Ok, I've seen all the reviews from various people and a lot of what they say is true.

This is the second time I've been to this hotel, last year I gave it a four out of five - at the time I was comparing it to the Jaime 1 in Salou where I'd stayed the year before. Prior to this I have visited many other hotels ranging from the typical Blackpool b & b's to the high end 5 star hotels found in London. I always try and get a good deal.

This time around I'd give it 2 out of 5. If I hadn't heard other people complaining I would have give it 3. With plenty of points below I think you should find this review helpful. Any questions you have about this place or Calella/Costa Brava, just ask!

ROOMS...
I confirm that if your going as a family the rooms will be cramped, they are small enough for two people never mind three or four. Just to note, if you're unhappy when you arrive tell your rep, tell the manager, tell everyone who will listen, I've seen many a family be moved to bigger rooms, and as some people have said they even managed to get transferred to the 'nicer' h top hotel up the road. Yes the rooms are loud, some worse than others but this is mainly down to rude guests, last year we had no problems, this year we were on the first floor, and in the first week we had a group of German lads enjoying themselves with plenty of beer and the obvious noise was off putting. We didn't complain, we simply stayed out later, enjoying the hot nights. Others did complain and some got moved to 'quieter' spots. Linen and towels changed daily. No remote for the TV unless you paid a deposit.

DO YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR??
A big point to consider is the price, which I think is important when considering how to judge any hotel. For me and my girlfriend we paid under £900 with travel included for 14 nights staying all inclusive. On the h-top website it was over £1400 for the same weeks without travel. At this price we budgeted to eat out and drink out every evening in the many bars and restaurants. If I was paying more than this, I would have only give this hotel 1 out of 5 and I'd be demanding some money back as the description in the brochure simply doesn't live up to the standard at the hotel.

EATING/DRINKING OUT - COST AND EXAMPLES-
So if you've already booked you'll probably be wondering about the cost of eating out after all the bad reviews. Well I would stick away from the English bars, they cost the same as over here if not more. This is only as a guideline, I visited gringo joes & alcratraz for drinks and the occasional English fry up. Both are ok, I prefer gringo joes which is only down the road from the hotel and has cheaper drink prices. However the Spanish bars, or should I say Spanish ran bars are cheaper by far, and most the food they serve is made for the average tourist. My top choice is next to the hotel, its called western grill - 1 Euro for pint of beer (probably watered down - but not by much) and the food there if you like grilled meats is excellent. I wouldn't go there for food if you like everything well done, as most of it is cooked medium. The pizzas there are excellent . For two of us to eat there it normally cost about €25 for a good few dishes with a few drinks. The bar staff (a Moroccan) who did drinks for the all waiters plus all the people who propped up the bar was top quality, always happy to help, I'd suggest you tip him direct as all food tips go straight to the boss...Oh and of course this bar has a talking parrot if that's your thing, for the families this place was good as well, I saw many a satisfied customer. :)
Other places to go for drinks would include jimmiz which is near by, once again cheap €1.40 drinks and table service with good old salty nuts served to make you drink more, good atmosphere! and across the road there is another two bars with slightly different atmospheres but beers and drinks are all around the €1,50 mark. As for everyone who says calella is run down, well some parts are, some aren't. If you like a slow walk, whilst enjoying some fantastic ice cream, go the old town square, some of the street vendors sell the best ice cream I've had. There is also plenty of bars and places to eat, slightly more expensive but the Spanish atmosphere is more thriving down there, and on the frequent warm evening's you can feel away from good old fast paced England. There are of course other places to go, I would suggest you take a good look around on your first evening, there is plenty of choice for everyone - including for groups of lads/girls that some reviewers mention as well as places where families can go and couples. Last year we also went to the white horse for a few drinks, if you like a good English bar with karaoke I would suggest you give it a try, saying that the prices are higher, and I think they had some trouble this year, have a look and see what you think!

HOTEL FOOD/DRINK
The food this year was very samey as another review said - it was pork and then some more pork. Some people would hate it straight away - I suggest that you try the meals for at least a few days as some days are far better than others. I found at least one thing per meal which was edible and mostly something at least quite nice, but I do like lots of different food. As for the rabble and the noise in the dining area, for breakfast go before 9, for lunch go after 2, and for dinner go after 8.30. we never had to queue to get in the dining area, we always got a seat without one being pinched while we were getting food, and the general atmosphere at the times I've mentioned was far more civilised. If you go at the times I've mentioned you'll have time to look at both buffet islands and also the top table. I suggest this as even though the food is the same on both islands, sometimes one island seems to be refreshed more than the other. The other thing I would say is that some of the food tastes far better than it looks, I aren't sure why this hotel simply doesn't make more of an effort with the presentation. We went to the Pineda Palace which is another h-top hotel and the food was very similar, the difference was that it was refreshed more often and it was basically presented far better – and that hotel costs far more, and less people seem to complain about the food there.

Getting drinks at night took about 20 mins to queue if not longer, and even in the day it was bad at times. Some people take this as normal for a peak season hotel, but essentially this hotel seemed to want to limit it losses on drinks by only providing two bar staff at peak times.

COMPARISONS
Some people have suggested the Calella Palace up the road to be a much better hotel. Well check some reviews out as I did, some people complain about the exactly the same things there, and you will pay more for it. I went up to the Palace one day, it seemed classier but I wouldn't pay more for it, I would simply use the money you save to go out more. the rooms there are only slightly bigger and are plagued with the same noise problems - which brings me on to the next point - A lot of the problems at these budget hotels is simply other guests who do not care about other guests. People on this site often point to the 18-30 German holiday groups. The fact is this, there were plenty of rude arrogant English groups there as well. And a few Italians who wanted to pull every woman there. The point I'm getting at is that groups like this can turn up anywhere. Last year we didn't have that problem. This year we did. Some hotels do not allow this type of group - so check before you book. It was ironic that some English people were complaining that the Germans were playing music on their balcony in the day, and then the English group gets out a damn mp3 phone the next day and starts blasting out an equally annoying song and not even on their balcony. Albeit the song was in English which some English people seem not to find annoying...

OTHER SUGGESTIONS TO ENJOY YOU STAY.
Take some ear plugs.
Enjoy the beach, its quieter if you walk further down and some of the beach bars are h-top so you can get a few a/i drinks off them.
Take advantage of the free h-top bus, you can go and visit other resorts and enjoy lunch at the other h-top hotels.
Despite what some people were saying, you can enjoy drinks at any h-top hotel apart from the Amakia. So in other words if you hate the Olympic but you don't want to go out in the day spending money, you can go the Calella Palace and enjoy the better bar and pools.

WEATHER
Hot during the summer from roughly May through to October you should be able to get a tan. With June, July and August being the best.

SUMMARY
This hotel is nowhere near the best, but I would say that it is not the worst either. Some people seem to get caught up in other guests complaints, even I have lowered my score due to what other people have said. The noise seems to be problem with budget Spanish hotels not just this one, the all inclusive offer is just that – its an offer to try and get you to pay more your holiday whilst the hotel busy themselves trying to save money. If I were to go again I would try and go s/c, h/b, or f/b and then use the money I'd saved on eating and drinking out. Would I go back to Calella? Yes. Would I go back to the Olympic? Not yet but in years to come I would, simply because of how cheap it can be.
My final point is this – try and enjoy you holiday and even the hotel, this attitude normally makes the staff more pleasant with you, and if you go the dining room at the times I've suggested I hope that you find that part of the hotel and your holiday slightly better than what most people seem to be saying.