"We stayed at the CYE Holiday Centre in Salou for one week, and unfortunately our experience was extremely poor. Considering the price we paid, I expected a much higher standard from this hotel.
The biggest issue for me was the cleanliness and housekeeping. Our room was not properly cleaned once during the entire week. The only thing that happened was the bins being emptied. Our floors were not cleaned and our bedding was not changed for the entire seven-night stay. Our towels were only changed twice. On one occasion, I actually had to ring reception at around 5:30pm to ask where our clean towels were, as we were going out for dinner at 6pm, and I was told that housekeeping had until 6pm, when towels were changed we only got 2 body towels for 3 people in the room.
I was also told that if I wanted my bed linen changed, I would have to pay €14 per bed. I have never experienced this standard of housekeeping in a hotel.
The cleanliness throughout the hotel was also very disappointing. I witnessed an empty Coke can sitting on the back stairwell for the entire week without being removed.
There was another issue that I found extremely concerning: I personally witnessed rats on more than one occasion. While sitting at the bar in the early evening, I saw rats running across the tops of the bushes at the astro aera down towards the playground where children where playing. Seeing rats around the hotel, in aeras used by guests, was extremely unpleasant and added to my concerns about the overall hygiene standards.
The swimming pool was, in my opinion, the worst part. The water appeared cloudy and the pool did not look properly maintained. I never witnessed it being cleaned during our stay. There were hairs floating in the pool and getting wrapped around us while swimming. It was honestly the dirtiest hotel pool I have experienced on a holiday.
The attitude of some of the staff was another major disappointment. From reception to the bar, we experienced rudeness on several occasions. There also seemed to be inconsistencies with charges — for example, being charged for ice in a cup on one occasion and not being charged on another. Overall, I found that once you had paid for your stay, the level of customer service changed completely.
The lack of sunbeds and umbrellas was also a major issue. Guests have to queue from 8am to secure a bed when the pool opened at 9am because there simply aren't enough available for the number of people staying at the hotel. Throughout our stay, I got up early and queued to secure beds for my family.
On our final morning, I had to leave the pool area briefly to check out and collect our luggage, leaving my son there. While I was gone, another guest took the chair that I had been using. When I returned and politely asked for it back, the situation became extremely aggressive. He called me names, took photographs of me and my underage child, and even asked my son's father to come outside for a fight.
Security, the lifeguard and a reception manager became involved. Reception eventually made him delete the photographs, but I felt that his aggressive and threatening behaviour was not dealt with appropriately. I felt extremely uncomfortable and unsafe.
What made the situation even more frustrating was that reception then took one of the sunbeds I had queued from 8am to secure and gave it to the other family because there weren't enough beds. I understand that there aren't enough beds for everyone, but I don't think it was acceptable to take a bed from a guest who had followed the hotel's own system and queued for it.
Finally, towards the end of our stay, I witnessed people becoming unwell and vomiting in the hotel reception, and a child in our own party also became unwell and vomited. Given the general standard of cleanliness we had experienced, this was particularly concerning.
Unfortunately, I simply cannot recommend this hotel. For the price charged, I expected a clean hotel, properly maintained facilities and basic courtesy from staff. Instead, we experienced poor housekeeping, rats being visible around the property, a dirty pool, insufficient sunbeds and umbrellas, inconsistent customer service and an extremely unpleasant incident on our final day.
There were certainly things we enjoyed about our holiday in Salou, but the CYE Holiday Centre was by far the biggest disappointment. I would not stay here again and would not recommend it to others."
