Tabaiba Princess Hotel

We returned on 23rd July 2007 and can say that we had a wonderful time in the week we stayed in this hotel. It is part of a two-hotel complex with shared facilities but owned and run by the same company 'Princess Hotels'. We really could not find much fault with the hotel overall. Our expectations were fully met based on previous traveller reviews. It was exceptionally clean and modern throughout the entire complex. The staff were very professional and any problem or query was quickly answered. We are in our mid thirties with two children, age 10 & 7. They loved the swimming complex that was vast in size with many swimming pools in a maze of palm trees, wooden bridges and thatched bars and restaurants giving a Caribbean feel. There is a man made beach area but be warned the sand is more like small shingle!! If you play volleyball then be sure to wear socks or trainers!! We booked on a 'half board' basis through Thomson but if you can try for the 'all inclusive' option we recommend this especially with children. We mentioned that you stay in two hotels where both dinning rooms (separated by a few wooden see through divides) are adjacent to one another and it is only then you wish you had the opportunity to go fully inclusive !!! It appeared only the Germans were on the all inclusive side and this makes you a little jealous seeing them helping themselves to pint glasses of fizzy dinks and beer!!!We ordered water and soft drinks to keep up with our thirst but the drink bill soon adds up!! The selection and quality of food was very good and we had no runny tummies!! The food is constantly replenished and there is no need to rush round in a whirlwind as there is plenty of food and you definitely will not go hungry. Our room was on top of the piano bar, which meant up until midnight you could feel the extremely loud vibrations from the underneath and indeed the loud music, not ideal with children. We suspect that many people have requested a different room as the noise was bad but the hotel staff were more than prepared to move us to a different part of the hotel without any real drama. The room was very big, clean and spacious and the maid comes in everyday. There is a charge for the fridge and it is very small, we could only put in 3 bottles. The bathroom was a large marble area and much to our relief was very clean. As mentioned before we could not fault the attitude and we appreciated an early breakfast before leaving at 4am to catch our bus to the airport on departure. You need to ask reception the night before. The entertainment was a good standard on the two nights we attended. We watched ‘The Tramps’ who were a singing trio who performed Motown hits, they were very good!!The second act we saw were two women who were very flexible and my son was more then amused to see one put sunglasses on with her feet!!! I managed a sharp exit when audience participation was encouraged, as I was a little worried they might try and wrap their legs round my neck!!!

We stayed here half board for a week in the Maspalomas side back in March. Hotel was lovely, really big and it was easy to get into the wrong half at first! Rooms were nice and large with balconies, ours overlooked the tennis court and gardens. Food was all buffet with a massive selection to choose from. Was all very nice. Reception staff were helpful and there is a car hire company that have a desk in reception so ideal if you want to tour the island. We had a Ford Focus for 5 days with air con and full insurance which cost approx £120. I would definately reccomend a trip to Palmitos Park where they have bird of prey displays and lots of parrots etc. Maspalomas shops and restaurants were about a 15 minute walk away as were the dunes and beach which was fine for us as we like to be just outside the resort centre. There were plenty of restaurants and shops there and the dunes were really impressive, you can take a camel ride across them for better views. The weather was great too, although in March a little chilly in the evenings so take your cardi! Overall a wonderful holiday and lovely resort.

Fabulous hotel. We went with my little boy, we would ask for milk for him for his bottle and it was never charged!! The hotel is clean, very good food and animation, lots of pools. We loved it. The only down part was the fake sand is quiet big, it hurts a bit when we walk in. The staff are friendly, and there is lots to do. I defenetly would recomend it.

Whats all this nonsense about sunbeds? More than enough for everyone. This hotel is a typical Princess hotel, very clean, very friendly with good food and plenty of choice. The location is not that great but we stayed for a week and only left the hotel once to go to the beach where we were accosted by the dreaded touts, they con you with a lottery ticket scam, do not be conned! We would definately visit this hotel again, the climate is superb and the pool is fantastic.

Just got back from a weeks stay at Maspalomas Princess. Read through all the other reviews before going and expected it to be lovely although been a sun worshipper the only concern i had was the sunbed issues ie having to reserve one at the crack of dawn. I neednt have worried, on the first day i got up at 6.45 to put my towels down and found not one other person around although come 7.30 people did surface (english and not german!) Never had a problem all week although i can imagine in summer holidays it can be very crowded. Food was excellent couldnt fault it in any way and the hotel itself is lovely and clean and looks like a 5 star hotel. Evening entertainment was a little poor for my taste although been 24 may have had something to do with it as i could count of one hand the number of other young people who were in the hotel. All in all a lovely hotel for families, older couples etc although if it had just been me and my husband i feel i would of been slightly bored on an evening with lack of young company

we had a lovely week at the Maspalomas/Tabaiba princess. The only concern I had when booking was the distance from the beach. The location is the only negative think I can say about this hotel. The distance from the beach and any local bars is something to think about if you are used to having such things on your doorstep. on the whole the weather was great for march, most days sunny and hot, though we did have a couple of rainy afternoons. t he hotel is clean and modern, we found the staff to be very helpful and polite. the food was great and the restaurant very pleasant, the head waiter will show you to your table, this resulted sometimes in having to queue, which could be a pain, however this only happened a couple of times in the week. the standard of the room was excellent, very clean and good quality furnishings, towels and linen changed regularly, pool towels are also provided. the gardens in the hotel are lovely with some beautiful specimen plants. the nearest bars were in the faro 2 shopping centre, which provided everything that you could need within about 10 minutes walk, bike hire is available here too. otherwise you need to walk down towards the beach where there are lots of bars and shops. we chose not togo on any excursions but there were lots available if you want these, there are resident thomson reps on hand most of the day and in the platinum lounge there are books to borrow or swap. there is lots to do if you want, we were disappointed to find that we had to pay to play minigolf, but everything else was free apart from the pool tables which you would expect. entertainment at the hotel was ok, during the week there were two shows which were great, the others were just ok. the hotel has a number of shops on site, a chemist, jewellers, boutique, mini market, etc, however not a lot on offer in the mini market, ok for your daily paper and bottled water. happy hour was 5-6 when you get two drinks for the price of 1, can thoroughly recommend the vodka and orange juice, the juice is fresh and you get a jugful! drink prices quite pricey too. the hotel is split into two and one side seemed to be only english guests on half board and the other (tabaiba) side seemed to be german guests on all inclusive, you could use the facilities at both sides of the hotel, each side has a piano bar and the guy at the tabaiba side is very good and entertaining. the swimming pools were great and the best ever, so many pools to swim in, a number of them were heated and it was so lovely, then a shock when you got into the cooler ones, a whole day could be spent on the hotels beach and in the pools! having the sauna and steam room was a bonus for those rainy days, only spoilt by the chap who decided that his towel was for over his shoulder and not around his waist! we booked this hotel because we had already stayed at the bahia princess in costa adeje which we loved, this hotel was not quite as good but we were not disappointed. overall we had a lovely relaxing holiday at this very comfortable hotel, we would go back again which i think says it all.

I stayed in the Maspalomas/Tabiba Princess hotel for a week with Thomson on a half board basis May 12-19th 2007. The hotel is officially a four star, Thomson giving it a 5 star Platinum rating. Overall, I thought it deserved it's brochure ratings (compared to other spanish hotels) and I had an enjoyable stay here. *Location* The hotel is set in a more peaceful setting but within a few euro taxi ride away from the nightlife of Playa del Ingles. It is also about 20 minutes walk from Maspalomas beach. The hotel also has extensive pool areas and man-made "beach". Over the past few years Maspalomas has seen some heavy development with a number of new hotels springing up, but it still maintains a more upmarket feel than other areas in Gran Canaria. *Hotel* The hotel is quite impressive from first view and the reception is large and spans the three floors of the hotel. The rooms are bright and very clean. Good quality, large bathrooms and reasonably smart bedroom decor. The hotel is ten years old and some of the soft furnishings showed a little wear and tear. The air-conditioning was also a little weak. The maid service left the rooms spotless daily. The pool areas were very attractive with mature palms, lots of pool bars, massage and health "island" with free sauna and turkish bath. No problems with sunbeds, in fact it was a little over jam packed with them. There were excellent tennis courts and mini golf. *Meals* The hotel offers buffet breakfasts and dinner. The quality of the food was probably as good or better than many other four star hotels I've stayed at in Spain. Although, I found the ambience a little lacking and much like a work's canteen rather than a "platimun" hotel. Several things began to annoy me about the service, waste food being noisily emptied into buckets very close to where you were eating. Plates not being collected very speedily etc... This could probably be excused by the size of the hotel and number of people to serve. I've just seen better service in similar hotels. Another point is that the staff seemed very busy so there was very little personalised service. Food was always hot and there were plenty of options for adults. Not that I have kid's but the children's buffet selection made me laugh as it was entirely deep fried everything with chips, I never saw anything green there during the stay. Gillian McKeith would have been so very proud. *Service* I think if there were any problems with the hotel service it was caused by staffing levels. All of the staff I came into contact with were extreamly polite and helpful. I did have a 30 minute wait to check in at 4.00am which was disappointing. I felt that the ambience would be improved if the staff had time to ask "How was your dinner?", "How was your day?" etc... Other services are also lacking a little, such as no room service, no wireless internet, nothing apart from vending machines available after 12 midnight. So it doesn't exactly reach a "five" star rating on this front but It did have all you need for a holiday break. *Summary* My travel agent said that the "Thomson Platinum Experience" was a bit P&O (whatever that means) but I guess what she was getting at that it's quite mass catering, depersonalised etc. It was however of a very good standard. It's not "a la catre" but then only paying £500 a week was very good value. I would have given it a better rating but overall I'd say than I got exacly what I expected rather than being blown-away.

We stayed at this hotel for an Easter break after the hotel we usual stay at was fully booked. The Maspalomas Princess is a very nice hotel but I would not class it as a 5* platinum. The hotel has a very 'Package holiday' feel to it and the only thing I thought gave it the platinum was the price of the drinks - 16 euros for 2 Vodka and orange. There was a 10 euro charge for use of the safe and you had to pay to use the pool table, mini golf etc. The hotel has lovely pools and gardens, rooms are very nice and the restaurant and food was excellent but all in all we will not return but make sure we book early so we can get the usual hotel we stay at which is much nicer with bigger rooms, free safe, cheaper drinks, a better location and has a real 5* Platinum feel. Also when we arrived at The Maspalomas Princess our room wasn't ready so that wasn't a good start but it was only midday and they said it would only take 15 minutes. 15 minutes later we were told it would be another 15 minutes then another 30 then another 30 after that ..... so in the end we waited over 2 hours. It would have been better for them to have said leave your bags here and go for some lunch.

Having booked a late deal, and read the reviews after booking, must say that we were getting a little nervous about going both to the hotel \princess, and Gran Canaria in general. On both counts we need not have worried. We had read reviews of long waits at the reception when booking in, .. not in our case, in fact they were very organised. Our room was not quite ready, so they sent us for a free drink in the piano bar. Felt that the food was excellent, given the amount of people the hotel was catering for. Though have to say that it sometimes gave a canteen ambience. There were no thefts from the room, as one review had implied. The rooms were very clean and comfortable. If there was anything to complain about it would be the saving of sunbeds by seemingly getting up at the crack of dawn to reserve them with towels. Would not join in that rat race, so unfortunately never got a sunbed. Incidently, there was talk of cockroaches, but never saw one, either in hotel or Gran Canaria.

This hotel was fantastic. There are actually two on the complex - the tabaiba princess and the maspalomas princess. The English were in the maspalomas princess. The Tabaiba princess was full of germans. I was unable to find an English travel agent that wud let me and my partner stay all inclusive at the resort as they all said it was half board - but actually, when we got there, the tabaiba was all inclusive!! Food and drinks - amazing! You couldnt ask for a wider choice. Happy hour 5-6 in the piano bar is a must! They're not shy with their spirit measures either! Hotel - Rooms cleaned immaculately everyday! Loads of wardrobe space. Spacious balcony (but request a pool view room). Mini golf is really pretty. 2 heated pools. all pools equate to over 4000sq metres of pool! FANTASTIC Puerto Rico- not much going on, nice beach, mcdonalds, little shopping centre for souvenirs. Puerto de Morgan - is a MUST on a friday before 2pm to go to the markets on the marina front. also a beautiful little village. Maspalomas - lovely. exteremely clean. Shops are nice, seafront bars and restaurants are nice (though we didnt dine there for dinner because the food at the hotel was so good). Water park is ok. Palmitos park has lots of animals and the komodo dragon which is rare in europe. Play del Ingles - club 18-30s. Thats all i have to say. Its ok for clubbing and has a below average beach. Not an attractive place. Like a busy city for cars and taxis. Rubbish shopping centre selling tacky items. Only good thing is the hard rock cafe.