A Distant Memory - Like We've Never Been Away! (Altamar Aparthotel Gran Canaria (Canary Island))

Member Name: lel1969

Product:	Altamar Aparthotel Gran Canaria (Canary Island)
Date:	01/09/08 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful, clean apartments with friendly staff

Disadvantages: The steepness of the resort

The resort of Puerto Rico in Gran Canaria is basically built into high, volcanic, rocky hills and, of course, the Altamar Apartments (where we were staying) are right at the top. When we arrived it was very early morning and still dark, with no shops open. The hotel staff were all very friendly and check-in was done quickly and efficiently with the chance to purchase bottles of water at the reception. The reception area was beautiful and clean. A very large area with a door at either end and open windows all around keeping it lovely and cool. The floor was a sparkling, clean tiled floor which, although was very shiny, did not appear to be slippery at all. There were plenty cane tables and chairs scattered around and a few settees as well making it very pleasant and welcoming. This is also where the supermarket was situated, quite small, but again beautifully clean, air conditioned and very well stocked with every thing you needed for your stay. If you or your kids can't manage to stay away from the computer for the duration of the holidays then there were also 8 computers situated in the reception area with internet access available at 1 Euro per 20 minutes. There were also very clean public toilets located in the reception.
Built on 8 levels, I definitely would not recommend these apartments to the frail or very unfit. There are 2 medium sized lifts, one at either side of the complex, they work with the weight and pulley system, sliding up and down the side of the hill; they only broke down once when we were there but are very slow and very hot inside. I tended to opt for the stairs in a bid to try and keep up some of my fitness levels and also to try and work off all the extra food and drink I was consuming.

As I said the complex is set out on 8 levels, which are in a stepped design built into the hillside with each level having a further 2 levels i.e our apartment was on level 2 so we could either get out of the lift on level 2 and walk up one flight of stairs to our apartment or we could get out on level 3 and walk down 2 flights of stairs to our apartment, very confusing, but after a couple of days it became quite easy to find your way about the complex. Level 1 is at the bottom and level 8 is at the top. The reception area and shop are on level 8 with the restaurant, bar and 2 swimming pools being on level 3. As we were situated on level 2 it made handy for the swimming pools and restaurant but not so handy for supplies from the shop. If it had been in Britain I don't think the stairs would have been as much of a challenge, but the heat made climbing the stairs very hard work.
The apartments themselves were spotless and roomy with plenty of storage space. Even although we arrived exhausted and very early in the morning I was immediately impressed by the standard of the apartment, definitely the best I have ever stayed in. Every apartment had a beautiful sea view and with it being built so high into the hillside the views were truly spectacular with no obstructions at all. Each apartment opened onto a very large terrace with 2 sunloungers and a patio table and 4 chairs. You entered into the apartment through patio doors covered in stickers, so there was no doubt as to whether or not the door was open or closed.

The living/kitchen area had a sideboard with drawer and cupboard space, a coffee table in the centre of the room with a smaller table situated in the corner of the room by the bed settee. The bed settee was the kind with a mattress on the top and a pull out drawer with mattress underneath. Above the sideboard, on the wall, was an LCD TV on which you could watch basic news channels and for 15 euros per week you could get more channels. I am not sure which ones though as we didn't really have the need to use the TV at all while we were there. There was also a good sized mirror on the wall. At the other end of the room was the kitchen area with a small dining table and 4 chairs, a good sized tall fridge freezer, a 2 ring electric hob, a microwave and a sink. There were plenty kitchen utensils, cutlery, plates, glasses, cups and pots and pans supplied.
The bedroom had 2 single beds joined together with bedside cabinets at either side. There were very large fully fitted wardrobes with ample shelf space and plenty coat hangers for all our clothes (and we had far too many clothes!) Inside the wardrobe was a small safe, which could be hired at an extra charge, but again we did not have any use for this. In the bedroom there was also a large mirror with a light above it with a built in dressing table and chair, a nice homely addition I thought.

Both living area and bedroom had newly fitted ceiling fans, which we had on full speed all the time. These were ok when you were lying under them, they did eventually cool you down, but they didn't actually reduce the room temperature, they just seemed to circulate the hot air around the room, but as I said, they did help during the night when you were actually lying under them.
The bathroom was a nice large room with a shower, toilet, bidet, worktop with inset basin giving plenty room for all your toiletries and a very large mirror. The only fault I had with the bathroom was the shower, it didn't seem to come out in a spray rather more like a jet of water battering down on your head, which in turn splashed vigorously onto the shower curtain pushing it out and dripping onto the bathroom floor making it dangerously slippery. It's just as well we were given more than enough towels as many of them ended up on the floor in order to stop any accidents.

All rooms were very clean and my feeling was that they had been decorated fairly recently.
Maid service was Monday, Wednesday and Friday when you could have your bed linen changed if you needed and you were given more than enough fresh towels and a top up of toilet paper. The maids would also clean the room if you required.

The pool areas were again very clean but we tended to go to the beach as opposed to the pool as it was very busy, always being rather overcrowded and noisy all the time and it was very difficult to get sunloungers.
Kids Clubs operated throughout the day offering plenty for the little ones if that's your preference. The restaurant always provided entertainment from 4.00pm when they would start with happy hour and bingo, kids disco etc. The programme of events for the evening entertainment was usually very good as well, with a different act performing each night during our 2 week stay. We did usually leave the complex in the evening but the nights when we did stay in, the entertainment was great ranging from tribute bands to magicians from snake performers to juggling acts. A good mix of entertainment for all ages. There were plenty tables to sit at, either outside on the very large terrace or inside in the very large restaurant.

The restaurant was good during the day for snacks but we only stayed in one night and had our evening meal there. The food and service was good but very basic and we definitely preferred to go out into the resort for our evening meal as the choice of really good quality food was abundant.
These apartments, as I said before, were at the very top of the resort. We did walk into the main centre a couple of times, where there were lots of shops, bars and restaurants but it took us about 40 minutes and, although it was a lovely walk, it was very hot and very, very steep. The taxis were excellent - plenty of them and very clean and cheap less than 4 euros into the centre or to the harbour and the taxi ride took approximately 5 minutes. There was a smaller centre only 10 minutes walk from the apartments, which also offered a great choice of shops, bars and restaurants. If water parks are your thing then there was an excellent water park in a neighbouring resort approximately 40 minutes by bus, which was well worth the visit.

If you prefer the beach to the pool, like we do, then there is a beautifully clean manmade beach situated about a 5 minute walk from the apartments. The Amadores Beach is definitely work a visit, it's wonderful.
Overall I don't really have any complaints as such with the Altamar Apartments. They were well run and very clean and friendly. As soon as people left their apartments for their journey home you would see the cleaners and maintenance men in straight away cleaning, painting and repairing. I was always up early, usually about 8.00am, when I would have a walk up to the supermarket for fresh baguettes for the breakfast and already the complex was alive with cleaning staff cleaning and stocking up for the day. The stairs were hard work because of the heat and I really hated the lifts because they were slow and very hot, and kids using the stairs tended to push all the buttons on their way up and down making the lift stop at every stop! I would definitely go back to these apartments and I would definitely recommend them to others.

What I liked most about these apartment was the size of the rooms, compared to what we have stayed in before, they were very roomy with plenty storage space. I also loved the large terrace area each apartment had (instead of a small veranda). It was great being able to lie on the sunloungers without having to leave your apartment or go to the pool and in the evenings the terraces were all in the shade, which was wonderful. When you came out of your shower it was lovely sitting on the terrace and actually feeling cool and refreshed. We were on holiday with another family who were staying in an adjoining apartment and before we went out in the evenings we would all get together and sit on either of our terraces enjoying the shade, having a few glasses of wine and a few nibbles whilst chatting about the holiday, it was really lovely. (Something we don't really get to do very often in Scotland!).

Extras You Could Hire From Reception
For an extra charge you could hire:

TV Channels
Hairdryer
Parasol (which I would have hired if I known about earlier on in our holiday as during the day there was no shade at all from the sun on the terrace)
Safety Deposit Box
Kettle
Buggy
It all seems to distance now, almost like I've never been away!!

We booked through Thomas Cook and were approximately £1600 for the family of 4 for 2 weeks self catering.
Hope you've enjoyed reading and I hope didn't waffle on too much! I just wanted to make sure I included everything.

Also posted on Ciao under the same name with some photos attached.

© lel1969

Summary: Well worth a visit