Spain - Costa Brava Discussion Forum

Discussions regarding holidays in the Costa Brava.
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HI john, we are going to royal beach on sunday for 3 nights...Short break for ciggies.. and I make no opologies for being a smoker.. we got a brill deal for this and as it is just ish for ciggies whatever hotel is like will be o.k... having said that dont think hotel will be our cup of tea from reviews seen.. me and hubby both 55yrs but goin on 25.. we think.. me got slight mobility problems.. funny enough it not so bad when i've had a drink..ha.ha.. any way not been here before so will post review when return and no matter what.. I WILL HAVE A GOOD TIME...guess if you going in jan this time of year will be very similar.. :cheers :tup :tup p.s any one else going sunday..???!!!
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Hi sweepy

We had a look around the Roayl Beach when we were in Lloret in August. Nice hotel - hope you will like it. Will be very interested to hear what is open in the area.

Thanks

John
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assuming the royal beach, they sometimes close for staff holidays in jan/feb, is open then the robin hood pub and roxys restaurant will be open. RH stays open till about 3am and is perfect staggering distance from the royal beach. it is almost compulsory to visit the RH if you are AI as it stays open late.
there will also be one or two restaurants open in that street plus all the tat shops.there are other bars in the area that will be open as well, but you will have to look for them in the back streets.
in town, you can get a bus from outside the hotel for about €1, there will be more bars open, especially over the weekend, but not nearly as many as during the summer. most shops in town will be open.
the only other resort to consider is calella, but this will be much the same as lloret, ie low season with a lot of the touristy places closed.
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Thanks Jim,

The Amaika or Calella Palace are on the list as well...........

I'm guessing Santa Susanna will be even quieter - it's just the location of the Royal Sun is really nice on the beach.

John.
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the amaika is HTOPs flagship hotel and i would never put anyone off going there.
the calella palace is ok, very similar to R star/beach.
there should be enough open in calella to keep you amused -much the same as lloret.
you pays your money................

the royal sun is in a great position when the sun shines!
the problem there is that there are not that many hotels open in january, and so very few of the "british/tourist" pubs will be, so your choice of entertainment will be the royal sun or the royal sun.
there is very little in SS at the best of times, so you would have to go into Malgrat to find anything open. there are buses, but the walk would be about 20 minutes to the older part of town where the locals live/shop/eat.
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Thanks Jim

Think I can rule out SS then.

Do you know how far the Amaika/Calella Palace are from the bars/shops ? We visited them in the summer when we were at the Alexsis but didn't really 'scout out' the local area.
The FIL has a bit of arthritis so he doesn't want to be walking around to much but he likes to get out to local bars - think he might get wanderlust when the AI stops at midnight :cheers

John
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john,
calella palace may not be best bet, as nearest pub (white horse if i remember right)is downhill, about 100 metres from the hotel front door- or i should say hotel is 100 metres uphill on way home :duh

the new part of calella, where almost all the hotels and touristy bars are is fairly compact, but does have little hills. it depends how fit FIL is.

the fenals area of lloret is much flatter and the robin hood to the royal beach is about 25 metres.
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Thanks yet again,

The Royal beach is looking favourite I guess - as long as it's open - showing availabilty for the week but HTop aren't averse to shifting people at the last minute anyway !

The FIL has good and bad days but RB looks good for him and with the L2 circular passing by the door and also the HTop coaches, he should be able to get out and have a look around the area.

John.
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john123,
i have been lead to believe that the royal beach will be shut for staff holidays from 10th jan for 10 days.
this will have a knock on effect as the robin hood and roxys will also close then.
i'm due back out there on the 22nd so hope they don't put the dates back.
the royal star was shut last week so should be open in january, but the casino royal is i believe shut for another refurbishment.
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Thanks for that Jim. Looks like he will be booking only a week or so before he goes so any closures should be apparent.

but the casino royal is i believe shut for another refurbishment.


Maybe a large metal ball swung from a crane ?

We live in hope :)

John
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Jim,

Still not booked for FIL yet but I noticed that the RB is showing no availablility from 24th Jan for 2 weeks - shut for holidays ?

John
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In fact most of HTOPs seem to be shut until 31st Jan..........

If I'm reading the availablity of the hotels correctly i.e. They are not completely full for 3 weeks in January....

Royal Star reopens 24th as Royal Beach closes. Amaika shut until 31st. Olympic shut to 31st.
Calella Palace opens tomorrow (6th Jan) all the way through.

FIL goes out on 21st so would mean a swap if he wanted Lloret......

John
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john,
you are reading the availability right. looks like the royal star is shut again after tomorrow for another 2 weeks and then the royal beach is shut after 24th.
i will try and find out a bit more about this.
with the royal beach closing on the 24th, that will mean that the robin hood/roxy's will close as well at that time, and going on previous years almost everything in avenue americas will also close, so that part of fenals(if not all of it) will be a ghost town.
i would reconsider completely now in your circumstances, and look at calella, as the options for a drink in staggering distance from the royal star are VERY limited.
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Thanks Jim

We were considering 3 nights in RB then up to the RS for last 4 nights - it would only be a few Euro in a taxi for the swap.

Just a little worried about the proximity of bars/nightlife to the Calella Palace given that FIL can't walk great distances.
On the other hand, my wife doesn't particularly want him crossing the road outside the Royal Star after he has had a 'few beers' - it was tricky getting across it sober and in broad daylight !

John
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Hi John
Have you looked at the Ancla hotel ? A good few of us went there in November and it was spot on only about £20 per night each all inclusive. The hotel itself was nice too and not in too bad a location.

Lee
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Thanks for that Lee but I'm guessing it's closed for the week he's there.
Tried all the booking agencies but hotel is 'not available'

John.
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Hi John
Just had a quick look and Alpharooms have the Guitart central spa and resort starting at £150 for the week and this would always be my first choice of hotel for location.

Lee
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I've has a look at the Guitart but the £150 is for a basic room B&B - I'm looking at around £210 All Inc with Htop for him.

The reviews aren't fantastic, particularly for the basic/economy rooms and a few mention 'lots of stairs' which bothers me more.

Don't think I'd be successfull as a TA - spend too long going back and forth - never make a sale :(

Thanks

John.
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Hi John
I guess for the price difference the AI may be better. Rgards the Guitart the basic rooms are basic but the stairs only applies if your going to the top pool which youd be a brave man to go in during january

Lee
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