This was our first holiday to mainland spain & the Caribe resort was an excellent choice of hotel. Out of the 3 park hotels we felt the Caribe was a better choice with young children as we noticed that other hotels have entertainment right next to the swimming pool and we met a few families which came to the hotel so they could relax more in the evening.

We also liked that you got a good sized balcony where you could sit and have a drink when the children were going to sleep.

On arrival the family and luggage were taken staight to our room with no hassle and the reception staff were very helpful. The pool area was very clean and a good size, we also had a great position with a playground and a paddling pool right outside our room which was great.

You will also benefit from free entrance to the theme parks with the key to the rooms & free transport to the parks and the beach. The food was good with a good choice but did sometimes get busy.

This was an ideal holiday for a family with lots to do in the area. The only fault would be that there was only entertainment on certain nights except for the childrens disco which was every night where the staff were very good with the children.

I would recommend that people visit the parks or the beach in the week as weekends get very busy.

Hotel was fab. I and my partner went the in June 2005.

We picked this hotel because it looked the best in Salou and we both love theme parks which was great because it included entry into the park and with your room key you can just show it and go into a special queue that only takes about 15 mins max. Wherea s the other people where there for 1 and a half hour.

The only thing that I could say that was wrong about the hotel was that you had to wait forever for a drink with your dinner.

We travelled to Salou on the 17th may 05 with our 22 month old daughter we flew with First Choice (delay expected) and sure enough two hours.

We arrived in the middle of the night and were made very welcome Hmmm there's your keys there's a map find your own way room was clean and nicely decorated.

Hotel food was cold all the time sometimes still half alive. The restaurant as they call it more like the school canteen with the mile long queues. There was even families with young children told to come back later because the 4 highchairs that the "FAMILY" oreintated hotel owned were all being used.

Staff at the front desk were frendly and helpful but as for the very forgetful waiters/waitresess dont get me started.

The entertainment staff were good but let down by the lack of it. I felt very let down by First Choice and ther rep didnt have a clue either. ( Thomsons next year I think ) Salou itself was a good bustling town the theme park was great too.

PPS: NEVER AGAIN

We arrived at lunch time and the welcome was warm and friendly. Our bags were delivered to our rooms about 5 minutes after we had made our way to our rooms. They were spacious and clean. The whole hotel in fact was absolutely spot on for cleanliness. We were provided with clean soft towels every day and our beds were made and changed regularly. Part of the service was to provide clean beach towels every day so you wont need to take your own. We took ours with us to the water park too to save on washing!!

The food was ok, the only let down was the queues for it, however after a couple of days you realise that you should arrive about 40 minutes after the buffet opens and this reduces the waiting time. If you do not wish to eat in the evening as you have other plans, let the reception staff know and you swap your evening meal for a lunchtime buffet.

The complex itself is in my opinion lovely, the two pools are beautiful especially the beach area. My only complaint would be the entertainment, we went the week before half term and this was considered out of season so there was no entertainment in the evenings apart from the kids disco for 40 mins. however, we took a stroll to the el paso hotel five minutes walk away and enjoyed the entertainment laid on in the courtyard, which was fab!!

When we arrived there was a problem with the size of room as we required an accessible room, with an additional bed. Unfortunately it was not large enough, but after consultations with our tour operator and the hotel the matter was resolved amicably.

The staffs were all very friendly and helpful throughout our week there.
The rooms were immaculate; ours had a large bathroom which had a spa bath and a separate shower, so plenty of space for us all.

The whole of the hotel both inside and out were kept sparkling clean every day.
The restaurant - the food was lovely and plenty of choice but occasionally it could have been a bit hotter, and there were queues sometimes.

The location of the hotel was brilliant for Portaventura and the Caribe water park, there is a train to take you there directly outside the hotel.
The entertainment was okay but could be improved.

This was our first holiday abroad with the children, who are aged 7 & 4, and we could not have chosen a better hotel. The different hotel buildings are all lovely and the layout is beatiful. Both pools are lovely, especially the beach pool which is great for the children. It is definately a 4 star hotel.

We flew to Barcelona where we the collected our hire car. It is so easy to get from Barcelona airport to the Caribe Resort as Port Aventura and the hotels beside it have their own moterway exit.

We were allocated a ground floor room which was exellent for the children as it meant they could play on the grass right beside our patio. The room and bathroom were clean and a good size. We had a big double bed and a proper fold down sofa for the children. The only complaint you may have is there is only a half rail of hanging space with 10 hangers. Don't bother taking any hangers of your own as there is no room for them. There is however plenty of shelf space in the wardrobe and other units in the room for 4 peoples clothes so we did not have a problem. They only thing you don't get that you would in a UK 4 star hotel is an iron so you need to bring your own if you feel the need to iron on holiday.

The bathroom is big with a great shower. There is the usual 4 star complimentary soap, shower gel, sewing kit etc. which was a surprise for us in a Spanish hotel. We always had plenty of lovely soft and they were changed every day. You also get lovely pool towels so there is no need to bring your own. Our only problem was that when we arrived there was not hot water in the sink, only the bath. However once we reported this to reception the maintenance men were across straight away and fixed it.

The food was excellent. A great choice at breakfast and dinner. Myself and the children are fussy eaters but we always found plendy to eat and the quality was excellent. Always plenty of food still available at then end of breakfast at 10:30am. There is a children's buffet but ours ate a lot from the adult buffet, althought it is always worth checking out the children's buffet as you will often find steak or chicken breast there.

The kids club is excellent. There is a paddling pool and play equipment outside and there is a club house where they play games or do arts and crafts. The club is open from 10am-1pm then 3-6pm. Our children went in the mornings because they wanted too. The staff there were all such fun that we could not drag the children away before 1pm so we did not get as much sight seeing done as we expected. The good thing is that the club is open for all ages at the same time so siblilngs are not split into different groups.

In the evening there was a kids disco from 8:30-9pm. Kids loved it so as long as they are happy we're happy. After that there was family entertainment from 10-11pm. The hotel has a good dance group who did Rock and Roll, Latin American and Paris Moulin Rouge on different nights. They mime but so what. This way you get good dancing and good singing. They also did a pantomime one night which was great for the children and there were professinal jugglers/acrobats another night. All the shows were good and if you have children in means you do not need to leave the hotel at night.

Almost forgot to mention the trains, that is because they did not disrupt our holiday at all. The trains soon turn into just background noise that you almost don't notice. We only noticed then because our 4 year old loved to run onto our patio to see what sort of train was passing.

Salou - I was glad we had chosen the Caribe Resort as it is on the outskirts of Salou. We passed several hotels we had considered but would not have been as happy with their location. However, there are some really beautiful parts of Salou. Head towards the marina. There are some beautiful old houses and lovely designer shops at that end of town.

Cambrils - this is another lovely town just down the coast. It is worth a visit. It has a nice marina with some lovely boats and it has a prettier seafront than Salou.

Port Aventura - great fun and it was geared up for Halloween. Huge pumpkins everywhere and a few scary characters chasing you around. The park was very quiet in October except from the weekend, so we never had to queue which was great. There are obviously height restrictions for the children but they are very sensible. Our children got on almost everything that was suitable for them. They were also allowed into Sea Odyssey which was too scary for my 4 year old. They would have been allowed into the Temple del Fuego but I was glad they did not want to go as it would have been too scary for them. Only bad thing was that about 4 of the smaller rides were closed for maintenance the whole time we were there.

The hotel road train that takes you to Port Aventura and Costa Caribe is very handy.

Costa Caribe - only the indoor part and a small bit of outside is open in October and it was good fun for the children. However,a word of warning. Make sure you wear footweat suitable for a pool as I was horrified that people are allowed to wander everywhere with outdoor shoes on. There are also no changing cubilces. There are shower cubicles though. We were suprised that it closed as early as 5pm.

All in all we had and excellent holiday and we were very lucky with the weather. It was hot and sunny every day which was exceptional for October. The only problem was we only went for one week when we could definately have stayed for two. We will definately go back to the Caribe Resort and Port Aventura again.

Myself and my Boyfriend (24 and 27) stayed at Caribe Resort in September.

This is the first time I have stayed in a hotel like this, as I've always been to self catering style apartments with my family.

The Pool

The pool is beautiful and if you want a holiday where you can sit by the pool all day but have some other things to do to keep away bordom then it's perfect. There are 2 pools, one with sand and one without, so if you hate the beach or fake beaches then there's something for everyone.

The Room

Our room had 2 double beds, TV, small fridge (it's big enough to hold 500ml drinks), TV - and yes it's true there's only one english channel (CNN), bathroom, balcony, our room also had a safe which is great for keeping passports etc.

Food

Breakfast is great. Wasn't overly keen on the cooked breakfast, but theres loads of variety - cereals, bread, toast, pastries, cold meats etc.

Being a fussy eater, we didn't go for the half board where a buffet dinner is included. But we did sample it one night. I wasn't impressed. As other reviews have said, the food is warm and for the fussier eater, there's only really junk food to choose from.

Facilities

There's a volleyball court, mini football pitch, giant chess board, jacuzzi, gym, indoor pool, ping pong, and pool tables.

The hotel 'key' is your pass into Port Aventura theme park, and in low season also a day into Costa Caribe (the water park).

Entertainment

There is entertainment at night, but we didn't go to any of it as we went into town most nights. So my rating for entertainment was based mainly on the facilities available.

Location

The hotel is probably about a 10 minute walk from the beach, and 5 minutes to the nearest train station "Port Aventura". It's probably a 5-10 minute walk to the Theme Park and Water Park.

The hotel is quite close to the train line, but it didn't wake us up at all, however this may have been because of the building we were in (Barbados).

Travelling

We flew to Barcelona and got the train to Salou. Our info told us get a train to La Pineda, but no-one at Barcelona Sants station had heard of that! We got a taxi from Salou to the Hotel. I would highly recommend if flying to Barcelona to look up timetables for trains from Barcelona Sants to Salou or Port Aventura. When we arrived at Sants we had to wait 2 and half hours for the next train to Salou! If you have no kids it's just as easy to get the train to Port Aventura and walk to Caribe Resort. But if you have kids then Salou may be the better option as there were never any taxis at Port Aventura station when we were there.

Our only complaint is that the area Salou seems to be taken over by British. And a lot of the bars are British and the restaurants along the beach sell chicken and chips, fish and chips, egg and chips...and sadly we didn't find a 'real' Spanish restaurant to eat at.

Oh and for all you Maccy D fans out there, there is a MacDonalds along the beach

My fiance and I stayed at this hotel in September. After arriving the day after a dreadful storm. The staff were in full swing tidying everywhere up and making it back to the way it nomally was.

Our room had a huge double bed in it and a fairly large very new bathroom with a fantastic shower in it. I think the cleaning lady could of done a bit more dusting and mopping of the floor though. Also every other day we had to ask for more towels which became a pain as they never left you enough.

On the good side though, the beach/pool area is gorgeous the pool is absolutely huge and loads and loads of empty sunbeds and people are not allowed to reserve them which is nice. There was always plenty of life guards on from early in the morning till night time.

There was always staff working in the gardens keeping it nice and the music rocks were fab dotted all along the path.

We were on a half board basis so when we first went to dinner I was really taken aback by the huge choice. The meals there were really nice. There is so much choice for even the fussiest of eaters. There was even a children's buffet so there was always something plain to choose from. Delicious choice of salads, cold meats, fish, pasta, breads, roasts every night, chicken, steak, sushi, lobster, chips, potatoes, smiley faces, paella and lots lots more. Lots of different fruits, ice creams and cakes also.

I looked forward to dinner every night for the choice they had. The chefs were always out filling everything up and keeping it all nice and if something ran out it was replenished immediately.

Breakfast too had a huge choice, bacon, eggs, pastries, cold meats, cheeses and fruits and cereals.
The only thing you have to watch is if you leave something on your table and nip up to the buffet to get something else like a drink etc, as they whip your breakfast away and clear your table for the next person so beware.

At night time you couldn't just get 1 glass of wine in the restaurant you had to buy a half bottle and not being a big drinker didn't always want that.

You can have lunch at the Salsa cafe if you have room left after breakfast, however on the only two occassions we ate there, I found the staff not very friendly and not very helpful, quite unlike the staff in the main restaurant.

We took the train to Barcelona which I would thoroughly recommend. (Lot cheaper than reps trips of about 49 euros) There is a station 2 minutes walk away called Port Aventura station. It is about an hour on the the train and the 10.20 train is much nice than the earlier or later one. It costs around 9 euros about

First impressions of the Caribe Resort, yes it did look a little like a holiday camp, but it was clean, bright and inviting.

The rooms were lovely, comfortable and clean with a queen sized bed, even the sofa-bed was comfortable. There was a mini frige, ideal for water/drinks.

The food in the restaraunt was well presented, varied and very nice, with a small selection for children, the only thing is that because of the buffet style, the food was not as hot as it could be although the staff had started to put labels on.

There was also an a snack bar, seafood restaraunt and an Italian which was buffet style and cost us 48 euros for a meal with drinks. (2 adults 1 child, they didn't charge for the 3 year old)

The pools were very clean with plenty of sunbeds, the beach pool was an excellent feature.

The entertainment was good, the staff worked very hard throughout the day and had unlimited amounts of energy. Some would start at 10am and still do the evening cabaret at 10pm, the children loved the pantomimes they did of Peter Pan and Cinderella, there was also a magician and acrobats as well other productions.

Saying that i feel there was only a half hour from 8.30 - 9.00 to entertain the kiddies and my 3year old boy would get wrestless waiting an hour for the show.

The beach was not far about a 10 min walk although we did not use the main beach, it was so busy.

PortAventura was a short walk, although there was the train to take you if you wanted, was good with some great shows, although there was not much for a 3 year old, we were given tickets for the water park for the day after our arrival so we didnt get there.

Barcelona was also a good day out with the Zoo and Nou Camp in one day for 170 euros for a family of 4.
All in all, I was not really impressed with Salou, but would go back to the Caribe Resort.

The hotel was very clean especially the bedrooms but, the one thing that annoyed me was that when anything was spilt rather than moping it up they poured salt onto the floor which was just as slippery and dangerous as the liquid.

The food was okay if you didn't mind having a guess at what you was eating as nothing was labeled although most of it wasn't that bad. My one and everyonelses complaint was that most of the food was warm or cold.

I found the location good as I myself was quite happy to sit around the pool all day only strolling into Salou every now and then. Yes there is a railway line that runs quite close to the hotel but it wasn't that loud.

The staff at the hotel were very plesant especially the childrens day club staff. Christina and Valentin were fantastic they made my son so happy and contented that he cried when we left and has promised them that he will send them a card saying thankyou and copies of photos.

The entertainment that we saw was excellent, it had us in fits of laughter even though the entertainment area wasn't very big it didn't seem to matter being close to your neighbour. The childrens mini disco was good hosted by either Valentin or Christina who all the children loved.

I will definately be coming back to this hotel.