Princesa Ico is a delightful little apartment complex, just what we needed, somewhere to unwind. Close, but not too close, to the bars & restaurants, but peaceful. We wanted peace & quiet & plenty of sun & that it just what we got. The apartments are well equipped & looked after & the maid service is really good. There is a lovely pool with plenty of space (and sunloungers! ) around it. This really is a super place to soak up the sun & I am not surprised that so many of the people we met are regular repeat clients. These apartments offer good value for money in a good location.
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This was our first family holiday abroad & we are so glad we picked the all-inclusive option (with the Euro at present it works out expensive to eat/drink there). There are different food choices every day in the spotless restaurant which is checked regularly and tables cleared straight away. Crisps, drinks & ice cream by the poolside all day for the kids -the Tavern bar & Dome for evening drinking. Staff constantly cleaning all day -the rooms are comfortable (even the pull-out sofa!), towels & linen always changed. The pool is cleaned every morning and a lifeguard is present throughout the day. Plenty of sunbeds (no need to put towels on at the crack of dawn!) and all the staff are personable - the reps can`t do enough for …
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We booked a week at the Cinco Plazas through Thomson for the 30th April. We had read lots of reviews, good and bad and went with an open mind. Our stay was wonderful and are returning again for 2 weeks at the end of June.
* Arrival and reception*
Upon arrival we entered a very large reception area with very shiny polished floors, a shop to the left, restaurant entrance and sofas in front and the main reception desk to the right and next to that is the Thomson and first choice desk too.
The two Spanish receptionists were very friendly, we were welcomed and asked for our names and passports. (They keep your passports overnight to check details etc, we got them back the next day). We were told some information about the hotel and given our key and a map of the hotel. We were told where our room was and off we went.
* The rooms/apartments *
We had read that rooms were very spacious and that was right.
We were given a ground floor apartment which outside has a small outside area which is quite private and has a long tiled bench, a patio table and chairs and a small airer for drying washing.
Through the main door we entered a large open plan room with sofa bed and coffee table to the left, cupboard with tv on top to the right, a dining table with four chairs far left and on the far right is a small kitchenette which includes microwave, sink with washing up liquid and sponge, small hob with two rings, toaster, kettle, coffee maker and fridge with icebox. The cupboards and drawers are well equipped with saucepans, frying pan, plates, cutlery and a tea towel. Everything you need to make a small meal and breakfast etc. No oven/cooker though.
The bedroom at the back had twin beds pushed together with 2 bedside tables. A large built in wardrobe with a few hangers and some more shelving and drawer space. There is also a fan in the bedroom which came in handy at night as we didnt want the windows opened on the ground floor and also there is a safe in the wardrobe but we didnt use this as it is chargeable.
The bathroom has two doors, one from the bedroom and one from the living room. It has a shower over bath (although you cant use the bath as it has no taps or plug), toilet and sink.
Everything was very clean and tidy.
The only complaint we have about the room was the tv. there is only about 3 free channels, 2 Spanish ones and the only English channel is CNN! If you want to watch any of the other channels they are chargeable!
The beds were very comfortable, with a sheet and top blanket for cover and there is an extra blanket in the wardrobes (which also double up as very good sun bed covers)! There was only one pillow each which was a bit annoying so we asked at reception and they brought us an extra one each straight away.
The only other thing i would of liked was a soap or handvsoap for hand washing.
* Maid service*
We found the maid service to be a bit odd.. don’t get me wrong they did a very good job but it seemed a bit random. We arrived on a Thursday, the next day our room was cleaned and towels were changed etc. Then we had it done the next day too.. then we didnt see them again for 4 days, then they cleaned again the day before we left! Seemed a bit strange but never mind! The maids didnt speak a word of english apart from the words “clean now?” they would yabber on loudly in spanish and keep using our phone to ring reception but never mind lol!
You are provided with broom and mop to clean the room ourselves if needed.
* Problems *
One day we had a shower and the water was draining from under neath the bath, it seems the pipes were blocked. The staff came to sort it within 10 minutes and it was fine for the rest of the holiday.
* Hotel facilities *
There are 3 swimming pools and each pool is surrounded by apartments. We stayed in the main big pool which is by the restaurant and seems to be the busiest.
The pool was very clean, and tidy. It is a salt water pool but not too salty and i found this better as chlorine makes my eyes sore.
The thing i read about most before we went was the sun bed problem! Well i can say we never had a problem getting sun beds, there was always plenty stacked there during the day and we even ended up keeping one for sunbathing on our front veranda but i can definitely see it being a problem during the summer holiday peak season because i hear there are double the amount of guests. They do chain the sunbeds up at night only because they have had vandals and people stealing them!
The hotel offers a restaurant which serves breakfast, all day snacks and dinner with evening entertainment. Well we had a lunch snack on the last day and it was very good value for money and the staff are friendly. They also offer ice creams (1.26 euros for one scoop and cone of carte dior)
There is also a kids club which runs most days offering various activities which seemed to be very popular.
Also bingo and water polo is organised daily for everyone, held in the main pool at 4pm which can get very noisy!
There is also an on site laundry which we didn’t use, a kids play area with brand new equipment, there are two rooms which you can rent for 25 euros on the day you check out if your flight isn’t until later on and also a luggage room where you can store your luggage on the last day but they charge 1 euro per weighing for the weigh machine which i wasn’t very impressed with! There are pool tables around the swimming pools.
The shop on site is cheaper for most things like cereal, milk and ham etc but more expensive for other things so try netto or shop around.
The Thomson rep andew is a nice guy but doesn’t seem to be around that much but when he is he does get involved with things.
* Location *
The hotel is at the top of a hill (not too steep but probably not great for disabled or elderly people).
It is based in the resort of Puerto Del Carmen which is the busiest resort on Lanzarote. It is in a very good position for accessing all of the local restaurants, clubs and shops etc.
Next door is a Netto for shopping but its not the cheapest so shop around. Also next to that is the Spinakker pub which is great for beer and pool. But we didnt try the food.
Across the road is car rental (autos feber) which seem to be the cheapest around.
Walking down the hill brings you down to the main strip of entertainment and the beach, turn right for some of the main restaurants and nightclubs (the royal for EXCELLENT food and tropical for cheap drinks and dancing) (Avoid Niki beach and tequilla bar they have nasty pushy touts and lie about what free things they can give you).
Turn left for the quieter part of town, mini golf, gift shops and some smaller restaurants.
The beach runs right along the strip, if you want sunbeds and the busier part keep walking to the right. But there are some small cove along the way.
All in all the hotel is very good for all the family, clean and we had no complaints at all.
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It was our first visit at this hotel food was ok had worse had a lot better.
The resturant and bar are in the basement which gets very hot, so not nice being there for to long no aircon as far as i know
staff were very friedly and helpful if you needed any help.
The apartments are very basic but we were half borad so that was ok it. Very specious rooms
Kids loved the pool and play area good to let of steam.
The entertiment was ok we went out most night found a cheaper bar near the beach so you could enjoy it outside instead of the basement.
I would go back if the price was good as a base this hotel is fine quiet out the way ideal for familys.
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Arrived around mid day. First impressions were quite good. A few arriving guests were ahead of us at the reception desk to get keys and we heard them being told their rooms were not ready yet. I was concerned this wouldn’t be a good start as we had 2 youngish children with us who had been up since 4am! I needn’t have worried - they changed the room we were supposed to have to one that was already prepared!
An added bonus was that even though we were self catering the children were given a wirst band which entitled them to free ice cream, crisps and soft drinks - I wasn’t aware of this from anything i had read and it was a great bonus.
Our apartment was perfectly adequate although there was a very unsightly damp and ‘bubbling’ area on the bedroom ceiling! Also there was a rather large puddle coming from the fridge! We soon discovered that this was because the ice compartment was completely solid with a mass of ice and the door would not shut. Rather than wait to have this sorted or worse have to pack again and move rooms we painstakingly hacked away the ice - problem solved! One word of warning though - the sofa beds are really not very comfortable at all!
The children’s entertainment was really very good - the team worked very hard and seemed to enjoy what they were doing. We didn’t stay for any of the adult entertainment and so I can’t comment!
The pizza restaurant in the hotel was nice but we didn’t eat anywhere else in the hotel so again I cannot comment.
There is plenty going on at this Holiday Village if you are prepared to get involved.
Pool was freezing but I have encountered that before in Lanzarote. There are a number of pools, a splash park area and some small slides in the main pool.
All in all it was quite a good hotel - as is often the case it could do with a bit of decorating to smarten things up.
We tended to catch the free hotel bus down to the beach. The last bus goes into Playa Blanca at 5pm - which was fine for us when we were going out for dinner but might be a little early for others. The walk back from Playa Blanca took about 20 mins but is a fairly flat stroll. Plenty of restaurants on the front but the nicest we found was in one of the streets behind. The Marina Rubison has some more upmarket type restaurants but we found they lacked the atmosphere of the other places and the prices are higher.
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Just returned, hotel good, food very good great variety, entertainment started a bit late but very good. Yes carpets are marked and worn, but when you have that amount of use what can you expect, rest of hotel very clean, maids really good. Location a bit remote, so not great for going anywhere other than hotel at night. Pools cold, only complaint, people putting towels on sunloungers from 7am and not usung them till lunchtime or later, most unfair to other guests.
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The All inclusive package at this hotel is fantastic,all international drinks,bottles of wine served with your meals and even the lunchtime buffet is really good with plenty of varied choice everyday.The downside is if you go out of the complex apart from the harbour there is nothing,but the free bus will take you to the nearest beach as long as you are up and ready to go early,the last bus goes at 10.00am.We would return but only for a week you would go stir crazy if you stopped any longer
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The food is completely inedible. The entertainment is dull to say the least. Obligatory mini disco, parrots,snakes,birds of prey and flamenco dancers. The hotel is located in a residential area with nothing of note for miles. The rooms are spacious but need a good clean. The drinks provided are not good, apart from the water. The snacks consisted of a tray of dry stingray sandwiches. This hotel does not warrant even a 2 star.
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La Penita is a small complex, very friendly and everything you need. The apartments are excellent, they have everything you need - microwave, toaster, kettle - they even provide clean teatowels and washing up liquid. Cleaning was done five days out of seven and the apartment was left spotless. They are in a perfect location, literally a few steps from the front, you either turn left for the quieter side of the resort, or right to go into the busier end. They are also very safe, many gates around the complex and access can only be gained from your key. We will definitely be returning. Eating out - well, many many restaurants, try the chineese restaurant Great Wall opposite Casino, Antica Italian (turn left just down the road), also another Italian just past that up the stairs overlooking sea, and our favourite La Brasa turn right from the apartments at the next junction. Supermarket just down the steps beneath the complex very expensive, there is a netto just around the corner to the right much cheaper. Pop into McGees to the left of the complex in the next square, a lovely little english bar and cheap. Many disco bars offering happy hours, we loved Tropical, Routa 66 and Paradise. Lastly, the Grapevine to the back of the complex great English eating house, and the Barge Inn on the front to the right of the complex excellent breakfast. All in all, we love La Penita and will be back!
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WE STAYED AT THE PAPAGAYO FOR ONE WEEK AT EASTER AND FOUND IT TO BE AN EXCELLENT CHOICE FOR ALMOST EVERYTHING.GOOD FOOD, EXTREMELY CLEAN, HELPFULL STAFF, GOOD LOCATION. AN ALL ROUND IDEAL FAMILY ALL INCLUSIVE HOTEL. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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