The Flora aparthotel is situated right at the top of a very steep hill (nicknamed Cardiac Hill), in Puerto Del Carmen. At first sight it looked cheery and clean which was all we wanted. After all, we did get an excellent deal for halfboard accomodation for 7 days. Three hundred and twenty pounds looked great value.

We were checked in and directed to an appartment which was on the ground floor, facing the children's play area. This wasn't ideal for two adults but didn'tintend to spend much time in the room so we didn't complain.

An inspection of the bedroom revealed a couple of dead cockroaches in the bottom of the wardrobe. We took it that these had been sprayed and accepted the fact that it is usual to find the odd insect visitor in a hot climate.

The beds were clean but the linen was clearly old and had a few rust marks on it. Then we inspected the kitchen area and decided that we could not use it. The toaster was greasy and full of crumbs, the cutlery, crockery and cookers itself were greasy. in the cupboard we found a frying pan with fat in the bottom of it. However, as we did not intend to use the facilities we didn't complain about them. We simply assumed that all appartments were of this standard!

We went out and bought coffee and milk and two mugs rather than using the ones provided. The first night came and we were so tired from travelling that we slept until lunchtime the next day. I went into the bedroom to find a huge cockroach on the door. My sister laughed at my sheer horror and used the cockroach spray that was under the sink.

Ten minutes later she went into the bedroom and i heard he screaming. The room was full of the horrible creatures. I pushed my things back into my bag (I had not unpacked properly) and retreated to the verandha.

We were given another room which was spotlessly clean and over looked the pool area. A member of staff helped us to move and the management did their best to calm us down and keep us quiet. They offered a free lunch in compensation which we thought was disgraceful. my sister had booked the holiday and she was asked to sign a waiver before we were given vouchers for lunch and declare that she would make no further complaint.

The next day we noticed that they had moved someone else into the same room!

The food in this hotel was good for the first two days but once hey had more guests it was cold and it ran out before everyone was served. one night in particular they dished up roast beef, brussell sprouts, paella,mussels and curried hake. There was no way of making a meal from that. Apparently the pottoes had run out but we did have potatoes served up with carrots and peas for breakfast.

Evening entertainment was provided here but it was pure relief on the night that the entertainment team were off. The two guys organising things seemed to be good children's entertainers but they brought the same level of entertainment into the adult bar at night. The younger of the duo behaved like a very exhuberant teenager and on one night in particular had to be told not to chase children round and round the swimming pool threatening to throw them in at 11pm at night.


Good points? Yes, there were a few. The staff were friendly and helpful and the outside areas were kept spotlessly clean.

It seems that The Flora has a number of old, sub standard appartments that they allocate to those they think won't complain. We booked independantly and discovered that everyone else in that particular row had also booked without going through a tour operator. Those is the bright, new, clean appartments were First Choice, Cosmos and several other Dutch and German Tour operator's customers.

Not recommended. Don't bother to stay here. There are lots of other much nicer places to stay in Puerto Del carmen. We loved the Island of Lanzarote and had some great days out but we really were glad to get home!