Sun Royal Aparthotel

We booked a Playa Blanca package with Thomson with accommodation to be allocated on arrived from the named hotels. Most of the guests who booked this package were allocated the Sun Royal. The weather was lovely with clear blue skies and temps in the high 70's although the wind kept things cooler. Evenings were so warm that shorts and t shirts were fine. THE POSITIVES The hotel has a spacious foyer and grounds with two large swimming pools and although there were not large numbers of sun beds there was always one available- this may change in high season. The whole hotel and grounds were very well cleaned. Our apartment/room was roomy , well equipped and comfortable.( exceptions see below) There is plenty of car parking outside for hire cars and as the hotel is on the edge of town accessing the roads out of town was easy. There was a restaurant on site which charged 12 euros for an evening buffet. We didn't use it so I can't comment on the food although it looked ok as befits the the standard 3/4 star hotel buffet fare There was also a bar/snack bar although this was a bit soul less. The nightclub operated most nights providing basic entertainment of acceptable if basic quality. There was a shop that sold the essentials of life with an Netto supermarket about 400 yards away to help those like us in apartments. There was a cyber cafe on site that offered email/internet connections at 1 euro for 10 minutes. The mix of guests seemed to be 25% UK 25% German and 50% Spanish. There were no problems/ culture clashes although the entertainers struggles at time to satisfy all three languages. THE NEGATIVES If you don't have a car the main centre and beaches are a LONG walk away. The apartment was starting to look a little tired - for example a coat of paint on the bottom of the bathroom door would look better than the area where the paint had worn off and the odd broken tile in the public areas could easily have been repaired. Some of the staff were very friendly but some appeared either bored, unfriendly or just plain unhelpful. An example was the shop where the young lady manning the till ignored customers waiting to pay while she stacked shelves on two occasions and on other occasions failed to say the standard ' ola' or ' gracias' found in every other shop in the island. Another example was of reception staff- My mistake in that I pushed the wrong button in our room safe and jammed it closed. It took three visits to reception and 36 hours before eventually someone came with an over ride key to open the safe. This meant that our valuables were at risk in the room and of course we had no refund on the daily rate that we paid for the hire. Our TV had no controls and we had to go to reception into ask for some. The TV was badly tuned and although we could hear some english language channels we could only receive BBC world and Channel 4 which seemed strange. I tried to check this with reception but gave up in the end and the lady seemed not to understand my problem Likewise the air conditioning was missing its control - having been in and out of reception so many times and failing to find Thommson reps we just put up with the heat - for a brit that's a nice problem. I can't complain about the Thompson reps at the hotel as we never could find one. They published times that they would be in the foyer and after three attempts to see them at the given times they were never there. We didn't use the coach from the airport and so we were not even told of the time for the welcome meeting - at least this saved us money as we booked trips in the town that were much cheaper than those offered by Thomson Access to reps when there are problems is one of the main reasons for booking a package holiday - Thank heavens that we didn't have any real problems. OVERALL Although this sounds a moany account We still enjoyed the holiday greatly.Having been to all of the Canary islands we felt that as a mature couple Playa Blanca was the nicest resort on the island. It had a wide choice of restaurants/ shops etc without have the overcommercialised feel of many of the other resorts in the Canaries. Despite the problems the apartment was fine and although I would probably chose elsewhere if i bought a similar allocated on arrival package and was allocated the Sun Royal I would not be too unhappy but perhaps this is tempered by the fact the we booked the holiday very late, paid about half of the normal rate and viewed the trip as a bonus rather than our one holiday of the year.

We booked this online with Thomsons, flying from Humberside Airport. Once we were in the queue for check in, it emerged that due to the high winds the night before, the plane had landed at Manchester Airport. They had thought about brining it to Humberside, but decided that the crew would run out of flying time for the return flight, so bused us all up to Manchester (we were one of the lucky ones to get dropped of at the correct terminal). Checking in at the hotel was efficient and the only problem was that as it was dark took us a few minutes to find our room! It was very clean (although did smell a little of stale tobacco, but not a great deal). There was a shop on the Sun Royal site which we actually found to be cheaper than the Netto 5 mins down the road (not just for water, but San Miguel as well!!, although the hotel shop did not stock every variety, but still a good choice), and is open 8 am - 8 pm we had time to get some essential supplies - the Netto down the road is open till at least 10 pm maybe later. The Bathroom - small but adequate and the shower was like a power shower - fantastic. Bedrooms - nice and clean and plenty of wardrobe space, although it was two singles pushed together. Also had safety deposit safe in the bedroom which you sort out hiring with reception. Kitchen - 2 electric rings - take a couple of minutes to heat up but not a major issue - you get a massive pan, a small pan and a frying pan (and the hotel shop sells nice english style bacon - even though you only get 3.5 slices per pack - just enough to fit in the frying pan). Also have a microwave, kettle, coffee maker thing (havn't ever used one but that is what it was!), a toaster - although weird cos it only did one side of bread at a time and so you had to put it in again, and an electric juice squeezer. Living area - get a table to sit at and eat if you wish, a sofa/bed settee to sit on, coffee table and a tv, although not very many channels - but then you don't go on holiday to watch tv. Patio area - although we were up some steps, we were on a second level of the hotel, so we did not have a balcony, but a patio area - 4 chairs and a table and it was a right little sun trap as well. Pool - there are 2 pools - the one were we spent a lot of time had mostly english people - one day there was no spare sunbeds, so we asked at reception who got the maintenance man to bring two from the other pool. The other pool - mostly used by germans as they are on all inclusive and have their childrens entertainers on the pool side, but this pool is slighty heated so we did go in this one as it took the edge of the coldness of the other pool (but it is only March). Weather was about 23 - 24 degrees - but warm enough to get a tan or burn if you don't use cream. thomsons rep - good welcome meeting, but we only went on one attraction which was the volcanic grill, which at 54.90 euros each was expensive for what it was, but then they have got a captured market as the only way you could get to this if you didn't go on the trip was to hire a car and you couldn't have a meal in the restaurant at the time we went (not sure when it was open to general public). My husband hired a bike from Sun Park (as Sun Royal's slightly cheaper hotel next door for 12 euros & 30 euros deposit) - I opted to stay and sunbathe, but he said it was ok and as the day was a little cloudy was a good day to do this. The resort - it is a good 5 or 6 mins walk to Netto at the end of the street. You can then either turn right and walk another 10 mins and there is an Irish pub called Paddy's, and upstairs from that, The Nags Head which sell really nice food at reasonable prices and Fiddlers next door, although did not go in that as they were not doing food when we went. Alternatively if you don't turn right at Netto you can go straight on - another 10 miuntes walking and you will come to loads of restaurants - a few shops, there is a burger king, another Irish bar called Mollies - although a warning - we had the sunday dinner there - my husband had the lamb which he said was delicious - I had the turkey which was Bernard Matthews style processed turkey slices (not proper turkey which I had expected), so unless you like this sort of turkey, don't have it! You can have any sort of food you want - as per the usual for these sort of resorts. If you turn left at Netto, you walk in paralell to the promenade (or walk straight on and turn left) - there are not as many restaurants or shops this way, but it is a nice walk. Coming home, we left the runway in Arreceife about 10 mins early, went to land at Humberside and, for people who have landed at Humberside before, you know you have to be really low down when you come over the fence next to the road as it is a shorter runway than other airports, so the pilot, was not low enough over the fence, went to land, then aborted the landing and didn't say anything to the passengers, but we all knew he hadn't landed. Apparently could not land at Doncaster as although we were on a Thomsons holiday we had come back on a Thomas Cook plane and Thomsons have the rights for landing at Doncaster so we landed in Manchester (the pilot said longer runway), the landing was the worse I have ever had (and I would say that I have probably had over 20 landings in the last 8 or 9 years) as when he landed he couldn't control the plane and it toppled from side to side a couple of times - the pilot said it was windy and that is why he hadn't landed at Humberside. We went to the frieght terminal at Manchester, got off the plane when the steps came 45 minutes later, collected our baggage an hour later and eventually got on a coach at 9.55 pm, getting back to Humberside at 12 midnight instead of the 7.40 pm it had meant to be. Several passengers were also of the same opinion that the pilot did not want to land at Humberside, as he did not even take a second go at it. Overall, apart from the plane episodes, we had a nice holiday. I would only stay for a week personally as I do like to go to explore and felt that it was very quiet (nice for us for a relaxing week), but felt not much else to do. I would return to these apartments again, although would not recommend to anyone who cannot walk very well or does not like walking distances as you had to do to get to the restaurants (unless you get a taxi every night).

Just returned from a great 2 weeks at the Sun Royal. We had an apartment overlooking the 2nd of the 2 pools which was very clean and spacious. The maids cleaned at least 5 times a week and the towels were changed 3 times weekly. The pool area too was kept very clean. There are cushions available for hire for the sunbeds but if you're out earlier enough in the morning you can usually find a few which have been left out, we managed to get 2 at the beginning of our stay which saved us about 48 euros to hire them for 2 weeks! Playa Blanca itself is very good as there are plenty of restaurants and bars. The promenade on the front is lovely to walk along. It takes approx 8 mins to walk to the front from the apartments, then another 10 mins in the direction of the marina, or 10 - 20 mins in the direction of the harbour. We found lots of good places to eat, the Marina area is more pricey. We went in the Casa de Comida and the food was nice but tiny portions and alot more expensive than anywhere else we'd been. The cheapest restaurants seemed to be on the road which runs behind the promenade which is where our favourite - Tipico Espanol was. All the ones on the front seem to serve very similar dishes but those that we tried were very nice. We had a car for 4 days which was really enough to see the island and alot more besides. We hired it through the company which had a desk in the reception of the apartments which was 4 days for the price of 3. The roads were very easy and safe to drive on making it easy to get about All in all it was very enjoyable and we would definitely stay there again!

Stayed at this hotel july 2004 for 2 weeks. Atmosphere great. Pools great. Nothing to complain about. Weather gorgeous. Ten minute walk to beach/shops/bars and eateries. Go to the chinese restaurant with the open front in the main town of playa blanca. Me my partner and my sister got a meal each a few drinks and a pudding each, and only cost us around 25-30 euros, real bargain. IF you go to "RINCON PLAYA " A restaurant on the front on the promenade, ask for " Mishu" ( pronounced mish-you) he is great and a really great person to chat with. Tell him Amy said hi!!

Booked this fairly last minute for 3 adults, and chose self-catering. There is a good supermarket on the site that is reasonably priced for basics- useful if you arrive later on in the day like we did. I slept on the sofa bed, but used the bottom mattress underneath the top one for a very comfortable nights sleep! A short distance down the end of the road is a well stocked Netto, with more Supermarkets further down in the town, which all stay open till 10pm. The apartment was clean, compact and tidy. Had everything we needed to cope for the week, with a grill/microwave and 2 rings, but we did eat our main meals out every day. Would agree that the room service is a bit 'hit and miss' regarding towel and bedding changes, but not of great concern, as it was clean. Nice airers to put towels/bathing stuff out to dry though. The complex as a whole was very smart and tidy, and pools kept up very well. Would safely recommend to others for its 3* rating. Yes, it is a reasonable walk down to the bars and resturants, but they are worth it when you get there. Good food and good service, all at a reasonable price, found from all the ones we tried. Along the sea-front is great, as you get a view whilst you eat as well, and the bay is protected from the winds. The beach is nearer, and worth the walk down to, for a swim, as although it shelves quite fast, it seems a nice 'safe' beach to swim on. Roads are very good on the Island, and car hire cheap if you can cope with it. Trips are available, but with 3 of us it wasn't cost effective. We hired a basic car for 4 days for the price of 3 at E70 all included, and the petrol is cheap there too. It got us everywhere we took it, and were able to look around at our own speed. The car hire was cheaper through the car-hire agent in the Hotel lobby rather than the Thomson holiday rep, who I have to say was a bit useless for information- didn't even know what the weather report was! Other Hotels I've been at have had this information displayed at the lobby, but unfortunately not this one. I hope they take comments about this on board, and display this in future, as it would help to know, in order to plan the best days to do different things on the Island. You definately need a good clear day to visit the Fire Mountains and the Mirador, for the best views. Then pick a more cloudy day for things like the caves- which is why a weather report would be very useful! All in all, it was a very good holiday, and if I went again, would definately choose Playa Blanca as my destination, having visited other resorts on the Island, and would also not object to using this Hotel either.

We arrived 3 hours late at about 22.00 hours local time and were allocated 205. There was a distinct musty smell thro` out this apartment. We were very tired and went to sleep almost at once. First thing the following day we changed to apartment 656 because the smell of 205 was overpowering. 656 overlooks the heated pool which has its draw backs i.e the `noise` of the teenage entertainment team from 10.00 in the mornings. The loud music, did I say music (?) would be fine if one wanted to commit suicide but we wanted a quiet break. Our apartment had its faults 1 the bathroom door would not close properly 2 the bedroom door needed a hefty shoulder to close 3 the wc smelt awful in the late afternoon and stayed that way for hours. 4 The tilt and open windows didn`t operate correctly and the handy man attended on 5 or 6 occasions. 5 The handles on the saucepans required tightening. 6 maid service not available on saturdays and tuesdays ( Our maid spent about 4 to 5 minutes `cleaning our apartment) 7 insufficent containers for the storage of food. I used the bar a couple of times and it appeared that prices were at the whim of the bartender. One day a beer would cost 4.5 euros the next day 2.8. I must congratulate the staff in general, they were very friendly and helpful. The complex does require refurbishment as it is looking very tired horace

Just returned from a week staying in the Sun Royal apts at Playa Blanca. It was a last minute deal, great value with Thomsons. The apartments are clean and quite good although they are quite a 'step' from the beach/promenade/town areas. The complex is well laid out with reasonably good facilities and a fair priced onsite super market for the essentials - more on offer down the road at Nettos (but dont waste your energy carrying water that far its not a lot of difference on site). The food on offer in the hotel restaurant is adequate and reasonably priced at 6e for breafast and 12e for dinner, self service and eat as much as you like but paying for drinks. We used it a couple of times. There are plenty of good places to eat at reasonable rices, give the Tipico Espaniol restaurant a try in the street leading from Nettos past the Yaiza hotel towards the town. Good value, cheaper than tose on the front prom and have generous helpings. Also good value red house wine mmmm. As we had a great deal on the price of the holiday, Im not sure that I would want to pay the full price for these apartments when you could have half board in the nearby H10 Princess for just a little more. Playa Blanca is just great for a relaxing break (long walks along the prom if you want them). We hired a car and visited some of the areas around the island which is cheaper than taking the trips I feel. P.D.Carmen is not my cup of tea as it is quite old and very much a 'seaside' holiday Hidehi sort of place. But Costa Teguise does have my vote as it is clean and quite new and sort of built around 3 areas which tends to keep it more intimate. Take care when hiring a car as we found when needing to take it back with a half full tank of petrol. The guy in the fuel station placed the nozzle in the car and walked off. It was only when I went to the rear of the car that I realised he had clipped the trigger on and the car was filling up. The result was that I paid 15 euros more than I needed to return the car half full. Too late it was my fault apparently, car company nor garage would refund. But it was a cheap car with air con at the lower price so it all evened out in the end I suppose. Car was hired from SunRoyal reception area. Weather was great but the wind did pick up on times during the week. I will go back to Lanzarote again.

we have just got back from staying in the sun royal in playa blanca the apartments are very clean with a maid service everyday,you are near to the beach and shops ,there is a cheap netto supermarket near by,the swimming pools are lovely ,one is a heated pool in which was straight outside our apartment,the apartments have everything in them including microwave and grill,toaster,kettle,etc.we all found staying here for a week was very enjoyable and we would stay here again

Just got back from Playa Blanca and was amazed at how lovely it is the Sun Royal was a nice place to stay clean not packed and cheap Bar/Supermarket on site Didnt see much Entertainment but most evenings we spent eating out ,maid service in apartments bit hit and miss but room was nice Quite a strool to beach/town loads of restaurants(but avoid lanis by marina like the plague) All in all a very nice place definatly going next year

We have just returned from a week in Playa Blanca. We stayed at the 3 star Sun Royal and must say it was fantastic value for money. It's best to go self catering so you can sample the food and entertainment the resort has to offer. We found a Scottish pub called 'Fiddles Bar' it is the best pub in the town by a mile. It is situated across the road from the church, just up the road from the towns main taxi rank. Look up and you will see the Scottish flags. Go through the tunnel and up the stairs, it's in the far conner. Breakfast was superb and well priced the drinks are real and don't give you the runs. The entertainment was out of this world, not the usual tape deck and crap singer. The guy could play any string instrument and he can sing. They have good screens for the football games and the views over the bay from the pubs terrace are great. The place was so clean it was a pleasure to sit in. Playa Blanca is a lovely resort with a relaxed pace . We will be back as soon as we can and will be heading stright to Fiddlers.