Gran Hotel La Hacienda - La Pineda, Spain 

We (2 adults and 2 kids) stayed at the Hacienda at the end of May for a week, all inclusive. The hotel rooms were spacious, the maids were great, they came in every day and so our room was kept really clean. The pool area was very clean, and although in the hotel 'rules' you are not allowed to reserve sunbeds, surprise surprise, by 9am you would have a job to find one. The food was very good, and not as repetitive as we had been led to believe by other reviews. The only down side of this holiday was the queuing at the bar. The bar staff were extremely slow and they did seem to begrudge you a drink and were quite unhelpful. The bar shut at midnight and 1 minute past, the lights were turned out and you were expected to go to bed!!! All the other staff were great, especially the kids clubs staff, who kept our children entertained all day.

Just got back from 10 days all inclusive with family and although okay this hotel didn't strike me as a 4 star hotel, indeed I've been in far better 3 star hotels. The hotel is spotlessly clean and the rooms are quite spacious with 2 double beds but the furniture is very basic and the view from our balcony was of the massive chemical works near Tarragona, not very nice. The food is quite good but again not 4 star quality and the all inclusive is okay but expect to queue for your drinks in the evening (watch out for the head bar man, he's a real misery) also you need your all inclusive cards on you at all times except breakfast and you must sign a receipt for everything you have. The all inclusive bar closes at 11.15, after that you pay. The entertainment in the hotel is very poor which isn't good if you're all inclusive, we had a couple of nights out in Salou to break the boredom it's quite lively and around 15E each way for a taxi, local buses run to Salou regularly at 1.75E single up to about 10.30pm. (Local buses also run to city of Tarragona which is worth a visit for the Roman ampitheatre, shops etc). The pool area is nice and the outside bar is good, there are tennis & racketball courts & a 5 a side footy court also a small indoor pool with sauna etc which is all free for all inclusive. La Pineda itself isn't very pretty, around the hotel (which is right on the edge of the resort) is particularly rundown although the centre of the resort around the waterpark is slightly better and the beach that end is quite nice. At night it's pretty dull with very few decent bars. My top tips - 1. Make sure you take everything you need with you, Spain has become quite expensive. 2. Plana Bus company's trips to Barcelona are well worth a go (from 20E return) details at hotel reception. 3. Port Aventura is a great day (or 2) out for all the family but don't go on a weekend day. 4. If you're driving to the hotel don't pay for hotel parking (5E a night), there's lots of free, safe parking on the road all around the hotel. 5. MAIN TIP Take your anti Mozzi cream with you, the place is buzzing with em at night and we all got bitten. 6. Don't pay any more for this hotel than you would for a 3 star.