Review: Apartamentos Galeon Playa

Our first vacation in Lanzarote, our first time in Costa Teguise, our first stay in the Apartamentos Galeon Playa – Read on…

In the heart of the resort of Costa Teguise, the Apartamentos Galeon Playa complex sits in a prime position on the end of the Av. Del Jablillo, nestled between the beaches of Playa Cucharas and Jablillo,both 3-5 minutes walk from the lobby.

Approximately 15 minutes from the airport at nearby Arrecife, the complex boasts four pools (the main one heated) set in well maintained gardens, a poolside snack bar, a buffet restaurant serving breakfast and evening meals, an onsite bar / entertainment venue, childrens play areas and games room.

I can imagine the pool areas get quite busy in peak periods, but at the time of our stay they were comfortable. The main bar was quite busy in the evenings, even for this time of year – it is situated close to the rooms and we were directly adjacent to it, but never heard any noise.

We chose self catering as breakfast in the buffet restaurant was €8/person per day, while only two minutes up the road brought you to a bunch of cafes advertising breakfast from €3.50, which we found very good value for money – similarly with so many restaurants at night to choose from, we didn’t feel the need to try out the buffet dinner – having said that the stairs to the restaurant were adjacent to our room and it was obviously popular with many of the guests.

The apartments are arranged in small blocks around the pools, some are pool facing, some are sea facing, all have balconies or terraces. Some of the blocks have lifts, some are only accessible by stairs. If you have mobility problems, then I would advise you contact the reception staff beforehand and check you get a ground floor room or a block with a lift. The staff are very accommodating in this respect.

Directly outside the complex there are numerous shops, a pizzeria, hair salon, cafe, and the Grille Galeon restaurant. A few steps further brings you to two reasonably priced supermarkets, another cafe, a string of restaurants and bars along the Av. Del Jablillo, a dive centre and multiple car, bicycle and scooter hire venues.

5 minutes’ walk from further along brings you to the town centre and the Pueblo Marinero square, another hive of activity clustered with shops and decent bars and restaurants.

Alternatively following the sea promenade towards the main beach leads you past another string of cafes and bars ideal for a relaxing drink while watching the rolling waves and windsurfers.

For keen golfers, the nearest golf course is just a 10-minute drive away.

The Galeon Playa complex boasts free wifi although in practice the signals are quite poor and unsteady in places, and the performance can be notably ropy at peak periods.

The staff in the hotel are excellent, and I had a conversation with each of the receptionists by email before arrival, so by the time we arrived we were on first name terms almost! We had concerns about accessibility due to some of the blocks not having lifts, and the staff kindly ensured we received a ground floor apartment leading directly to one of the two pools.

Our ground floor room leading to pool, second from right.

Apartments vary from 1 bedroom to 2 bedrooms and junior suites. Allegedly they are 484 sq.ft in size, and I can vouch that this is plenty of room.

The hotel is currently undergoing a refurbishment, and the photographs posted on the booking.com website look very impressive. Our room was one of the older rooms awaiting refurbishment. From a cleanliness perspective it was fine, and perfectly in order for our stay.

The furniture was functional, soft furnishings were clean but somewhat dated, the bathroom spacious, with fittings in quite good condition despite their age.

The kitchen area was dated but again functional.

What let it down was maintenance. Curtains detached from the curtain rings – an easy fix. The bathroom roller door was difficult to open – this being an accessible bathroom for disabled use – and needed some attention. Old grout around the wet room area, which could quickly be re-grouted to give a fresh appearance, and the shower curtain rail hanging slightly where it could have been straightened up or supported with a proper bracket instead of a bit of old wire hastily fastened to the suspended ceiling.

The room came with a modern 36″ LED TV, (deposit required for remote) safe (weekly charge applies and deposit required for key) and a full list of kitchen equipment – we were short of nothing. English TV channels are a little lacking; hardly a surprise.

Sue enjoying the sun from our terrace.

A bonus for us was that you could book this directly on booking.com, with free cancellation up until the day before arrival – and having checked the various travel websites, it was the cheapest way of securing a room – we booked a week in February for £338 (at the prevailing euro rates), paid on arrival, and travelled with Norwegian Airlines from Gatwick for £199 in total.

We met some people in the resort who had managed to get Ryanair flights for £38 each return, which was incredibly well priced – we certainly couldn’t get anything close to that, and Norwegian were the cheapest for our chosen travel dates by far.

Summary
Despite the few maintenance niggles, the Apartamentos Galeon Playa complex provided very good value for money and excellent location close to the beaches and amenities.

While hoping we may get a little better quality room at our next stay, I would not be deterred from visiting with them again – in fact we are planning to do so in early 2018.

In terms of location, quality of staff, general amenities and great value for money, I would love to give this a solid five out of five, but unfortunately I have to take into consideration the slightly lacking condition of the fixtures and fittings in the room, but nevertheless I will still award a well deserved 4 out of 5 for this very nice establishment.