Checkin Flamingo

We got a bargain three night stay via Agoda at less than £200, not a bad price. Good breakfast, balcony, reasonable sized room and of course a small swimming pool. Reception staff spoke English and there was paid parking.

A decent hotel with decent food and decent staff. But I give a low score for ONE REASON: There was a large group of special needs people using the hotel. From my experience working with autistic adults, there is no way these individuals should be sharing busy spaces - sometimes unattended - with young children. Their support workers were not good enough and these guests were walking alone around the restaurant - grabbing utensils and food from small children. At times the restaurant was like a farmyard - loud snorting and braying sounds. Guests constantly on edge, especially with their children. There are special hotels for these individuals and unfortunately they ruined the atmosphere and relaxation for a lot of guests. At one point one of the special needs adults tried to get into the lift with my children, who already had to leave the restaurant because of the sound of another one of them vomiting on his table. That nothing was done about this for the 7 days I was there is not acceptable. There were other security problems around the hotel but most importantly, they should not be accepting these large groups because it disrupts the enjoyment of guests.

We have just returned from a ten day holiday at the Flamingo; whilst the Hotel looks nice from the outside and the reception area is smart once you step away from these areas the downward trend starts. Our room was booked as a Superior double, it was definitely not a Superior room - no double bed, just twin beds, bathroom door did not close properly, decoration could have been much brighter and the beds were not changed at all during our stay even though we twice requested the room to be made up; bathroom also not cleaned properly. The corridors were very noisy / echoing, most room doors slammed every time they were closed. The safe in the wardrobe did not have a lock barrel, so even if we had wanted to use it we couldn't. The dining room was like a school canteen - clear your own tables, very loud / noisy / chaotic, tables taken up by large groups. There were non-residents using the dining room who removed large quantities of food at every meal time; wrapping in napkins and placing in their bags. Most of them were staying in the Bonsol Apartments, across the road at the back of the Hotel. L'Estartit is a lovely town and we will return but to another Hotel; this is the first and last time we stay at the Hotel Flamingo.

1st time we have been with siesta hostess service on the way there was excellent on they way back no so although we where told she was new to the job the hotel flamingo apartments very very dated not very clean at all no fresh towels or bedding all week that would be extra The fridge was rusty the shelfs brocken kitchen utensils where so tatty we did not want to use them if some shut a door anywhere the windows shuck thuck not a present place to.stay at all and again the servservice depended on what staff where on Not one siesta holiday rep made a visit and I did ask at the desk and they day we where due to.leave I rang the reps on the number given 40 times with no.avail I resorted to leave a voice mail on the uk line because as it was su day there was no reply On the coach now nearly home still no reply from siesta Not a very good service at all So 1st night we paid about 10€ each for buffet absolutely foul so after that all meal s in local eateries omalys bar been the best for all our meals and the coaches were very uncomfortable At the flamingo Hotel apartments as always service dependent on who is working in the bar and I swear every time I got served by a different person I was given a different price so all in all we spent a lot of money in restaurants and the local spar never do this again

Pros Rooms adequate and very clean with aircon. Hotel on good location - convenient for the town and marina area. Cons They take in large parties of teenage school children. If you mis-time your meal times it is like eating with a plague of locusts. No chance of a relaxing experience. There is very limited service or organisation in the restaurant. The staff who were in there worked hard and were very pleasant, but due to limited numbers all they could do was clear up. If you wanted to eat in the garden to avoid the noise you had to take your own cutlery from an inside table. Also there were often younger children in the garden running around. So difficult to enjoy a quiet meal there either. The food was variable. On a bad day it was bland and repetitive. There was never anyone there to take drinks orders if you wanted a beer or similar.

This hotel takes large parties of teenage school children on holiday from Monday to Friday, needless to say they enjoy having fun (spoiling ours) ie running round the hotel, particularly at night disrupting our sleep, and eating all the food in the restaurant! It also has a number of resident families, all of whom have children under four, who are left to run around the garden’s, pool area and restaurant with little or no parental supervision. Thete is no lifeguard, in breach of EU regulations, and considering that the very young children go into the adult pool this is very concerning. Overall the noise levels in the hotel are horrendous and the dining experience miserable due to the noise levels. There is also little evidence of cleaning in the dining room with dirty floors, food left from the night before or even the day before that and limited dining options. If you are vegetarian don’t even think of coming here as there are no vegetarian dishes on the menu-you will survive on chips and salad. Such a shame as the staff are friendly and the rooms are clean and well equipped. As adults expecting a relaxing holiday, as described on the website, my partner and I were hugely disappointed.