Camping La Aldea — Hotel in Almonte

We stayed in 2022. A flat site that is very sandy, pitches and roads. There are a lot of static vans and bungalows. We were allocated a pitch - they are medium sized with very short hedges between, hence everyone is overlooked by their neighbours. A lot of pitches need extra long power leads to reach a hook up. There are 2 toilet blocks for the site, only one was open - even when the site was almost full on a holiday weekend. There are no urinals in the men's toilets resulting in constant wet floors in cubicles due to most mens' poor aim. Men's showers were hit & miss with hot water - my husband had a cold shower. I had no such problem (might have been a 'time of day' issue). The block was cleaned regularly. From a hygiene and aesthetic viewpoint lidded bins in the toilet cubicles are preferable to the open bins here. We don't wish to see others' waste on paper in an open bin 🤮 There are 5 or 6 washing up sinks, only 2 have hot water (one of those without a drainer) In the same room are one washing machine and a tumble dryer - it got quite fraught at times with so many people trying to use these facilities. The reception staff were friendly. We ate in the restaurant one evening and were very impressed by the food and friendly service. As previous reviewers have mentioned the site needs investment - more EHU's, upgrade the toilets / showers, gravel on pitches, tarmac the site roads. Then it may be worth the €22 per night (ACSI) that they charge - many people we spoke to thought that the charge was high compared to other sites charging less for much better facilities. I agree. Ironically there are signs in the toilets asking campers to conserve water whilst the site staff regularly drive around with bowsers wetting the sandy roads! El Rocio, a short walk away, is worth a visit, the sandy roads are difficult to navigate but we found a route in on mostly tarmac. When we first arrived it was like a 'ghost town' but as the holiday weekend approached so did hundreds of people some with horses and carriages. It was quite a spectacle. Friday and Saturday night seemed to be when most of the parties happened - thankfully the site is far enough away for their raucousness not to be a problem. The Romeria takes place each year (beginning of June) when, allegedly, up to a million people make the pilgrimage to El Rocio. Look it up on the internet, fascinating. The Donana is beautiful, thousands of birds are on the lake on the edge of El Rocio. There is a visitor centre and walks, including bird hides, close to the town. Well...

Installations were acceptable, although they could be cleaner, rubbish should be changed more frequently and plots are small. Staff manners have been the worst part. The receptionist was absolutely rude. She obscured quite a bit of information about the "alleged" conditions and norms of camping. After our first night, she fiercely warned us that many complaints had been received because we had been noisy and she threatened to throw us out if the next day was the same. But then, we figured out there was just one complainer, our closest neighbours, who went to bed exceptionally early that day and there were no problems from then on. We had paid in advance, but when we left the camping, the receptionist told us we had to pay an extra half day because we hadn't left our plot early in the morning. This was information never given to us nor specified in the booking ticket. Even so, we were told harshly that we MUTS know THEIR norms (I have no idea how, as they are not specified in any way). We paid the additional money with no more opposition than our disagreement with her attitude, omissions, and lies, but she still acted unpleasantly. She doesn't send maintenance staff to disconnect our equipment from the electricity grid and she doesn't open the crossing gate so that at least one of our cars could leave. As a result, it took us a long time to leave, and we ended up filling out a complaint form. The experience has been awful because of our camping choice. I would recommend nobody go. There are so many better options close Doñana in which one does not have to suffer disdain and...

In January 2024 we booked a Motorhome pitch at this site for two nights. We were told it was 59€ a night and although we thought it was a bit expensive we paid a one night deposit of 59€ and it was confirmed that we would have a two night stay totalling 118€. A week before we were due to arrive we received an email saying the price had increased to 174€ despite the fact that we had confirmation of the price being 59€ a night. When we received the email about the price increase I immediately looked on the website and the price still stated 59€ per night.|On our arrival the receptionist said the price had increased and printed out a copy of the email that had been sent. I explained that this was wrong and showed her the confirmation email. I also said I had rechecked the cost on the website and it was still 59€. At this point she backed down but was extremely grumpy.|The site is a complete sand trap, the road is sand and although they water the road you cannot get rid of the sand.|The showers are old and dirty. There were only two blocks open even though it was at the time of the pilgrimage.|The pitches are ok in size but then when the Spanish come they wedge as many caravans as they can get onto one pitch. This means they are cramped and very noisy. You can actually hear the people on the next pitch snoring. They also let people arriving enter the site very late so one night a family were pitching a tent at 1.30am and making lots of noise.|All in all this is a poor site that is very expensive for what you get. In addition, to us nearly being ripped off. I would...