My requirements for a very last minute holiday in March 2016:…read more 1. Sunny. Vitamin D+. 2. Kid-friendly. 3. Nice pool. 4. Within Europe, 5 hours flight time max. 5. Nothing to do but relax, no temptation to sight see or be adventurous. Relaxation. As much as this is possible when traveling with a 2 year old. They don't relax well, as it turns out. And the result: Princesa Yaiza, arguably the nicest hotel in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote that allows (and loves!) kids. Done and done, we booked in for the Family Package (my how times have changed!) and were set to go in 10 days. The Family Package included: *3-course dinner at Lobos (fine dining) with 2 hours babysitting included. Score! *2 spa circuits for adults. *3-course lunch at Italian onsite restaurant (Don Giovani) *late checkout at 5pm -- came in handy! *private luxury transfer to and from the airport. Kid-friendly to the extreme! Our toddler loved this place, I'm pretty sure he feels quite disappointed with real life right now. He particularly LOVED the indoor soft play, which is very nicely done. The outdoor Kikoland is also a hit with separate areas for different age groups. Kids over 3 years old can stay with the play attendants but under 3 the parents need to stay with them in both areas. Bring socks for soft play! Both are open pretty long hours in peak season as well. BREAKFAST: A treat. It's about as nice of a buffet breakfast as one could want is is included in the room rate. It's a very nice spread. My recommendation is to wait til 9am when the Hacienda opens and sit open air to enjoy your tea, coffee and breakfast. At the time I went (pre-Easter) it was mainly families with very young children and very old people. For me, this was perfect. Especially since it was a population of older people who genuinely seemed to like the younger kids, as opposed to be constantly annoyed by them. The staff caters to both populations and it seemed that everyone lived together peacefully the week I was there. I was happy to be departing before school holidays/half term where all the school aged children invade! But if you have school aged kids, again -- you probably are cool with that, so to each their own! MEALS: I liked that Princesa Yaiza was NOT all inclusive. It meant we were able to explore along the boardwalk and marina for a few dinners and lunches and not feel tied to the resort. Having said that, one improvement would be to have a little light lunch area to pick things up -- there were a few days where I needed to eat something and so did my toddler, and it didn't need to be a full sit down experience but it was that or the grocery store which didn't seem that fun either. A light lunch bar would've been great, and I would've been happy to pay for it. The buffet dinners are overpriced and underwhelming. I'd skip them. The meal we at at Lobos was LOVELY. It's pricey and more fine dining but was excellent, and great views right along the beach. Highly recommended -- and the free babysitting to go enjoy a real meal with just my husband was lovely! THE POOL -- highlight. Great pools, easy towel service, comfy beach chairs, multiple areas for adults and kids, really covered all the bases. SPA -- enjoyed a wonderful massage! Def book in for the free circuit for some sauna/pool time, and for a few treatments. Very nice. Our room was great, tons of storage. It was a bit cold but that's the season and I'm sure it's great in the summer when the temps are crazy high to have a cool place to retreat to. Our balcony only got sun for 1-2 hours in the afternoon but again, that's the way things are in winter! Proximity to the beach, boardwalk, marina and the lovely staff made this a truly enjoyable week. HIghly recommended!

The Princesa Yaiza Hotel really is lovely. The staff are impeccably trained and all were so very…read morepleasant to deal with. Our suite was excellent. Really really nice, I was delighted with it. We were both delighted with it. So much storage, which pleased me no end. There was also a bottle of cava and a plate of strawberries and chocolate sauce upon our arrival to the room, as were on our honeymoon. How wonderful! The poolside was heaven. I could have sat there all day everyday if my husband would have let me. With a steady supply of clean towels and table service, what more could you want. Very nearby was the beach, Playa Dorada, which you could access via the back gate onto Maritime Avenue. Here the beach is sheltered by two artificial rock walls where the water is teaming with fish and crab and other sea life. We had a ball snorkeling here almost every day. The downside was the evening food. Or rather the food in the Mexican buffet. It was very mediocre for the price, 38 EUR. It's all you can eat, but that's not much use if you didn't want eat the food. That said the breakfast here at the Yaiza was amazing. There was so much choice, you really could have nothing to complain about at breakfast time. I went for the smoked salmon most of the time. There was also a great array of fruit and cheese that I also went for. And the odd glass of cava - why not I say, I'm on my honeymoon :) Recommended.

A 4 star hotel near Playa Blanca town and within walking distance of Playa Dorada beach. This hotel…read moreis all singing and all dancing - and I mean that literally!! If you want to be entertained morning noon and night then this is the place for you. the staff are uber friendly and they lay on activities and shows 24/7. If you want a lazy holiday just chilling - it could be difficult as they do tend to bully you a little into joining in - its just their way!!! The other thing I found about the staff and the locals is that they absolutely adore kids . well if they don't and its all an act just for tourism then they ought to be on the big screen by rights. My son had a whale of a time, with a disco every night, they did conga style dances with the little ones all through the hotel, games and just generally madcap antics. Although the hotel was very international - lots of french, german, spanish as well as english- that just added to the appeal for me ( I also always think its a good sign if locals stay there.). Now then -food. It was the normal help yourself buffet style arrangement in a large room - but much more elegant and refined than the normal. The waiters did come to the table to check all was ok and would advise on wines and meal choices too - so it was kind of self -service - but with service (if that makes sense?). A really good choice of options including some good veggie ones too - and I was in heaven as there was loads of seafood to tempt. Location wise you could not beat it as there was a park, beach, harbour, shops and cafes all within easy walking distance. The rooms were real big and airy, with the decor clean and simple, with lots of locally made wooden furniture. 3 bars to choose from. Tennis courts and a gorgeous pool. Really good amenities in general. If you want to read and relax and enjoy your own company - not the hotel for you. If you want to have a busy time, be amused, be entertained and laugh alot with family then use this hotel.

Beautiful Villa Beautiful place, immaculate and loads of fun things to do here I was only here for…read morea week and I wish I was hear longer then a week it was amazing... I travel a lot due to work and right now im in a place In Dubai called the Sapphire Villa and this place is beautiful right on the beech front on the palms magnificent check them out you wont be sorry!

Had the most fabulous holiday at Casa Calma! The villa is so clean, spacious perfect! Its just a…read more15 minute walk to Playa Blanca which was an excellent resort for my husband and I. The weather of course was wonderful and we spent our time between lazy days in the villa and seeing the rest of the Island. My hubby really enjoyed the villa's pool so private! The owners are lovely people and are very helpful. Ican't recommend Casa Calma enough.

Not the bargain we thought it was…read more As advertised it has: * Kids club: yes but they have to be supervised so no real point in it (no break for mum and dad). There's a small play area with a couple of swings, slide and sea saw but it's not very good, not laid out very well (nowhere for parents to sit and watch) it has rubber floor but actually quite dangerous. Not to mention the horrendous sewerage smell coming from one of the drains by the entrance to it. * Gym: yes but you have to pay extra for it (not that we would have bothered with it more than once, but no kids club so couldn't have gone together). * WiFi: yes, but only for one device (had to pay extra if you want to use more than one device which is useless for a family). Also it's pretty crap when you do manage to connect to it (didn't quite reach our bungalow). * Aircon: yes if you paid extra for it, (in September it was a bit too warm to sleep well and the beds were hard and not comfy at all but we put up with it). Not even a ceiling fan or portable fan either :( Good Points: * Mini Disco for the kids (but same songs in exact same order got to you after a bit). * Nice pools & easy to get a sun lounger. * Nice and quiet little bungalow (Except when a foreign family moved in the night next to last and were banging on the separating door and very noisy and inconsiderate). * No bingo. * AI food was OK. Bad points: * Kids play area was poor and stank of sewerage. * Evening entertainment was shockingly poor. * The AI "Tropical" lager was horrible and didn't even get you tipsy. * Too hot in the room and uncomfy beds. (But we could have paid extra for aircon). * Too far from any form of nightlife. * Indoor entertainment some evenings WAY TOO HOT. (wouldn't have minded so much, but they close the outdoor bar!!!). Myself (38) and wife (36), arrived late as some numptys didn't get on the plane in time so the take-off slot was delayed by an hour. When we got to the airport we were met by a rep that advised us to follow the yellow line to the coach park. Another rep then told us which bus we were on. A few drop offs later and we were at the hotel. Only one family in front of us so didn't take long to check us in. Finding the room in the dark was more luck than anything else but the card would not go in the slot for electricity as the LED had dropped inside preventing the card to go in, after a trip back to reception I managed to get the card in myself even after that gave us another to try (which obviously wouldn't solve the problem, but a lease we could leave stuff charging when not in the room). No food left out for us even though we had only just missed service (like most other hotels we have stayed at have done for us). The kid (3 yrs, 11 months old) wasn't impressed with the attached water park she just wanted to spend all day every day in the kid's pool playing with the other children (we managed to get her around the lazy river once). So not really worth it for us but would have been disappointed if we had gone for that as it wasn't much of a "Water park" compared to others we have been to - more like what someone would have at the hotel pool. The AI food was great in fact I found it more of a chore to go to eat (got a bit fed up of it and that's saying something for me). The Mrs says she didn't think it was that good though. The thing that did let it down was that there weren't any themed nights (The welcome letter promised BBQ night etc but this never happened). The beer was self-service same as the soft drinks (you had to queue and ask for wine at the pool bar) but no matter how much "tropical" lager I drank I couldn't even get tipsy, was just up all night going for a pee! The dining room didn't have aircon and was sometimes a bit uncomfortable. Hotel entertainment in the evenings was shocking (at least no bingo). On the nights they had it inside it was too hot to bear but they close the pool bar so best off going for a walk out on those nights. The kids don't even want to stay inside and would sooner play on the sewerage smelling park but that means keep walking right the way around the pools to go inside for drinks. The resort of playa blanka was way too quiet for us (seems more of a retirement place, we stayed in porta del carmen a few years ago before we had kids and even thought that was a ghost town). No bars or anything near the hotel bit too far for the pregnant Mrs to walk so didn't get out much. The kid loved mini disco every night and loved the little pool (couldn't get her out of it some days). We only visited Aqualava splash park next door a couple of times as the kid wasn't struck by it (would have been annoyed if had paid the £20 each entrance fee). We had already done most of the day trips on our last visit to porta del carmen, but this time with the kid we thought we would do: * Rancho Texas cowboy show. (€123.) * Camel Ride. (€127.) (The rest of the tour was a bit boring). * I love PapaGayo boat trip. (€153) (long story, but do

Rubbish, food was bland entertainment was shocking customer service was slow and poor. Only good…read morething was water park but you have to wear wrist bands all the time

Elba is a great hotel highly recommend but food is okay good Italian restaurant wifi is mid but…read moregreat staff except from one life guard who grabbed a kid round throat and shoulder to get away from slide and banned kids under 5 for getting stuck on slides really poor decisions beside that highly recommend rooms where also nice good entertainment for kids aswell.

We just popped in here for a few beers as it was the closest available hotel or bar to our holiday…read morevilla rental in the nearby Villas Blancas. The beer was expensive and came in the very small European style beer glasses but it was wonderfully cold and after a long day with delayed flights and a lot of aggravation it was bliss. Looking around I noticed most people wearing coloured wristbands so I suspect it's an all-inclusive hotel and therefore the price of beer won't enter the equation for hotel guests. The hotel is on the outskirts of Playa Blanca and a bit too far away for comfort if you were walking into town every day but I should imagine a hotel of this size will have some sort of transport organised for guests. I wouldn't come here for a holiday though as its location isn't that good in comparison with many other hotels in Playa Blanca.