Holiday Village Sun Tropical Hotel

We have just returned from our holiday in the Sun Tropical, where we stayed for 2 weeks, self catering.
There were 12 of us, all family with the ages ranging from 2 to 70. We had a great time.
The hotel was clean and the staff were really friendly. There was lots of things for all the family to do, the daytime activities and evening entertainment were good and there was a different variety of shows throughout the 2 weeks.
The kids clubs were excellent and so was the free kids drinks, ice creams and crisps from 10am till 10pm every day. The children loved it.
The beach is a bit of a walk but nice and sandy. There is a free bus on the hour or the taxis are really cheap if you prefer to get one.
Every part of our holiday was excellent. It is definitely a family holiday hotel.

We stayed at the Holiday Village Sun Tropical. I read the message board what other guest's had said, but said let's see for myself.
First of all we had a fuel leak on the aircraft and an emergency landing at faro airport, we were so frightened. We lost a day of our holiday.
The breakfast was bad, toaster was slow took forever to toast the bread.
The pool was so cold I never went in once, first holiday we been on that I have never been in the pool.
First time we have travelled with First Choice and last.
Hotel like a chapel of rest in the day time, site to large.
We would never go back again, staff where polite to us. I really liked Marcus who worked on the desk.

Even though we didn't take young children still had a fantastic time.
The staff were very friendly and eager to please. We had a first floor room with balcony great for eating breakfast on while waiting for the sun to come up.
The room was clean A/C worked well.
Only criticism would be the kitchen in the apartment was not great, microwave didn't work very well. The supermarket in the resort is not brilliant but the walk to the town only took 10mins.
We ate in the town a couple of times great food people were very friendly. Restaurants on site don't have much of a choice but the food was fine.
The entertainment was varied, evening shows were good, the staff tried very hard to get everyone involved.
Overall would be happy to recommend to friends and would visit again one day.

I’ve just come back from a week in Playa Blanca.
Holiday Village Sun Tropical was a big site, perfect for families, however the walk into town/beach is a good 20 minute walk, which after a while got a bit boring. So we would sometimes get a taxi back in the evening, which cost around 3 Euros.
The apartment was a good size and cleaned daily. The swimming pools looked nice, never swam in them as they were too cold and it was really windy.
Only ate once on site and wasn’t too impressed, so ate out every night.
In Playa Blanca there were probably 20 restaurants, a few bars and a lovely beach.
The staff were all friendly and helpful. Had a really relaxing week.
The weather was cloudy every morning, but really hot and sunny in the afternoons.
We wouldn’t go back to Lanzarote as not much to do there, but would recommend Sun tropical for families not couples. It is like a Butlins in the sun, so expect to get, what you pay for.
Overall a nice resort, great for kids, but not for anyone looking for a lively holiday.

We have recently returned from 2 weeks at the Sun Tropical. Where to begin?
The apartments were very basic and I have never stayed anywhere before where you don't get a remote control for the TV!
We were all inclusive and the food was so bad (mass produced muck that reminded me of school dinners!) that we asked to go self catering for the second week.
However, First Choice did not agree to this and so we were stuck with the canteen food for two weeks.
The pools were freezing cold and were empty most of the time and the entertainment was a bit hit and miss. Everything came to a close at 10.30pm and there was just nowhere to go after this.
The attitude of the staff was appalling and lots of them were blatantly rude. The so called snack bar just served toasted sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs but regularly ran out of cheese for the sandwiches.
They also kept running out of squirty cream for the coffees and again, once this had gone you were told to come back tomorrow!
We took our toddler to the doctor, as he had a bout of conjunctivitis. The doctor didn't even examine him and just wrote out a prescription for some eye drops.
When we returned to pay the bill he tried to charge us 195 Euros! We complained that this was excessive to First Choice who told us the consultation fee was 30 Euros.
When we complained that the charge was excessive we were repeatedly told that our insurance company would pay.

All in all we felt we did not get good value for money at this resort.

This holiday was really fun for me and all of my family. When we first arrived at the resort we were welcomed by friendly staff from the Kids Clubs and the Receptionists. Every one of them had happy faces!
The rooms were cleaned daily by the kind maids who did a beautiful job. The reps were so energetic and lively that they joined in with the activities which you could do if you wished to.
The facilities were great!! There was a big Astroturf footy pitch which you could just go along and play on, a tennis court, a volleyball court, internet cafe's and many more. There were lovely pools and 2 Jacuzzis which were freezing and lots of restaurants for you to enjoy a meal in.
The entertainment was also very good as every night they'd have something fun and exciting lined up for kids and adults. All of the entertainment was held in the dome which has a bar in it as well as a stage!
As this holiday was so great, we are going back April 2007.
Hope you enjoy this holiday as much as we did!
Happy Holidays xXx

We went Sun Tropical with some reservations following some of the reviews we had read but we were pleasantly surprised how much we enjoyed the holiday. This is not a place for couples or those looking for a party holiday, it is a family resort. We had a one and a three year old who had a great time.
The good things: tweety club for my 3 year old was fantastic - excellent staff and a great way of entertaining the kids for a few hours per day. There were 2 or 3 sessions of 90 minutes every day. Staff (reps and resort staff) were very friendly. The nightly entertainment in the Dome was corny and tacky, but the kids loved it, although 45 minutes was not long enough. The town is only a 15 minute walk from the resort or a couple of euros in a taxi. We had a ground floor apartment in one of the blocks that had an adult and a kids pool directly outside the door (get one of these if you can). There was free ice cream for the kids all day. The apartment was basic but clean and was cleaned every day.
The bad things: the food in the restaurants was pretty poor - we were self catering so ate a lot in Playa Blanca but I would certainly not recommend that you go self catering. The pool areas were very slippery when wet, a big problem with small kids. The pools were not heated and were very cold. The ground floor apartments had no fencing on their verandas so small kids could run out of the open apartment door and straight into a pool or onto the slippery tiles. The TV has basically no English channels unless CNN and BBC News count.
Playa Blanca itself is small and quiet but has some nice restaurants which we found to be all very child friendly.
I would certainly go back again to this resort.

I was a little worried going on this holiday as the apartments had some pretty bad reviews but we've just returned from a week self catering in this hotel and had a wonderful holiday.
We were in a ground floor south facing apartment (some of the north facing apartments are very dark) right next to the pool area which was great.
The apartment was basic but very clean and had everything we required for our weeks stay. Our one year old daughter can't walk yet but if she could, being so close to the pool may have made us a little nervous.
I would say the apartments are more 3 stars than the 4 star advertised. A little like Pontins or Butlins in the sun!
The hotel is very child orientated so if you know this before you go you can't complain when you've got lots of little one running all about the entertainment dome of an evening.
The evening entertainment is no more than the Reps doing karaoke (or it seemed like it!) We only went there twice.
The walk into the town takes around 10/15 minutes from the back gate of the hotel (you have to pay 10 Euros for a pass but you get it back). It really isn't as bad a some reviews say and with the weather being so nice it was quite pleasant.
However, there is a shuttle bus which runs to and from the hotel during the day which takes a couple of minutes but of an evening you have to walk or get a taxi.
The walk does get a little boring after a few days as there is literally nothing but pavement (no shops/bars) for the first 10 minutes of the walk. You can get a taxi in but if you've got a baby a sleep in the pram you've got to walk back!
The food at the hotel is average. There pizza restaurant is was quite nice and the breakfast was okay. All the restaurants are based in a building called the Food Centre (which I think says it all).
However, we did only eat at the Food Centre a couple of time. I think I may have been a little disappointed if I'd been A/I.
We've been to Playa Blanca before and really like it which is why we returned. The resort itself is lovely but is very quiet.
If you're looking for late bars and discos it’s not the place for you but is great if you've got young children or are looking for a relaxing holiday.
One other thing, the pool area is very very slippy.

We returned back from Lanzarote on 8th March. The weather was fantastic, a perfect heat in the day, but cold in the evenings.

We had never been to Lanzarote before and didn't really know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised.
We stayed in Sun Tropical and in spite it being a very family place to stay, as a young couple we couldn't really complain. If you have kids who enjoy a huge range of activities this place was fantastic.
The staff really tried there hardest to keep the kids entertained, evening entertainment in the dome was very quiet, which was a shame as the staff seemed to really put an effort in.
We stayed self catering and to be honest it was the best decision, as the all inclusive food didn't look that great, and also there are some lovely restaurants on the beach front and the marina that were all really reasonably priced.
The rooms in the apartments were fine had all the mod cons you would expect.
To get down to Playa Blanca it was about a 10 -15 minute walk, all flat ground so not bad at all, we got a cab a couple of times which cost us about 3 Euros.
Once you are down by the beach you can go either way, left to the marina that has the market on a Sunday and Wednesday, or right that will take you to a lot of restaurants and bars.
We also went to Papagayo beach which was beautiful, not much there though, and a hell of a walk!!
We also caught a bus to Del Carmen which if you want night life, into the night is great and shopping it’s the place to go.
Overall I would highly recommend Playa Blanca as a resort and would go back next year.

We have just returned from 1 week’s holiday at the Sun Tropical, and what a great week we had.
We could not fault the staff or the First choice reps and entertainment group.
The rooms were spacious and clean with large balconies.
We went A/I and the buffet although not large was very good and we were often spoilt for choice.
The back gate key holds a 10euro refundable deposit, but even walking out the front only takes 20mins or so to the beach, you can also get the free bus every hour.
The complex is well laid out with lots of sun beds and seats to sit on.
We would not hesitate to return to this complex.