"We stayed at **Hotel Gran Garbi in Lloret de Mar for 10 nights** as a family of seven — two adults and five children ranging from 17 down to 9.
The total cost of the holiday was around **£5,000**, including the hotel, flights and transfers. We booked knowing it was advertised as a **budget-friendly stay close to the beach**, so we were not expecting luxury. However, the hotel still advertises itself as a **4-star hotel**, and in our experience the overall standard fell a long way short of that.
The **location is excellent**. The hotel is only a short walk from the beach, with plenty of local shops and supermarkets nearby. The bus station is also within easy reach, making it convenient for travelling to other towns and cities, including Barcelona and Girona.
The **rooms are very tired and in urgent need of renovation and decoration**. The beds were acceptable for the 10 nights, but the standard of housekeeping was probably the worst I have experienced during our many trips to Spain.
The beds were made, but the same bedding and towels appeared to remain throughout our entire stay. There was also very little evidence that the room was actually being cleaned. As a simple test, I left three obvious biscuit crumbs on the floor and they remained there for the whole stay.
More concerningly, the cleaners regularly failed to shut our room door properly after cleaning. On several occasions we returned after being out for most of the day to find the door had been left **unlocked**. For a family travelling with valuables and personal belongings, this is completely unacceptable and is a serious security concern.
The **food was particularly disappointing**. Breakfast was very basic: bacon, mediocre eggs, cereals, juices and a small selection of pastries. The children could usually find something to eat, but the quality and choice were well below what I would expect from a 4-star hotel.
Dinner was even worse. It often consisted of a dry salad bar, chips, a selection of meats in fairly random sauces and a grilled meat section. Desserts were also poor. The children generally managed to find something, but on some evenings the food was so poor that **my wife ended up eating little more than peas** because there was nothing else she wanted to eat. For a hotel claiming to be four-star, that says a lot about the standard of the evening meals.
The queues at meal times could sometimes be ridiculous, with regular pushing, barging and queue-jumping from some guests and very little control from staff. On several occasions I saw children putting their hands directly into food on display without being challenged.
One particularly serious incident happened during dinner service when we witnessed an argument between a member of hotel staff and a guest. During the altercation, we clearly heard the member of staff use the **N-word towards the guest** in the middle of the restaurant. Whatever disagreement had taken place, there is absolutely no excuse for a member of staff using racist language towards a guest.
The **entertainment was also disappointing**. There appeared to be one main member of staff organising activities. The children's disco was engaging and our younger children enjoyed it, but the evening entertainment afterwards, usually starting around 9:30pm, was very poor on most nights.
The biggest positive was definitely the **pool and splash park**. The pools were nice and the splash park was excellent for the children. In fact, this was one of the main reasons we chose the hotel, and the children genuinely enjoyed it.
However, there is a major problem with **sunbeds and seating**. There are nowhere near enough for the number of guests. Large signs clearly state that sunbeds should not be reserved, but this rule did not appear to be enforced. Unless you were prepared to get up extremely early and reserve one, it was almost impossible to get a sunbed, which could leave families sitting on the floor at the splash park while their children played.
Overall, I understand that this was marketed as a **budget-friendly holiday**, and I have judged it with that in mind. But a holiday costing around **£5,000 for a family of seven** is still a significant amount of money, and budget-friendly should not mean poor cleanliness, food of this standard, inadequate housekeeping or having your hotel room left unlocked while you are out.
The location, pools and splash park are definite positives, but based on our experience, **I do not believe this hotel offers a genuine 4-star standard and I would not recommend staying here.**"
