Catalonia Park

The apartment is close to the city center, and the reception staff were friendly. That was about all that went well. Getting the keys took two hours longer than we'd expected, and nobody had told us the deposit had to be paid by card. Some residents also seemed to go out of their way to make our stay unpleasant. We weren't given the pool hours, and it was shut for most of the days we were there.

I booked for five, but there was barely room for four. The apartment was filthy and poorly maintained, full of dog hair and sand, and the mattresses smelled of urine. We were sent somewhere different from the place we had booked, and seeing the condition of it was devastating. I asked for cleaning during our three-day stay. They said the cleaners weren't there and promised they'd come the next day, but nobody showed. After I emailed a complaint, someone came and acted as if they were cleaning, yet the sand and dog hair were still all over the floor. I'm furious and have filed a complaint. Please be very careful with this place. Mario Rivas, the apartment manager, seemed shocked by what had happened to me. I don't think he knew about it. They handed him the complaint form without explaining anything, so it seems his team hadn't told him what was going on. I hope someone is held responsible.

Once we finally got into the apartment, the stay was okay for the price and the number of people it could sleep. The trouble was getting there. We booked through Booking.com and called the number they gave us for the keys. The voicemail sent us to Calle Navarra, a 15-minute walk with our suitcases. The man there said it wasn't the right place and couldn't understand why we'd been sent there. The correct apartment was two doors to the right. We raised it at reception, but they brushed it off. Then the address we'd been given led us to a doorway without enough rooms. I went back to ask, and they asked whether I'd noticed the letters. I said I couldn't know if nobody explained that. I took a photo to show there were no letters, and the reception staff still didn't know where the apartment was. A woman came with me and started down the wrong street. I said it was the other way, but she insisted you could go both ways, by walking around the whole block. The towels were tiny, and the place was dirty. The landing reeked of stale fried food, while the elevators smelled of urine and closed without securing properly, hitting us on the shoulders. They said the wristband let us use all the pools at the associated apartments, but didn't mention that only the one by our reception was open. The pool for our apartment had a seasonal closure sign. Reception didn't even know where we were staying. As with most cheap places, there were drawbacks.

The apartment was in a terrible state. Its table had broken legs, the TV was dented, all the towels were tiny and not really usable for showering, it was dirty, and the beds creaked whenever we moved. With the rain pouring down, the trip turned into a disaster. I wouldn't recommend it if you want to sleep at night. We'd booked through Traventia. Because of the DANA storm, we tried to cancel, but they refused and said we had to travel. Only 20 km from arrival, we were told the apartment had cancelled our booking and made a new one. At reception, they demanded an extra 192 euros up front so we wouldn't have to wait while they sorted it out, even though we'd already paid for the trip. They knew about the storm and orange alert in Tarragona but still made us travel, saying we'd otherwise lose our money.