Ponient Aparthotel Marinada by PortAventura World

The pool was okay, though it gets deep quickly, making it hard to swim since you can’t stand in most of it. Rooms are basic but functional and already showing wear, even though we heard they’d been refurbished recently. The food was the biggest disappointment. There was a decent range at breakfast and dinner, but much of it was bland or tasteless, and some was actually disgusting. Even the coffee was bad. For the price, it was very cheap for the room, half board and PA tickets, so it’s fine for a short stay or a day or two. I wouldn’t base a whole holiday here or want to spend a couple of weeks all-inclusive.

I’m worried about the airport shuttle tomorrow morning, so I’m planning to wait 45 minutes before its scheduled time. This has been a crazy bad experience, with no information, signs or directions. We checked in during the morning, waited 30 minutes at reception, and got a room key. They said an SMS with the room number would arrive at 3pm, but nothing came, even by our last night, so we spent a long time waiting in the lobby on day one. There was no sign showing where the shuttle to PortAventura World stopped. It was a few minutes’ walk from the hotel, but we only found out after asking someone and missed the bus despite waiting 20 minutes early in the lobby. At PortAventura World there were no signs, and no staff knew where its shuttle stop was. We ran through the car parks for about 45 minutes without luck, then had to walk 30 minutes back to the hotel. My phone had run out of battery so we didn’t know the way, and some strangers luckily guided us to Salou. The room looked clean on day one, but the cleaner changed the towels without changing the sheets, and didn’t clean the toilet or shower enclosure. After only three nights, water was overflowing because hair had blocked the shower enclosure. It was my husband’s birthday trip and I regret choosing this hotel, though luckily he really enjoyed Ferrari Land.

The food was atrocious, and pretty much the same every day. I spent three days in bed with vomiting and diarrhoea, the worst I’ve ever been ill on holiday. The staff were lovely, but kids ran around making a mess and playing football in the lobby. My husband was nearly hit in the head by the ball. We won’t be coming back.

The pools and fountain features were a big hit with my 2-year-old, and the staff in the dining area were especially lovely with him. We stayed in the apartments across the road and had a really good time. The room was modern and recently refurbished, with a working shower, fridge, air conditioning, a nice balcony, comfortable beds, and very good daily cleaning. It was great value and in a brilliant location. The food was decent, with enough choice, and the poolside burgers and daytime snacks were really good. They were putting in a new play area while we were there, so it wasn’t ready for us, but it looked great. We’ll definitely stay again. Thanks to everyone at Marinada, we can’t wait to come back ♥️