Hotel California Garden

After reading reviews I was a little apprehensive but I needn’t have worried, the hotel was lovely. Huge room overlooking the pool area, small balcony too. Excellent air conditioning, WiFi very touch and go at times. The hotel is spotlessly clean and couldn’t fault the pool area, just a shame it was so cold for a dip. Downsides, no pool towels, no kettle, no fridge, no safe etc.. Plenty of bars, restaurants and bus stops close by there’s also a supermarket opposite for essentials. Five minutes walk from the beach area and close to plaza europa. Really nice selection of food especially breakfast, altho some of the dinner options were a little strange and some didn’t belong together at all! Super friendly restaurant staff, really looked after me as a solo traveler too. I’d definitely return here again.

Awful from the start. After arriving and being given direction to our room in a second building, we were looking forward to relaxing before dinner. Unfortunately this was not the case. The room we were given absolutely stunk of smoke it was so overwhelming even just being in for a few minutes. I immediately went to reception and explained and asked for another room which I was rudely told no and a cleaner would come and air the room. 1hr later still no cleaner so I asked again to be moved as we couldn't possibly sleep in that room. Still the response was no. I asked the manager or a member of staff to come to the room with me to inspect it but they would not. After nearly 2hrs we were told the cleaner had been. We went to go back to the room and it was no better they had just sprayed air freshener. Nearly 3hrs of waiting in reception and we were finally given a different room. I reached out to Jet 2 and the rep, who did contact the hotel but they denied the whole thing. I didn’t want to waste anymore time on our holiday so didn’t complain further but I would not recommend this hotel. Staff are rude and dismissive. Food was local and nice to start but very repetitive, although we were half board we ate out a lot. I would never stay at this hotel again and I would certainly not recommend. Not welcoming at all. I would put this as a max 2 star.

Awful hotel the food is inedible cold and greasy the staff are rude and several guests had their bags stolen. The only positive was the location being not far from the centre but i wouldnt stay here again even if they paid me. Should be downgraded to a 1*

Avoid at all costs. Still currently here (7 nights) the food is terrible (half board) i barely ate. Don't come here if you want to sleep. If you get a room over looking the pool you wont sleep. There's a nightclub next door called flashback, and it's one of the most popular in Salou. It opens at 12.30am and doesn't close until 6.30am. All you will hear in your room is bassy dance music and people screaming. I had to buy ear plugs, have the radio on my phone, and drink excessively to be able to sleep. This place is hell.

Travelled here with my wife for our first holiday in Salou. We absolutely loved Salou and will return next year, just not to this hotel. When you walk in, the place looks clean and tidy, however, it's not very friendly. The staff, with the exception of the female restaurant manager, were very rude. The bar staff puzzle me as you pay different prices for the same round. One male member even tried asking for my card to put in machine himself, nope, sorry fella, not today! No kettle, safe, iron, cups, etc. in the rooms. We enquired at reception for use of a fridge/kettle/iron/safe and were told they didn't have any, which was odd because the Spanish speaking lady in front of us at reception asked for a fridge and was told one would be put in their room. We ended up buying a kettle from one of the nearby supermarkets and bags of ice to keep the milk cool in the sink! The cleaners were fantastic and really friendly. The pools are good, and there was a lot of sunbed booking where people have thrown their towels on the loungers early mornings. The entertainment, which we were told was every other night, was non-existent. One night of Spanish dancing for around 45 mins is all we saw during our stay there. The food is not great. We went half board but ate out most evenings due to the repetitive nature of the evening meals. At breakfast there are two coffee machines and two juice machines, free to use. The queues to use these are ridiculous! In the evening, these machines are off and you have to buy drinks from the restaurant bar - don't try buying from any other bar as you cannot take the drink into the restaurant, which puzzled me. There is a bar/restaurant just down the road from the hotel called Linda's, go there for food instead. I feel a bit disappointed writing this review because we absolutely loved our holiday, but it wasn't the best hotel. I agree with all the other reviews. My advice if staying at this hotel is room only. Get yourself out and about around Salou as it's a lovely place with loads to see and do, and plenty of choices to eat out.

I'm going to make this short and sweet: The food is inedible (and I'm really not picky) The beds are so uncomfortable They shut the pool bar 3 weeks earlier but kept telling the TUI rep it was open Sheets where never changed, just the beds made up (I know because I marked them) We had to steal toilet roll from the cleaners cart as they never gave us any. The electric kept tripping in our room, so we ended up waiting up to an hour at a time for maintenence. It's the end of the season and they didn't really care, the 2 guys on the front desk just didn't want to be there, so miserable.

Excellent room service towels changed daily.Bed made every day Good entertainment Ideal location to shops and beach I would recommend this hotel and will be staying again in the future Two lovely pools with plenty of beds around.

Negatives where do i start, first of all food is atrocious nothing for kids except chips which are freezing, the chicken is raw and hair found in a potato. we came down for breakfast 20 minutes before they shut and they had the food heaters turned off, bacon on a morning is like fried ham. Pasta is dripping with grease, no fresh fruit on a morning. also save your self from toothache and do not eat the bread it is like eating rocks for breakfast no taste what so ever. The pictures below are all the food they have to offer. secondly full of school kids early hours of every morning, between midnight and 6am. they were spitting off there balcony trying to jump off onto the roof, they were flinging their hats around in the restaurant and one came off and hit my mam in the head. When i reported the hair in the chicken and i asked for the restaurant manager they said they didn’t have one which is shocking. When booking this holiday they said they had entertainment and music through out the day we have had none of that, there is no kids club for kids to go off and play they are literally bored. no entertainment on a night either so if that’s what your after do not bother. as well back on with the school kids they were blocking the whole of reception including the stairs and lifts so no one could get up or down and we had to just barge through them. The swimming pool it’s clean but you would think there were ice cubes in it. you can not go in it without literally freezing and it has nothing to do with the weather as we went to another hotel and tried there pool and it was warmer than theirs. If you have a late flight when returning home it is €30 to keep the room as check out is 10 am and they also don’t have a shower room to get a wash and to get changed before you fly back. The gym and sauna say they are included within your hotel price it isn’t you have to pay €10 per day if you want to use it. Positive The cleaners do a fabulous job of keeping the hotel tidy and there is only SOME staff which are helpful. We shall never be returning to this hotel again by far the worst

Hotel - nice on arrival to lobby, looked very nice, staff at front desk were mostly friendly, male staff were standoffish. Room - Very very basic, disappointed no fridge, no kettle (had to buy one as tea coffee wasn’t readily available downstairs) Beds were made, bins emptied and floors mopped but nothing else touched, nothing replenished like plastic cups, soaps etc sheets not changed. I asked about fridge and was told several times to come back in an hour, I gave up in the end! Bathroom - Reasonable, towels changed once left on the floor. Aircon - Dreadful, old fashioned and rattled loudly most of time, even broke with 27 degree heat - thankfully they had repaired on our return. No remote, no thermostat, took ages to cool room. Balcony - Very basic plastic, uncomfortable seating, fan from aircon facing into seating area which meant blown with warm air which was not pleasant with heat outside. Restaurant - Nice layout but food was dreadful! As a vegetarian there was extremely limited selection which did not change throughout our week there, my partner said meat was like leather and not cooked properly, some other foods not cooked properly and food was also not replenished enough when busy. We ended up having breakfast out after first couple of days and also then we ate dinner out which was very disappointing after paying half board. One lady at restaurant was not pleasant at all and we found that very off putting. Bar - very slow, often waiting a long time as bar staff has wandered off or ran out of mixer. Was charged different prices for same drinks! Pool - lovely pool area, very pleasant and plenty of seating. Location - extremely close to everything, probably only plus of this hotel.