Holiday help - Salou

[Rockmehardplace]

Attempting to take DC, who has fairly significant ASN, abroad for the first time in June and am considering Salou as flight is only a few hours and transfer time is short at other end.
can anyone recommend a good family friendly resort? Just want somewhere clean and safe, DC can’t participate in kids clubs but would love a swimming pool/splash pool and maybe a kids disco at night.

v nervous about it and doing it alone, so doubly nervous!

I don’t know if you’re looking for a hotel but we had a fantastic holiday at Sanguli, through Eurocamp. The pools were FANTASTIC and the kids disco was great every night too. We loved it there.

I've also loved Sanguli .. but was terrified of the railway track crossing as my children were so young

Has that been improved now ? It was a long time ago so hopefully it has been made safer

Ooo i was looking at hotels but this looks a real possibility!

Sanguli is great but I wouldn't book via Eurocamp. I always find their accommodation more run down than others. Book direct or with someone else

I've stayed at the Hotel Dorada Palace, few years ago now, and it was good. Somewhere closer to the sea might be even better though.

H10 Mediterranean Village is fabulous !

Salou was the place all the uni sport teams went for summer chaos, many years ago. I never went but it feels akin to taking your child to Magaluf. Willing to be told I'm wrong but thought I'd raise it in case it helps.

Eeek! Id discounted Ibiza for precisely that reason.

Salou was very busy I thought. Cambrils is lovely and you can get the bus into Salou if you want. We stayed in Best Cambrils and its across the street from the beach.

I’d second Cambrills - it is saleable but a bit of a slog in the heat (although pancake flat)

we’ve stayed here twice - the only hotel ever we’ve ever gone back to

https://www.jet2holidays.com/spain/costa-dorada/cambrils/estival-el-dorado-resort

Salou is very busy and not all parts are family friendly. Make sure and find a hotel away from the nightclubs.

There's a Med Playa hotel there, I can't now remember the name but we went there with children and it was really family friendly

Just to add it was Hotel calypso

I went to salou when I was 17 it was horrible! I felt really unsafe I had men following me around trying to touch me, It really freaked me out. I can't remember what part I went to now but it was definitely not family friendly, maybe other parts are also this was 20 years ago so it could all be different now.

As above h10 Mediterranean village is great.
We go every year, kids love it. Salou is lovely

The H10 hotels are all lovely and food is great. If you do half board they let u swap dinner for lunch if u fancy going out one night.

I've been twice to Salou with my own parents as a child and with my own kids. Only known it as a family resort it's certainly not somewhere I would have wanted to go in my teens n 20's not enough nightlife for me. It's really nothing like Magaluf that's for sure!

www.cambrilspark.com/en/

Highly recommend this place at Cambrils, based on what you've said in your OP. We've stayed there 5 times over the years; ticks all the boxes for pools, kids discos, etc. Not the cheapest, I realise, so depends on your budget - but I'd be confident this would meet your brief. If nothing else, it's 'self-contained', so feels very secure and easy.

Would a villa be a better option?

We went to Sanguli last year, thought it was great, the pools were good, the show area with the amipitheatre was good. Trains no longer run on the train just outside the camp.

I too used to think Salou was a sheissenholen as I'm sure circa 1990 I read stories about the beach being an open sewer and trains you could touch from your hotel room. Anyway, for some reason we all went as a family a few years back. It was August. It was busy. But it was very popular with the natives and we really liked it. Lovely wide promenade with Spanish families just having fun and not acting like twats; why are English seaside towns so shit in comparison? Also helped it was a quick taxi ride from Reus airport. The flight back to Stansted took less than 1hr 40mins, ideal if you have young kids or fidgety travellers. There was a big waterpark nearby, plus Port Aventura.

I read once it was toss up between Paris and Salou for the building of EuroDisney. Why they went with Paris I don't know - the climate on the Costa Dorada is ideal.

I can't comment on hotels, but the train tracks have been 'decommisioned', nothing runs along them anymore.
SalouFest used to be held over Easter - British uni-age getting pissed, vomming on the streets and dying in droves by 'balconing', ie jumping from one balcony to another. Banned now and hasn't been on for 5+ years.
Cambrils smaller, more up-market. Still lovely beaches. They might have the inflatables set up on the sea.
Nearby Tarragona for Roman stuff - amphitheatre etc.
Reus airport is small, so passport control etc will be a wait but not horrific.

It's stonkingly hot late May to late October.

That's what it was called! I remember the posters all over the union.

We stayed at the H10 Salauris Palace, which was decent - we had teenagers with us, but there was a kid's disco/entertainment each evening, a nice swimming pool and a small kids pool. Food was good, and it was quiet at night as it's away from the main drags of pubs/clubs.

We chose it due to its proximity to the theme parks and water park, you could easily walk there, so if your DC like that sort of thing, it's ideal. Also walking distance to the seafront. I didn't love Salou (I'm used to smaller resorts) but it served its purpose of a reasonably priced holiday near theme parks and beaches.

No specific advice but husband goes on a school trip every May to salou and raves about how inclusive it is.

Cap Salou area is quieter and near to the big theme park