Rob on Holiday

Let’s start by getting one thing out of the way quickly: if you’re a long-term subscriber, it’s no secret that my family and I are big fans of the Golden Taurus Aquapark hotel, so this might not be the most objective review that you’ll read this year.

But there’s a reason that we keep coming back to our “happy place” every year, and a lot has changed for the 2024 season. In this post, I’ll be telling you everything you need to know about visiting the hotel.

If YouTube videos are your thing, then don’t worry, that’s covered too, just click on the link below:-

Where is the Golden Taurus Aquapark?

The Golden Taurus Aquapark is a 4-start family resort in Pineda de Mar, a town on Spain’s Costa Brava, in the northern region of Catalonia. The hotel is 61 years old and is still operated by the family who founded it.

It has all the features that you’d expect from its 4-star rating and is particularly known for its busy vibe and stellar entertainment programme, which is why a lot of guests, including us, keep returning year after year.

Getting to the Golden Taurus Aquapark

Most visitors from the UK travel to the hotel by air, although some coach companies also provide an overland option. The two main airports used to access the hotel are Barcelona and Girona.

Tour packages are available with TUI and Jet2 and these customers will fly into Girona, with a free coach transfer to the hotel included in the price.

Ryanair also operates some flights to Girona in the summer and, if you aren’t on a package, a taxi transfer to the airport will cost in the region of €60-€80 and will take roughly 45 minutes.

If you are travelling independently to Barcelona Airport, you have the choice between Easyjet, Ryanair or Vueling. Taxis from Barcelona cost between €130-€140 and take approximately 1 hour to get to the hotel.

Check-In

When you arrive at the Golden Taurus Aquapark, you will be greeted by the brand-new reception. Sometimes there can be a queue to check in, but that will give you the chance to take in the fabulous surroundings. Here’s a few things you should know for check-in:-

• Tourist tax is €1.32 per person per day. This tax only applies to guests 17 and over and is capped at a maximum of 7 days. This means that an adult staying for one or two weeks will pay a total of €9.24 and kids will pay nothing.
• Towel rental is a €10 deposit returned at the end of stay, plus €1 to change your towel during your holiday.
• If you have visited the hotel before and are used to setting aside some cash for safety deposit box hire, don’t worry: this year this is included in the price, so there is no charge.
• You will be given a wristband that shows your board basis – e.g. gold is all-inclusive  or blue to allow you to enter the waterpark. Note that any colour wristband will get you into the waterpark.

Rooms

The hotel offers several different room types.

Standard rooms can sleep up to 3 adults, with 1 double bed and 1 single bed.

Quadruple rooms add an extra single bed to sleep 4 adults, whilst family suites also sleep 4 – 1 double bed in the bedroom plus 2 single beds in the main room.

All of these rooms come in both standard and pool view categories. Standard view generally means a view over the mountains.

There are also a small number of Family Swim-Up Rooms. These rooms are only available to book directly through hotel and sleep 4 via a double bed in a separate room and 2 single beds in the main room. As the name suggests, the room comes with a small private pool and terrace with sunloungers overlooking the main pool area. These rooms are significantly more expensive than any other room.

Regardless of type or category, all rooms come with:-

• Bathroom with bath/shower combo and hairdryer included
• TV
• Mini fridge
• Tea and coffee making facilities
• FREE safety deposit box
• Balcony

Facilities

The facilities at this hotel are superb. It has everything you need for a fabulous family holiday. I’ll talk more about the entertainment later in the post but, for now, let’s just concentrate on the physical aspects of the hotel.

Before I talk about the hotel, it is also worth noting that many of the areas have been upgraded over the last few years. In fact, since the main bar and restaurant were given an update seven years ago, I can’t remember one season where some major renovation wasn’t waiting to greet guests when the hotel reopened for the summer.

Pools

There are two separate pool terraces. One features a large pool, a separate pool for sports and activities and a small paddling pool for kids. You can access this terrace from around 7am although note that there is no lifeguard on duty until 10am. The stage where many of the daytime activities run by the animation team take place overlooks the main pool. This terrace is also served by a pool bar that is open daily from 10am to 6pm.

The second pool terrace is open from 9am daily (lifeguard from 10am) and features a large free-form pool with an island bar with seating in the centre, connected to the terrace by a short bridge. This is the largest pool at the hotel and if noise from the entertainment isn’t your thing, you’ll find plenty of sun loungers to chill out for the day whilst the kids splash in the shallow-entry pool that features a statue of a cute dinosaur and palm tree.

There is also an indoor pool (open 10am to 6am) that is accessible from reception.

Waterpark

In 2018, the hotel changed its name from Golden Taurus Park to Golden Taurus Aquapark because it unveiled a small waterpark featuring 8 slides. This is a fantastic facility for a hotel to boast, but there are a few points to bear in mind.

• The waterpark is NOT OPEN ALL SEASON. Whilst the holiday brochures do not always mention this, the hotel’s official website always does, so check the dates before you book. The waterpark is normally open from mid-to-late May until mid-to-late September. For the 2024 season, the dates are: 9^th May – 22^nd September.
• Do not be expecting something on the scale of a Disney, Universal or Marineland waterpark. It’s handy having it at the hotel, but it’s a small-scale 8-slide affair.
• There are 8 slides, and all have height requirements. Please set your kids’ expectations about what they can and cannot ride when they get there.

Bars

Now let’s talk about the hotel’s bars, starting with something that’s brand new for 2024: the Sunset Bar replaces the salon and old Torito snack bar.

This was a huge development for the hotel and the result is a large space that has a stunning, modern feel. Walking down the steps from reception brings you into a bar area that features plenty of comfortable seats.

The feeling of space continues past the rows of tables and a separate space tucked into the corner that hosts two pool tables. Two outdoor terraces are accessible via doors on either side – one for food (next to quiet pool) and one for drinks and entertainment (next to main pool), where there is a large screen that will show major sporting events during the day. The bar itself is open from 9am until late and also serves snacks (all-inclusive and paid).

The main bar is open from 6pm and hosts the evening entertainment programme, including the kids’ mini-disco, professional acts and animation team shows.

The Habana Bar is the hotel’s quietest space. Here you can relax and enjoy a quiet drink or a cocktail in the evening.

Restaurant

The restaurant at the Golden Taurus Aquapark has a sleek, modern look and features a wide variety of foods that cater for all tastes, including show cooking at all three meal settings.

In addition to the traditional cereal, toast, bacon, eggs, sausage, breakfast highlights include omelettes, pancakes and waffles.

At lunch and dinner, there are plenty of meats, potatoes, vegetables, salads and pizza and pasta always feature. There’s always a great selection of desserts and fruits, plus a soft-serve ice cream dispenser.

There is a small vegan section and, if you have any allergies, you can ask at the restaurant entrance and the manager will happily show you what is suitable for your specific needs.

All Inclusive

The hotel provides two different categories of all-inclusive. The standard all-inclusive includes most drinks, but not all brands, and includes a selection of pre-made cocktails as well as food and drinks in the restaurant, and certain snacks and ice creams in the Sunset Bar.

Golden all-inclusive features all of the above plus all branded drinks available at the hotel.

A couple of features worth noting in relation to all-inclusive:-

1. Regardless of whether you have booked directly with the hotel or through a tour company such as TUI or Jet2, you can upgrade from half-board or full-board to all-inclusive when you get to the hotel. There is a minimum number of nights that you must do this (5 last time I checked), and any upgrade must apply to all members of your party. Here are some upgrade examples:-
   • Half-board to standard all-inclusive = 40 euros per adult (18 euros per child)
   • Full-board to standard all-inclusive = 25 euros per adult (8 euros per child)
   • Standard all-inclusive to Golden all-inclusive = 20 euros (6 euros)

2. Even for the drinks that are not included on standard all-inclusive, you will pay less for these drinks if you are on all-inclusive compared to other board options. For example:-
   • Guinness 500ml = 5.40 or only 1.50 for all-inclusive guests (free for Golden all-inclusive)
   • Havana Club 7 Run – 5.80 or only 1.60 for all-inclusive guests (free for Golden all-inclusive)

Entertainment

As I mentioned earlier in this post, the entertainment programme is the highlight of the Golden Taurus Aquapark hotel and a major reason why the hotel has such a high percentage of returning guests year after year. The entertainment staff are incredible and work so hard to make your holiday so special.

The adult entertainment programme runs from 10.30am to 4.30pm. Games are played around the main pool and also in the hotel’s sports area. Games played around the pool include sjoelbak, shufflepuck, Connect 4, darts, table skittles, table tennis and many more.

In the summer months, the hotel features an incredibly popular aquagym (which in truth is a combined workout and entertaining show all in one) and water polo, water basket and water volleyball are played every afternoon in the sports pool.

Over in the sports area, games include tennis, football, basketball, pétanque, archery, and pistol and rifle shooting.

In the busy summer months of July and August, there is a dedicated teenage activity programme that features most of the above games.

For kids between 4 and 12, there is the Goldy Club. This is hosted in a dedicated air-conditioned building next to the sports area and waterpark. You can drop your kids off for the morning (10:30am-12pm) or afternoon sessions (2:30pm-4pm) or both.

These are very popular sessions with the kids! Activities take place both inside and outside the Goldy Club building. Additionally, most evenings there is an evening session running from approximately 9:30pm-11pm that takes place downstairs in the main hotel building whilst the adults are watching the professional show.

Evening Entertainment

The evening entertainment takes place in the main bar and starts at 8:15pm with either balloon making or face painting for the kids. This is followed at 8:45pm by the mini disco, which is such a chaotic and energetic experience that it’s very entertaining for adults to watch as well.

The animation team make a big song and dance of presenting diplomas for the winners of all the day’s activities around 9:30pm, and this is followed shortly after by the Champagne Game. This is a silly and fun game where adults can volunteer to take part in a bid to win a bottle of Cava.

The evening’s main entertainment show usually starts somewhere between 10pm and 10:15pm. This will be one of:

• a professional music show
• a variety act
• a show put on by your hard-working animation team (which are always our favourite).

Local Area

Just a few words about the area immediately surrounding the hotel. A 2-minute walk across the road are a couple of supermarkets where you can buy food and drink and basic supplies such as nappies and toiletries etc.

The beach is just across the road from the back of the hotel, a 2-minute walk under the underpass below the train track. Remember to take your room card because access back into the hotel is through a locked gate that is activated by your room card.

There is a lovely beachside walk that runs past the Pineda De Mar sign, which is great for a photo, to the town of Pineda, which is about 20-25 minutes away. There are a few beach bars along the way.

Near the end of this walk is Pineda train station from where you can catch a train to Barcelona (1 hour 10 minutes) or Girona (1 hour).

Summary

As you can see, the Golden Taurus Aquapark is a hotel that has a lot to offer. It’s a vibrant hotel with a special buzz about it, especially in the summer months.

The facilities are top-notch and the hotel itself is spotless. There are several pools and even a small waterpark and if all that isn’t enough, it boasts a world-class entertainment programme. Like I said, I’m biased, but there’s a reason why we keep coming back; if you’ve been before, you probably know why and if you haven’t and you have a young family, why not come and find out what all the fuss is about?

Just a final word before I finish: 8 years ago, I filmed a short video to show people back home what the hotel was like. Over the years, this has evolved into an annual comedy epic that now features regular appearances from the talented and funny animation team and in some cases the reception and bar staff! You can watch our latest video by clicking the link below. If you’ve enjoyed this post and watched our video, please consider subscribing to our channel where you’ll find lots more coverage of Golden Hotels and beyond.