Jardin Del Sol Apartments, Playa Del Ingles, Gran Canaria

...we were booked into the Jardin Del Sol appartments, obviously i did abit of research beforehand as i like to know what to expect when traveling with my daughter and the reviews i read were ok, like with most reviews you'll get some great ones and some not so great, where ever you stay it all depends on the person and what you yourself make of the place, but here's my 2 pence worth anyway.

It was roughly a 15 minute coach ride, possibly ...
...in Las Palmas to the Jardin Del Sol in PDI, stopping outside the place you start to have doubts, not that it looks awful but the first sight you are greeted with is a row of shops and an italian restaurant on the corner where at this point i thought to myself 'OMG what have i done!' but once you walk round to reception at the side it gets better, the reception staff (theres roughly 4 different workers on the shifts as reception is open 24 hours a ... more

Playa Del Ingles in Gran Canaria.....what a place! i love it there, even though i've only ever been twice in my whole life if i could afford to go every year this is the place i'd go, well here and Salou ;)

I recently went to PDI (short for Playa Del Ingles) in July 2007 for 2 weeks, with my young daughter who's 6 and my mum (don't ask lol), we were booked into the Jardin Del Sol appartments, obviously i did abit of research beforehand as i like to know what to expect when traveling with my daughter and the reviews i read were ok, like with most reviews you'll get some great ones and some not so great, where ever you stay it all depends on the person and what you yourself make of the place, but here's my 2 pence worth anyway.

It was roughly a 15 minute coach ride, possibly abit faster if your in a taxi from the airport in Las Palmas to the Jardin Del Sol in PDI, stopping outside the place you start to have doubts, not that it looks awful but the first sight you are greeted with is a row of shops and an italian restaurant on the corner where at this point i thought to myself 'OMG what have i done!' but once you walk round to reception at the side it gets better, the reception staff (theres roughly 4 different workers on the shifts as reception is open 24 hours a day) were the most friendliest people you could meet, so helpful and spoke good english which helps! We arrived at about 10pm so wasn't too bad, we got our key and the guy in reception gave me directions where appartment was and you also get 15% discount card to use only once in the shop thats situated the grounds.

It was disable and buggy friendly so people with wheelchairs and buggys had no problems as there were ramps along all the stairs/steps over the premises, also easier for lugging your posh suitcases with wheels ;)

All apartments are on 2 floors, we were in apartment 14 so wasn't much of a walk from reception really, 2 minutes if that. Once we got to apartment and let ourselves in and had a wander round we weren't at all disappointed, it was absolutely spotless, you had everything you needed really which included the usual sofabed, chair, coffee table, tv (which you put Euro's in, 1 euro per hour) unless you were booked in one of the 'posh' apartments where you got TV free, a microwave and lounge chairs and parasol, then mini kitchen as they call it with 2 rings (electric) a fridge, coffee maker and toaster and then all your usual untensils such as plates/cups etc.

Upstairs you had the bathroom with walk in shower (no bath) sink and toilet with huge mirror over sink and plug next to for your hairdryer etc, the bathrooms are pretty small and tight for space but who cares, your not planning on spending much time in there are you!

The bedroom was big enough, with 2 single beds, bedside table and built-in wardrobe, there was also a phone in bedroom aswell as down stairs in lounge part, you can use these to ring reception (booklet explains how to use it and numbers) it did actually state you could call outside the country but i couldn't figure it out.

Now the pools....i can't fault them at all, the main pool was spaceous, clean and well kept, a man came every morning to test the water, he carries a little silver case with what looked like test tubes and tested the water at about the same time every morning just before it opened, the pool itself goes round the pool bar, with a bridge going over one side of the pool going from the patio area to bar, the baby pool was bigger than most baby pools i've seen in other places i've stayed, with little water jets dotted about (my daughter loved these lol). The sunbeds were locked up at night and unlocked next morning at 9am, which meant you didn't have to get up at silly o'clock to get one but i'd say try and be up there just before 9am if you want to bag a good spot, there was plenty of beds to go round until about lunchtime, then it got busy, well i say busy...not really, all the beds were usually gone by 11/12 pm but what annoyed me was the fact alot of people would grab beds in morning, put towels on then bugger off for hours when really people who actually wanted to do some sunbathing couldn't :/ but this happens in alot of places. There was also a seating area right outside the bar that was undercover, and 2 pool tables and another pool table situated near reception inside.

The pool bar was great, not too pricey for food and drink roughly 2 euros for a beer and spirits and 3 euros to 4 euros for the snacks, staff were really friendly and abit mad at times lol but thats what you want isn't it. Food menu wasn't anything special, mostly pizza,sandwiches and chips, that kind of thing, and all you can think of drink wise including alcohol.

The gardens around the apartments were very well kept, watered and seen to every single day by the workers/gardeners, the maids were friendly although alot if not all didn't really speak much english you just had to use hand gestures etc to break the communication barrier but was never really a problem, they cleaned about 5 days out of 7, unless you were staying in one of the superier rooms as they were done daily 7 days a week, but linen and towels were done about twice a week in the other apartments, we even found if we had left any dishes in sink the maids even washed these and put them away (but we were too guilt ridden for that and made sure we washed ours in morning) they also folded your teatowel into a boat shape lol and left on draining board.

There's not much i can fault with this place, the whole complex was spotless, the apartments although are for up to 4 people would be abit of a squeeze with 4 were clean and enough and had everything you needed for a 2 week stay, they weren't air conditioned but you could hire fans for 15 euros a week, but i found just having the windows open were enough as you tend to get a lovely breeze during the night.

They have a BBQ on tuesday nights round the pool which was about £12 euros per person, didn't go myself but a few people who i spoke to who did said it wasn't really worth it for the money, theres also a laundry room with one washing machine and one dryer, you have to pay for tokens at reception for these, and there was 2 computers to go on the net which were 1 euro for 15 minutes at a time, a gym and some kind of beauty parlour that did nails,massage etc.

There was an on site shop, which sold your basics but if you walk out reception and turn left...then left again there was a bigger supermarket for all your essentials.

Great location, only 5-10 minute walks to either the Kasbah or the Yumbo Centre or if you turn right after coming out of reception it was only a 2 minute walk to the grand chaparel that is mostly bars and restaurants and few shops, or if your lazy like us hail a taxi, they were so cheap at only 2 euros each way.

The beach was about 15-20 minute walk, wasn't too bad walking there as it's downhill some of the way but i wouldn't recommend walking back after a day sunbathing, just grab a taxi at the rank for 2 euros.

All in all it was a great place to stay, there wasn't much noise from any of the neighbouring hotels, your basically right in the heart of everything you need and i personally would go back tomorrow if i could! 

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