with you either unless you let them pour it into a plastic container! Even though the drinks in the restaurant came in glasses! You then could not take your drinks out of the restaurant in glasses but you had to put them in plastic container, even a half finished bottle of wine went in a paper cup!

Bar: Two bars.
The main bar has only two bar staff behind the bar !! Absolute joke,
There are no wine glasses at all in the hotel ...all drinks are served in thick green beaker type glasses the kind that you had with school dinners
The house wine is awful, even though the hotel has a choice of about 5 red wines you could only obtain the house wine at the main bar the others you could only get a the El Coyote restaurant, which would only serve you at the bar if you had eaten there!
No snacks, crisps or nuts.
6 euros for a shot of whiskey, 5 euros 25 cents for a vodka and tonic....
Chairs are metal with no cushions. bring your cushions down from your room if you wanna get comfy. And beleive me you will have a long long wait to get a drink.

Pool area; Loverly, plenty of loungers, plenty of space, very claen. Curtesy towels which you could change as many times as you wanted. At least 3 lifeguards on duty at all times.
Downsides: hardly any shade, not many brollies, a lot of the sunbeds were on some type of immitation sand which was a painful shingle thing.
Kids (& adults) were not allowed inflatables in the pool at all - (dangerous things lilo's apparently)

Entertainment: Naff..kids disco and certificate handing out each night went on for hours. Then the entertaiment would start about 10 ish, a salsa band or a drag queen troop just to give you some idea which finished about 11 and that was it! Huge stage but only about 6 concrete benches or grass slope to sit on.
Nothing for older kids above 8 to do.

Hotel shop: A dozen British papers for the whole hotel so get there early.
The upside to the hotel is the Park...just a 10 minute walk to the entrance, jump the queues with your room card. We visited most days usually in the late afternoons and evenings. Weekend was very busy but during the week it was ok. Something for everyone. Highly recommended.
The water park is now fully opened and as its still not quite busy season hotel guests have unlimited access. However it was packed. You pay for rubber rings, hire charge and deposit. Lockers and even most frustratingly the sunbeds.

Location: Good for the parks. Excellent for the train station. Plenty of transport to get you into Salou.

Would I recommend this hotel? No, not at the moment. There are American Universal staff with lap tops doing surveys to try and guage guest opinion and improvements could be seen through the 10 days we were there. But they have a long way to go and most things should really have been ironed out last season.

If you want to know anything else happy to answer any questions

Stayed at this hotel 22nd April - 29th April 2003, travelled with

Checked in immediately, no problems there. Room was quite spacious (there were 2 of us). A big bed, chest of drawers, wardrobe, 2 bedside cabinets, table and chairs. Bathroom was equipped with a few Universal mini toiletries, plenty of towels and was nice and clean. Safes cost 2.10 euros per day and you need to get the chip from Guest Services before you can start using it. We didn't have a room with a view as we requested, but then we didn't really expect one. What I will say is that one day when we were getting a dinearound voucher we saw the list of guest and the tour-ops they were travelling with and any requests. NONE of the people travelling with First Choice had any requests next to their names (whereas Airtours/Cosmos etc did). I would therefore conclude if you don't get what you request and if you are travelling with First Choice then they haven't put the request through. If it is an important request then I would email it through to the Hotel.
If you are on a Half Board basis then you might be a little disappointed with the evening food, but if you like lots of chips, burgers and pizza you'll be ok! The soups were nice, as was the other meat stuff, but for a 4* hotel, well I have had better! Cooked breakfasts were 3 euros extra per person and weren't very nice. Breakfast usually consisted of several different types of mini danishes, mini croissants, ham, cheese, toast (watch out those foreigners don't nick your toast when you put it through the toaster, they did to us!), different cereals, lots of different fruit juices, yogurts, fruit etc.
The dine around vouchers for the evening were great. You got 12 euros per adult to spend in the restaurants and anything over that you had to pay. The food at El Coyote was very reasonably priced and yummy. We also tried the pizza/pasta place at the Port Aventura park and that was nice aswell. You couldn't swap your meal to eat in the park whilst we were there, but when you do I think you get 9 euros to spend in the park on lunch. A big double cheeseburger and chips meal with a drink is around 7.10 euros.
The pool was nice and big with plenty of loungers. You get a voucher from guest services and swap it for towels by the pool.
Internet access is available from near to the bar. It is 1 euro for 10 minutes, 2 euros for 20 minutes etc.

The park is excellent and definately meets Orlando standards. A lot better than Disneyland Paris, cleaner and in better order.
The staff at the park don't seem as well organised as the Americans, but that is a minor irritation.
Costa Caribe wasn't open properly until 14th May, so I only got to try the two indoor slides (I banged my knee and elbow, ouch!) and the lazy river. It looks like a great day out when it is fully open.
Watch out for the adult 'Buffalo Dodgems' in the park. My husband sustained a very nasty cut to the knee whilst in the dodgem when he was banged. An annoyance is that the ride attendants did not have a basic first aid kit, so he had to limp halfway round the park to the medical centre, which although clean and sterile, did not have staff that spoke very good English. Although it was ok for us, if you had an injured small child it might be quite frustrating.

A bonus of staying at the Hotel is getting straight to the front of the queues for major attractions. Your room keys are your access keys to the park. Just show them to the ride attendants after going through the Express entrance and you get pretty much straight on.

I didn't like Salou. Maybe it is nicer in the Summer? I thought it was tacky, dirty and seedy. The promenade area was quite nice, but the streets around were horrible. Most shops were of the cheap and nasty variety.

If you are looking to buy cigarettes/tobacco over there then the tabac shops are the best value. 34 euros for 500g of golden virginia tobacco in 50g pouches, works out at around