Sunday, 18 June 2017

The Facilities and Services at Playa Montroig Camping Resort

beach costa dorada

This is the second part of a review of our recent holiday to Spain to stay at the Playa Montroig Camping Resort with Eurocamp. You can find post one here and that is all about our stay with Eurocamp and their fabulous accommodation and attentive service. This post is about the facilities at the Playa Montroig Camping Resort.

We arrived at the parc at about 1pm and received a friendly greeting from the Playa Montroig staff. They informed us about logging onto the wifi, gave us some information sheets about opening times and events taking place whilst we stayed and then sent us off to the Eurocamp reception. I was pleased to see there was a security guard at the gate and entry and exit barriers to monitor who was on the parc. If we had had a car with us we had a sticky permit to display for the duration of our holiday and we also had an identity card to prove we were staying there.


playa montroig avenue

Presentation of the Parc
The whole park is beautiful, it is very green and there are palm trees and lots of other large trees offering shade from the sun. It all looks very lush and with the constant birdsong is a joy to stay at. There is some intermittent noise from the railway line that passes through the camp but not enough to put me off coming again. We only really noticed the noise when we were by the pool or within the main entertainment area, there was just a. Gentle background rumble when we were in our Eurocamp mobile home.

This is a large parc with around 1500 pitches for mobile homes and Camping. We were given a very clear map showing us where everything was cited and all the avenues around the park are lined with palm trees. The main Camping areas if you bring your own tent or caravan all lead down to the beach and the view is to die for. Even though we didn't need them I popped into a few of the communal toilet, shower, dressing room and washing up areas and this really is 5* Camping. Some of them are more like entering a luxury spa with glass sliding doors and potted plants.

There are numerous pay park areas across the parc and these are all well maintained and have fun equipment for the kids and sand floors for safe play.


play park

The Swimming Pools
There so one main pool complex which has four pools. One is heated with four slides into it and this is the main one families with children of all ages use. I was so pleased to find that every one of the pools has gradual stairs into it, so you don't have to worry about any steep steps in or out.

There is a small, dry shallow toddlers pool with some fun water play items like spraying mushrooms and a hose. Then there are two more pools with more depth which are great for older children and adults. There are also another two slides in one of these pools. You are not allowed large inflatables in any of the pools which felt like a shame but I realise during peak times it would just make things too busy.

We were there during the May school half-term and it was relatively quiet in the pools. I think there was a lot of older couples Camping and enjoying the beach. Around the pool, the areas are grassed or AstroTurf and there are plenty of shaded areas due to the trees, which means families with toddlers were able to enjoy being out for the day and having plenty of shaded rest. I thought I might miss having sunbeds but I didn't at all, we just took our towels and laid them out and left our things with the towels as we swam. I didn't feel concerned for our safety or security at all.

Right by the pools, there are outdoor showers so you can rinse off any chlorine (not that we found that a problem) and there was also indoor toilets and showers too, which were always well stocked and clean.


swimming at playa montroig

Right by the pools complex is a bar which was selling drinks, ice creams and crisps. The prices there are the same as all the other eating and drinking places on site, it is €2.20 for a coke, €1.50 for a 330ml water, €1.35 for a grab bag size crisps and from €1.30 for a lolly/ ice cream. I think at busier times it would also do snacks like sandwiches and crisps as there was a large part that wasn't open whilst we were there. The tables and chairs close by are all comfy and there are parasols if you want to get in the shade for a bit.

Eating and Drinking Onsite
Teressa Restaurant - As I've already mentioned it wasn't considered high season whilst we stayed on site, so there was only the Teressa restaurant and bar open. This opened for a really good lunch set menu (€12.90 for 3 courses, bread and soft drinks or coffee) and in the evening for A La Carte, the prices are not cheap in general but the food did look delicious and whilst we didn't eat in the restaurant we had some of the items on a takeaway basis and they were tasty and well cooked. On an evening in the restaurant, I'd say you are looking to spend around £9-15 an adult for a main course.


sunset at playa montroig

Teressa Bar - is attached to the restaurant and has a really nice ambience, generally, it was very quiet whilst we were there, with the exception of the last night when the Champions League final was showing and the whole camp went mad as Real Madrid were playing. There is a great selection of alcohol on sale and we paid €14 for a Baileys, 2 cokes and a beer. The kids favourite reason to visit the bar was the Carte D'or ice cream counter. It is €2 for a single cone or tub and they are the largest you've ever seen, a real bargain.

There is a gorgeous outside area where you can either eat or just drinks and it was very welcoming and relaxing, a great place to meet friends.

Take Away - during most of our stay you ordered the take-away food from the bar but on our last weekend the busier season started and a separate shop opened. We had the takeaway food three nights of our stay as the prices were very reasonable, the portions very large and there was a great selection. It was €4 for a spaghetti carbonara or bolognaise, pizzas were between €7-10.50, fries €2.50, half roasted chicken €4.50 and there was burgers, Spanish omelette, various salads and lots more I can't recall right now!

The idea is to take the food home to your tent or mobile but as it was quiet we bought cutlery, sauces and drinks with us and ate in the Plaza area, I don't you'd be able to do this in high season though.

food at playa montroig

Pai Pai - is an upstairs cocktail bar/ evening venue (above the restaurant). It opens around 9/10 pm and the kids are welcome with adults. We had loads of fun in Pai Pai as it was where all the entertainment was based during our stay.

Plaza - on our last night as the busier season commenced the Plaza area was set as a bar and evening venue with entertainment. It is a really nice outside area with a proper stage and it is great for socialising with the numbers staying are higher.

There is also the Espai Grill restaurant and Espai cocktail and chill-our lounge up by the main entrance that opens in high season and the Rock and Roll disco lounge there too. I believe there is also a tropical beach bar and a more relaxing lounge bar too open in higher season. Looking on the Playa Montroig Camping Resort website, these other venues look really good.

Entertainment
On arrival at the parc we were given all the information for the adult and children’s events taking place that week. There were also plenty of signs all around the parc with the same information, so if you didn’t have your leaflet you could check when you were out and about. As I’ve mentioned already the time we were there isn’t considered high season and as such, there is not the full programme of events but there was enough for my two nine-year-old girls to be happy. My 13-year-old son did feel his age group was lacking though.

Mini Club for Children – There was an activity each morning from 11am – 1pm and my girls only went to one of these as 11am is the same time the pool opens and that was always their number one priority to swim first. From a couple of the morning club times we saw there appeared to be around 10 – 20 children using the club, some with their parents there too and others were signed over into the care of the animacion team.

The morning event my girls got involved with was jewellery making and they really enjoyed it and I was lucky enough to get a nice necklace out of it. They were there probably an hour and were then ready to head off but at nearly 10 they are in the upper age bracket of the club (it caters for 4 – 12-year-olds) and most of the children attending were younger than them.

childrens fun

There was another session each day from 4pm – 5.30pm in the Loft. This is a fab space with crafting tables, billiards, table football and a cinema area. The animacion team put on a DVD in case any of the children bore of the activity and they have one set activity. On the day Miss E and I joined in she was a picture frame and really enjoyed herself. There were only 4 children at this session.

My girls didn’t go to the evening event which ran at 7pm each night as that was the time we were having dinner but we assumed it to be aimed at younger kids as it was things like min disco, balloon modelling and face painting.

We met four or five different members of the animacion team and they were all thoroughly lovely. The girl's favourites were Andrea, Alba and Christina, as they were especially good with the kids.

Evenings – Each evening at 8pm there was a film being shown in the Loft and due to the many nationalities staying onsite the films were in English, Spanish, German and Dutch and subtitled in another language. The kind of films shown during our week was Pirates of the Caribbean, Trolls and Zootropolis.

The main family entertainment kicked off at 9 or 10m in Pai Pai and all of our family loved this. We had such fun. At the beginning of the week, there was hardly anyone in Pai Pai, around 20 of us and by the end, the bar was packed out. We got involved with a movie quiz, guess the character, karaoke party and fun family games night. Then afterwards there was always music and dancing and they were happy to play our requests.

On our final weekend, the entertainment changed and there was a lot more on offer, with the 7pm children’s activities being in the main outdoor Plaza arena. I’d definitely like to visit in high season and see the fuller range of activities.

sports at playa montroig

Sports Programme and Facilities
Each day there were at least 4 sporting events going on that anyone could join in with. Things like yoga, zumba, aqua aerobics, petanque and football. We are not a sporty family so the only one of these activities any of us joined in with was the aqua aerobics and that was great fun and well organised for both children and adults alike. The activities were ties at 9am, 10am, 11.15am and 4pm.

There seemed to be excellent sports facilities onsite with well-kept courts and pitches for football, tennis, basketball, hockey and beach volleyball. The grounds are amazing if you are a runner and you can safely jog on the beach or within the parc.

Ext to the pool complex is a well-equipped gym and it didn’t seem to be overused. The two-storey Fitness Centre includes cardiovascular exercise and muscle-building zones. It is fully air-conditioned and also has a rowing machine, two cross-trainers, three treadmills and five exercise bikes. The machines are all state of the art and you can connect your iPad or phone to monitor your progress or listen to music.

We enjoyed the mini-golf whilst on holiday. There is a charge of 2 per person playing and you have to leave a 10 deposit but it is worth it as it is a nice little course and you can play as many times as you like.

Biking seemed to be very popular on the parc and many people had bought their own with them but if you hadn’t you could hire the bikes by the hour, day or week. There were all kinds of bikes to suit different ages and sexes and even bikes with kiddie seats and carriers behind and we saw a couple of tandems too. It was 6 for 2 hours or 12 for a day.

Spa and Wellness Centre – There is also a spa onsite but we didn’t use this during our stay as there are additional costs involved. It includes a beauty salon, sauna, steam room, massage, solarium and outdoor Jacuzzi.


shop at playa montroig

Shopping
The range of shopping on site at Playa Montroig is excellent, During the time we were there the shops were open 8am - 1pm and 4pm-7pm but as the season changed as June started the opening hours extended. There is a really well-stocked supermarket with fresh meats and fruit and veg counters. I was surprised at how good the prices were, far better than the local shops we found close by. You paid about 1 for a pack of ham or cheese, 90c for a freshly baked baguette or 45c for a can of Coke.

As well as the supermarket there was also a bakery selling all sorts of wonderful freshly baked pastries and cakes. if one of your party had a birthday during your stay you'd be able to buy them an amazing cheesecake or fresh fruit sponge to celebrate. There was also a camping supplies and gift shop with toiletries, sun lotions, gifts, swim costumes, towels and magazines/ newspapers. 

Then during the high season, there is a fishmongers and ice cream shop too. 

Thank you, Eurocamp
I'm sure you can tell from this review that the Playa Montroig Camping Review is an amazing place and we would happily return there again. Thanks so much, Eurocamp for this wonderful holiday and I'll leave you with this short video that gives an overview of the whole site. Enjoy!


For further information on Eurocamp, please call 01606 787787 or visit www.eurocamp.co.uk. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter

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Disclosure: We received our accommodation free of charge for 7 nights for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.