Estival park ,Costa Dorada ,Spain. What`s it like ??? Worth a visit ?

Question

I thought that i would treat the inlaws to a well deserved break. Estival park seemed good for an all inc on a reasonable budget ..... what do you think

Answer 1

Hi there.
I just answered this same question a few days ago for someone else, in case you missed it, here it is again for you :-)
It is very good value AI and I bet your in-laws will have a lovely time there, it's just a short flight and it's a good accomodation.

The Estival park is well worth a visit. Its one of the better hotels in the area It is a complex with a wide range of apartments and bungalows.

The complex as a whole is very good. 9 pools to choose from and then there's the health spa. (at extra cost but well worth it) We prefered pool at Estival Park 3 where you could walk in and it had a cocktail bar in the middle.
The surrounding area to the pool is also very clean and there are enough deck chairs for everyone, no need to put your towels on them early in the morning. There are showers and a childrens pool at each pool but I would advise not to use the outdoor toilets as they were quite dingy and dark. This wasn't a problem as there were toilets just inside the lobby in each pool area.

Extra Towels are available from 10am - 5pm from a log-cabin by the pool in Estival 1. These are handy for the Beach or pool, so you can keep your room towels in your room. The towels are €5 each which is refundable on return - or you can just bring the wet towels back in the evening and get replacements. You can then cash-in on the day of departure.

The food was delicious. I can be quite a fussy eater but there was so much choice, and it looked so nice that you wanted to try everything. Breakfast was the same most mornings, but again you couldn't complain because of the choice...cooked breakfast, cereal, continental breakfast, cereal, toast. Plenty of juice (and cava!!).

We were half board so didn't eat lunch in the restaurant. We did go to the tapas bar in the sports complex a few times though. Very reasonably priced, and the service was good.

The rooms were nice and they were quite a decent size. We were in hotel 3. Our room overlooked the swimming pool. The rooms were cleaned everyday.
We were able to use the other 2 hotels, but didn't tend to as hotel 3 had everything we needed.
Portaventura is well worth a visit. I'd recomment buying a pass before going. We got a 7 day pass for the price of 3. We spent 3 days there in total and really enjoyed. Travel by bus, pretty cheap, but be warned you may end up like a sardine (and that is on every bus journey!!).
There are 3 Hotels on this one street; Estival 1, 2 & 3. The "All Inclusive" guests always stay in Estival 2 for some reason.
This appears to be the oldest of the 3 hotels and could do with a bit of updating. Hotels 1 & 3 looked a lot more comfortable (we walked in around them for a look) and appeared to have a lot more facilities

If you are all-inclusive and plan to be out for the whole day (waterparks or whatever), you can book a free 'Picnic box' each from reception the day before and pick it up in the morning from the restraunt. Ok it's only a Banana, Sandwich and drink, but it's cheaper than eating out!

All three hotels provide outdoor entertainment EVERY NIGHT by the pools - so if you were staying around the hotel in the evenings, you had a choice of three different shows. These ranged from Karaoke, to Magical shows, to Mexican dance, to Salsa Dancing.

The Beach is literally a 2 minute walk down the avenue from the back of the hotel. Along the sea-front are hundreds of shops - Souvenirs, Supermarkets, Pubs etc. - worth an afternoons stroll.
One thing I found in the clothes shops was that the staff is open to 'haggling' so make sure you don't pay the price on the tag! - when they drop down a little, look like your 'sort of' interested and then walk away - they'll call you back as you walk out and drop even more.
The beach gets fairly crowded during the day and the sand is VERY hot - so make sure all the kids have flip-flops. The water is clean (no seaweed) but VERY salty so beware if you get a mouthful!
The sunbeds can be hired for €9 each for the day and a bed in the shade is an extra €4.
Don't bother packing li-lo's or umbrellas etc., all these can be bought along the sea-front very cheaply.

Just a few minutes away, you can find golf courses, horse riding and it's easy enought to go to Barcelona fro a day which was well worth it.

I'm sure you'll have a lovely holiday! All the best!