At one of the Travel shows, my sister and I took advantage of a really good offer from Flexidirect for 8 nights, self catering in Maspalomas in Gran Canaria, The Canary Islands. It cost us £249 each which we thought was really good value (it included transfers as well). We had been told that the hotel complex was a bit of a way from the beach but there was supposedly a bus service. On arrival, our first impression of the complex was that it looked like a prison of some kind. Very boring flat buildings with a fence all round and some weird dog sculpture outside the front. However, we were very pleased with our accommodation. It was a studio flat with a very plain but large outside sitting area, twin beds, living room, kitchenette and bathroom. The pool area at the complex was really nice with lots of sun loungers but these were very hard with no cushions. The reception building was really tatty and the staff were OK but not overly friendly. The bus only ran at certain times so it was OK for going to the beach but we had to get a taxi back later on. (This was only 4 euros so that wasn’t a great hardship). We did walk down one day but it isn’t a very pleasant walk (along a busy road) and it is quite a steep hill on the way back. There was a restaurant and bar in the reception building but again they were very tatty. Most people seemed to be on an all-inclusive tariff and, to me, this always seems to give a soulless feel to a hotel. The evening entertainment was pretty bad. To sum it up this is a cheap hotel with decent accommodation but I wouldn’t want to stay there again.
