Cambrils Playa Hotel

We were there at the very end of the season, half board. Reception suggested paying extra for full board, saying nothing outside the hotel was open. That wasn't true if you were willing to walk to Cambrils, where there was plenty of choice. Full board would make sense if you planned to stay by the hotel, and the hotel meals were amazing. It's a lovely hotel between Cambrils and Salou.

The one thing I'd change is the meal hours. Breakfast ended at 10:30 and dinner at 21:30, and I like sleeping late. Otherwise, the food was awesome, the service super nice, the room great, and I slept well. The gym was nice too, and there was very good black tea. Great location, a minute's walk from the beach and right by a pharmacy and bus stop. I'd happily return someday.

The pool was great, the food at the resort was lovely, and the beach is close by. Our bedroom was clean, though I didn't like the single beds. We had a family room with two singles pushed together and another separate single, and one bed was a different height. That made arranging sleep difficult with an 18-month-old child. Service was standard: the staff were pleasant, but sometimes it was hard to get the waiters' attention for drinks, and they didn't take much initiative.

Housekeeping was very good, but the food has been disappointing. Compared with our previous wonderful stays, there's much less on offer this time: the cold section was mostly untouched gazpacho and bland salads, the meat was cheap and fatty, and some grill items were undercooked. We saw a customer send back pink turkey; the cook put it back on the grill, and the customer left rather than wait, with turkey blood having contaminated the rest of the plate. The desserts tasted like nothing except the tiny chocolate ice cream pots. The little there is feels cheap and bland, with no seasoning. We don't choose all-inclusive holidays because standards can be low, but this has reminded us of one. Salty, unpleasant stews, pasta sauce and soups, plus pizza and chips night after night, aren't enough. After a few days we felt a bit unwell from the lack of nutritious food. The dining sections have been cut in half, and lunch looked even worse, with burnt toasties and dry sandwiches being brought outside. At check-in, a receptionist offered full board for 16 euro per person per day, claiming everything nearby was closed. We declined, thankfully, because places were open and we ate lunch out every day. The bar waiters work hard, but with only two staff on many busy evenings, drinks took a long time. That's not their fault, but they needed more help. We started going back to our room earlier than on past visits. We also ended up in an adapted room with very low bathroom fixtures, including the sink and mirrors, which made it awkward to use. Reception were great when we raised it, and Julia is always helpful and gives outstanding service. They moved us to the standard room we expected. I don't know why our room was allocated that way on our third visit. I thought H10 rewarded returning guests; we weren't expecting a junior suite, though another guest told us he got one on his first stay. We just wanted a standard room that suited us. The hotel feels like a totally different experience now, and I don't know whether there's new management.