Ponient Dorada Palace
About
The Hotel Dorada Palace underwent a modern makeover in 2024, featuring Mediterranean-inspired decor. Nestled 800 meters away from Llevant Salou Beach and just a stone's throw from PortAventura World, it's an optimal choice for family and couple retreats.
Comprising 360 units, including 240 rooms and 120 flats, the hotel caters to various accommodation needs. Its amenities include multiple outdoor pools, including one atop the building, a serene chill-out area, and Jacuzzis exclusively for guests aged 18 and above.
In addition to a buffet restaurant, two bars, a mini-club, and a lush garden area, guests can enjoy discounted access to PortAventura Park, Ferrari Land, and Caribe Aquatic Park. During the summer months, a complimentary shuttle service ferries guests to and from PortAventura Park.
Conveniently located 15 minutes from Reus Airport and just an hour away from Barcelona Airport, accessibility is a hallmark of the Hotel Dorada Palace.
Location
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We found the food good with a good selection although could have been hotter the one thing we did not like was that you had to book times of meals if you were a little late you were made to wait for the next available slot and we also heard that if you overstayed your time slot you were asked to leave although this never happened to us , just never came across this in a hotel before.
Pool area is very good although I would think in peak season it could get very busy and would probably be difficult to find a sunbed
The hotel is part of the Portaventura theme park and we had 3 day entrance included in the holiday , while we were there tickets could also be purchased for a 50% reduction the hotel also offers free transfer to the park but bear in mind the bus does get very busy and in fact drops you off at the bottom of the car park and is a good walk up to the park in fact if you are fit and able the walk to the park is only approximately 15 min walk from the hotel
We had a taxi which is approximately 8 euros which the hotel will arrange and comes within minutes
So all in all was very pleased with the hotel and would be happy to recommend.
Pros
1. Food - whilst gets boring after a few days as they repeat the dishes, it is delicious and everything is well seasoned. Also great selection for kids. Deserts are awful though so if you have sweet tooth you may be disappointed .
2. Location to the theme parks and beaches - everything walking distance and about 10-15 mins walk. Lots of mini markets and restaurants/bars nearby. Hotel also offers free shuttle bus to parks.
3. Cleanliness - hotel is generally clean and modern.
Cons
1. Customer service - average at best. Whilst staff are friendly, you have to ask for stuff at least three times before someone actually delivers. Just the basics like cutlery for our apartment room, towels so we can wash, bedsheets for the sofa bed- we had to ask at least 3 times before someone actually delivered it. Go to reception they say they will bring it, call reception from the room and no one answers. I’ve been at 3* hotels with much better customer service.
2. Entertainment - not great, there is an hour show in the evening at 10pm which is ok and mini disco for the kids at 9pm.
3. Restaurant access - you have to book your meal times and present a qr code to access dining room. You should just be able to give your room number, not everyone wants to carry around a qr code on a piece of paper. Also , it means everyone in the same room have to eat at the same time and together.
4. Sofa bed - rock hard and can feel
Metal bars from bed frame through the mattress. Can’t wait to go back home to my bed.
Overall this hotel would be great if it was a 3* but for a 4* hotel, I wasn’t very impressed and wouldn’t return as have stayed in much nicer 4*s with better customer service.
The Port Aventura theme parks are great and we will return to Salou for the theme parks alone but will be staying at a different hotel.
QR code to book restaurant but was never asked for it and just end up queuing for a table.
The location is good near PortAventura park, beach, shops - everything within a 15-20 minute walk.
The rooms are soo loud, can hear everything! So not much rest at any time of the day. From 6am until 2am the next day it is constant kids screaming, suitcases, people dragging their chairs which echoes through the room. Such a shame as this hotel has the potential to be great but we would not go back.



First the good points - there are water dispensers on two of the bars free for all guests. Adults only area on rooftop is a fantastic space with sun beds always available, however the bar only serves paying guests so all inc have to go 6 floors down for a drink.
We paid extra for a pool view room and were given a view of a smaller pool overlooking wheelie bins; after requesting the room we paid for we were moved to a room overlooking main pool next day. The bed was the worst thing - 3/4 size measured 140cm wide, that’s 70cm per person! With a single sized sheet on top = no good nights sleep.
The shower is a hand held unit pinned to the wall with a holder, there are no tea and coffee making facilities in the room, the patio door was broken and mended by maintenance who couldn’t do anything about the ineffective air con.
The hotel caters for AI and half board and they definitely prioritise half board as they are ‘paying’. The rules are crazy:
The pool bar only serves food to AI when the restaurant is closed - you can only pay for food during these hours - but the food is superior to AI, served differently with better pizza, chips and toasties (AI get pasty looking sandwiches in sun all day) Olives and nuts are on AI menu but staff didn’t know what nuts were and I never saw an olive.
Welcome sheet says AI on until midnight but it closes at 11 for alcoholic AI.
There are different queues for food and drink but the rules change, so going to the bar is like an endurance test made worse by miserable staff ( the staff are worked so hard - many doing work of three people so this is understandable) The QR booking system is mad, having to know what time you want to eat in the future, the dining is still chaotic with lukewarm, mediocre food.
There is a €5 charge to store your case after checkout - unheard of 💁
Overall this isn’t a 4 star hotel, has had a quick clean up not a refurb, is not worth the money and certainly wasn’t relaxing.
The hotel entrance and lobby is grand and initially gave a great impression, however it all went down hill from there!
The rooms were OK - 2 double beds in each room (advertised as bigger than doubles, but they definitely weren't), a small balcony, a good sized bathroom (needs TLC) with a shower in the bath (screen, not curtain :) thank god!!), a safe and a small fridge. The rooms were small, though - certainly couldn't have coped with 2/3 people in each room with much more luggage than was needed for 3 nights. There was no tea or coffee facility in the room, which was annoying.
We had booked all-inclusive and ended up eating out for 2 of our 3 dinners. The food is dreadful! The same bland, overcooked, bizarre dishes repeated over & over. Lots of carbs options, and often very similar dishes at lunch and dinner. The tea/coffee and juices all come from self-service machines, and all were awful - overly sweet from concentrate juices and tea/coffee with floating "curdled" type bits in them.
The pool bar that served food, closed from 1-3pm so the only place to get lunch was the buffet restaurant. The cocktails served at the pool bar were also from machines - strangest looking cocktails we'd ever seen.
The friendliest staff we came across were the cleaners - everyone else seemed miserable. There was absolutely no "4-star service" provided.
There were rules everywhere!! No sunglasses or even regular glasses to be worn in the rooftop hottubs, only 1 key given per room, paper cups for all drinks until the evening, no moving sunbeds by the pools to add extras to a row, no food/drinks in some areas, no all-inclusive drinks served at the rooftop bar, COVID rules still in place for booking 1 of 2 breakfast slots & you can't be late - they were constant!
The downstairs toilets smelt awful and the general areas need a lot of TLC, as they're tired and very dated. The pools and hottubs were all cold/cool and needed the temperatures increasing to be vaguely comfortable.
There is no way this hotel can be correctly classed as 4 star - a low 3 star at best!

The pool area is a bit of a let down & needs some money spent on it, it has some floor tiles that are loose or missing. Some sunbeds are placed on muddy grass (which could be tiled) and therefore people transfer dirt etc into the pool. The pool itself could do with a good clean as the tiles around the side are dirty & a film of grime was gathering, particularly under the tree area. If you want to wear your sunglasses or spectacles in the pool then make sure you take a glasses strap with you as you are unable to wear them without. We travelled in August & if you wanted a sunbed you would have to queue from 07:00 to get one, once the doors opened at approximately 08:30 people would make a mad dash. There is clearly not enough sunbeds so the hotel needs to invest in some more.
You have to book a slot for breakfast & evening meal, this worked OK for us although one morning we was told we only had 5 minutes left - you can feel pressurised particularly if you have small children who are slow eaters. If you dislike pork or fish then you may have trouble with something to eat on some days - they had pork lasagna, pork kebabs, loin of pork & beef & pork burgers all on one evening, you’d have thought they may have had a chicken dish. In general the food was only lukewarm. We found the pudding selection very limited, compared to other hotels - they were on a very small counter.
This hotel itself was overall clean & very nice although as we travel to Salou on a regular basis we probably would not return to it unless we got another good deal.



All staff from reception to the dining room was extremely friendly and went out of their way to help you. A member of staff was waiting for you at the entrance to take you to a table. We found the food was very good, with lots of choice. A chef cooking omelettes/eggs and pancakes to order for breakfast along with breads/fruit/cereals etc. Lunch was also good , 1 day even had half a duck ! Evening meals always had a choice of soups , a chef freshly cooking 2 or 3 meats eg steak/chicken/pork and fish.
We had 2 adjacent rooms which had 2 double beds in each, which my 6 foot 6 son had no problems with and the room although not huge was very adequate. Bathroom had a bit of an update and the shower very powerful.
The only downside we found was the booking system for meals. I didn’t like having to take my phone with me every time to scan in. Also having to decide the day before when you wanted to get up the next day. As a family of 4 with 2 teenagers , they didn’t always want to come down to breakfast the same time as us. As breakfast was only a 45 minute slot you had to be there in time which then led to queues for the freshly cooked food.
We had a late flight home but still could use all the facilities. There is a shower downstairs that we could use which was next to to lockers for your luggage which was very handy to get ready for our flight home. You need to pay for the locker facilities however we got an extra large locker for 5 euros which took 1 large suit case and some hand luggage. This is an computerised electronic locker system which meant it was very secure and you could come and go whenever you needed something so didn’t mind the charge.
We would definitely come back to this hotel as it is ideally located and also feel as if they are working through some of the teething issues ( the day we left , they started selling ice creams behind the pool bar for anyone that wasn’t all inclusive)



We went with the half board option which was B&B and either lunch or dinner we availed of both on different days. The food is good standard and there is something for everyone, my kids ate pancakes every morning and fruit and we had omelettes most mornings which were delicious and freshly made. The peak periods it can be hectic but the food is replaced quickly so
No complaints. The only issue I have is that the juice and coffee machines are onl available at breakfast only, I would have loved a coffee after my lunch but I think the reason is the snack
Bar can serve coffee.
The staff we met were all fine no issues pleasant and I have to mention the female lifeguard at the pools ( I’m sorry I don’t know her name) she was brilliant very observant moving around the pool monitoring but in a very friendly way and would say hello to the kids and smile and wave. The pool area and pools themselves are best I’ve seen anywhere, spotless and not full of chlorine, I saw the robotic cleaner in the back pool a couple of times.
The activities are all on time around the pool I just did the air rifle shooting and archery which was on 3 times a week and you must be 18+ years for air rifle. The snack bar is priced reasonable but everything has gone up in price expect to pay €3.20 for a mahou beer and soft drinks are about €3.70 for a large. I didn’t get tea or coffee during or stay. The food we did get twice which was pizza priced at €11 or €12 and some Tapas price around €6 I think.
The only trips we booked was Ferrari land as my son was obsessed with seeing it which we paid €82 at reception but it is t open until 2pm and like most theme parks is expensive inside but worth a visit.
I would recommend this to anyone with young families it’s catered for them and we always felt safe in the resort. I can’t comment on the kids club as our kids stayed with us for the duration and I didn’t go to the adults only pool area but my wife did for an hour before we left and said it was nice.
Salou strip is a short walk and it’s a good location to base yourself in salou i did speak to other people who were returning for the 7th Time so I definitely would recommend and will return ne t year hopefully!.
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