This review is about my holiday at the El Paso Hotel, Port Aventura, Spain in October 2008.
My holiday was booked through First Choice Holidays and for my husband, myself and our 12 year old son for a weeks half board stay with unlimited access to the park, the cost, including flights and transfers was £1200.
We all had a wonderful time, I won't go into the park details as I have already written a review on that aspect of Port Aventura - this review is purely about our stay in the hotel.
We flew into Reus airport and it only took 10 - 15 minutes to get to our hotel.
Before I go any further, let me explain about Halloween at Port Aventura.
Every October and November Port Aventura goes into Halloween mode, and boy - they don't do it by half.
If you have ever been to Disneyland at Halloween - Port Aventura do it five times better!!
Out of the hotels that were available at Port Aventura when we booked El Paso is the simplest and least expensive hotel, but I can say quite honestly that we had no complaints at all and were very pleased with all aspects of the hotel.
The hotel is based on a Mexican theme and has terracotta roof tiles, it is like a two-storey haciendas with timber-framed balconies.
When we pulled up at the hotel the Halloween theme was very much in evidence - cobwebs, huge spiders and skeletons were all around the outside of the hotel and even the statue of Wood Woodpecker had been transformed into a Vampire edition of himself.
We were shown into the large and airy reception with plenty of brightly coloured sofas (many of which were occupied by ghouls, skeletons and the like)
There was a large reception desk and the receptionist was very friendly and spoke good English. She explained all the details about our park tickets, meal times, express tickets etc and spent a long time in discussion with my son about the merits of the various rides.
We were given two magnetic 'keys'which can also be used for shopping in the park. You simply need to have it activated at the reception with your credit/debit card.
The El Paso has 501 rooms, which include standard rooms, rooms designed for the disabled and some theme-based rooms for Halloween - more about that later!! The rooms each accommodate a maximum of 4 people.
We were very pleased on opening our bedroom door - we had a lovely spacious room.
The theme, as with all of the hotel, was Colonial Mexican We had a large double and single bed the room was complete with woven Mexican textiles and Aztec-style art on the walls, and housed a large cupboard and wardrobe, two chairs and a cast iron mirror We were on the ground floor and our patio doors opened onto beautiful gardens - and a very strangely decorated block named Burn Hotel - we were yet to find out about this.
There was a free safe, a telephone, air conditioning -(both hot and cold) and a TV with several channels.
The bathroom was large and fitted with a toilet, sink and vanity unit, a bath and shower and a hair
dryer.
A nice touch was the toiletries that were left for us in the bathroom - one set for adults and one for children in a lovely Port Aventura pouch.
(I estimate the children's set would have cost about 15 euro if it were for sale in the shop) This set was so good that my ever thrifty son nabbed it to take home as apresent for his sister!!
MEAL TIMES
Those of you who have read my reviews will know that the food aspect was very important to me!!
We had booked half board and so had breakfast and dinner in the hotel.
When I go abroad I always dread that we will be offered 'English Food' so it was with some trepidation that we went down for breakfast.
Breakfast is served from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. (You choose your breakfast times at reception when you book in.) in the huge Buffet Merida restaurant that can take up to 650 people. The long buffet stretched out over several halls.
We were shown to our table, which wasn't cramped and was large and spacious, we did not have to queue.
The choices of food on offer were incredible, I shan't be able to remember all of them and they changed daily but typically available for us at breakfast were:
A wide selection of cereals
Yogurts
Baskets of fresh fruits - apples, pears, peaches, bananas etc
A complete chilled section of sliced fresh fruits - melon, pineapple, oranges etc etc
Bakery Section Croissants
Bread Rolls
Biscuits
Cakes
Chilled Section
Salami
Ham
Choritzo
Cheeses
Butters and Conserves
Hot Section
Boiled & scrambled eggs
Choritzo
Bacon ( the continental variety)
Spanish omelette
Baked Beans
Fried Potatoes
Hash Browns
Cooked Tomatoes
Plus tea, coffee, fruit juices , hot or cold chocolate and milk.
It was an 'eat as much as you want' buffet, and several people were taking snacks for their lunch in the park.
Dinner is served between 7.00p.m. to 11.30 p.m. at the Mediterranean buffet and also in the a la carte El Coyote restaurant.
Again there was an ample assortment of foods both hot and cold and with the restaurant's open kitchen your dinner is cooked in front of you.
I have read some reviews of this hotel that talk of 'chips & nuggets' etc - yes these are present ( there is always the demand) but so was beautifully cooked fresh fish - at least two varieties each night, meats, vegetables, pasta, soups, salads etc etc- it was excellent.
Characters were present at both meal times - when we were there this included Halloween characters as well as Woody, Popeye etc
FACILITIES
The pool area is lovely, there were lots of sun beds and no hassle to get them (but this was October) - the area consisted two pools to choose from - the kid's pool is large with a sunken pirate galleon, complete with crows nest and water jets;. the main pool, surrounded with sand sunbeds ,parasols and includes its own whirlpool bath - it was very pleasant.
At the receptionist's suggestion we didn't go into the park until later on Saturday and Sunday ( because of the amount of local visitors) and so used that time to relax by the pool and use the excellent little bar side café for our lunch Our only disappointment was that this bar shut at 5,00 pm ( because of the season) so if you wanted another drink before dinner you needed to go to the main bar - but we accepted the fact that we were out of season.
We also took the opportunity to visit the incredible Beach Club - this was great, it was an exclusive club set on the side of a cliff overlooking the beach. Being a guest in any of the parks hotel's allows you access. There are seven wonderful and different pools there and you don't need to carry towels as they are provided and , again there were plenty of sun loungers.
Our favourite pool there was the lagoon, this had it's own beach and the bottom of the pool was sandy - it literally was like being in a real lagoon, and there were lovely palm trees to shade under if needed.
For Halloween, the 1st floor of the hotel is specially decorated with the colours of fear. The rooms display various themes. The Burn hotel, an annexe to the El Paso also opens for Halloween. Here, you will find a room decorated as a stage with false blood in the mirrors and bathroom blinds. The black colour dialogues with the low lighting of the chandeliers in the rooms. Between 9:00 PM and 2:00 AM, ghost actors enter and move around the rooms. Clients come here with their families to get them scared. Be careful, kids may get frightened. Avoid this period if you are not at all interested on this.
Breakfast: upon arrival, you will be asked to provide your breakfast schedule. In case the said day you have missed the boat, know that breakfast is only ready by 10:00 AM.
The magnetic card of your room can also be used for shopping in the park. You simply need to have it activated at the reception.
FACILITIES
The pool area is lovely, there were lots of sun beds and no hassle to get them (but this was October) - the area consisted two pools to choose from - the kid's pool is large with a sunken pirate galleon, complete with crows nest and water jets;. the main pool, surrounded with sand sunbeds ,parasols and includes its own whirlpool bath - it was very pleasant.
At the receptionist's suggestion we didn't go into the park until later on Saturday and Sunday ( because of the amount of local visitors) and so used that time to relax by the pool and use the excellent little bar side café for our lunch Our only disappointment was that this bar shut at 5,00 pm ( because of the season) so if you wanted another drink before dinner you needed to go to the main bar - but we accepted the fact that we were out of season.
We also took the opportunity to visit the incredible Beach Club - this was great, it was an exclusive club set on the side of a cliff overlooking the beach. Being a guest in any of the parks hotel's allows you access. There are seven wonderful and different pools there and you don't need to carry towels as they are provided and , again there were plenty of sun loungers.
Our favourite pool there was the lagoon, this had it's own beach and the bottom of the pool was sandy - it literally was like being in a real lagoon, and there were lovely palm trees to shade under if needed.
The kid's club was great, held in the pool, on the football pool and in the hotel, the staff were lovely with all the children.
There was nightly entertainment on the outside stage, the seating was on steps but we tended to stay in the comfy seats around the restaurant where we could listen to the music in comfort!!
We also visited the other two hotes and had evening meals there - the Portaventura Hotel and Caribe Hotel - apart from the location of the Port Aventura ( right on the park it self) we all agreed that we preferred our hotel the best.
There were several bars and the waiters would also come to your tables to take orders and bring you drinks - hot or cold.
There was a section of the hotel with computers with internet connections which were widely used.
There was a well stocked gift shop in the hotel, we personally found the goods on sale slightly less expensive than in Disney shops.
THE BURN HOTEL
I have eluded to this on several occasions now.
This part of the hotel was directly opposite our room and at first we didn't really understand what it was, we thought it was simply part of the Halloween décor.
Our rep explained to us just what it was on our second day. This section of the hotel actually consists of 16 rooms that are converted into Hotel Burn every Halloween.
At weekends in the Halloween season you can upgrade to a room there for a night ; it costs 50 euro a night to stay in it.
Based on a REALLY scary haunted house it has such delights as 'blood' running down the walls, candles, spooky pictures, blood stained bed sheets. And between 8.30 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. you get the life scared out of you by the likes of skeletons,Freddie Crouger, Vampires etc. People seemingly jump out of your wardrobe and from under your bed !!
Their make-up is incredible and the characters that lurked outside the hotel when we were returning to our room at night were were really terrifying.
We declined this opportunity - anyone who has read my review of Port Aventura itself and heard of my son's unfortunate experience in El Diablo will know why!!
On Saturday night all the staff in the hotel were dressed up in Halloween theme and all looked incredible.
LOCATION
El Paso is in a fantastic location you can either make the short walk to the park or use the complimentary road train ( the driver of one we used put an extra spurt on and went that bit further into the park as he knew my son wanted to be the first visitor to make it in the park - and he did!!)
The mainline station is also very close and trains to Barcelona were frequent and it only costs around 8 euro.
If you want to go into Salou, it is only about 15 mins walk, a taxi averages out at about 7 euro. There is also a road train from the hotel for 3 euro each - so if there are more than two of you it is worth getting a taxi.
PARK ADMITTANCE
Unlimited park access is included with the package, the express tickets we received from the hotel reception came in very handy at busy times - but we still had some left which we gave to new visitors.
GENERAL COMMENTS
Everything about the hotel was good, all parts of it were clean and well maintained, bed linen and towels were changed daily and the staff were all very friendly.
We are certainly going to go back to Port Aventura, but we may stay at the Port Aventura hotel, not because of any fault of El Paso, but my husband is not so good at all the walking required in the park itself , so if we stayed in the Port Aventura it would suit our circumstances better.
The whole experience of the holiday was first class and we had no complaints.
I would certainly recommend the hotel El Paso.
Summary: Both the hotel and park are well worth the visit.
Don't pass on El Paso 
A good overview of the hotel that would be very useful to potential visitors - I know because I've been there too!