IFA Interclub Atlantic Hotel, San Agustin, Canary Islands
Hotel Information
Hotel Description:
IFA Interclub Atlantic Hotel is set up in the hills of San Agustin with spectacular views over the Atlantic Ocean and the sand dunes of Maspalomas. The hotel has one of the loveliest swimming pool areas in Gran Canaria, with Jacuzzis, water attractions, and a bar.Nearby Hotels Viewed by Other Travellers
IFA Interclub Atlantic Hotel Reviews
" ideal for winter sun "
Submitted By: Gaynor&DarrenAdvice: A few bars and tat and crap shops and not a lot else
Activities: We all enjoyed the camel rides and the aqua park
" Great place for all ages "
Submitted By: kinder2cuteIf you are fussy, then go spend thousands of pounds somewhere else. This is a place for people to relax and have fun. What else do u need for an all inlusive basis? People complain for nothing. If there are things that disturb you, if you are nice with reception, of course they will help you.
Don't stay in one place. You can travel around with the taxi (to get to the Maspalomas dunes: £15), to get the bus to Anfi beach (white sand brought from Caraibeas (bus 1 from Clinica Roca £5 for 2 adults), we went diving with Davis Jones we paid £80/person. Lovely. It worthed the money. We went 10m deep into the Atlantic Ocean. Coool!!!!
A lot of variety. Great Hotel, Lovely place.
By the way, comparing to other islands I've been to, this place was full of Polish and Germans, Spanish, very few Brittons (few, but noisy)... so you can have an ideea of what languages you may hear.
If you want to find out more, see for yourself my video from the trip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBmxJ1E_oGc
" Not as it is in the brochure "
Submitted By: danielle2009Advice: San Augustin is a black sanded beach with very little to do!
Activities:
" A very quiet place "
Submitted By: Sharon russellCouples and families, perfect! The problem is upon check-in we found that all British holidaymakers was given a back of beyond not adequate room, where the windows would not keep shut with horrid cold winds. After a moan to the reception we got moved to a nice room, known as a Junior suite.
On the first night we got asked by hotel what are comments were, which was a little premature, but after a night in the bar and to find that the animation team only work an adult show from 10-11 then everything closes. There is a disco onsite which is free entrance, but heavily expensive to buy drinks from.
The Reps for our holiday were so busy pushing us to visit a new little island time-share facility that it was pointless looking at excursions etc. The leaflets at reception was suffice so took travel in a taxi.
San Augustin and the beaches were great, but if you have problem walking this is a no no!
The food was good and and hot,some dishes cooked before you, but it does have a repeatitive stance every couple of days.
Unfortunately for us having experienced better all-inclusive hotels this one has been visited, and not one we would be looking as returning too!
Advice: Not alot going on
Activities: Aqualand in Maspalomas and the local markets in Mogan
Good for: Beach
" brill just brill "
Submitted By: ellenandfredGood for: Beach
" excellent value for money on an all inclusive!!! "
Submitted By: jessicab88Advice: take paracetamol its difficult to get any and go and buy a big bottle of water for your room.
Activities: element bar in san agustin shopping centre, sioux city
Good for: Beach
" early to bed "
Submitted By: merwenchWould I go here again? proberly not as had environmental health pay us a visit when we all arrived home ill and had caught cyptosporosis from possibly the pool.
Advice: take something for stomach craps and diarhoea, and use anything to prevent ear infections
Activities: aqualand and walking along the seafront in the evening catch taxi back to hotel
" Excellent Holiday "
Submitted By: GMAt first i was a bit aprehensive and didn't know what to expect as we had never organised a holiday before and didn't know what to expect from Gran Canaria and the hotel. It took us a while to decide on what we wanted from our holiday but in the end decided we wanted somewhere to relax during the day and then go out for a few nights.
On arrival at the hotel, first impressions were good. The man at the reception was lovely and very welcoming, we arrived early hours in the morning so just really wanted to get into bed. We got into the room and it was pretty basic and a little tired looking but it was clean.
The breakfast was lovely, a wide variety and i think it was well suited to everyone. Reading a few other comments and people saying it wasn't 'english' enough has annoyed me a bit because you were in Gran Canaria, the food will be continental!The food was always nice at lunch and dinner, slightly repetative or lunch and dinner but there was so much to choose from that you could have something different if you chose to do so. The salad bar was nice, something nice and refreshing to eat at lunch time.
On the first full day we decided to explore the hotel and see where everything was and then we spent the rest of the day by the pool. The pools were lovely, really clean and lots of places to sit. We also took a walk down the the spar shop at the bottom of the hill, really easy to find but a little bit of a walk back up the hill but the views of the sea make up for it.
In the evening we ventured out on the thomas cook bar crawl, it cost 10 euros and was ok. We went round a few of the best bars/clubs in the area of playa del ingles in the Kasbah. E.g. pacha, china white, hippodrome. We would get a taxi from the hotel to drop us off at Kasbah and would cost 4 euros but slightly extra after midnight. You would have to get a taxi, it would be too far to walk. On one evening we decided to eat out rather than in the hotel and went to El Rancho opposite Kasbah. Its a mexican place and was absolutely lovely, great food and great service. After that we went next door for cocktails, can't remember what the cocktail bar was called but its right next to El Rancho, again opposite Kasbah! Huge cocktails for reasonable prices, a nice place to relax with a cocktail, listen to the music and chat.
One day we also did the boat trip to Puerto de mogan to spot the dolphins on the way and then look round the market in puerto de mogan. You must do this as it is one of the most beautiful places, we stopped to have a bite to eat in a little restaurant right on the harbour, was fantastic. The only problem was the boat trip and it was very choppy and caused some sea sickness but seeing the wild dolphins compensated for the sickness.
At the hotel we ventured into Bora Bora the night club in the hotel for a couple of nights, was a nice place to relax and have a dance if you want to, i would have preffered to spend a few more nights in Bora Bora. We also went up to the terrace on most night to have a drink and a chat before going out to Kasbah. We also found the entertainment reps extremely friendly and became friends with a couple of them. They are very helpful and very welcoming and they work extremely hard. They are also quite happy to come out at night with you and go to a few bars and clubs.
The only down side to the hotel and the holiday was the cockroaches, we did get a cockroach in our room one night, managed to get it out but then it came back the next night but we eventually got rid of it and we used one of the top bed sheet covers to create a sort of draft excluder to stuff under the front door as there was a gap which we thought they may have come in from, we also made sure that when we left the room we shut the balcony doors and vents, after doing this we didn't get anymore cockroaches. This may put you off from the hotel but they are common over there and until my trip over there i had never experienced one before but don't let this put you off as that honestly was the only bad thing about the whole holiday and hotel. We did think we would have air con in the rooms and i think it would have been useful to have but at the time that we went it was hot but bareable and once you were in bed you would cool down.
We went to the beach on one day but didn't stay for too long, we got to the beach by going to the steps, coming back up was a little bit of struggle but we kept stopping and just admiring the views. However going down to the beach in the evening is lovely, there was a constant cool breeze and was just nice to sit and relax whilst watching the sea.
I would defianetly recommend this hotel for all ages, we are in our late teens and thouroughly enjoyed it, however if you are looking for a clubbing holiday i would suggest staying in Playa del ingles as san agustin is slightly more quieter and more chilled. Could not fault anything about this hotel, we are considering going back to the same place, same hotel next summer.
Excellent Holiday
Good for: Beach
" Very Relaxed and Chilled "
Submitted By: ChrisskippyThe staff were very friendly and the army of cleaners worked so hard to keep the place spotless.
The rooms were spacious and comfortable, a little on the warm side at night especially during the brief heatwave and stong winds when the temperatures reached nearly 50deg but if you kept the curtains drawn, the door shut and opened the side vents you got a little air and it was bearable.
For a 3 star hotel the food was very good, a little too much Pork some evenings though but still plenty of choice. Breakfast had a good selection of breads, cereals, fresh fruit and sausages, 3 types of eggs, beans and bacon, not the type of full english we are used too but it is the Canary Islands after all!!!!
The pools were great, if you wanted shade you styed in the gardens with a few secinds walk to the pool, if you wanted sun you stayed the pool.
A must is to walk to the viewpoint at the back of the hotel, the views are amazing, one adnatage of the hotel being on a hill. The local beach was great but would advise not to take the steps but to walk down the road then cut accross the dry river bed.
The only complaint we had was the nightclub. for the majority of the holiday it didn't bother us and you didn't notice it was there, however on the last few nights it did get noisy and I hate to say the only language we could hear was English, once again the Brits let us down.
I shall miss the Cocktail game and the animation teams 'Tequila Boom Boom' dance.
A great holiday and have recommended the resort to family and friends
Advice: Go, it's well worth it
Activities: Evening Walks
Good for: Beach
" Not a relaxing holiday "
Submitted By: I>he room was positioned over looking the sea, which I initially thought of as great but impossible to sleep with the window open due to the extreme noise of the coaches and traffic passing through the night. We stayed during the heat wave and initially booked thinking that we had air-conditioning, what a mistake!! temperatures during the night were a balmy 40C and during the day 50C, the room was like an oven we talked to other holidays makers about the air conditioning units they had hired and they said that it was a complete waste of time and money also the fans that can be hired from the hotel are useless, this meant it was impossible to sleep due to the temperature and noise. Some guests even tried to sleep in the kiddie’s pool.
The only air conditioning in the hotel is in the restaurant and reception area which had been turned-off, (possibly due to running costs although not confirmed!!) there was no escape from the heat. Many guests at the time were complaining that they could not eat in those temperatures and the restaurant was full of flies as all the windows were open.
Many guests were requesting with their rep to be transferred or even go home.
The hotel is situated on top of a very, very steep hill, which is virtually impossible to walk-up, even if you are fit and with a 3-year old and push chair, you have to walk down and get a taxi back just to get water etc. There is nothing in the local vicinity no shops etc they are a 15-minnute walk away.
The food at lunch and dinner was just adequate nothing special but the breakfast was absolutely useless mainly cakes, bread, poor sausages, fatty bacon and 3-types of eggs there were no omelettes, hash browns, fried tomatoes, mushrooms etc they seem to cater for the continental palette.
On a good note the entertainment was reasonable and the swimming pools are excellent. We are well travelled and have stayed in many 3, 4 & 5 star hotels over the years and this is one of the worst. I definitely will not be returning to the IFA Interclub Atlantic even at the prices they are charging I will be paying a little bit extra for an all inclusive to ensure a better standard of hotel, cuisine, location, accessibility and facilities.
Don’t believe the other reports that give it 10/10 if you do you may be disappointed.
Advice: Don't go there
Activities: None
" Sneaky week "
Submitted By: joanne.colinGood for: Beach
" Just what we needed. "
Submitted By: STUKRUGENWe are a couple without kids, in our thirties and forties. We love our food, but not any old slop, have healthy appetites and would consider ourselves 'buffet champions' back home. Both fit and love walking.
Transfer took approx 20 mins and was first drop-off. TIP: check the meal times appropriate to your holiday before you go so that you are aware when you arrive. Don't dawdle around before and after check-in as you might be right in the middle of a food service, the clock is ticking. If you miss it you don't get it back and will have to wait until the next service that day. Check in can be slow as you each have to fill out a small check-in form that asks for passport numbers and personal details. It's not the easiest form to follow, especially after a lot of travelling so be ready. You'll get wrist banded at this point too.
We were in a ground floor family room which was spacious, with a walk in wardrobe area, two single beds pushed together with a further bed in the 'lounge' type area ( privacy curtain seperates). TV is OK if you really want to keep up to date with news (channel 10) but you have to pay for majority of channels and deposit for remote control if you want the luxury. Room smelled of cig smoke, but this faded after a few hours.
The grounds are lovely, plenty of grassed areas and sun loungers with shady trees if you need them. There are a couple of outside bars, one by the pool (didn't use this one). The top bar has help yourself draight lager (very drinkable), fizzy drinks, water, juices and wine. Spirits are available from the bartender.
The restaurant next to Reception again has help yourself drink areas dotted around the place. There are Three main Service areas for food, all side by side. The first is Italian with a couple of fresh large rectangular sliced pizza, and three pasta choices and sauces. The next is the main area with choices of fish, cooked meats, grilled meats (chef cooking at the station), chips, potatoes, veg.(Steak, pork, lamb, beef, chicken...all mostly very tender). Chinese station opened at night and had noodles, stir fry veg, rice, stir fry meat. LOVELY ! Mealtimes for us (Winter) was Bfast 8-10am, Lunch 1-3pm, Dinner 6-9pm, though they will change shortly to Summer times. We couldn't fault the food at all. Breakfast: scrambled eggs, fried eggs, saus, fatty bacon, cereals, lovely fresh fruit (oranges are beautiful and easy to peel), breads, cold meats. TIP do some toast and make a saus and egg sarny Mmmmm or try a roll with the choc paste (like Nutella). TIP, only put on your plate what you KNOW you can eat. The number of people hoarding food and then subsequently wasting most of it is absolutely shameful, so don't do it. Eat what's on your plate and then go back for more, simple, there's plenty. Food quality was really good and we loved it. Don't know what some people expect, but our standards are certainly not low and we were more than happy here. Two weeks here would start being repetitive, but that can happen anywhere (we usually do quiet Greek Islands).
We tried to get out for a walk for a couple of hours after breakfast each day to keep the circulation going and work up an appetite. You can walk down the 180 steps (great views) to the sea front or follow the road down past the Spar shop. Walked along the paved sea front to Maspelomas dunes which took around an hour each way I think, but I wasn't really counting.
Hardworking young Animation team provide entertainment for kids though the day and at night generally some mimed musical numbers, Mamma Mia, Broadway selection etc. The Teatro bar in this area has cocktails and spirits served bartender. The spirits measures are generally massive so be warned !! ALL staff are very friendly, smile, tidy plates away very quickly and are very polite....so be prepared to say Hola and gracias....make the effort back. Tell the Chefs if you liked their food too, they really appreciate it.
Visitors here are predominantly German with a smattering of Czech, Polish, Italians. Nice cosmopolitan atmosphere here...and we really liked it, and much prefer that.
Highly recommended !!
Advice: Quieter than average Canary resort.
Activities: Walking along sea front on pavement to Maspelomas dunes.
Good for: Beach
" Excellent "
Submitted By: Scotland DIANEHotel was clean and rooms were spacious.[ no hairdryer in rooms] The grounds of the hotel and pool areas were delightful and offered different settings to suit your mood.
The food was of good quality and lots of choice. The drinks were ok and plentiful but would have prefered an option to upgrade and pay to get 'Branded' drinks.
The Entertainment was supplied by what can only be described as a FANTASTIC YOUNG TEAM of young men and women who worked all hours to keep the throngs entertained DAY & NIGHT.
WELL DONE to you all, you made our holiday fun and we thank you for all your hard work.
Appreciated by us.[ hope the Hotel management think the same]
Special thanks to Georgia and Emily.
We would have left the hotel at night to venture into Town, but you kept us there for nightly shows that were very professional.
The hotel is a bit isolated and away from everything but taxis are very cheap.
The hotel reps were a bit of a disappointment as they couldn't book or give info on golf and never came back with info, so we walked to the Buenaventura to get rates etc.[ were there last year]
Also the pick up from hotel was over 50 mins late due to a carnival that seemed to surprise everyone there even though it was organised on a yearly basis. We had to source a rep over phone to enquire where the bus was. Not a good customer care attitude. Very miffed that we were annoyed at the wait. We would have been prepared to leave earlier to miss the traffic of the carnival.
Thomas Cook planes are seated for anyone under 5 foot and I think seats were added to make this 4 and a half hour journey, total hell for passengers.
Been on Globespan and Ryanair recently and they offer better leg room. THINK PLEASE TOUR OPERATORS. not everything is down to money.
Recommend this hotel.
Advice: Hotel away at top of hill. No shops close by. Beach is down steps and is very nice.
Activities: Irish centre
Good for: Beach
" Excellent value for money "
Submitted By: dannibloxam1986I'm 22, my partner is 23, we had a brilliant time. We arrived with the transfers, we were hte first drop off, about a 20 minute journey from the airport. It took a while to get booked in, our room was beautiful, there is a tv but you have to pay to use it and there is only one british channel anyway, i think this was sky news, we didnt pay to use it.
There are 3 pools, one is a kids pool, one is heated, but it didnt seem much warmer than the other pool, still, it was so hot, it was nice to get into cool water.
The snacks arn't served all day like it says, theres toasties and hotdogs at 11, and cake at 4, drinks are from 1030am-11pm, its only 2 drinks at a time.
The food was lovly, a lot of people moan about it on here, but at the end of the day its a 3star hotel and its cheap, you cant expect indian cuisine, what they did serve up was lovly, a fantastic choice, always pizza, chips, fish, a meat, two soups, chinese, salad, a veg option, 3 pasta options, ice cream, cakes, fruit, bread, i could go on, theres definetly something for everyone.
The entertainment was ok, again, what can you expect for the price of the hotel, it was good though, the staff all seemed to have fun doing the performences they put on, one night it was mamma mia, then saturday night fever, the only drawback, which cant be helped, is that they have to go through everything in english, spanish, french, german, polish, swedish, itialin lol. bingo gets quite difficult to follow, but this cant really be helped as it is a multi-national hotel.
There is a spar about a 5 minute walk from the hotel, the daily mirror is 2euros lol.the beach is about a 10 minute walk away, we went once, it was lovly, not a great deal to do there though.
This is the best holiday we have ever had, weve been to a few of the canarys and would say gran canaria was by far the best, we went on this last minute deal purly to relax, and that is all we did, lay about the pool all day, this hotel is great for that. if you want more of an entertainment week away its probably not the best place to go.
We dont have any children, but there was a lot tehre for children to do, a park, a kids pool, kiddies club, parrot show.
Have a fab time, we would definetly return.
o btw, the reason i didnt give this a 10 is for the pure reason, we left on the sunday at 4am, and they made us pay for our room to keep on at 12 midday saturday, so even though we didnt leave until the sunday, they were going to chuck us out on the saturday, we had to pay 20 euros for that, and 12euros each to keep being all inclusive so we could eat and drink. That was a pain, as we were unaware this would happen, so if they had let us keep the room and be all inclusive until the day we actually left i would have given a ten to this review.
Good for: Beach









We was nervous as arriving to the Hotel due to some negative reviews we had read. We were shown to our room which was in fact occupied by a work man whom we think was tiling in there, but when we told reception they apologised and sent us to the room a couple of doors away (134) which had a balcony, double bed, dressing room, and a excellent pool view. We couldnt have asked for a better room! I think this block is the best one to be in to be honest! The view was brilliant at night, the sun set and the pool lit up!! Beautiful!
Anyway an overall of the Hotel: its all very clean. The pool and Jacuzzi is lovely! I definatly recommend All Inclusive as we were, the service and food is brilliant. You can help yourselves to Water, Fruit Juice, Fizzy Drinks, Lager and House Wine all day long!! It works out so much cheaper. The food; you have so much choice for all tyes of people and you cant complain really. I can understand why people say it gets repetitive but atleast the food is good! Theres plenty of fresh fruit, cold meats, deserts, hot food and different hot meals every day. You certainly will not go hungry!! Even in between meals you can help your self to snacks such as cakes and ice creams! Its great! I didnt have ,many snacks but my partner did but that was my choice and i wont complain like others saying that there wasnt time or wasnt hungry...does it matter your on holiday!! Eat when you want to eat!!
Some of the reviews say theres alot of foreigners...well yes there is alot of people from different areas of the world but what do you expect...as hotel full of brits? well stay in England then!! It certainly didnt effect me or bother me!
The hotel is at the top of a hill/small mountain which might not be ideal if you have young children. The walk to the beach is quite near. You cross the road and near the hotel is some steps leading straight down to the beach (around 152 steps) which is ok on the way down but a bit lengthy on way back up but its worth it! Others say to take the road but i thought that was longer! The Beachs are beautiful! The sand is dark but i wouldnt say black or dirty!! They are normal beaches!!
If you like a walk as my partner does we walked maybe a mile along the paths next to the beaches, and you pas San Augustin Shopping Centre, and further on many Souvenier lovely shops which then leads to the Sand Loons/ Desert at the end which is well worth visiting. Also along that walk are some amazing beaches with excellent blue shores!! Ideal for childern!
For other longer travel instead of walking i recommend Taxi's which cost about 5 Euro which isnt alot and worth it. The taxi's sit outside hotel. If you prefer bus the Hotel staff help with that.
The only thing i can complain about which wasnt the hotel it was more the Holiday Rep...didnt see them when they were supposed to be there and they wernt much help when we asked something.
there is so much to do there or you can do nothing like us!! NEXT TIME we go we will go on the Submarine trip, aqualand and all the other excursions! I definatly recommend San Augustonin IFA hotel!! Wish we had stayed longer...we didnt want to leave and i would return anytime and im sure we will!! NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT HOTEL!!
Advice: Lovely Place absolutely Beatiful! Well recommended by us!!
Activities: Beachs and Desert. But could spend whole holiday at pool side in Hotel!
Good for: Beach