Rentalmar Living Park

“Had a great stay”

We stayed here for a week in early September. It was myself and a friend and my 18 year old daughter and her boyfriend. We paid £217 with flights each, which I think was well worth it. The complex consists of 3 apartment blocks centered around a well manicured lawn and pool area. We didn't actuall… more

We stayed here for a week in early September. It was myself and a friend and my 18 year old daughter and her boyfriend. We paid £217 with flights each, which I think was well worth it. The complex consists of 3 apartment blocks centered around a well manicured lawn and pool area. We didn't actually use the pool at all during our stay except for a quick dip on the first day, so I can't really comment further. The apartments are classed as residental, with lots of Spanish residents, many of them seemingly permanant. It's right away from the resort centre and next to a school. There's no reception, but there are inner and outer security doors which you're asked to close on entering or leaving the complex. The public areas are all really well groomed and clean. There's also very little noise late at night, except perhaps for the sound of excited new arrivals. You can hear the entertainment from nearby hotels, but this is over by midnight. We used the pools of all the local hotels and also went in to have a look at their evening entertainment a couple of times. The apartments themselves are lovely. 2 good sized bedrooms, one with a good sized en suite, small shower room, a lounge/diner and smallish kitchen. The lounge had a sofa bed for 2 people and didn't look comfy but wasn't needed. If 6 people were staying I think the apartment would be a bit cramped. The balcony with clothes drying facilities and patio furniture runs the whole width of the apartment. Most of the windows have security shutters (our living room one was missing) and all apartments had electric awnings which came in handy. Because they're all owned by different people, all the apartments have the same basic kitchen cupboards, but all the furnishings and electricals are different. Our owner left all the instruction manuals out for us. The apartments don't come with a kettle! We used a saucepan, but you can hire them from Euromed (the company that manages the properties). We also bought tea, coffee, sugar and milk from the airline cabin crew for about €6 on the way there, which lasted the whole week. On arrival at the apartment, in the middle of the night, I had to hand over my passport to the rep in exchange for my key. I got it back from Euromed the next day, after I paid my €100 security deposit, which we got back no hassle at the end. I also hired a safety deposit box for €26, €10 of which we got back when we left. Euromed are a short walk away and we found them really helpful on matters of local areas of interest, places to eat and buses and trains etc; You can hire lots of things for the apartments from them and you can also upgrade to half or full board at 2 of the local hotels for your meals. €14 for half and €19 for full. We did this for one day and the Hotel Europa Park. It wasn't brilliant food (what hotel buffet is?) but it took the hassle out of finding a place to eat or cooking for a change. The maid comes once a week to change towels, but she doesn't make the beds or clean. You are responsible for keeping it clean and this is one of the conditions for having your deposit returned. She is supposed to leave loo roll for the day you arrive. You're only a 5 minute walk from the centre of Salou, a ten minute walk to the beach and 15 minutes from Port Aventura. You can also walk 10 to 15 minutes to the old town, which has a good choice of shops and restaurants and the railway station, from where we caught a train to Barcelona for a day. (About 50km away). The brochures and reps don't make it clear enough to people that there's no reception. There were 2 women in our block who were really upset about this and initially wanted to be moved as they felt unsafe. They eventually had a good time, but I can understand their point of view. Another couple were left to sit on the stairwell all their first night because their key didn't fit and the rep hadn't stayed long enough to check we all got into our apartments ok. We also didn't get our 24 hour contact details until the next day, but this is more of a problem with the holiday companies than the accomodation. Salou is very "Brits abroad" so don't expect a culturally enriching holiday. The beach is good if crowded and the sea wasa very warm when we went. We had to search for a place to eat that served Spanish food and they're few and far between. Other p[laces do poor English food cooked with Spanish ingredients. There are a couple of restaurants and a bar called Doolallys in the next street, next to Euromed. Doolally's does pretty good English food from England, if that's what you want, and they have games every night. (I won €115 there on our last night while we waited for our flight). As they're also off the main strip it never gets too crowded in there even when the football's on! All in all, we had a great time staying here. The apartments are so big that you can get a bit of space from each other, which I think you need from time to time when you're spending a whole week together. They could do with getting some satellite tv so you've got something to watch if you feel inclined. Overall, I'd recommend them to anyone.

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