Ac Gran Canaria Hotel

“ Room very clean.Restaurant very good both for evening meal and breakfast.

“ Top location for just about everything. Lovely rooms, phenomenal breakfasts. Wide-angle views from balconies; as the building is round. As well as a great view of the cityscape, I was able to see sunrise over the port and sunset across the bay/Canteras beach. Worth it for the view alone. Top floor gym and wi-fi proved useful too. Should mention that the reception staff were efficient and friendly (they made confident eye contact and smiled... these things are important!)

“ Top Tip: Best place was Clandestino Restaurant (Calle Dr Miguel Rosas), a couple of hundred yards from hotel, across the Parque/Square and down side-street. Good traditional Galician(!) place opposite too. Avoid eating at the Canteras beach-front places. They may look OK but the food is poor, I'm sad to say.

“ As a treat, we travelled up from Maspalomas on our two week holiday to spend the weekend in the capital. The hotel was indeed a treat, and the staff very nice and friendly.

“ This is a beautiful hotel in an excellent location, near the Santa Catalina bus station (convenient for the airport bus) and the Playa de las Canteras, a lovely beach. The hotel rooms have balconies, and mine had excellent views. The room itself was very modern, with excellent beds and a large screen TV, plus a mini-bar with free drinks (mainly non-alcoholic, with one beer). There is a well-equipped exercise room and a (non-heated) rooftop swimming pool, plus free wi-fi in the lobby. I got an excellent deal on Travel Republic that included breakfast, which is really a large, all-you-can eat brunch that should keep you full most of the day (great range of items and outstanding view near the top of the hotel). Service is excellent. The only criticism I can make is that my bathroom was poorly laid out, with the toilet in a corner that made it hard to use (!) and a shower screen that simply did not keep the water in - despite attempts to avoid it, water leaked out all over the floor. These are serious design flaws.

“ Top Tip: There are many good restaurants along the beach in various price ranges. The area nearby is quite seedy, though there are a lot of police around. Unlike in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, there is no tram system (though one is proposed), so you may need to use the bus system if you want to get to the city centre (about 5 km away), where there is some interesting architecture and other sights to see. Several bus routes run between the Santa Catalina area and the city centre, and the 12 and 13 seemed the fastest because they use the highway for part of the route. Unfortunately, it was hard to find any maps (I asked at three places, and did manage to get a 'rough' one), and most bus stops did not have any route information. The city of Las Palmas does not appear to take tourism very seriously. There is a 'bono' (bonus) card that gives you ten rides for 6.50 (about half price), and you can share this with your fellow traveller(s). This is available at outlets like the bus information booth in Santa Catalina Park. Please note that this hotel is far away from the city centre, and that if you are taking the bus from the airport, only the ones leaving there at 15 minutes past the hour go all the way to Santa Catalina station (after stopping at the main station, San Telmo, in the city centre).