Gran Palas Experience Beach Resort and Spa

"My wife and I stayed in the Gran Palas Hotel, La Pineda in October and had a lovely week there. The best thing about the hotel are the Staff. They all seemed friendly, approachable and helpful. Each member of Staff seemed to be able to converse in Spanish, Catalan, English or French to some degree. As has been said in other reviews, the majority of people staying at the hotel were French as were the Entertainment Team. The Entertainment Team only seemed concerned about entertaining the French speaking guests which suited my wife and I down to the ground as we had gone there for a relaxing week away and didn’t want to be bothered by anybody! We stayed half board (we decided not to go for the all inclusive option as we weren't in the hotel at lunch time). The food was always well prepared but there was never a tremendous amount of choice. I agree with other people who say that the Gran Palas shouldn’t be listed as a 5 start hotel but I also think there is a great difference between UK based hotel ratings and package holiday ones (we went with Thomas Cook). We had a glass of wine with our meal each evening and found it very reasonably priced at about €3. We didn’t stay in a room that was split over two levels. We had a top floor room with a balcony. The room was spacious and the bathroom and bedroom both had patio doors onto the balcony which had sun loungers as well as a table and chairs. The worst part of holiday was the transfer from the airport to the Gran Palas which was arranged by Thomas Cook so was not the hotel’s fault. We waited for half an hour at the airport for another flight to land as some of those passengers were booked onto our coach. We then spent an hour and twenty minutes dropping passengers off at various hotels before we got to our hotel. We cancelled the return transfer and for a couple of Euros more took a private taxi which only took fifteen minutes and the hotel ordered for us."

"Far from being a 5-star!!! They are running!!! The hotel favors weddings and anniversaries to the detriment of vacationers, by closing an area, so no pool, no lounge chairs, they remove the umbrellas from the other pool for the wedding area.  We had requested an accessible room when booking, a room that we did not get!  Marmara all-inclusive drinks: with a plastic cup against a token and bar relegated either to the pool or to the basement!! next to the parking lot and the meeting rooms! The upstairs bar is reserved for a clientele other than Marmara who pay for their drinks. Everything we consume is noted by room, supposedly for statistics for restocking. In the room, two 33 cl mini bottles of water! for the entire stay. To refill, you have to go to the restaurant dining room during opening hours. However, for the restaurant, you must present a room card linked to a computer, so you only go there during meals whose hours posted on the door are different from those given to us on the card at the beginning of the stay. Ex: breakfast from 7:30 AM to 8:45 AM! and on the door it is 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM. Each floor has a schedule for breakfast, same for lunch and dinner. MARMARA guests relegated to the back of the restaurant! "Perpignan direction," we are told. Catering cold, dishes very lukewarm or even cold. Only 1 microwave for the whole restaurant. Very difficult to refill the buffets! You have to ask and it is not always refilled. Pasta refill in one dish, only two people were able to enjoy it and in a decent portion! Some days no grated cheese, no ham at breakfast. Desserts on buffets not refrigerated as well as the appetizers where only a small central area is refrigerated! So these dishes which should be fresh are lukewarm. Morning pastries of poor quality, shriveled or even from the day before and in small quantities. No or very little cheese at the morning buffet, absent. Few coffee machines, hence a wait (3 machines; the other machines are stored behind a counter). Soft serve ice cream machine that is supposed to give chocolate, vanilla, and mixed, and it is strawberry that comes out!! Quality of catering average, show cooking almost nonexistent. Spacious rooms, lots of mosquitoes. Bathrobes provided by the spa and it happens that you have one bathrobe for 2! And since the room is cleaned around 3:00 PM even though the sign is on the door from 8:30 AM and we request housekeeping in the morning, you leave for the spa in the morning or early afternoon with your wet bathrobe from the day before. It would be wiser to have 2 more bathrobes upon arrival to be able to rotate without being penalized by the housekeeping! One day there are toiletries, the next day there are none, it all depends on the person in charge of the floor!! Only one power outlet next to the bed! Not even one on each side. Beautiful walk-in shower, functional and closes well. Spa: very good, towel loan, swim cap mandatory, locker room. Rates from July to September: €50 for a 50-minute massage (proof in support because an acquaintance was present), in October €78!! I ask why a 56% increase and I am told, "it was the July-August-September promo," it's like the lottery, you play, you can win or lose! Nice answer that we appreciate!! television, the first day the French channels from 1 to 6 and France Info from the second day: only TF1 remained, when the other channels came back 48 to 72 hours later, TF1 had disappeared until our departure one morning no hot water to shower; call to the front desk to report it and we are told: we know: no information for the guest so cold shower or no shower, because the spa was also impacted by this malfunction where the water was cooler for 48 hours pools not heated, rarely seen for a so-called 5-star; second pool not functional and cleaning leaves something to be desired; broken lounge chairs! children had to ask the lifeguard to turn on the slides but given the temperature of the water they didn't go back a second time gate to access the beach didn't work for a day or even two, but no information, ! a note in the elevator signaling the malfunction would avoid a round trip especially for a person with reduced mobility (PRM) no Marmara entertainment: except for the representative and an assistant, the only ones we saw upon our arrival, the other people don't greet you except to say enjoy your meal at the restaurant. no posting of Marmara members on the board at the pool or at the desk! you recognize them by their t-shirt! no aqua gym, no pool games or others; no evening entertainment because no information posted!!! no club dance!     One afternoon we heard music at the pool, it was Christmas carols!! nothing to do with the other Marmara clubs we have been to. We are ignored and the international entertainment team is invisible!  We became aware of the existence of this entertainment and all the Marmara entertainers during the manager's evening on Thursday! and since we arrived on a Friday! It took 6 days before we knew about it, which was two days before our departure!! These facts were reported to the manager we met and to the Marmara representative. They listened, but the answers were: we will ask for housekeeping to come earlier! it didn't work; cold dishes: the Spanish don't know how to heat things up and eat hot! being relegated to the basement bar! Marmara takes up too much space upstairs! we can have a drink downstairs and drink it upstairs!! cold pools: end of season; no Marmara signage. no answer, just a shrug The only person who had a smile and was very kind and courteous was SIMON at the pool bar or the basement bar!! Some acquaintances went there at the end of August, and the catering and entertainment were different upon arriving in the room, a note from management: we will do everything for an unforgettable stay!!  We must not have the same definition of the word unforgettable!! . it is so unforgettable that we will not return!!"

"Warning, this hotel does not appreciate families with children. On the second day I went to the pool spa and in less than 10 minutes the lifeguard came to see me twice. Taking photos of my family only (no one around) is forbidden, as is taking my child into the water to lift him up in the water. The manager told me that I was bothering people, even though there were only the 4 of us (he came to see me and gave an aggressive monologue). Repetitive meals"