I stayed here, on my own, for two weeks with a Saga group.
Not many Saga guests but partly run and overrun with Germans. Don’t get me wrong, I like Germans! However, when the housekeeper routinely asked me (in German!) whether my room was satisfactory or when some of the waiters and reception staff spoke German but very little English I did begin to wonder whether I’d got on the wrong plane!
The hotel was run with German precision. 8pm promptly for dinner for we Brit’s as we also had lunch at 1pm. We weren’t encouraged to ask for an earlier sitting (6.30pm) as no other English dined then. The food was abundant and excellent choice and quality but we never were encouraged to linger. A disappointment to me was that Saga did not routinely sit together. I was lucky and was placed opposite a lady (fortunately we got on!) and was told that that was my table for the week and not to sit anywhere else!
Nightly entertainment that was over by 10pm (suited me) and was of excellent standard and variety.
The rooms all overlooked the sea and were spotlessly cleaned every day. infact the mattresses are steam cleaned between guests.Hard beds but ample supply of foam toppers.
The pool was also spotlessly clean with more than ample loungers. If towels were placed on loungers before 10.30am they were swiftly removed and replaced with a reminder not to reserve them. A very pleasant change.
No free wifi!! In this day and age!! Not even in reception. Very slow wifi (at cost) in reception but none at all in rooms.
I met several guests that return here every winter for reliable, as much as it can be!, excellent wall to wall sunshine, abundant food and a guaranteed sunbed.
Would I go back again? Highly unlikely. After a couple of days I got itchy feet and wanted to explore. Much as the hotel has a beautiful tropical garden and is an oasis of calm, it is centered in, what I thought, was a hideously ugly resort that was very much like a Hong Kong market with tacky stalls everywhere.
The beach 10kms wide, was a long way from the promenade and down 80 steps and always seemed to have many very fit Germans marching along for their daily exercise.
The beach is next to Masapalomas sand dunes. I’ll write about that in a separate review of the island.
So, if you just want to rest and indulge, the RIU Palmeras maybe for you.Just not me!
“Hotel information”:https://www.riu.com/en/hotel/spain/gran-canaria/hotel-riu-palace-palmeras/index.jsp
