Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
Member since:29.08.2002
Reviews:625
Members who trust:281
Having booked a week's holiday to go to America with some friends at the end of July, we ended up giving up due to the cost of the flights. So having booked the week off it seemed a shame to waste it and so Jenny booked the same week and we started looking for a late deal on lastminute.com. It was an all inclusive holiday to Tossa De Mar on the Costa Brava for £528 for both of us for 3 nights. The hotel, which was meant to be allocation on arrival turned out to be the Tossa Beach Hotel. This price included the flights, transfers and all inclusive accommodation, which during peak season was a bit of a bargain.
The transfer from the airport dropped us at a bus stop in the middle of town and the driver pointed us in the right direction, approx 200 meters down a side road towards the beach. As we walked down the road the hotel was quite easy to find, on the left hand side of the road there is a ramp up to the glass
front doors, with Tossa Beach above the door. The reception was located just inside the front door, with a few internet terminals. Some chairs, a sofa and various information about local attractions.
The reception was pretty well staffed at all times and from the moment we checked in all of the staff were very helpful for the duration of our stay. At reception you are presented with a water proof band, blue for adults and red for kids, to show for meals and drinks in order to show your all inclusive status. The check in procedure took about 5 minutes and we were told our room number and where to go. In reception as well as the hotel's services they also book excursions for a local company to Barcelona and Montserrat.
From reception your room could be in one of the two buildings and within the hotel there are a total of 122 rooms spread over three floors. In addition to this there is a main bar on the ground floor and a restaurant in the basement. Our room was on the top floor above the bar and faced out onto a side street. The corridors and all quite well signposted and as well as a main staircase to each floor there is an external staircase and a lift to access all area of the hotel.
For us the room was exactly what we were looking for. We didn't intend to spend a great deal of time in there and so even though it may be classed as a little basic it did for us. We had a double bed and a single bed in the room, with a large double wardrobe, a TV and an en-suite bathroom. The bathroom was nice and clean and consisted of a bath with a shower in it, toilet and sink again this was exactly what we were looking for.
Each room came with a number of extra features, including a small balcony with 2 seats, which although not particularly big enough to sit on, was ideal for drying towels on. As well as the television the room also came with all the mod cons, kettle, a hair dryer and if you were willing to pay the small charge there was also a small safe to keep your documents in. The room wasn't the type of place you could spend long amounts of time but it was an ideal base, with a comfy bed and that was all that really mattered.
The only complaint we had with the room itself was the cleaning service. While we didn't have any problem with our room being cleaned, it was how early the staff seemed to want to come in and clean. It was always right after breakfast, rather than during while we were trying to get ready to go out for the day, which became a little bit of a pain.
We opted for all inclusive to try and keep our spending while we were away to a minimum. The restaurant in the basement was pretty reasonable. There were three set meal times, 7 till 10, 12 till 2 and 5 till 8 where the downstairs area was open. This was all included within the all inclusive bands and served a good variety of various English foods from sausages to chicken. While this was ideal for keeping costs down, it didn't really give you much of a chance to savour some of the traditional local food and for that reason we ate out in Barcelona during our trip down there.
The final area of the hotel covered by the bands was the main bar. It was located next to the pool and acted as not only the main bar but also the pool bar and snack bar. There was a minimum limit of two drinks per person, I assume to stop people from getting too many drinks at work. While I found the system quite easy, you just waved your band and were given your drinks, the fact they were in plastic cups gave certain drinks, beer in particular a funny taste. While it said on our information that snacks were free it should really have been pointed out that this included everything but packets of crisps.
All of the gripes were pretty minor though and with a hotel that was only 200 meters from the beach, right in the centre of town you couldn't ask much more. The hotel also had its own pool but during the 4 days we were there it was impossible to get anywhere near it, instead we opted for the short walk to the beach. The hotel itself operated a no noise policy after 12am but as long as you weren't over noisy it was easy enough to just pop into town after the hotel bar closed. Of course this policy also helped on those nights you want an early, peaceful night as there isn't a lot of noise keeping you awake.
Overall it was a nice enough hotel for what it was. It gave us a good central base in Tossa De Mar to get our heads down and eat and was close enough to explore. The old adage that you get what you pay for is certainly true, but I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with the Tossa Beach. It ticks all the boxes due to its close proximity to town and the beach and the fact we needed very little spending money. It was my first taste of an all inclusive holiday and for me it suited everything we needed within our budget. For the best deals on Tossa Beach holidays it's best to go through Lastminute as this includes flights etc and dependant on your travel dates the price can vary quite a bit.
http://www.htossabeach.com/uk/
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
The only thing about going all inclusive is the food is a bit touch and go at times....I've opted to book self catering this year, which means more cooking for me (which I'm not looking forward to) but means I know what the kids are eating...x
debmercury 29.01.2009 12:21
Sounds good for a last minute cheap deal :o) x
MizzMolko 24.01.2009 22:58
Sounds good apart from the foodie issue : ) Eleanor x
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
very helpful by (100%):
