Well my family and I had this holiday booked since the end of January so we had been looking forward to it all year. Neither of us had ever been to Lanzarote so we didn't know what to expect. It was my mum and brothers first time abroad where it was hot; they've been place in EuropeFrance mainly on previous holidays but not a sunny holiday. It was also my little brothers first time on a plane so he was well excited.
• Getting Booked Up *
I wasn't actually meant to be going on this holiday; it was originally just my mum, her boyfriend and my little brother going. I had my own plans, but you know what happens to plans. Anyway basically I got out of a relationship so my mum didn't want me on my own and invited me to go with them. Luckily the apartment booked slept 4 people anyway so I only had to book myself a flight.
We booked the holiday as a package from our local Co-op travel agents. They were very good at the time, insuring we choose a place where it had what we wanted and making all the arrangements to make it a simple, relaxing experience. We booked the package holiday with Thomas Cook Holidays. Id never been with this company before. Previously ive been to Corfu twice but both times I went with First choice so this was a new experience too.
• Information *
Lanzarote is an island approx 80 miles of the coast of Africa south of Spain and Portugal. The island is 37 miles long and 12 miles wide. It is the fourth largest island of the Canary
Islands. Lanzarote is a volcanic island due to eruptions in the 18th and 19th century so it has many amazing caves and features to see. He Island has a very dry climate; the ground is mainly rock and gravel, no grass here, lol !!
The average temp ranges from 21 degrees in Jan to 29 degrees in the summer months. It only has a annual rainfall of 140mm so its mostly dry all of the time. The island is also very windy so the temp is very deceiving. • Journey *
We had quite reasonable flights with Thomas Cook from Bristol Airport. Our flight there was at 1 in the afternoon so we had plenty of time in the morning not to rush as Bristol airport is only 40 mins away from our house. We checked in early as to try and get good seats on the plane and so we had time to grab some food and relax.
Our flight ended up being delayed for half an hour but it wasn't too bad the airport has plenty to do. Thomas Cook airlines were pretty good. We had nice seats at the front of the plan and quite a lot of room. I had to put up with my little brother being overly excited the whole way and let him seat by the window to watch the taking off.
The in-flight meals were a decent size and were pretty good; there are also a wide range of snacks to choose from the cart for those who are always Hungary like my 12 year old brother!!
The flight only took just over 3 and a half hours and we landed in Lanzarote about 5.30pm, there is no time difference from the UK which was handy!
• The Resort *
Address- Telephone and email- Hotel Paradise, + 34 928 82 7103- Information Calle Argentina + 34 928 826088- Reservations P-318 35509, Costa Teguise, Info@paradise-lanzarote.com Lanarote, Espania
Hotel paradise was ideal for a relaxing holiday. It is minutes walk from the local shops and restaurants, 100m from the water park called Aqua park, 100m from a 18 hole Golf course and 2km from the town centre of Teguise where the main beach is situated along with hundreds of shops and bars.
The resort in total has 59 apartments spread out over 3 floors and to my surprise is only a 2* establishment.
ACCOMADATION
An apartment consists of 1 or 2 bedrooms ours only had 1 with twin beds and 2 pull out beds which we put in the living room to give my mum and her boyfriend privacy of their own room. They also include a bathroom, kitchen and dining room area and a living room which access to a balcony over looking the resort.
The bathroom was huge. Plenty of room for 4 people to use. The shower was powerful which I thought was great for a 2* place. It looked very clean and actually very classy with white tiles with a marble effect.
The living room was also very spacious. With a 3 seater sofa and a smaller 2 seater next to it. There was a TV in the living room area with satellite but you had to pay 1 euro for an hours viewing. It included Sky 3 and a world news channel.
The balcony was very nice. A sliding door from the living area opened up
Pictures of Lanzarote Paradise Club, Spain
Front entrance
onto it and it over looked the pool area in the resort. On the balcony there was a small table with two chairs which was nice for sitting out there in the mornings and evenings. It was also handy to put wet clothes out there to dry. BAR / RESTURANT
The resort included a small bar and restaurant open all day until about half 12am. There is a sitting area outside of this which had a pool table, ping pong table and a fuse ball table for the kids. I don't really understand why they had a ping pong table has Lanzarote is very windy. I thought the bar was too small for the number of people staying at the resort. At night time sometimes it was too cramped and meals are served all in the same part.
The menu at the bar was pretty reasonable. They did traditional English breakfasts in the mornings a smaller dish or you can have double of everything for a large plate. The normal portion consisted of- 1 toast, 1 bacon, I fried egg, 1 sausage and beans, all this for 4 euros. I thought this was just enough but the people with bigger appetites like my brother and step dad you can order the double breakfast for 6 euros which was 2 of everything instead of one. You do not have to wait long for the food and it was of a good standard.
Other food on the menu was good also. There was a wide selection of food to choose from including pizzas, burgers, egg and chips, and many more. The pizzas were great and there were loads of toppings, one night I had salami choice which comes which salami obviously, olives and tomato. Most of the pizzas ranged from 5-10 euros and were a decent size.
NIGHT TIME ENTERTAINMENT
The bar had night time entertainment most nights. Mondays they had a bird of prey show which I enjoyed a lot. The show was pretty short but the birds were amazing. This show included 4 birds of prey. A barn owl from the U.K, a kestrel from Spain, a vulture from Africa and a eagle owl from Germany which I had a picture taken holding him.
On the Tuesday the bar had a music show. It was advertised music and magic show we were really expecting a magician but instead this strange singer was on which was a little disappointing, he sang Spanish songs which no one really knew and he was really odd. I think he was trying to be funny but everyone just though he was abit Looney.
Wednesdays the bar had a bingo and karaoke night we didn't go to this as we wanted to explore the town centre. A taxi to the centre costs 3 euros which is really good and it takes a matter of mins. We went to a Chinese restaurant in the centre which was amazing. I love Chinese food so it was good to find a great restaurant there. We went with another English family we had met on the resort which was good fun. We ordered one of those set menus for 3 people and the food just kept coming and coming. I was so full by the 3rd course. The staffs there were very helpful and made extra effort entertaining the kids.
Throughout the rest of the week the bar had a number of dj's, karaoke and bingos nights. We didn't stay on the resort every night because we wanted to visit the town and experience different restaurants.
OTHER FACILITIES
Maid service was 3 times a week which is ok but what annoyed me was that they didn't tell you what days they were coming so some days they turned up when we wanted a lie in.
Reception was very helpful if you wanted to go on day trips you could book through them, they gave you directions and maps to help. You could also book taxis there, which was excellent and they only ever took a few mins after they ring them. The only bad thing about the reception was that they closed from 1-5. This was annoying when you wanted to use their service in the day time.
• NEARBY
There are plenty of other places and day trips to go on away from the resort. The Aqua Park is only 100m up the road and was a good day out. I did however get burnt when I went as the wind is misleading and spending all day there you have to make sure you keep applying lotion.
The town of Teguise has many shops, bars and restaurants of all varieties including a lot of Chinese's! Italians and Pizzerias. This was nice to go for a change of scenery every other night. The meals anywhere were not at all expensive and the service in every place we went to was of a high standard.
• CONCLUSION
I had an amazing time staying at this resort and would recommend to anyone wanting a relaxing and enjoyable holiday in the sun! The resort had everything you needed and the staffs everywhere were polite and welcoming. I would definitely go back to Lanzarote as it was a great place to go and has a wide range of activities for every one of all ages. The only thing I have to say is make sure you don't stay out in the sun for long periods of time; the wind can make it feel colder than it is and you will get burnt!!
exceptional by (36%):
very helpful by (62%):
helpful by (2%):
