Отзыв о поездке в апартамент-отель Сант Жорди, город Плайа де Аро (Platja D’Aro) Review of the trip to the apartment hotel Sant Jordi, the city of Playa d'Aro (Platja D'Aro)

A ticket to the Sant Jordi apartment-hotel (Contat Sant Jordi) was bought in Alfa Travel (St. Petersburg) through an advertising campaign in the winter of 2009-10. The contract provided for a referral to one of the 20 proposed resorts. One week of stay was a gift, paid for the second. After the purchase, I saw on the Internet both bad and good reviews about the company. The meaning of bad reviews was to reject the aggressive sales system, lure in free weeks and gifts. In my opinion, everyone makes a purchase consciously, has the right not to do so. I did not see any constructive negative reviews about the hotels offered by Alfa Travel. Additionally, the company gave me the right to invite 10 couples for 10 weeks. Two more friends were involved in this adventure, who took one week from us for a family and bought one each. For the trip we chose Spain, the Costa Brava. The hotel was chosen only on the basis of reviews and proximity to Barcelona. At registration, Alfa Travel manager Yulia Bogdanova recommended Sant Jordi to us. We believed the argument that it is further from Barcelona, ​ ​ but the hotel is better. The order for the second half of July was made in April. The economy flight was booked by Lufthansa itself (via Munich), since Alfa Travel offered the same tickets with a 5% surcharge. The airport-hotel transfer was booked at Alfa Travel (the cost of the car is 100 euros, the minibus for our company of seven people is 200 euros round trip). A week before departure, we received vouchers and all documents from Yulia. I liked the work of Alfa Travel in choosing a hotel and the direction of the group. I was surprised that two days before departure, the phone rang from the hotel, Oksana (as they later found out, the director of the Russian line) confirmed that the hotel was waiting for us, a minibus for the company would be. The Russian service of the hotel provided us with first aid upon arrival in Barcelona. Lufthansa sent us on a direct flight due to their booking mistake and gave us a voucher for monetary compensation for the inconvenience of the 3 hour wait. Therefore, we arrived earlier and to another terminal. On a call to Oksana, the car came to the required terminal, and then the driver took us to the Lufgnanza office (several kilometers from terminal to terminal) for compensation and waited for a long time, while we resolved issues with the airline. The hotel is located at a distance of almost 100 kilometers from Barcelona, ​ ​ at the exit from the resort town of Playa de Aro (Platja D'Aro). Upon arrival, the guide provided by the group, Irina, was waiting for us. Our request to accommodate the group in neighboring rooms was fulfilled. Apartments T1 consist of a kitchen-living room, a bedroom with a sliding door between them, a toilet with a bathtub, a large balcony. Kitchen equipment is minimal. We are spoiled for apartments and cottages in Finland, so we were surprised by the lack of a microwave. Also, there are no kitchen towels, rags, soap, a washbasin, that is, something that is always there in Finland. The TV does not receive Russian channels. The hotel buildings are built in a trapezium around the central pool, all balconies overlook it. The territory is sufficient, green. There is no sports ground and gym, only tennis and billiard tables. Animators are engaged in small children. On the territory there is a grocery store and household goods, a bar-restaurant and a dining buffet. Canteen prices per person: breakfast 8, lunch and dinner 13 euros, half board (breakfast + dinner) - 140 euros per week. We did not take, cooked in the room, some of our company went for breakfast, the quality of food is good, but the choice is less than in Turkey and Egypt. Barbecue in the restaurant on Wednesday evenings, on other days local food and alcohol at prices lower than in the city. Every evening at the hotel a concert of live music and / or karaoke is heard in the rooms until 24-00. The hotel has a Wi-Fi hotspot, but the price is high - 5 euros for 3 hours. On arrival we were warned to be charged 500 euros for possible property damage. I do not know what is possible to break / steal for this amount. I suppose that the hotel creates an opportunity for vacationers to have money to purchase goods at the presentation, which I will discuss below. They also demanded the original contract, with which I do not quite agree. Either the hotel must take the contract from its agents - Alfa Travel, or Alfa Travel must give an extra copy of the contract. At the end of the holiday, the contract was not given to me. Before the trip, we read the description of the hotel and checked it on Google Map - from the hotel to the beach is less than a kilometer with a one-way crossing. Everything is correct, but... after crossing the road, you have to go down to the sea along the stairs of 8 flights of almost 150 steps. The walk is invigorating. This is the only thing they "forgot" to mention in the advertisement. The infrastructure on the beach is not developed, there are no umbrellas and sunbeds. Only a cafe. Beach with coarse sand, the entrance to the water is good, there are a few stones. The water is colder than in the same season in Turkey and Cyprus. A path is laid along the coast at a height, from which there are descents into each of the small beautiful bays, and you can walk to the city center, where the hotels are located right on the beach. Since Spain was an unknown country for almost all of our company, we started our acquaintance with it from the book “Spain in your pocket”, I advise you to buy it. Guide Irina led the city, showed the recommended places to stay. Provided our group with a mobile phone for prompt communication with her. We advise you to visit the WOK Gu seafood restaurant, by taxi from the hotel 15 euros, but then we walked. The restaurant operates on a buffet basis 13 euros per person, gorge yourself on seafood for a lifetime. Excursions in Spain are offered by guides, excursions are more expensive than in guidebooks for the Costa Brava, but we advise you to use it. Personal bus, no need to wait or collect people from other hotels, we had 2-3 guides on the bus for 15 vacationers. They helped with tours, restaurants, seating for shows. We felt an advantage over vacationers from Tez Tour and Natalie Tour (not anti-advertising, but a statement of fact), who had one guide per 100 people. Prices for standard excursions (approximate prices per adult) from those that were taken for our company: the S. Dali Museum and wine tasting - 95 euros, a boat trip - 75 euros, a sightseeing tour of Barcelona - 95 euros, a theatrical show, a jousting tournament in the fortress and flamenco dancing - 81 euros. We are not very satisfied with the tour of Barcelona, ​ ​ because the review included the Olympic complex, which was not interesting to most, time for dinner and free time was provided only at the end of the tour, when everyone was already brutalized with hunger, there was little time left for a walk around the city. There was also an excursion to France for 150 euros and to Mount Montserrat to the monastery - 95 euros. The resort town of Playa de Aro is located along the coast, hotels and apartments along the coastline, the coast is steep, descending stairs of different lengths. In the central part of the city, the coast descends to the sea. The city has one coastal road, which divides into two shopping streets with many good shops and cafes. We recommend buying groceries at the Carrefour hypermarket. On Fridays, there is a market in front of the hypermarket, the choice of goods is similar to aprashki (St. Petersburg residents will understand), but vegetables and fruits are noticeably cheaper than in stores. Of the products, there is no sour cream (replaced with 30% cream), cottage cheese and kefir. The conditions of our tour included the obligatory presence at the presentation of the hotel. Each of our families visited the presentation of the club holiday, which was advertised by our guides. At the end of the presentation, we were offered to buy weeks in the MTS club using the RCI exchange system. By its principle, this is a timeshare system that has not received recognition and does not have legislative legalization in Russia, but actually operates all over the world. We decided to conduct some of the excursions ourselves in a rented car. . Guides and the hotel promised to provide a rental assistance service. A minivan was booked for the company in advance. Unfortunately, in the evening before the planned trip, the guide said that our order was not confirmed, there were no cars and there would not be. At the rental point in the city, we were given a sedan for one of the families, a large car had to be ordered in advance. The hotel service promised to order a big car the next day, but this promise was also not fulfilled. Only after the scandal we were given a minivan for the last day, and we had to pay for two days of rent. Rental prices depend on the rental period and car class, sedan for 2 days - 120 euros, minivan for 2 days - 230 euros. On a rented car, one family went with a child to the Port Ventura recreation park, the whole company went to Andorra and to the capital of the province of Girona. We are very satisfied with the trips. Planned trips to Montserrat and France fell through, we are convinced, due to the sluggishness of the guides and the hotel service. The general conclusion is that we are satisfied with the trip, we can recommend the hotel for recreation, it corresponds to its 3 *, the town is pleasant for recreation, but please take into account the review. We would like to thank Yulia Bogdanova, manager of Alfa Travel, and Irina, hotel guide, for organizing the rest.