The Sunshine Resort (Playa del Ingles)

Member Name: blonde_girl774

Product:	Playa del Ingles
Date:	20/08/09 (124 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful Beach, Great Range of Hotels, Plenty of Restaurants & Good Nightlife.

Disadvantages: Lacks Culture and History.

I very rarely return to any holiday destination for a second visit mainly because I prefer to try new places and see new things. It's unusual for me to return to the same island let alone the same resort. However earlier this year I returned to the resort of Playa Del Ingles which is located on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria and is fast becoming one of my preferred holiday destinations due to its favourable climate, easy to reach location and great facilities. So I thought I'd try and boost the tourism in Playa Del Ingles over the coming few months by writing this review on DooYoo and attempting to sell it to you all!

The Location

Playa del Ingles is located on the island of Gran Canaria which is one of the Canary islands located in the Atlantic Ocean and only approximately 200km off the coast of Africa. It's the second most populated island after Tenerife with a population of just under one million and can be found to the south east of Tenerife. It's quite a flat island out towards the sea while the middle of the island is quite mountainous due to the volcanic origin of Gran Canaria. The International Airport of Gran Canaria is the only airport on the island and is located in the north east of the island. One of the main reasons to visit Gran Canaria is the climate, due to it being so close to Africa it experiences fairly hot summers and also very mild winters. Temperatures in summer range between about 25 and 30 degrees (although we did find it hit 31 degrees even in May!) and in the winter they range between about 17 and 23 degrees. Average rainfall is quite low and normally only occurs in the winter months - it does vary between different areas of the island with the south being the driest and the hottest too.

Playa del Ingles itself is located to the south of the island and can be found on the coast of the island. It's approximately 18 miles or 30km to the airport which is located to the north east of the island although this distance can vary slightly depending on where exactly it is in Playa del Ingles that you're going to. Playa del Ingles is the largest holiday resort on the island with a population of over seventeen thousand back in 2002. It's located in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana where you'll also find other popular tourist destinations such as San Agustin. It's linked with the main highway in Gran Canaria which links it right up to the capital, Las Palmas, towards the north of the island. Playa del Ingles has a mountainous backdrop too as you look inland towards the centre of the island giving it a lovely view. There are many other small and large towns nearby which are easily accessible, there are plenty of buses in Playa del Ingles which will connect you to pretty much any area of the island and car hire places too if you wish to travel around the island.

The Beach

Playa del Ingles lies between the two smaller resorts of Maspalomas and San Agustin. The sandy beach runs throughout these three resorts and is approximately 8km in length and averages 3km wide. Parts of the beach towards Maspalomas actually resemble sand dunes where the sand has blown over from Africa, it's almost like a mini Sahara Desert! While we were in Playa del Ingles we visited the beach several times and it was always busy without being crowded although there were areas that were more sparsely occupied. The sand was lovely and golden and the sea was really clean too, you could still see the floor even if you waded in to above waist height. The beach is also sectioned in a sense, you'll find there are many family areas, a nudist area, adult areas (where they aren't quite brave enough to go nudist) and a gay area too. There are a few beach bars and also medical centres too in case you have a problem, there are also beach patrols driving up a down. Lastly there is a water sports centre where you can hire jet skis and pedalos or experience paragliding and skydiving!

The Facilities

As Playa del Ingles is predominantly a tourist resort the facilities within the resort are very much geared towards the tourist market. The majority of facilities are located in the tourist centres which are really like mini shopping centres that are often open air. The largest one is the Kasbah centre which is the centre of the resort and houses a multitude of shops selling things like electricals, leather goods, perfumes and souvenirs as well as a range of bars and clubs. There are thought to be over one hundred bars and clubs in the Kasbah centre making it the liveliest centre in the entire resort. It does get quite lively here at night as it attracts the Club 18-30s holiday makers especially during the summer months meaning that the partying goes on until about six in the morning. There are a few quieter bars where you can sit in the open air and enjoy a cool drink but by midnight it has normally been taken over by the younger crowds. There are lots of people stood outside trying to persuade you to come in, although not a problem in the daytime it's not very nice to be haggled at night!

Other centres include the Yumbo centre which is predominantly aimed at the gay market although it's quite family friendly in the daytime and early evening, this is about a ten minute walk from the Kasbah centre and is a little smaller. There is the CC Cita is a slightly smaller centre than the Kasbah but it does still contain around one hundred and fifty bars, restaurants and shops. There is a mixture of boutiques selling genuine designer clothing to cheaper clothes shops where you can pick up a bargain as well as jewellery and perfume shops in abundance. You can very often haggle with the shop owners to get a better price, normally they're very open to offers as my boyfriend found when he found some designer sunglasses priced at one hundred and twenty euros which he ended up walking away with for only seventy euros! There are plenty of restaurants dotted throughout the centres including a few McDonalds, Burger Kings and Pizza Huts as well as various steak houses, Chineses, Italians, etc. There really is something for everyone, regardless of your taste in drink or food or music.

In terms of facilities for children the majority of what's available is hotel based, the majority of hotels do seem to run some sort of club for children especially during the daytime. Many of the centres will have some facilities for children, for example bouncy castles or various play areas although there didn't seem to be a large amount on offer. Other facilities nearby include the water park which is under two miles away and really does provide a fantastic day out (despite my boyfriend and I being in our twenties we absolutely loved it), Palmistos Park which is a botanical and zoological park about six miles from Playa del Ingles and houses a range of birds and reptiles as well as an aquarium, Sioux City which is a wild west theme park with various rides and re-enactments of bank robberies, town square hangings, etc. and lastly there are various boat and helicopter rides which go from Playa del Ingles. There are also some fantastic towns and villages to see as well as some great scenery if you venture into the middle of the island to see the volcanic craters, they might impress some kids!

Culture & History

This is the one are that may disappoint avid culture seekers. If you're looking for historical artefacts or museums or anything like that then you won't find it in Playa del Ingles. There are other areas of the island that would be of interest to you but this unfortunately wouldn't be one of then. There is of course a bit of Spanish culture in terms of the traditional restaurants serving traditional Spanish food accompanied with Spanish dancers but this is about as cultured as you're going to get. Other areas of the island may well be worth a visit if you do stay in this resort, to give you just an example of what's available there is the "Museo Elder de la Ciencia y la Tecnología" (Science and Technology Museum) and the "Casa de Colón" (Christopher Columbus House), as well as the "Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno" (Atlantic Centre of Modern Art). All of these can be found in the capital city of Las Palmas. There are a few different festivals which are held during the year which may well give you an insight into some more Spanish culture although I've never experienced any of them.

Accommodation

As this resort makes its money pretty much solely through tourism then it stands to reason that the majority of the landscape will be devoted to apartments and hotels. There are absolutely loads of places to stay here; every direction you look in you'll be able to see somewhere. However there aren't that many high rise places, most apartment blocks and hotels seem to be quite low as have no more than about eight floors so they're not too visually intrusive. There are a range of small complexes to much larger hotel chains such as Riu in the area, ranging from two star up to five star meaning there should be something to suit everyone's tastes. I've only ever stayed in a Riu hotel on my visits to the area so can't really comment on anything else there although I have known friends to go there and stay very cheaply in a self catering apartment for about £100 each for the week! Some of the hotels do look like they are in need of a slight upgrade, especially some of the more low budget options but overall there is a range of accommodation to suit everyone, whatever your needs or wants.

My Opinion

I really like the resort of Playa del Ingles, especially during the months of September through to May before the high season kicks in. Although it is suitable for families during the summer months you're much more likely to find younger couples and groups of friends. The resort itself is spotlessly clean; the roads are large and wide, the pavements were always very clean and all the accommodations seem to be quite nice and clean too. The climate is favourable all year round in Gran Canaria although it does tend to be warmer to the south so Playa del Ingles receives some of the highest temperatures. It's got a great night life located in the centres while along the beach front you'll find much more chilled out bars and restaurants to take your fancy. I would certainly like to revisit Playa del Ingles in the future and would recommend it for anyone looking for a reasonably priced holiday with good weather and plenty to do. The only thing I would say is you won't find much culture or history for, you'd be better heading to one of the older and smaller resorts for that. Happy holidaying!

Thanks for reading.

Summary: A tourist destination located on the south of the island of Gran Canaria.