Rambling thoughts on a sun lounger, gazing out over the very blue sea

Posted by petra08 on September 24, 2013 · 3 Comments 

A long time ago, actually in the beginning of this year I thought we might need some down time in September. Said and done late January I booked an all-inclusive to Lanzarote for just over a week. Booking so far in advance I got a good deal for two in Dream Hotel Gran Castillo.  September came around in no time, I am not sure where the year has gone!

The weather forecast wasn’t brilliant but we were in for a pleasant surprise when it was sunnier and warmer than expected! The room was big and the view was something to wake up to. Early in the morning the sea mist was thick on the water and by around 7.30 AM the sun came out and Fuerteventura became clearly visible.

I took this picture the first morning, we arrived in the dark the night before and basically just had a quick dinner, a couple of drinks and then were straight off to bed.

In the morning we were meeting our holiday rep, just for an as it said in the invite “short and informal meeting”. It turned out that our rep really didn’t like Lanzarote, this of course made it so much harder for her to sell any day trips and extras. We even got a friendly warning that the food is “weird, best stick to pasta and chicken”. In the end we had a nice chat and didn’t feel any need to buy any extras. Lanzarote isn’t a very big island and we could easily have rented a car but as we weren’t there for too long we decided to explore the nearby area by foot.

We stayed at the hotel the first day, to catch up on some sleep, find our bearings and just to chill out. Breakfast was a great buffet with pretty much everything you might wish for. Each buffet was full of fresh fruit but also some Spanish specialities I am not sure if they are very Spanish but I did try some churros, simply because they were there. It was quite nice, especially dipped in honey. This was my only indulgence as the rest was mainly egg, a little cheese and fresh fruits.

The lunch and the dinner buffet were equally good. I liked the vast amount of salads and fresh fruits and in the end I picked a fairly healthy diet, perhaps I did over indulge slightly with the cheeses.

  Desserts 

There were eleven pools to choose from and one fab pool for kids and very comfortable sun loungers. They did have a sun lounge rule that I loved, no one was allowed to get up at some ungodly hour and hog the best by placing their towels without being there! All towels, pre placed were simply removed by staff!   There is a beach but it is not friendly for swimming, it is very rocky but nice for a walk on.  

When the tide was low you could see the rock formations, and they were all quite slippery!

Everything you would expect in a package holiday, high or low end was there, gymnastics by the pool, a funky pool, a quiet pool, a kids pool, drinking games in the afternoon, open bars with generous measures of alcohol, entertainment, even an Abba night (there is something about the English and a love for Abba songs).

I find people watching is always interesting. The first fellow holiday maker I did notice however was watching me by the pool, it was a slightly older man trying to hide his rounded and pale frame behind a not too large yukka palm whilst peering between the leaves, that made me chuckle a bit.  A couple of days there was a couple next to us and the man spent most of the days gently snoring away every day by the pool, getting more and more sunburnt, his company did not seem to mind the snoring, or the sunburn, it looked painful.

The hotel staff were all lovely, the check in process was a long and complicated affair but as we were given cava whilst waiting it didn’t seem to matter too much.

The buffets were all great, the drinks on offer delicious, especially as I love G&T and they had Gordons gin!

The only thing I would say is that they have an Oriental restaurant and we booked dinner there one night. Any self-respecting Chinese (or other Oriental) mother would find the chef and give his hiney a good smacking, the food was perfectly bland and had nothing to do with Oriental food of any kind. The taste made me think of bisto gravy, good as it may be, it has nothing to do with Oriental foods, best avoided.

In all it was a great holiday, totally relaxing in a nice hotel, the staff were all lovely and it was great to spend the days being taken care of.

Filed under Travel · Tagged with Gran Castillo, Hotel Gran Castillo, Lanzarote