It has to be said that for all great planning, something will always go awry….we were almost waiting for it!
We sped up the coast by fast train from Valencia in first class darlings, feeling very flash, and arrived excited at our 2 bedroom beachfront apartment with stunning panoramic ocean views, in Cambrils.
We paid in full, went to our room, pulled back the curtains to reveal an expansive balcony overlooking the same railway line we had arrived on. Sure the view was panoramic, but only stunning if you like railway lines. Which I do not!
In my best rendition of a short sparky Spanish woman with arms flailing and voice rising, I tried to get the person at reception to examine the two pictures I put before her and spot the difference. She could not!
12 hours, 654 trains, some more gesticulating and no refund later, we relocated to our fantastic new digs further up the beach at Salou, in the hilariously named Las Vegas Hotel! It is just perfect!

Heres my 0-10 guide for a spotting a shitty apartment:
0 Beach
1 Railway line
2 Children’s swimming pools under your balcony
3 Euros jug hireage
4 Euros toaster hireage
5 Euros per day Wifi
6 Euros per day for safe hireage
7 Euros deckchair hireage
8 Children in every family
9 Brits per square meter
10 Euros for the cost of Taxi to escape!

Here’s some piccies of our new digs.

Travel Tip 9: Travel brochures tell lies!