Great hotel! Super playground!

Written: 10 march 2012
Travel time: 27 september — 8 october 2011
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For a relaxing holiday; For business travel; For families with children; For recreation with friends, for young people
Your rating of this hotel:
10.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 10.0
Service: 10.0
Cleanliness: 10.0
Food: 10.0
Amenities: 10.0
Rest from September 27 to October 8.2011. Very detailed review. Great hotel for children!
Thanks to everyone who left positive reviews about this hotel - they ALL turned out to be absolutely true and helped a lot. From the reviews, I learned that before arriving at the hotel, you can contact the general manager at the reception Svetlana and wrote her a letter. Svetlana answered me within an hour , which was very surprising and pleased. I wrote that we really wanted to get to your hotel, but there were no places and therefore we bought 2 doubles, but we will live like this: me, husband, son 3.5 years old, in one room, and the mother-in-law (68 years old) is different, so we need a room with 3 beds for us and a room for the mother-in-law nearby. In addition, having paid the standard, I dared to ask for rooms with a sea view and on the top floor so that there would be less noise. the hotel is full, but she will try to help. I understood that this is just a polite form of refusal, but when we arrived at the hotel, Svetlana gave us the keys to 2 rooms nearby, overlooking the sea and on the last (8th) floor !
The hotel is very beautifully illuminated at night.

On the left, in a three-story building, there are singles and two-room suites.
There are air conditioners on the roof of this three-story building - it can be noisy.
The tennis court is located next to the playground.
There is also a football field there.
There was no limit to my happiness from what I saw.
For the first time in my life, I was immediately delighted with the room - from the view from it - of the pool, the sea. The noise of the sea was heard so strongly that, for example, it even interfered with my husband (he quickly got used to it), and I said that it the crime is to close the balcony when the sound of the waves is heard. The room is small, but cozy, clean, good finishes, the tiles are laid neatly, no daub, curvature (as in Egypt and Turkey, blunder. ) Large bathroom. There are 3 single beds in the room. Child fell out of bed on the first night (didn’t even wake up, we woke up and got scared, there was such a roar, we thought he broke something for himself : ) We decided that it was an accident, just fell asleep, he fell again. In general, in the morning all 3 beds were pushed together and one nightstand went to the other side.
Single rooms are smaller. There is one large bed. But there is a window in the bathroom (and toilet). All singles are located on the third floor.
I have such a tradition - I always bring a box of sweets to the cleaners and I always meet her on the first day of rest, I give sweets, 2 euros, I say that the child has an allergy (it really is) and I ask you to wash the floor well. ALWAYS the cleaners just lick our room is full of shampoos, shower gels are left full, towels are changed even when they hang on the balcony-dry (I don’t consider it necessary to change them every day), the floor is always washed and vacuumed. In the corridor we always greet each other and smile - and it is very pleasant for them and for us. In general, the human factor, a smile, kindness is your key to a good attitude of the staff towards you and your comfortable stay.

I was very pleased with the hotel. I am preparing for a vacation thoroughly, I read reviews for a long time, I make notes for myself, because what is bad for one is good for another. for them, the hotel is bad because there is a complete lack of animation and silence - they write - they almost died of boredom - therefore they give a rating of 2, but for me, for example, it's good - I need silence and do not need animation. So read the reviews carefully And remember, what is bad for one may be very good for another!
We arrived at the end of the season. Animation was during the day by the pool and in the evening every day very interesting shows of visiting artists. Not the shows that are usually found in Turkey and Egypt (I compare with these countries because I have rested there many times) - dumb jokes of local animators or girls from Ukraine, and professional performances by artists of different genres. However, after the Flamenco show, we saw the performances of our animators and children, they showed a dance, it was COOL! The movements are complex and the dance is staged perfectly, so our animators are great!
Food. There are simply no words here. Very tasty. I have always wondered WHO? dares to write about good food, that it is bad, but now I understand who. My husband and I go often. My husband was expensive fives in Mexico and Japan, there is something to compare with.
We met one grandmother there. She was constantly dissatisfied with everything.
Moreover, my dad didn’t like anything in the super expensive five either, because there were no dumplings, cabbage soup, stuffed peppers, salted tomatoes, that is, what he was used to, but he really likes it in the Soviet sanatorium, and I was shocked from that food. I love mashed soups, and there is only cabbage soup or noodles. So our parents and grandmothers don’t like a lot on vacation, something that is new, unfamiliar to them.

On vacation, our grandmother didn’t like anything! NOTHING! We enjoyed the food - trout melted in our mouths, every day - delicious grilled meat, pork, chicken, turkey, even kangaroo meat, beef, mussels, jamon, large shrimp - it was all A lot of delicious cheeses, and what delicious fresh pineapples were! My husband says, like in Mexico! Juicy, sweet. Every day ice cream is my favorite vanilla-chocolate, strawberry, lemon (this despite the fact that I don’t like ice cream, but with pleasure). What cakes! As for olives and olives, I, as a destroyer in countless quantities of olives and not a lover of olives, here I collected half a plate of olives and savored each of which even my husband on the 3rd day (he hates them maybe) said: "Well, is it really SO tasty? Let me try. " I tried it and said that of all the olives that he ate, these are really very tasty. In general, the food was excellent.
However, let's return (for clarity of comparison) to our familiar grandmother, with whom we communicated and against whom I have nothing, but who has her own view of everything - if this is not the way she used to, then it's bad : )
Last year she went to Israel and she said that everything was better in Israel because there was a refrigerator, but here it is not.
I tell her, you have a full board here, why do you need a refrigerator? Are you starving? You always say that you are so full that you skip the next meal (though she always went : ). There was no answer.
She did not like that here, when you come to a restaurant, they look at your cards (issued upon arrival), mark and invite you to a table. You can sit in another place if there are empty seats.
One day, our familiar grandmother came alone and sat down at a table for 4 people. She was asked to change seats. She sat down at another table, but it turns out it was busy, although she says she was free (I think she just didn’t notice the bag that was standing there , as the administrator later said). The woman returned and said that the table was busy, but our granny freaked out, left, didn’t eat and grumbled all day that Spain is a terrible country, terrible, arrogant people and the hotel is terrible... How do you like it? Kindergarten... The place is full in the restaurant, well, what's the problem, sit down again, once again, first sat in the wrong place, one at the table for 4, but why generalize everything?

This grandmother also said that in Israel there was soft meat, but here it was hard. To which we told her, you don’t take meat on the grill, take goulash, it’s soft. In Israel, there was goulash and chicken, and all of us, for example, didn’t like it . Here, the meat is different and cooked in different ways, but it turns out that the fish here is not tasty for this grandmother. I wrote this so that you understand - WHO WRITES BAD REVIEWS - SUCH LIKE this grandmother. People who have never gone anywhere and used to certain things - she didn’t like puree soups because she eats borscht, vinaigrette and pickled tomatoes. She didn’t like that there was no kettle in the room because she drinks a lot of coffee. We always carry a small half-liter teapot with us - very convenient. This time they took it again. It was great to pour a full mug of hot tea, go out to the balcony late at night when the baby is already sleeping, look at the hotel, at the sea and listen to the sound of the waves.
I can’t help but be indignant, forgive me, but maybe the one who is reading these lines now has never even thought about WHAT they write in the reviews and WHAT they are dissatisfied with. After all, I want an objective assessment of the hotel, staff, food, rooms.
People!! ! Aw! What else do you lack in life? Why so much negativity?? ? everywhere and everything will be bad!
In general, those who write bad reviews are a certain contingent of people. I tried to decipher them using the example of this grandmother...
So that was just great.
In addition to the very tasty, varied food, I, as a mother, was subdued by the playground.
Those who read my reviews know that I ask everyone to take photos of playgrounds on vacation.
No one described or photographed here (and not only here: ) the playground. I will be the first.
So, I’ll start a little from afar. I have a small child with whom I travel a lot. Since we travel often, the sea is not a wonder for us and we don’t want to sit on the sea 24 hours a day, it gets boring. our child cannot play in the sand PERMANENTLY, and a bucket and a spatula do not occupy him for the whole day. Of course, there is some sarcasm here, but they just wrote to me repeatedly why do you need a playground? Sit on the SEA! We sit. Most of the day between other : )
In the morning, from 8 o'clock (the child gets up at 7) and until lunch, until 12 o'clock. Then we go to sleep. then we go to the sea for an hour, an hour and a half, but then, sorry, we need, no, JUST NEED a playground!
Here the site exceeded all my expectations. The photo on the Internet is just a part of one of the many slides and wheelchairs.
The playground is fenced, closes at night (but usually children sleep at night). Large territory. There are many trees and benches for parents. The hill is large and VERY high. pipes. At first, the child was even afraid to climb on it (very high), and then I liked it so much!

There are also 2 houses, another complex with slides for smaller children and a sandbox with a bunch of toys: cars, shovels, buckets.
Where there are slides, there is a soft surface.
Nearby are 2 buildings of a children's mini-club, a large playground for wheelchairs, bicycles, motorcycles and rocking chairs.
There is another children's club downstairs, but it is only for those who bought a ticket at the Thomas travel agency, Svetlana told us so, that is, it’s not that Russians weren’t allowed in there, if the Germans didn’t take a bite in Thomas, they weren’t allowed in either, but but Svetlana kindly suggested that we take the keys to the room at any time, where they have climbing frames and trampolines, but we walked in the air. All this is located on the -1 floor, in front of the indoor pool.
There is a mini zoo near the playground. My boy really liked the turtles. There are pheasants, peacocks, parrots, many others.
The area is very clean.
In general, only the most positive memories from the hotel.
Now I would like to move a little away from the description of the hotel and write that after walking around the cities of Calella and Pineda de Mar a lot, taking a lot of photos for tourist sites (this is my hobby), I found that there are a lot of playgrounds and they are often found.
The largest and most interesting is opposite the Hotel Españ a. It is half an hour at a leisurely pace from the Golden Tauras Hotel towards Calella.
We also really liked the site near the Pineda de Mar railway station.
There is a very interesting big car with a spinning steering wheel and a gear lever. The car is almost the size of a real small truck - the boys are delighted with it! There is also a complex with slides, climbing frames and swings.
Each playground has a fountain with drinking water. Very cool. My child and I drank it all the time, we didn’t experience any problems with the stomach.

Our hotel was the largest! I didn’t see the territory anymore! In the evening, each balcony is very beautifully illuminated - you can’t turn off the light on the balcony yourself - it’s not strong, it doesn’t interfere, but what a beauty it is! Very simple and original thought up! Well done!
A big plus is that there is an indoor pool here, although we went only 1 time for fun. We don’t like pools because there is a lot of bleach there, but if you don’t pour it, there will be rotovirus, so we always swim in the sea.
We were very lucky with the weather. From September 27 to October 8, the weather was + 26, + 28! closed, so I chose a hotel with an indoor pool.
Once a week, a market comes to the hotel. There are a lot of interesting things: clothes, CDs, souvenirs. Prices are very cheap, but things are interesting.
People are very cheerful and positive. We got to some kind of folk festival. People in national costumes walked around the city and sang songs, trained in the evening by the pool and not even in the sea-in the water! Have you ever seen a choir perform in the water? Amazing !! ! In the evenings, the Spaniards sit in cafes or walk and sing their songs. It doesn’t bother you at all, but on the contrary, it energizes you with positive, you want to enjoy simple things. At such moments you understand that life is beautiful and that you need to look at things easier, enjoy the little things . We saw their friendly, sincere, cheerful faces everywhere and wanted to become the same. We were very happy there.
We went to the park in Pineda. There are 2 playgrounds. Our son loves them and therefore we are looking for new playgrounds everywhere for him to climb, ride the slides. The Park is very green, cozy, there are many benches. There are toilets.
There is a very interesting dinosaur slide, climbing.
I always buy medicines abroad - they never have fakes, and the prices are often cheaper than ours. In the pharmacy and in others, many shops liked the floor - glass plates in the floor are interestingly decorated - walking on such a floor is a pleasure.

It will be very convenient for everyone to come to the railway station in Calella and there for FREE, at the entrance to the station, in a tent, take a city map and a metro map. The map has everything, everything, everything.
Near the Balmes hotel, look on the map (you can use Google) there is a large Mercadona supermarket, if you go further, the Consum supermarket, and at the exit from Pineda, the Corifur supermarket. There you can buy jamon, juices, insanely delicious yogurts in glass jars (1 piece costs 25 rubles - in St. Petersburg this costs 120 rubles), toys, olive oil - 90-100 rubles a liter of the 1st extraction.
We were surprised when we saw how sporty the Spaniards are - a lot of people ride bicycles, run along the beach, do exercises on special simulators on the beach.
We also took bicycles at the hotel. My husband rode his son in a child seat, I rode alone. There was no limit to the joy - you ride along the sea along the bike path - there is such beauty around! Then we swam in the sea, watched how they fish and right before our eyes a fishing rod (very thick) a man caught a big fish about one and a half kilograms. The joy of the child knew no bounds!
Last time we took a bike with 2 handlebars, 2 pedals, a large seat and a front seat for a child.
It was very cool to drive. I couldn’t understand how people drive with 2 rudders, which amused my husband a lot : ) - I’ll tell you a secret : ) - he has only one steering wheel : )
Of course, we went to Barcelona. We liked it very much. We bought bus tickets for the Bas Turistik bus for 2 days for 30 euros (1 day-23 euros).
In Barcelona, ​ ​ you can take a bike in the square and ride around the city yourself.
There are also 2 buses on the square - red and blue.
Each has several routes. A map and headphones are given free of charge when buying a ticket. Very convenient.
We got off at different stops, looked, took pictures and got into another similar bus. It seems that there are a million people, but the line moves very quickly and everyone tries to sit on top, and the buses below are empty. Nobody knows this and everyone is standing in line .
Attention! Very useful advice! -

You can go to the bus and see the occupancy - you will see that the bus is empty below - ask to sit down - they will let you in and go with pleasure, look at your health. Already at the first stop a lot of people get off and you will transfer to the top. We learned all this later .
On the next day, we were perfectly oriented. About which route to go, you choose on the map yourself and inspect what is interesting for you. We looked at almost everything, on all routes! you will be galloped through several sights, and we wanted to feel the city, be a part of it, breathe its air in a calm atmosphere.
To do this, buy a guide in your city (at any online bookstore). I bought several, but most of all I liked Dmitry Krylov's guide and it comes with a disc (you can buy without a disc), but it's very cool to read everything and look at video. Reads and looks in one breath. All with unique humor. I read it with great pleasure. a thin guide that costs from 250 to 300 rubles and more - I advise you to buy this very thick, detailed one with a disk for 600 rubles. The guide itself is 4 times thicker than the others, and even the disk !! ! Believe me, it's worth it! (Direct advertising it turned out : ) I was just so interested in Spain that I bought 4 guides and just threw away the money, and I read this one like a fiction book, so I advise you.
Barcelona is fabulously beautiful, diverse, interesting. The sloping facades of houses at intersections are very interestingly designed for better visibility. The streets are not wide, but for some reason there are no traffic jams, although the traffic is very busy!
We went to the Spanish village. The ticket costs 19 euros, but if you have a ticket for Bas Tourist, there are discounts almost everywhere, and therefore it turned out 14 euros. I liked it. of general development, it was necessary to have a more expensive ticket there, with headphones. Then it would be interesting - you come up (ATTENTION! ) - you put the headphones into the house : ) and you listen - what kind of house is this, but just walk around, look at the houses and that's it - history you don’t know them, so it’s not so interesting, but beautiful.
I really liked to go to teleferike.

True, I was terribly afraid of heights - I thought I would go crazy with fear. I don’t know what happened to me, because I jumped with a parachute 2 times and was not afraid, but here I had a direct panic, so we went back by bus. He is next to teleferik.
We arrived at Montjuic. We walked there. There are different guns, cannons. Boys (and not only) are interested. The view of the port from there is just awesome!
Then my husband and I ate in a jamon cafe (where in Spain without it? ), Drank a glass of white wine and went for a walk further. Then we got on the train and in an hour and 10 minutes we were in Pineda.
From the hotel you can walk to 2 stations. It takes 20 minutes or 15 minutes to go to Calella (station near the Volga hotel). .
I was very interested, near which hotels the railway station is closest. I already wrote about the Volga and Promenade hotels, back in Pineda very close to the railway station of the Nostremar apartament, the Stella hotel and the Montegut hotel, walk 4 minutes to the station.
Shopping.
We went to Mataro Park.
We really liked it. It's halfway to Barcelona. The train stop is called Mataro. There is bus number 5 to Mataro Park. There were no sales, but all the early prices are much cheaper than in St. Petersburg for well-known, world brands.
The best things are in this store.
Attention! It’s very difficult to change 500 euros there. They don’t often see such money in cash - everyone pays with a card or small bills. We bought a jacket for my husband in Massimo Duti for 190 euros. We have the same one costs 450. That’s such a difference in prices! Husband I forgot my passport, but they wrote out Tax Free without it, and they offered it themselves. When he gave 500 euros, they looked through it for a long time, crushed it, called someone, then we waited half an hour for change.
A few days later, the husband went back to Mataro Park (to spend the remaining money : )). He came to Massimo Duti for shirts and a sweater, they saw him, they almost hugged him, they were so happy, the husband chose things and took out 500 euros again. laugh. Again, they were looking for change for a long time. They say, will you still come tomorrow? He: - "No. I'm leaving. "

In general, there are a lot of shops there, the prices are pleasing. In Beneton, they bought me a cashmere cardigan at a ridiculous sale price of 45 euros! On Nevsky, in the Cashmere and Silk store, cashmere goes from 150 euros.
There is a store like our Auchan (even the sign is the same with a bird, maybe this is their Auchan, I don’t know). There are products, jamon of various types and prices (from 10 euros per 1 kg). We bought jamon for 15 euros ( for 1 kg) and for 30 (for comparison). I liked both of them. We didn’t notice much difference.
There are a lot of clothes with the cartoon character "Cars" (mothers of boys will understand me). Cars Cars 2 are also very cheap. A set of 4 cars costs 15 euros. In St. Petersburg, one costs 10 euros! In general, the prices there are ridiculous. Sonny was delighted.
I really liked the attitude towards the disabled. EVERYTHING is provided for them! There are ramps everywhere, there is a lot of space on the buses to safely enter in a wheelchair.
Some people with disabilities ride around the city on such wheelchairs.
Near the hotel there is a train stop. It travels throughout the city.

Summing up, I would like to return to the people once again - they are very friendly, calm, cheerful. Now we will often go to Spain. The flight is not long, the food is excellent, the service is at its best. the design of the reception, rooms, lobby is not important and you don’t need several pools. If you want excellent food, service, a wonderful playground, I can safely recommend Golden Tauras, only in summer it will not be 3, but 4 stars, the price will rise and it is almost always on the stop because there are a lot of Germans coming there, Englishmen on weekends (and on weekdays) on buses - this is very profitable for them at a price. We met a Russian woman who has been living in Germany for 12 years. She said that she came for a week and her accommodation it cost 150 euros and 130 euros for the bus ride, and for 140 she found a plane, but she was afraid to get from Barcelona herself, so she decided to take the bus. These are the prices they have there. If you want to get to Golden Tauras in summer, book in February Rale, there will be a good discount for early booking, otherwise you simply won’t get there.
I really liked Spain and the hotel and I will be happy to return to this hotel again!
Thanks to everyone who read to the end. I wrote a review while still at the hotel, in the morning, sitting on the balcony and admiring the sunrise, but then I had more trips, a lot of things to do, it was not possible to immediately add to the site.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original