H10 Timanfaya Palace Hotel

Arrived at this hotel on 25th August 05 for our annual 2 x week holiday. The hotel is beautiful and the amenities are good. However, we had a room at the bottom of the hotel which was dark, small and viewed a wall. We were unable to change our room due to the hotel being fully booked. The staff were not particularly friendly although this improved over the 2 x weeks.Our main gripe was the food which was presented lovely but was, at best, luke warm. The hotel entertainment was average and limited which is a pity considering the quiet location. The hotel itself is spacious and the sun terraces overlook the sea. The location is quiet with a 2km walk along the prom to the nearest bars and restaurants. This hotel appears in the Thomsons A la Carte brochure which now appears over rated. We have stayed in nicer 'Platumum' hotels. Transfer time from the airport was 30 xmins by taxi and cost just over 30 euros. Overall, we had a quiet and relaxing holiday but would not return to this particular hotel.

If you are thinking about staying in the H10 Timanfaya Palace, Playa Blanca, please read on… The hotel is beautiful and has plenty to offer all ages. It costs exactly €30 in a taxi to this hotel from Arricife airport (ACE) so you might want to try and get your transfers included when you book your holiday as Playa Blanca is the southern most resort of the Island. Rooms come complete with everything all 4* hotels usually have (en suite bathroom with complimentary toiletries, balcony etc) However, what the room doesn't have (and certain sites have said it does) is a kettle. So if you like your PG tips or Nes cafe gold blend, you have to bring your own. Also, request a room on the top floor (500+) so you can take in the views of neighbouring Islands Fuerteventura and Los Labos. The rooms are very spacious and spotlessly clean. I think the room I was in was slightly larger and more sheltered as it was further down the corridor, room 509. The hotel consists of the piano bar, where quiet and relaxing entertainment begins at 8:00pm. The downstairs bar, where the more professional / Cabaret shows are staged begins at 10:00pm. After that, there is international music till about midnight. Then you have the dining area where every evening has a different food theme, from Mexican to Chinese. I found the food delicious every night, and I am a vegetarian. There is plenty to choose from. You cannot go wrong with the hotels amenities, even if you are a particularly fussy person, you'll find it difficult to fault this hotel. You MUST try the scuba diving (the centre is located by the large pool) It is a fabulous, safe and unforgettable experience and well worth the money. You can try it out for free in the pool, and then if you like it you can pay €49 for 2 hours. A 1/2 hour learning the underwater hand signs, pressure (etc). A 1/2 hour in the pool, and an hour in the sea and you WILL see all kinds of fish, sea urchins and even sting rays! The instructors (Miguel and Damian) are fully qualified, experienced and professional PADI instructors. You are in safe hands. About the actual resort of Playa Blanca. It is a nice, quiet and peaceful resort. I'd say the majority of tourists are elderly or middle aged, so you aren't going to bump into any lager louts or rowdy unpleasant folk (I hope). You will feel very safe here. The beach is right outside the hotel and a short stroll along the promenade will get you to the town centre. Shopping is good here, as the Island is tax free you will be able so sink a good bargain, but be careful, that doesn't mean buy from the first shop you come to, SHOP AROUND! I made the mistake of paying more for some electrical goods at "Shoppers Bay" when in a shop around the back street simply called "Media" was infinitely the cheapest of them all. Get your shopping in this area and not at the airport as it is a lot dearer. REMEMBER you are limited to what you can bring back!! If you are intrigued about the Island of Fuerteventura that you can see just across the way, then you can get the Fred Olsen Express that takes you across to the resort of Correlejo for €25. This is a return ferry trip. - If you like excursions, do the Earth, Wind and Fire tour of the Island. This also takes you up the spectacular Timanfaya Mountain where the scenery is absolutely breath-taking!! The volcano itself is dormant and could still erupt in the future, but hopefully not on your visit. Don't forget your camera! this tour costs €58 but it includes the entire tour of the Island, admission to the Timanfaya national park, a 2 course meal and admission to the natural cave that has been designed by Ceaser Manrique and where the three tenors have performed as the cave has fantastic acoustics. I have included some photos to give you an idea of the views from and around Mount Timanfaya!! So, if you're looking for that relaxing, care free holiday experience like I had. You won't go wrong. Happy Holidays!! I hope this review has helped!

We have just returned from a thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable holiday at the T.P. It exeeded our expectations greatly; very clean, good sized rooms, excellent food and pool facilities great. We only tried the evening entertainment a couple of times, and it was OK, although the mini-disco for our 5-yr old could have been a little better organised. The outstanding feature was the service from all staff. It was excellent. Thoroughly recommended, as is the resort itself.

We have just returned from a week in this hotel. We got a last minute deal from Direct holidays to the Lanzarote Princess, which we know well , it cost us £600 for the two of us for a week flying from Scotland. When we arrived at the Princess I heard someone being offered a swap to the Timanfaya Palalce as they did not like thier room. I asked if they would be willing to swop us as well as their hotel was so full and they promply did so getting us a taxi to transfer us. It is interesting to note that the Princess fills up because of people going back to it year after year the rep told us booking two years in advance. I must admit we did this for about 6 year until we could predice the meals we would have each day . We got a lovely pool view room in the Timanfaya Palace which was spotless. The whole place felt so much quieter ( only 60 % full reception told us ). We never once queued to get into the dining room or to get anything from the buffet. The food is typical of any H10 hotel no better or worse . I would say to the previous reviewer if you do not like buffet meals stay away from typical Spanish type hotels . For once food was hot and the plates hot . While we were there the dining room was quite quiet apart from the children and it seemed that every night somebody had a birthday and the waiters did thier stuff with candles , singing etc. I would have been mortified ! The hotel is a bit furthar out of town than the Princess but very much nearer than the Rubicon Place , it is really far out. We walked into town and back each day though there is a bit of building work going on along the road now . Playa Blanca is getting bigger and perhaps not for the best. It still feels like a safe resort to wander in night or day though it is not for those looking for nightlife . I cannot comment on the entertainment in the hotel as we never go to it. One thing not to be missed were the smoothies for breakfast they were lovely

For a number of years I have been lucky enough to travel many places around the world and stayed at a great number of hotels. Don't get me wrong, the hotel is an excellent size, with good pools and outdoor areas, great sized bedrooms all of which were clean and the staff were all very friendly. However, what let this hotel down was the bar areas all of which had little or no atmosphere. The catering side of things were also limited, we stayed Half board which consisted hot and cold buffets morning and evening. Although these were good, it always seemed that we were eating the same food each day. Also worthy of note is the fact that the hotel is at the ouskirts of the resort and there was no real alternative to the buffet meals, especially for those unable to walk long distances. Even if the Hotel was to keep the pool restaurant open until say 10:00pm instead of 4:00pm then this would go along way to fix the problem. In summary the Hotel is Ideal for the buffet enthusiast family that want a quiet time or enjoy a twenty minute walk into the centre.

My husband and I returned to this hotel for a second visit last November and were delighted to see that it still retained the same high standards from the previous visit. I would advise an upgrade to a deluxe room for a seaview and pool view and with that you get a paper delivered every morning. The food was good with plenty of choice - you would be hard pushed not to find something to suit every taste - and I'm a very fussy eater! Everywhere was spotless - no faults there - entertainment at night okay - piano bar - but the Bee Gees group were excellent. All in all I would recommend this hotel as value for money.

Can thoroughly recommend this 4* hotel which is situated right on the sea front of the developing resort of Playa Blanca. Frtom the moment you arrive at the very impressive frontage you get a feeling of quality. Rooms are comfortable and spacious, although if a sea view is important to you, check before you go (there's a supplement). As with most guests, we stayed on a half board basis and the food, served buffet style in a very large dining room (c600) was excellent and varied throughout the week we were there. Staff were helpful and friendly and reception staff spoke good English. The grounds are exceptionally spacious, and most attractively laid out and even though we were there at peak time (Easter) it was always possible to get sunbeds - towel reservation/fights unnecessary! Lovely "free form" pool with waterfall, and seperate childrens pool. Predominantly English guests during our stay. If you haven't been to Playa Blanca recently (or at all) we can thoroughly recommend it - it's been transformed from the rather scruffy port it was ten years ago when we were last there. A footpath directly outside the grounds links the hotel with the lighthouse to mthe West with the gorgeous beaches of Papagayo to the East - although you can get there by road or boat if you're not a keen walker.

We spent a week over the Easter holidays at the Timanfaya Palace, Playa Blanca and had a wonderful, relaxing holiday. Although it was the school holidays and the hotel was full, it didn't seem noisy or overcrowded. The room was adequate (we didn't pay extra for a sea view). One or two issues when we first arrived (loose tiles in the bathroom) were soon rectified. The weather was so good, we didn't spend any time in the room anyway. The dining room did get busy, but we had our young son with us, so we ate quite early (1900ish) and found it very pleasant. Staff were friendly and helpful and the food was wonderful. A fabulous selection both for breakfast and dinner, with different "themes" every day. Lunch in the pool bar was very good and reasonably priced. The pool areas were clean and attractive (lifeguard on duty), with plenty of sunbeds and mattresses. The pool rules stated that they shouldn't be reserved, but they were! Entertainment and activities were plentiful for those interested, but not in your face for those who weren't. We didn't see the evening show, but the mini disco for children was fun. If you are travelling independently and using a taxi to the airport on your return, ensure you book it at least the day before departure, particularly in busy periods. We didn't and waited over an hour for one. My husband and dad used the dive centre at the hotel and were very impressed with the set up. Not particularly for the experienced diver, but they gained confidence and felt comfortable with the team there. Saw barracuda, octopus, angel shark and stingray (amongst others). An hotel we will definitely visit again!

We went to this hotel Thomson Al A Carte and spent double what we usually would after having a very strained 2004, we thought we deserved a treat. There is not much to mention but one thing I would say is that after staying in other 4* hotels not on Al A Carte for half the price, we couldn't see where the extra money had gone to. The food was good in quality but the variation was poor, chicken and pork every single night with the occasional 3rd meat usually veal or rabbit. The restaurant was too small to cater for a full hotel and we had to either go for our meal when the restaurant opened (early) or queue for 10/15 minutes for a table. I also agree with an earlier review that it is very noisy and the waiters break things all the time. This hotel is in desperate need of refurbishment and decoration, it is tired and needs up lifting. The rooms were spacious, clean and comfortable and the service away from the restaurant in the bars/reception/room service were excellent. We saw the the entertainment people during the day a couple of times but not much seemed to be going on and the evening entertainment looked just as bad although we never went so can not confirm that. The one thing that has nothing to do with the hotel at all is the weather and unfortunately we just had 2 weeks of cloud, rain and gale force winds which I am sure did not help our holiday one little bit. The only things we saw for our extra £1000 was a taxi transfer from and to the airport and 30kg luggage allowance each, everything else has been available to us in other 4* hotels for £900 in total for 2 weeks, this cost us £2000 and we really don't feel it was worth the extra money. Stay in the Rubicon Palace further up the road, that was much better.

Fantastic holiday worth every penny rooms very clean and food excellent going to return in near future.