Portonovo Apartments, Grand Canary > Reviews (2)

It was a couple of years ago when I stayed here one of the friend's I travelled with has just returned this week and has assured me it has not changed a single bit, which is slightly disappointing as it is supposed to have undergone a refurbishment in 2010 after we were there.

We checked prices on various websites and the cheapest was a package through thomson online which worked out at around £200 per person for a week in May self catering including return flights and taxi transfers. My friend just paid £260 for the same package in June. These apartments at the time were exclusive to Thomson when booking in England but I am not sure if this is still the case. This was cheap compared with a lot of the accomodation in Puerto Rico so we didn't know what to expect. We weren't too bothered as it was a girls holiday and we literally just wanted a place to put down the heads.

Location
Puerto Rico as around 30km from the airport.

We were all all Puerto Rico virgins and got a bit worried as we approached the area and saw apartments say in the middle of mountains and at the top of hills. When the taxi stopped we were right at the bottom next to the beach and the marina and the only climbing we needed to do was into and out of the lift. Pheeeeeeeew!

I would suggest that anybody booking in Puerto Rico checks the access to their apartments before they book. To some people this isn't an issue but for us we didn't want to trek up 70 steps after a nights boozing. It also adds expense to your holiday if you are having to rely on taxis up and down hills every time you want to go to the beach or out on an evening.

Luckily for us this wasn't a problem, we were a stone's throw away from the marina and beach and about from the main center with bar's and restaurant's was under 10 minutes walk (15 in heels, 25-???? after cocktail).

For us it was a perfect location, there were a handful or bars and restaurants less than a minute away and if was far enough from the noise to not be disturbed by the late night bars and clubs (we can't last until 5am.....believe me we tried!).

The Apartments

The apartments are spread over 4 floors, there are lifts but we walked mostly as we were on the first floor.

We got 2 apartments between the 6 of us, each had a twin bedroom and sofa bed. The view out onto the marina was beautiful. I would describe these as basic without being bare, simply furnished and clean. This was all we needed. The kitchen was well equipped with a kettle, oven and microwave although we only used it once or twice. The bathroom was clean, we used to fight for the shower because the water went cold after the first 2 had been in. There was a TV, washing maching, iron and hairdryer. There was no air conditioning but the bedroom in the apartment was always shaded so remained cool enough not to be uncomfortable although I'm not sure how cool they'd be in August (it got to 34 degrees in May).

There was a balcony large enough for a table and chairs and a clothes horse, we sat on the balcony quite a lot taking in the views and sipping away.

It was so nice and peaceful.

The facilities
The pool is fairly large, there is an outdoor shower and toilets here too. There is wi-fi which they charged for but it was very cheap. The pool bar was open every day serving sandwiches and snacks we got a couple of pizzas one day which were very nice. We had breakfast there most mornings which was very nice and cost around 4 euros.
There is a small bar right next door which is very small but has a nice outdoor seating area and gorgeous cocktails. There is also a supermarket only seconds away which was really handy as we didn't have to trek up and down to whole town with huge bottles of water which always irritates me.
The maids came round a few times during the week, changing the bedding and leaving fresh towels and toilet rolls. They were very brave I would've turned back round again when I opened the door. We were 3 very messy teenage girls.

The reception was open 24 hours and they were very helpful with directions and even let us keep one of our apartments until 9pm (well after check out time) so that we could leave the luggage and get showered before our late night flight home.

All in all these apartments were just what we wanted and more really, I would recommend this to anybody, groups, families and couples who wants a clean and simple apartment in a great location. If you are looking for hotel quality....book a hotel, you won't find it here but for a self catering property check it out.