We've just returned from a fortnight at the Dorada Palace and I have to say we won't be going back.

We arrived around 10 am and couldn't check in til 2pm which was a nightmare with me having been up for roughly 24 hours by then and a very grumpy and tired 11 yr old in tow! I have to say the hotel is lovely, very clean and modern and the staff were very friendly and helpful because there wasn't a rep to be seen!!

So 2pm came and luckily we were at the front of the enormous queue to check-in and were dealt with quickly and courteously. Have to say though that the 100 euro deposit on the apartment and then another 50 euros for the safety deposit box was a bit of a shocker!

It was only when we got to our room we realised that the hotel was built on the side of a Spanish dual-carriageway (which our apartment faced!) The constant noise of cars ruled out any peaceful evenings on the balcony. Don't even get me started about the ambulances!

I think the most we counted in one day was 27! The apartment was capable of sleeping 5 apparantly but I think claustrophobia would have set in! It was big enough for us 2 but maybe a third but no more! The maids were fab and kept it spotless.

I had read about the 9am sunbed dash and thought I would get up to see if it was really true. I have to say it is. I have never seen anything like it! Grown men queuing at the doors from 8.30 and nearly barging the receptionists over when they opened them! Pushing and shoving like kids running for ice-cream! People falling over, losing shoes and throwing themselves across the sunbeds to get "their" spot. Absolutely ridiculous.

Pools were good, although all the rules seemed a bit excessive and the life-guard made sure they were followed too!

As we stayed self-catering we only tried the restaurant a few times and as much as there is a good choice I didn't like it and found every time I ate there I had an upset tummy the next day. Not that cheap either and I think they could at least give you one free drink with your evening meal for the price they are charging.

All the staff were friendly and very helpful but I noticed that if you don't make the effort with them, they won't bother to make the effort either. It doesn't cost anything to say please and thank you and saw some of the staff putting up with some of the rudest people! It made me ashamed to be British.

The hotel is about a 5 min walk to Salou centre and about 10 mins from the beach (which is very clean and no mad sunbed dash!) Salou itself was a bit of a dump (think your local city centre with fountain and palm trees) full of English bars and restaurants which if you like that sort of thing is great but not my cup of tea.

I have to say I only saw the First Choice reps once and thats at the welcome meeting and for reasons of my own I can honestly say I will never choose First Choice again. Absolutely rubbish.

All in all if this hotel was placed somewhere else I would gladly stay again but sadly it's not so we won't.

I have just arrived back form the dorada palace and it was absoulty fantastic I can't say a bad word about any of it the Kids Club is Fantastic and so are the other reps Claire, Ali and Joe. They were great always smiling and always in the hotel making sure we was OK. They work so hard and they deserve all the praise they can get.

So I don't agree with comments that have been put on this website regarding them, all the reps in the Hotel was great!

The hotel is spotless really clean and the food is lovely. I will be returning again next year for sure nad look foward to it!! My kids loved it and so did I!!!!!!!

Thanks

Jane

We stayed here for a week and am looking to go back again. I cant believe all the negative reviews!!
Room was small but we went with a 7yr old and a 14yr old so ended up sleeping on the balcony as quite small!!
Hotel itself was clean, busy, and kept up with demand in our eyes. Restaurant food good, plenty to offer, catered for all ages. most people headed to the kids bit, what is it with Brits & Chips???
Location great! Plenty of bars shops, lovely promenade for evening strolls which we did every night! Shopping a must!
Easy access to Portaventura, we walked it in 15m easy!. Weather was great, bar a mega lightening storm which i thought was great lol!
Beach was lovely, clean, couldnt fault it.
Only downside for me was we had a pool facing room on 1st floor and entertainment was right outside, so noise (if you had a headache) went on late until sleep could be acheievd!! That and a 2pm check in, as we arrived at 10am so it was like Hmmm now what, but when we left it was good we wasnt kicked out of our rooms till 12pm so it kinda went hand in hand.
Other than that top holiday. Gave all we wanted for the money, we had a gd time, kids had a gd time.
Simple.

OK lets get things straight! The Hotel is good apart from some silly rules like the not being able to check in until 1400 and the deposit needing to be left (for self catering rooms only by the way). The apartment we stayed in was adequate for the 5 of us though we had a self catering apartment despite being Half Board. Maid service was every day and she did a good enough job to warrant a tip at the end of our stay. Hotel food was good, and well presented but as with all holidays did become a little repetitive. However if you wish you can order a picnic lunch and forego your evening meal, meaning you can go elsewhere once in a while without feeling you have totally wasted money. Access to Salou was about a 10 min walk away and was usual mix of touts, takeaways and bars, but made a change for the in house entertainment. Fueteventura is also a 20 min walk away, and we went there a lot having purchased a 2 week pass online from attractiontix.com (prices are so much cheaper than paying at the gate so worth checking out befor you go....).

Hotel staff were friendly enough apart from the lifeguard who I believe didn't smile in the two weeks we were there!

All in all we had a good holiday here and we would go again if we didn't have so much left of the world to see!!!

This was a lovely hotel, but I was not happy with the location.

Did not mind the walk to the beach, but via many main roads, you take your life in your hands. Apart from this, its spotlessly clean, lovely reception and rooms and nice staff.

I have to say however that the kids clubs were excellent and the reps, especially Jenny worked so hard and gave 110%. A credit to First Choice. My kids loved her and were crying when we left.

The First Choice caberet on Monday night was such good fun. Everyone worked so hard to please. I will be returning next year.

Well on first arrival to Salou at 430am everything looked lovely hotel reception staff were pleasant and patient with all the arrivals we received a welcome bag with coffee,tea etc.

The room itself was lovely apart from us asking for a ground floor and pool view, we got 5th floor bus park/petrol station view. Oh by the way the busses on the weekend tend to all start up all together at around 600am, one morning it sounded like Silverstone on grand prix weekend.

All that aside the hotel is clean and lots to do the entertainment wasnt for us but looked like alot of people were enjoying it. Kids disco the same as any where we've been keeps the little ones happy and amused.

Location of the hotel is debatable as if you got 14 day passes to Portuventura park it is ideal. But if you wanted to visit salou it self its a short walk across some very busy/dangerous roads. The pools are well kept and had no trouble getting sunbeds at around 10:00am. The hotel has 3 pools

1 main 1 kids and one which is situated at the side of the hotel which you can use inflatables but we found it quite windy. the kids club cant comment on it my kids didnt really bother with it they tend to make frinds and play in the pool.

The only thing that I can complain about is the bar staff we found some of them to be very rude and just didn't want to help or do there job, but saying that thers was about 4 of them who were the opposite and received a lot tips from us.

Cant comment on the food as we didnt eat in the hotel apart from at the pool side bar which was ok and very reasonable prices. I did here alot of good reports on the food however. The hotel is lovely and would recommend it would be perfect if it was some were else, for instance out of salou.

The PORTUVENTURA park which is out of this world busy but worth every penny we had a 14day pass we found the best time to go up there was at around 330pm - 4pm as most of the crowds start dying down and there's no waiting for the big rides. Dragon Khan is awesome must have gone on it about 20 times, but what made the holiday was the new ride opening on the day we left its called FURIOUS BACO and trust me its furious 0 - 130KMH in 3 seconds all i can say is don't put your hands up your arms will hurt after. Try to smile at the start of the ride as that's when it takes your picture, when it starts you wont be smiling for long and if you can sit at the front as its the best seat and the scariest. The water park is good not the best ive been to but apparently there's a better one in La Pineda.

We will go back to Salou but will stay at the park for a week and not bother with the town as we didn't like the place or the way the locals treated everybody.

Just returned from a fantastic week at the Daurada Palace Hotel. The hotel was exceptionally clean and all the staff friendly, bar staff and receptionist alike.

The food was great and a large selection to choose from, something different for every night. The location of the hotel was good, just far enough out of the town not to hear all the night life but close enough for the little ones to walk to. There is a small hill to the hotel but I wouldn't let this put you off. The theme/water parks are within walking distance making this hotel a good base for visiting Salou.

I cannot really comment on the entertainment as my kids were to young to join in at night, although what I did see was good. The kids club reps were fantastic, my eldest is quite shy but by the end of the week he was really getting in to it. His fav was Alex, who just seemed to put himself out that little bit more for the kids. With face painting, teddy bear treasure hunts and a host of other activities this hotel was great for the kids.

The creche facility was good aswell, it just gives you that little break from the kids while they go off and enjoy themselves. At a cost of 12 euros for an hour and half, it seems expensive but its worth the money.

The pools were good all four of them, they were clean and the main pool had a resident life guard, although she doesn't smile a lot she does a good job.

All in all we had a great week and a seriously considering going back again next year.

I stayed at the Dorada Palace Hotel from the 1st May for 1 week, with my partner and must express how disappointed I was.

Firstly I arrived at this hotel at 10.30am after an early flight from London, although I was aware that we couldn't check in until 2pm.. I found it disgusting that we had to pay 1 euro per case to have our luggage stored, surely this should have been a free facility?!

I cannot fault the rooms, they are to a nice standard and the housekeeping are exceptionally clean.

The hotel is not located in the town centre as stated on First Choices website, it takes a good 15 minutes to walk to any decent restaurants and nightlife is a good half hour walk, or 7 euro in a taxi, unfortunately our reps were useless and we didn't discover the array of clubs and pub until our last 2 days.

The Pool, was OK the only thing I found weird was no inflatables were allowed, bearing in mind this is a family hotel, so not even the babies were allowed to have the rings etc, the lifeguard spent most of the day on her phone, not impressed!

The food was not to my taste, breakfast was OK, they have a wee chef on the grill who does eggs, omelettes and steaks etc in the evening, but I just found the food boring and tasteless same old same old, it was good that they had a selection for the kids, and at there height range, which was sweet.

Portaventura is about a 20 minute walk from the hotel and was OK, but I have been to better parks in the UK, e.g. Thorpe Park and Alton Towers, but for what it was it was quite good one tip buy your theme park tickets before you go, we got ours for

We stayed from the 1st May for 1 week,with 3 children aged 2,7 and 8.

We arrived at 3am,and didnt have the luxury of a rep on the coach or to help us check in.

The hotel itself is lovely,very clean,the rooms are smaller than some,no kettle in h/board.you can use the fridge but you have to pay 12 euros deposit(refundable).the safe is 18 euros +10 euros deposit. Nice swimming pools, a park area for the smaller children,and games room. No ATMs in hotel, and some of the reception staff dont speak english,which can be a problem when the reps are nowhere to be found!

In the swimming pools NO inflatables!,NO swimming under water!!,and no wearing sunglasses! even if you are just dipping your toes in,you may laugh but its true and the lifeguard loves using her whistle.

The kids evening entertainment was arranged by hotel,and was the same old everynight,my kids found it very boring,the adult entertaiment consisted of Bingo,karoke,u bet and a couple of shows.

we went out most days so didnt use the kids clubs,we took them one evening and was told they were having a party night and would have to pay 15 euros each!oh and there closed all day Sunday.

The quality of the food was poor,we found it hard to find something we liked each day.

The hotel isnt central and there is a lot of walking,the beach being farthest away. The walk to portaventura is about 15min walk up slight incline,so coming back is quicker,however there is a steep hill up to the hotel,which can be a killer when youve been on your feet all day!!

If your'e thinking of going to Barcelona the train is approx 11 euros,you will need a taxi to station and back,but still a lot cheaper than the arranged tours.

PORTAVENTURA is GREAT get your tickets from attractiontix.co.uk.save yourself a fortune,we paid the same for a 1 week pass as what they were charging at the gate for 1 day!!

Having read the reviews on this hotel, I was dreading going. So I was surprised when we got into our apartment. It had lots of space, was very clean and had loads of wardrobe space.

The kitchen had limited facilities but you could make a cuppa and breakfast - What more do you need! The swimming pools were lovely but very crowded. The life guard was great and ensured safety at all times.

We had breakfast in the hotel at couple of times - 7 Euros. It was brill as the kids could eat as much as they liked and the selection of fruit was great. The kids disco was OK but it was the same every night.

There is a park just up from the baby pool and this was very well equipped. The roof top pool is a must if you want a break from the kids for 10 minutes. This hotel is worthy of its 4-stars and we will definitely be going again.