La Florida Apartments

Came back yesterday from La Florida Apartments, having had a very good week - booked last minute. First impressions of the apartments were not particularly good as the entrance is via the side of a supermarket and seemed like a dark, dingy Reception area with a miserable, unfriendly receptionist. The only way out was up a very steep flight of stairs - you need to carry your luggage up - no lift or help - be warned! On reaching the top of the stairs, you were on the pool - very pleasant - and we were in Room 301 - at the end of the row of apartments - overlooking the pool (as we requested when we booked). The apartment was a bit jaded but on further inspection, we had a) two large single beds (very comfortable), ample storage space, rugs by the bed, bedside lamps in the bedroom, b) a fully equipped bathroom (although bath small) with soaps, shampoo, wipes, tissues and towels large enough to wrap around you c) in the kitchen area a kettle, toaster, microwave, coffee machine and a complimentary bottle of water, postcard, and surprise-surprise - a small bottle of washing up liquid, scourer, cloth and tea-towels. I have never been in any self-catering apartment to offer any of these! In the corner of the pool was a small bar offering all day breakfast for 3 euros (and not bad too), happy hour with a large beer for 1.50 euros and the usual snacks etc. (Very pleasant English staff) We were given a key to the side gate which alleviated the need to go down the stairs to Reception which was much better. The supermarket at the entrance to the apartments was well stocked and with wheeled baskets which made life simple (why do we not have these in England?) There were plenty of sun beds (free) with foam mattresses on hire for 1 euro per day. The apartment was lovely and clean and was well worth the money we paid for it! If you are a cat-lover all the queens were calling so there will be lots of kittens in a few weeks. There were lots of Irish bars, Scottish bars and music bars but not so many Spanish! The best restaurants we found were El Tomate, Magnolia (still going strong after 16 years), and on the harbour, La Marinos. The prices were very reasonable - as reflected in our waistbands on our return! The downside of the apartments was the noise. As we were on the end of the block, we were in the line of fire for everyone coming in late at night and the tiled floors do nothing to deaden any sound! (It is a pity some holidaymakers do not have any consideration for people sleeping, but that is not the hotel's fault). The apartments were not too far to walk down to the harbour, or even through to the 'strip' and beach. All in all, we had a good week, at a very reasonable price. It is not 4 star but very clean and comfortable - with added touches like the water etc which were gratefully received. PS - Please can they get rid of the plastic flowers everywhere as they just make the place look tacky.

My husband and I are just back from staying at La Florida (14th-21st Jan 2007) I read all the reviews before I booked but because it was 2-star and very cheap I thought that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. We arrived at the apartments at 9pm and, having read the reviews, fully expected reception to be closed - which it was. Went straight to Jinty McGintys and the very helpful owner gave us an envelope with our room key and even took us round to the side lane to show us how to get in the security door. Lane was nowhere near as bad as I thought it might be. As soon as I saw we were in block 3 I thought 'yippee' as that was supposed to be the best location. I would say definitely try to get that block - it is over 3 floors, but definitely seems to be the best positioned away from the main road. Mind you - Lanzarote in January isn't exactly jumping !! The apartment was larger than I expected. Decor was fine, rooms were clean. Free bottle of water, tissues, washing-up liquid. Good sized balcony looking over the sea. Best points - good view, clean, cheap. Bad points - the plastic mattress cover under the sheets - more hygienic I know, but I thought it generated too much heat - I just bought a cheap beachtowel (5 euro) to put over the regular sheet - worked a treat! As mentioned in previous reviews the entrance to the main reception was a bit mucky. However apart from checking out we ALWAYS used the entrance in the lane as it is a lot easier. The old town was very nice - loads of restaurants and bars. It just takes about 5-10 mins to walk to the new town. As in most parts of Puerto del Carmen you should expect to do a lot of walking - it is a bit hilly. Good exercise to work off the food !! Taxis are very cheap - about 2.50-3.50 euros to go from new town to old town which is pennies when you think about it. Flannigans has been mentioned before and I would definitely recommend it - great show ! All in all a great holiday, particular as the weather was brilliant. La Florida is 'perfectly fine'. It is cheap and clean - particularly for a 2-star. Just remember to ask for block 3!

I've just returned back from a weeks stay in La Florida's. When I first arrived I was given a room in block 2 at the end of the corridor beside the side gate where people enter and exit the complex at night, people would virtually stop and chat outside my bedroom window and I found it impossible to sleep. I asked to be moved the next day and I was put in block 3, Never had a major problem with noise after that and staff where accomodating but not over friendly when dealing with my move request. I would advise anyone staying in La florida to get into the 3 block, balconies are also much nicer looking onto the pool. Rooms were basic but nice and cleaned regularly. I must say for the price I paid I was expecting worse, remember you haven't paid 5 star prices so don't expect 5 star treatments. I do have one major misgiving which brings down my rating. If you don't like cats or are squemish over stray cats do not stay here. They are all over the complex at night, on the balconies and rooting in the bins. I even saw one drinking from the pool late at night when I was looking down from my balcony.

This was our first time in Lanzarote and we were not disappointed. I was a bit nervous about the apartments before going but I need not have worried. Although the exterior is a bit off putting once inside the place is first class. The pool area is clean and was never crowded. Loungers were always available and mattress's could be hired for 1euro a day. The apartments were modern and clean and the views across to Fuerta Ventura were breathtaking. If I had to find fault it was that there were no lifts. This was only a problem on arrival and departure when carrying luggage. Even so would not stop me from recommending this accomodation to anyone from young, old and families. A real bargain.

We got back from Lanzarote on monday, we had a fantastic time the apatments were very clean and well decorated and little touches made it nice too like when we got into out room there was a bottle of water waiting for us, also they supplied some of the basic requirements for a self catering hol like washing up liquid mosquito spray and some basic toiletries like soap and a sachet or 2 of body cream. Th location was great plenty to around the apartments but nice and quiet too. The old town of puerto del carmen is beautiful, there are some really nice restaurants in the harbour and as for bars i would highley recommend the crowded house about a minute walk from the apartments. Another good show is at Flannigans, its very funny and worth a look. We are hoping to book the same place for next yr, the price we paid was well worth what we got in return...

Me and my boyfriend have just returned from a week staying at La Florida Apartments, and to keep it short can i just say dont bother, on our third night we had an incident which no one at the aprtnments were interested in, and security guard who is supposed to be checking apartments during the night was no where to be found, suspiciously.....i then spent rest of my holiday sleeping or trying to at least sitting up with one eye open frightened to death, apartment staff are appauling, not interested one iota, staff at bar jinty mcjintys were excellent, really caring etc to what had happened. we were on third floor but to be honest i would have rather slept up the dark alley way than in that room, might have been a tad safer who knows, all i know is i would not reccomend staying here, even though its cheap - you get what you pay for but these apartments are also for local residents who live in them and workers live in them too so really you never know who you are next door to, as balconys are built as an assult course for monkeys, so if you do go please get a safe and never leave anything out of it that you dont want going walkies. La Florida cheers for a crap holiday.

We have just come back from a stay at the la florida apartments, we booked this as accommodation only through the operator med hotels.com it was a very reasonable cost so I expected it not to be luxurious! We had a great view of the sea from room 325, bit of a climb up the stairs (no lifts) they dont tend to put the corridor and stair lights on until rather late -after dark so take care! The apartments are large and spacious, they very kindly left us a fresh bottle of water and cleaning bits like a scruber,cloth and fairy liquid which I thought were very thoughtful and handy. Theres a fantastic supermarket at the bottom of the block called HyperDino you can get everything you need and quite cheaply.The purple turtle do a nice breakfast and the people are really nice,very welcoming this is just up from the apartments and so is the peking garden who do a 4 set course for 10 euros, v.v. nice! So back to the apartments, sooo noisy, the walls are paper thin I could hear next door singing in the shower word for word, people bang the doors late at night and as the bedroom backs on to the corridors all the walking, running, laughing and shouting is magnified, I was awoken a few times every night due to this but people seem to be ignorant with regards to the noise. The pool area was ok, 5 parasols but even at 9am people have already reserved the sunbeds putting towels down and not turning up until later, but what can you do ? The management state that they will remove but they do not. The pool water smelt of very strong chlorine and most of the sunbeds could do with replacing they offer hire of mattresses of 1 euro per day which is worth every penny! We had a maid for most of the time she did miss one day out and came late in the afternoon on the sunday.The pool bar is run by english people and do a good happy hour between 3pm and 5pm on drinks, the food is mediocre and good value. I wouldnt expect any entertainment of a 24 hr reception as it is a low star rating. The reception staff were not rude but were not friendly or forthcoming either. We were misled by the location, if you want to be where the shops,bars and restaurant are which run parallel to playe grande beach you need to book accom in the New Town and not in the old town where la florida are situated as it is very hilly and not good in the heat! We got a bus down to the new town every evening for 1 euro each per journey - very reliable bus service! We tried a taxi for the first evening but were charged more than what was on the meter and taken the long way round, it should be approx 3 euros each way but we were charged anything between 3.50 and 5 euros per journey, plenty of taxi's though if you dont want to wait for a bus, the bus runs every 20 mins on the hour and so on from there, they run from just up the road from the apartments to puerto del carmen, arrecift and on to costa teguise - if you want to go to Playa Blanca they run every 2 hours each way. I would recommend a company called Lutons travel if you would like to go to Teguise market on sundays very reasonable and guaranteed a seat in an air conditioned bus. Overall we had a nice relaxing holiday, if you dont fancy going far there are plenty of restaurants in the port area 5 mins walk from the apts, look out for the restaurants who bring you bread and dips you didnt ask for then charge you for them ! I wouldnt return to the la florida but if you want basic accommodation at a very good price then this is your place.

This was our second trip to Puerto del Carmen this year, stayed at Club Eurpoa in April and had a fab time, so thought we'd go back in Sept for 2 weeks, this time booked into the La Florida as it was closer to town and looked ok. On arrival we dismissed the rubbish etc as we'd read that in prev reviews and thought well if you're in the complex and things are fine then it'll be ok, which it was. As other reviews have mentioned, the place is very noisy, we opted for top floor, thinking it was the furthest away from the noise, but you hear every single noise in the bedrooms coming from the stairways when people are coming and going at all times of the day and night - worse if there's an early morning changeover - lost of suitcases banging up and down the stairs, doors banging etc. The bedroom windows opened onto the passageways so there were people wandering back and forth past your shutters where you could hear every step and every word. Also for us as we were on the top floor there were appartments directly facing the bedroom windows on the hill behind - and you could hear every noise from there too. The appartments were clean enough and the maids came in 5 days out of 7, saw only 1 cockroach and that was a dead one on the stairway. Beds a bit uncomfortable, mine was changed after the first night as it squeaked with every slight movement, with no problems from the staff. Pool bar, changed it's opening times to close at 5, food horrible - only ate once there - you're fine if all you want is deep fried stuff, they advertised a weekly bar-b-que, which never happened due to lack of interest (maybe just as well!). Prices were a bit high, a slush or soft drink cost more than a lager. Worse of all they played a radio station (with an annoyingly bad reception) through rubbish crackly speakers at the poolside all day, with very repetitive adverts and things, so if you're, going take your ipod so you can't hear! As someone else mentioned, there was a strange "atmosphere" about the place, hardly anyone talked or had a laugh with people other than the ones they came with which we found very strange. We've always gone home from holiday having met some new friends - but not a soul from this place. Spent the last few days on our balcony because we couldn't be bothered getting up to reserve beds at 8am which other people did. All in all had an ok time, got the sun and ate out in loads of nice places (la Cascada Puerto being the best), it was a good location being in the old town with sea views and not to far up the hill, we'll be back to PDC no probs, but will not be staying back at La Florida.

Just back from a weeks holidays in La Florida apartments in Puerto del Carmen. To be honest, I would not recommend these apartments. The good points: cleaned fairly regularly, decent enough location in the old town, apartment fairly spacious. The bad points: reception only open a few hours a day so when it is closed you have to go up a horrible dirty alleyway filled with rubbish to get in a side gate (which was the majority of the time anyway, particularly unsafe if you are a girl on her own). The complex itself is fairly bad, bar shuts at 7pm every evening, so does restaurant, no music/entertainment at all during the day or at night. In fact, there was no craic at all here, normally you always make a few friends in the apartment/hotel you stay in but not so this year, you're better off going down to the beach for a bit of action. The apartments themselves are the worst i've ever stayed in terms of noise, you could hear next door, upstairs, downstairs apartments all the time i.e. doors banging, toilets flushing etc... seriously, the walls are paper thin, not a great choice if you like having a decent sleep or enjoy a siesta in the evening before you go out for the night, the noise is terrible! Also, it's practically impossible to open the window in your bedroom so if you don't rent a fan you will be sweating like mad for your stay, no air con here! cleaniness around the pool, stairs area not great, we saw a good few cockroaches hanging around. staff in the complex not very friendly either. On the plus side, go into Jinty McGinty's bar downstairs from the apartments, lovely staff and the food is great, this was the only positive aspect of staying in La Florida! To be honest, this was my third stay in Puerto del Carmen, and definitely was the worst of any accommodation i've stayed in. i would recommend paying an extra few quid and booking a nicer apartment as La Florida are nothing to write home about.

Just returned from the la florida 7/8/06,on first appearance the appartments look a little tired as they are above a Irish bar and a supermarket ( Thus begins the problems ).the pool area is clean ,so are the rooms basic but for a 2 star i,v stayed in a lot worse.There were 3 of us staying but there were only two beds , not even a pull out in the lounge only a hard sofa with no pillows.The usual kichten utensils are provided i.e toaster microwave ect . Fans are available to rent so is a tv and safety deposit boxes.If you allocated a room from numbers 100 to 120 dont accept it, as i mentioned before you are directly over the bar which closes about 4.00 am just as the supermarket starts taking delivery, a nightmare if you have kids sleeping in the lounge (on the settee). Asked for a move but appartments were full so had to endure 7 nights of hell !.There is also a fair on the harbour wich is open till the early hours , more noise as the appartments over look the harbour.Next to the appartments there is a cafe called the puple turtle good food and drink also great bars and resteraunts can be found in the old town.