Babalu Apartments

HONEST REVIEW
When first arriving at the Babalu we were slightly disapointed by the first view of the reception area, however inside is very clean and homely.
I have read reviews before arriving and we were worried about coming to the babalu however we all had a great time.
All balconys are huge with a great view of the pool/bar and sea. Rooms are basic, Tv is cheep to use, we just popped any spare change into the slot. No bath however there is a big shower. To hire a kettle it was about £12 p/w which is pretty good, no air con however you can hire a fan but the price is something like £30 and £10deposit so we just went up to Europa where you can buy a decent one for just £18!! Well worth it as it gets very hot.
Through the first week of our stay the rooms were cleaned regularly with fresh towels however towards the end we were left with no towels or toilet paper for two days due to a certain cleaner that does not do her job properly. After complaining we recieved extra towels which was a bonus!
Entertainment is very good, Dave (Babalu's entertainer) was always there during the afternoon and on a night except saturday when it is hes day off. He always makes an effort to get all children (and adults) to play football and water polo!! On a night he comes down during happy hour and involves everyone with his silly jokes and comments (even people on their balconys which wont come down) Bingo everynight plus a show (reptiles, birds, comedians, singers etc) and happy hour is twice a day, 12to1 and half8 til half9 all drinks buy one get one free except soft drinks and cocktails!
I reccommend getting the BBQ on wednesday, 11euros per adult, all you can eat. There is all sorts of salads and rices plus huge pork chops chicken and everything else, well worth it!

Just back from a week of no sleep and loud music still ringing in our ears. The Babalu was not what I had in mind of relaxing by the pool. The rooms were partly cleaned but they seemed to have avoided the insects legs hanging from the kitchen light. The pool is large enough and you could still see to the bottom of the pool through the floating debris by 6pm. The music from the pool bar dominated the whole complex, I never want to hear another rave beat again! My head thumped the first couple of days until my ears got used to the loud music. Once 11pm came it seemed to get turned up. The entertainement was sometimes on, but only if every single seat was full and the bar was pulling in enough money?? The main man on the reception did not like the way the English let their kids walk aound freely pressing buttons on the now broken lift. I wont advise anyone to stay there. Sorry to be so honest.

we arrived at reception only to be told its a family hotel and they dont stand any messin from the english or loud noise they would ring the police...we had 3 kids with us lol. if ya wanted a sunbed you had to be at the poolside at 6.30 am. its full of cochroaches crawling on you at night the hotel insist they dont have a problem ,....what a joke they're evrywhere.
the entertainer isnt a kids entertainer at all ,he ignores the kids until it gets to 9pm then he wants them to dance for him at 13 and 10 boys arent interested and dave wouldnt give them the medal he promised all kids get at the end of the holiday but none of the kids in the 2 wks we were there got them.
the water polo and footy are for the 20 yr olds wantin a laugh and can get quite rough.
we were kept awake evrynight by the noise of fighting,shouting swearing etc altho we were warned this wouldnt be tolerated ITS A FAMILY HOTEL ...
the bbq was horrible and full of cochroaches evryone were jumping out the seats esp the girls from liverpool lol
the bird and reptile show altho for kids didnt start until 11.30 far too late if u have kids ,but well worth the wait ....
didnt enjoy the holiday one minute ,couldnt sleep too hot ,too dirty maid service wasnt regular and they hung up the dirty towels we had put on floor.
wouldnt recommend the babalu at all not even for my dog .... dave kept saying last yr there were 180 guests apposed to this yr there were 50 english all saying they had been coming back to babalu for yrs but wudnt go again it had gone down hill bigtime ..
I TOTALLY AGREE ,food at poolside bar was nice altho nothing was spanish all chips and chips ..... naches and nacho love ya both ur stars, dave well what can i say he just out to make money has his good n bad side ,i didnt like the ignoring of the kids

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I Just Got Back This Morning From Babalu Apartments And It Was The Best, The Entertainment Was The Best And So Was Dave ( LEGAND!!!) Brill Balcony. Bad Thing Was No Kettle!

This was our 7th visit to Puerto Rico although it was our first visit to the Babalu.
After reading the comments on here, I was looking forward to the lively poolside entertainment....sadly it was sorely lacking when we were there!
Dave is a nice enough bloke, but the entertainment consisted of a 30 minute kick about on the football/tennis court, and an occasional 15 minute game of water polo.
The night time entertainment is booked to start at about 10.30pm/11pm - far too late for people with kids. This resulted in Dave calling for the people on the balconies to come down and watch the shows and appearing a little abrupt when they didn't. If the shows were booked for earlier in the evening I'm sure there would be plenty more bums on seats!
The BBQ on a Wednesday is a must - really great food and the comedian - Garry Desmond is hilarious! It's definitely worth the 10 euros.
Overall the Babalu is very basic but reasonably clean. The poolside bar serves decent food at reasonable prices, but the drinks aren't very cheap.
Be prepared to get up at 7am if you want a sunlounger with an umbrella - for 96 apartments, we counted only 11 umbrellas around the pool - and in 30+ heat, it wasn't enough by any means.
Avoid Geraldine's all singing all dancing suncream - 22 euros - and it doesn't work! 2 friends of ours burnt quite badly whilst using it, so stick to your normal Ambre Solaire etc..
We have had a nice relaxing holiday in terrific weather, but I have to say we wouldn't go to the Babalu again. We've always stayed at the Eden before, and simply for the poolside entertainment, that's where we'll be going next year.

Got back 1 month ago from grancanaria were my family and I stayed in Babalu apartements which were fantastic. 10/10. Already staying in babalu apartments a couple of years back we was tempted too go again, this time it was even better! The apartements were not bad at all a decent size bedroom. kitchen, bathroom and living area were there was an telivision although most channels were in spanish we did get an few which were english luckly. Having stayed in the bottom floor last year we asked when we booked too have one again but when we got there our rooms were 4 flights up we wasn't very happy, but 1 day in loved it! The balconys were fabulous there was a great view of the pool and sea, and were an great size.
The lift could get fixing too as if your scared off heights it is very frighting and as been there years, it broke on us an few times that was my only downfall but there was steps so I used the steps.We had two large pools and a baby pool which was a great idea for children as they could have fun with great safety. There was an park too and an football patch too.
The shopping centre was just over the road were there was an larger supermarket at very reasonable prices. The clubs there was great and had such friendly people in there. I recomend Mary D's for children and families and Yates was great too for the teens.
Dave the entertainer was INCREDIBLE absolutly loved him he was very very welcoming and an lovely fun guy. He played water polo at day time and bingo at the night along with organizing the entertainment for the night and didnt complain.Not forgeting Happy hour at the pool bar!The staff were lovely too although the lady at the shop was very rude and didnt even say thankyou and when giving you your change looked the other way. The reception man was good too he lent us some cockroache spray after all of us being scared off them being girls were terified when we saw four in our apartement, the other man at the reception was quite unaprocable and wierd.
Amadores beach was beautiful, and great walk down and had shops and restuarants too go in. We walked down there and then across to puerto rico beach which was fab too. But an taxi would off cost around 3-4 euros which is not bad. The bottom europa was good too and had an McDonalds, fine resturants and clubs!
Overall recomend babalu for families, couples anyone really it is fantastic. Already planning too go next year, and see if Dave remembers us. Holiday of an life time!

Hey all we r just bk and we had a gr8 time the rooms are cleaned everyday, huge balcony although rooms are basic but are good enough to sleep in. The staff are really nice at the reception and are willing to help. The pool is really good music played all day and dave the entertainer is well good he puts on the shows every night although the ppl do have to go down and c them and if there is not enough then the show cant go on but most of the time there is enough ppl Dave works really hard and is always getting ppl to get involved in water pollo football and bingo bingo is a gr8 laugh at night. The shows are really good and good for all ages. Dave and the bar staff are really nice and up for a laugh. The best night is Daves BBQ night it is amazing eat as much as u want for 10 euro its really nice and good value for money. The Europa centre is 2 mins away directly across the road where there is a nice resturant called flicks its really nice. The beach is a slight walk but is nice its about a 15 min walk down the hill or can be reached by stepsbut a taxi for 3 euro can take u there and bk i would advise u to get a taxi bk to the apartments as it is a big hill. i would defo go bk again!!!!
Hope u are all looking forward to going on ur holiday
Kayleigh and kevin the scottish ppl from Edinburgh hahahahahah

Just got bk frm Puerto Rico wot a gr8 hol!!! Stayed at the Babalu apartments, they were nice and clean. Good sized balacony with sea view. My only complaint was there was no kettle or toaster so i had to boil a pan of water 4 a cup of tea n couldn't have a slice of toast. Gr8 location, 2 min walk 2 the Europa centre. Good shops and restaurants there and some good bars. Both beaches are quite close, a nice walk downhill but i suggest a taxi coming bk uphill. The weather was lovely too! Good entertainment and theres nice food at the pool bar. Would recommend these appartments and definatley Puerto Rico. Im already booked to go bk nxt year.

If you're looking for a simple, basic place to enjoy a holiday, The Babalu is perfect for you. The apartments fit 2 people despite being told they fit 3. Pool was nice and the food at the pool bar was tasty too. The Amadores beach would be the best altrenative to the pool. Just hop in a taxi and you will be taken there for €3.
The major downside to staying at the Babalu was the rude man working on the reception known only to us as "Julio". If this man smiled, his face would crack. He wasnt much help or approachable. One night at 1am, he shouted to our Balcony asking us to turn off music that was clearly coming from another near-by complex!!
If your looking for a late night, the best bet is the Shopping Centre Puerto Rico. The Europa has a few pubs located there but nothing that satys open past 2am. Be prepared to be houded by reps or restaurant workers wherever you go. Don't be tricked by the reps for Jokers nightclub who tell you that they'll give you free champagne and shots...you won't get a thing!
I would also recommend taking a trip to Playa Del Ingles for a night on the town if you are looking for something different. Our Rep Bill or "Fat Frog" as he liked to be called brought us to the best bars and clubs and a great night was had.

We decided to re-visit Gran Canaria, as we loved it the last time we went (Oct 2004).
We decided on the Babalu Apartments, as it seemed in a good location for what we were looking for - aprox 200 yards from the Europa Centre, which is packed full with great bars & food eateries, but actually we were only 3 euros away from the Commercial Centre by taxi, so great for us.
Accomodation was fine, we had a ground floor apartment, right by the pool area, so not very far to move, nice relaxing days and Dave the entertainer was nice and friendly too. Rooms were a decent size and clean, the kitchen area abit small, but they are in these 'Studios'. The only thing we would say is that the apartments could do with a quick lick of paint but some rennovation work was in progress.
We didn't use the pool bar area really, as we knew many restaurants with exceptional food wasn't very far away and at reasonable prices - please try Grill Garoe, best steak ever.........
Having read other reviews, which varied, some good, some not so - we kept an open mind, we were pleasantly surprised with our stay, certainly as we kept to a budget. The weather was on fine form as always.
We would recommend this apartment complex, for those seeking simple and relaxed holidays and we would/will re-visit again, as Gran Canaria is fast becoming one of our favorite holiday destinations