Santa Susanna, Royal Sun Hotel Review

Overall Rating

Cheap and cheerful, near the beach, fairly friendly, warm room, clean.

Very basic, very poor cold food, run down area - similar to Blackpool without the theme park. I booked to stay 10 days and came home after 4 days as I could not endure any more.

I went to stay at the Royal Sun for an Easter break with my 13 year old daughter. I expected the worse after reading the reviews and got the worse. It was very similar to how I would imagine Pontins. I know when Hotels say they are 4* they very rarely are, and I have stopped in some lovely places and also some pretty grim places, and this was right up there as being very grim. It did not helped of course by the fact it rain pretty constantly, so to be fair, most places look drab when the weather is bad.

The room was tiny but warm which was a blessing as it was so cold outside. The walls were really thin so everything could be heard - and I mean everything! (toilet, talking, coughing etc) not nice. At the time of my visit it was full of young lads who were there for football, so the noise from this was awful, shouting, screaming, cheering, running up and down the corridor. Just as I would be falling off to sleep they would come in about 2/3 in the morning and put the TV on full belt and have a kick around. They tried to open my door on numerous occasions as they were drunk and got confused as to where their room was (not good for a single woman and child). The beds were tiny and uncomfortable and I had to ask for it to be cleaned as the maid never showed up. There was hot water though, a nice simple bathroom with a shower. I keep trying to look for positives really I do, but it is difficult.

The food was awful, not much choice and always cold. OK if you like a bit of salad and chips everyday. The same food was served for breakfast, lunch and dinner, ie. sausages in batter, chicken noodle soup, potatoes and peas (this was served every day until it ran out). No drinks were served at the table with a meal, you had to queue up for them at a little bar with your ID card - with a strict code of only 2 drinks per serving. On entering the restaurant it was like going through security having to have your card examined at every sitting. The food was a massive let down and there were no nice restaurants outside the hotel either.

The hotel bar was one large room with a few games for the children. It was good for little children but my teenage daughter was bored ridged with it. It was like a working mens club with a little stage with a bit of entertainment in the evening. The bar and the hotel lobby is strictly non smoking which as a smoker I found difficult, as I like a cigarette with a drink but a good thing for the non-smokers. There was a tiny smoking room, which was awful and the majority of smokers congregated at the entrance of the hotel, not very nice though I do appreciate it is not very nice for non-smokers to have to sit in a smoky environment.

No rep showed up and the reception staff were not very helpful, so as for things to do it was a case of looking at books in reception and asking plenty of questions. The train line is excellent for getting about, for 7€ each return, you can go into Barcelona. The journey took just over an hour but it would of helped if there was more information of what to do and where to go (especially when it is raining). There were 3 stops in Barcelona - so you have to ask which is the centre. There is a big zoo there which I did not get to in the end but you can catch the train to the zoo, which is one stop before Barcelona Centre.

The area of Santa Susana was very grim, grubby and built up. The only shops were tacky souvenir shops, and if you want to buy cigarettes well that was a challenge in itself.

If the weather had been better and the pools heated, I am sure I could have muddled through and had an OK holiday. As it was Easter I paid £770 for 2 adults, all inclusive from Leeds/Bradford Airport including transfer (which took a long 2 hours). I felt this was expensive as the hotel was such low quality - it is criminal that they can get away with calling it 4*. On booking your holiday you put your total trust in the travel agent and I feel they really took me for a ride. As I said above, it was that bad I paid a further £200 to come home.

If you got the chance to go, height of summer, for a really cheap price then I would say "yes go" but never, ever risk going at Easter like I did - a waste of time, money and really bad experience I cannot wait to forget.