Hotel Gold River & PortAventura Theme Park

"Although there’s either no air con, or broken air con, and the food selection isn’t great, this hotel is fantastic for a theme park hotel. If you like Westerns, this is the hotel for you. However, the major drawback is meal times are chaotic. Please, just enforce a queuing system and open up longer hours for sittings. This would solve 90% of the meal issues."

"We booked a weeks stay at Hotel Gold River for October half term. This was our 1st time holidaying outside of Florida, Disney and Universal for many year so expectations were high! 1st impressions The theming of this hotel is really excellent. On par with some higher end Disney/universal hotels....obvious it was a universal hotel in a past life. The whole theme is wild west with external room building appropriately styled. Worth a wander round. The staff were all friendly, approachable and helpful speaking a good level of English. Location The hotel is around a 5 minute walk from the park with its own private entrance. This entrance accesses Portatura World. Access to Ferrari Land is via the park but on the opposite side of the park, around a 15 minute walk. We wanted to visit Barcelona one day but the trains ended up being too much hassle....there are 2 stations. Villa Seca which is closest but has limited trains, and also then Tarragona which would be a 25 min taxi ride. We walked into Salou to the beach on 2 occasions, this took around 20 minutes and was a very easy find.  Tranfer time The hotel is only around a 30 minute transfer from Reus airport which was perfect. Luggage On arrival we couldn't access our room until 3pm so left our luggage in the baggage store. This is a paid for facility and it cost us €12 for 2 lockers. Room Our rooms was in the main building so I cant comment on the others. Our room was big enough  (it was a standard room) with 2 Queen size beds, Ensuite, TV in the room and a view into the park. The TV worked but was exclusively Spanish TV with no Internet option so we didn't use it. May be an idea to bring a firestick maybe. Our room began to get very warm on and evening....I queried this with reception and asked if the aircon was off....they said there is no aircon in the rooms.... It got hot...very got. The bathroom also does not have an extractor fan so after 3 of use had showers the room was very damp.. Don't leave clothing in there. There is a wardrobe with ample shelving and hanging space and a free safe in the wardrobe. Food and drink. The only facilities open during our stay were the bar and main buffet. The bar is quite small but was never really overcrowded during our visit, again this could be due to the time of year. The beers are cheap enough (this could be me being used to florida prices) but €4.50 for a large beer. The bar sells sandwiches, toasties and snacks. There is a pool table for €2 also and outside seating. The staff were always friendly and pleasant and speak enough English to assist. The buffet restaurant has set breakfast times which you have to prebook and then our evening meal was anytime between 1930-2230. The queues get long but access is quick. The only way I can describe the buffet is chaos. There are so many people, some cultures seem to be opposed to queuing or allowing others to walk through a space so it is chaos. Its loud and hectic, and was quite warm also. The breakfast selection is good, cooked options (Spanish sausage and bacon....because you're in Spain....don't expect Cumberland and back bacon). Fruit, cereal, toast, breads, yogurt, cakes, pancakes and churros. The churros are amazing. Coffee and toast queues get long....my tip....use the ones at the far side, less queue. And use the toaster at the artisan bread stand. Evening meal is ok, we ate here for the first 4 nights then couldn't stomach it again because of th3 chaos and lack of choice for us peraonally beyond burgers and pasta. If you like seafood you'll be find....seafood noodles, seafood paella, calamari, seafood nuggets. It just wasnt for us. Overall. We enjoyed our stay. As the pools and water park were closed due to the time of the year a week here was a little too long I think. The aircon and bathroom issues let the hotel down but I think if you have never stayed in a themed hotel before you will love this."

"The rooms very dated. Mould on bathroom roof as poor ventilation. Cleaning pathetic. Floors not brushed or mopped during the entire week. Bed linen also not changed. Had a mark on the bedding when arrived and still there when left. Food the same every day. Need a bit of variety. Definitely not four star. Queues for restaurant in hotel very long. Felt like being in a school cafeteria. Queue to get into the park took forever best to wait until park opening time. Forget about early entry as time spent in a queue. Arrived late and no options available for food. Shop closed and bar closed so children had to wait until breakfast. Not ideal when flight was delayed. Have stayed in two other hotels in the park and would rate better than this one."