Evenia Olympic Park

"Full review after a poor start! We booked this holiday just 10 days before travelling and paid around £3,200 for 2 adults and children aged 13 and 11, including Water World. We stayed at Olympic Park, the most basic of the four hotels within the Evenia Olympic complex. ✈️ Flights & transfer The flight was lovely and short, which was one of the main reasons we chose Lloret de Mar. Our transfer took around 1 hour 25 minutes as we were the second drop-off. The coach was modern and clean, although the air conditioning wasn’t great. Finding the pick-up point at the airport was slightly confusing, but we eventually found it — the rep could have explained the location more clearly. 🏨 Hotel & room The reception area was clean and gave a good first impression. Check-in was quick and easy, and staff spoke good English and explained everything we needed to know. Unfortunately, the room was the biggest disappointment. The photos online are, in my opinion, quite deceptive. The room was very dated and extremely small for a family of four, with barely enough space to walk around the beds. We ended up living out of our suitcases because there simply wasn’t enough room to unpack. There was a small wardrobe and some shelving, but storage was very limited. The room was clean enough, although definitely tired-looking. The bathroom was also dated, with painted-over tiles and peeling paintwork. On the plus side, the shower was always hot with good pressure, the beds were comfortable and towels were changed daily if required. The pillows were incredibly small, though, and we all ended up with neck ache! I would say the room felt more suited to a cheap 18–30s style holiday than a family holiday. Having stayed in plenty of similar rooms when I was younger, I wouldn’t have minded it then, but for a family holiday costing around £3,200 I expected more. 🍴 Food Buffet meals were themed and generally decent, with Mexican night being our favourite. There was also fish night, Chinese night and a sweets-themed evening, which was absolutely packed! Breakfast was roughly 8–10:30am, lunch 1–2:30pm and dinner 7–9:30pm. There are two poolside snack bars open roughly 10:30am–6:30pm serving things like chips, nuggets, burgers, calamari, fruit, yoghurt, cereal and pastries. There is plenty of seating, plus an ice cream van with Mini Magnums and Cornetto-style ice creams. The waffle afternoon (4–5pm) was very popular, as were the donuts on Tuesdays and Thursdays — get in the queue early! ⚠️ One warning: check the rice! I unfortunately broke a tooth on a piece of extremely hard/uncooked rice during dinner. 🏊 Pools & flumes This was definitely one of the highlights. There are four main pools and we spent most of our time around the flume pool. We never bothered getting up early to reserve sunbeds and always managed to find space on the artificial grass for our towels. The flumes were great fun and, even when busy, queues were generally short. There were plenty of lifeguards around. There were unfortunately two incidents involving faeces in the pool during our stay. On both occasions the pool was closed, cleaned/treated and reopened. My biggest hygiene concern was actually the toilets. There was frequently no hand soap available, particularly in the poolside toilets. This really needs addressing. I saw young children leaving without washing their hands and then going straight to the snack bars, touching serving utensils and food. The hotel needs to ensure soap is consistently available, and parents obviously need to reinforce basic hand hygiene too. 🎤 Entertainment The entertainment was genuinely brilliant and one of the things the hotel does really well. There were pool games throughout the day and evening entertainment including live music, shows and mini discos with great music. Our children played football, made friends and really enjoyed themselves. 🛍️ Market & beach The Tuesday morning market is easy to find — turn right out of Olympic Park reception, cross the road near the public play area and turn left. Lots of bargains, but take water as it gets very hot! The beach is around a 15-minute walk away. The main beach can be very busy, particularly at weekends. If you turn left and walk towards the beach near the castle, it’s a little quieter and the water was incredibly clear with lots of fish, so bring goggles! 🌊 Water World Water World is about a 15-minute walk away. We showed our booking reference and were given wristbands which were stamped each day we visited. We only went for two afternoons. There are some good flumes, but there is a lot of uphill walking and the ground gets extremely hot, so take plenty of water and water shoes. Some rides had long queues and, compared with Siam Park in Tenerife, which we visited last summer, we found Water World quite basic. The queues are mainly metal structures and stairs rather than landscaped areas, which would definitely improve the experience. 🌙 Lloret de Mar It is definitely a party area, but we went out as a family in the evenings and felt safe. The shops stay open late and there is plenty to do. As a woman on my own, though, I personally might have felt less comfortable due to the number of groups of men around. We also ordered a takeaway breakfast for our early departure, which was ready at reception at 6:30am. This included juice, fruit, pastries, a ham and cheese baguette and water — really useful for an early flight home. ⭐ Overall We had a very poor first impression, mainly because of the room, and I honestly wasn’t sure we were going to enjoy the holiday. However, we decided to make the most of the facilities rather than spend time in the room, and by the end we had a really enjoyable family holiday. The pools, flumes, entertainment and location are all great, and the complex itself is generally clean and well maintained. Would we return? Probably — but only if we could stay in one of the other onsite hotels, as the rooms there appeared much more modern and spacious. I wouldn’t choose Olympic Park again for a family of four. Ultimately, you make your own holiday, and despite the disappointing start, we made some great family memories and the kids had a brilliant time."

"Well what can I say…after reading reviews I was worried about staying here. But now I know nobody ever posts a positive review. Well here is one. The hotel, was clean tidy and very well staffed. Restaurant busy but expected in summer holiday but the staff and food was lovely. Reception very helpful from day one and the bar staff just as good. The pools great and slides and added bonus, enough to do throughout the day and entertainment staff are brilliant and fun. Sunbeds yes you have to get up early if need a particular area but are always free beds about if don’t want to get up early! Plus towels are removed if not used up to 9.30. The s snack bar during the day is lovely and so are the ice cream carts around the pools. We went as a group of 10 and really enjoyed ourselves & would definitely return again. So don’t be put off by other reviews"

"The location was great had town round the corner and water park walk away which was incredible.. Atmosphere was lovely with the entertainment having lots to do and the slides and swimming pools were awesome! The food snack bar was great plenty to eat! Restaurant was bit basic though! The only negative was the room was bit small for just 3 of us but we only found out second to last night that the suites are more family room! Definitely would travel to Girona Airport again as was easiest passport control ever had!"