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Reviewed 14 June 2012

Just got back from a lovely weeks holiday with my husband and two boys aged 6 and 3 years. Booked with Low cost holidays, flight with Ryanair and paid for transfers (no problems with either),
We stayed in a spacious family room. It had a lounge area with TV, downstairs double bedroom along with a walk in shower and toilet. Upstairs twin beds with TV,small fridge, jacuzzi bath, Jack and Jill wash basins, hairdryer, another walk in massage shower as well as toilet and bidet. There was a spacious balcony with table and chairs. The only thing missing was a kettle. Beds were comfy.
The mini club staff Ruben and Marta were brilliant with the children. My eldest boy was in tears when we said goodbye to them.
The entertainment was great for the kids with a Mini disco starting @8.30 and then either a show from the animation team or act from outside the hotel.
Staff were friendly and pleasant,constantly taking time to speak to the kids. The pool attendent at the slide pool was constanly cleaning the side of the swimming pool/ netting leaves. Just beware of the tiles when getting out of the silde pool, we saw lots of kiddie falls/slips whilst getting out.
At the beginning of the half term week the hotel was full, so they could of done with more staff to help out in the restaurants and there as the issue of people reserving the sunbeds from as early as 7.30am. On our first day there we didnt get a sunbed. Things improved as people started to leave.
The food was great especially the Chinese and Italian which you had to book for at reception and you were allocated at time to eat.
The buffet resturaunt was organised into two sittings in the evening, we swapped to the first sitting in order to make the mini disco.
Check in is from 2pm and check out is by 12pm.
We booked into the courtesy room before leaving and it was lovely and clean,
There is a beach just outside the hotel which is pebbley. Pappayago beach is not far away and costs about 4 euros it has a lovely sandy beach.
We are hoping to go back in October

Date of stay: June 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
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3  Thank cher t
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 13 June 2012

We have just come back from a weeks holiday in the Gran Castillo. It was our first time there although 2nd time in Lanzarote. It was fab!
Being greeted at reception with a glass of champagne while our suitcases were taken from us was the start of a great week.
We went in the school holidays so it was very busy, but reading the previous reviews about lack of staff, cutlery etc, we did not find a problem.
Lack of sunbeds was though, i agree but out of school holidays sounded like there are always plenty. That was the only thing i would moan about, all they need to do is stack a few up in places so everyone can get a place.
I have never been to such a clean hotel. It was spotless. Always staff around cleaning, maintaining etc.
Food was gorgeous! How people can say they get fed up of the same things is beyond me! The buffet restaurant catered for everyone, one chef cooking fresh meats/fish of your choice in front of you, another chef cooking any pasta dish you wanted, beautiful roasts, calamari's , salads, cheeses, vegetables, paellas, not to mention all the casseroles, oven baked dishes and a selection of lovely fresh bread. My daughter (10 yrs old, said the chicken was the best ever! and she is a fussy eater!
We booked for both of the restaurants while we were there, the italian one was nice, not a great choice of starters but the mains were lovely.
The Chinese restaurant was fantastic. Best chinese food we've had in years! The ribs were to die for! and the presentation was excellent.
The staff, we found were very attentive. As soon as you sat down at your table for dinner, your drinks were served (and i must say the wine was very good!) . Your plates were always taken away immediately and the waiters were always very pleasant.
The animation team were great! We went shooting a couple of times and my son joined in with the football and table tennis which he enjoyed. We also enjoyed the daily cocktail making. I think her name was Amy but she was brilliant and had us in pleats!, she was so funny! The shows were good aswell and we particularly enjoyed the Mama Mia production. Well done animation team, you made us feel so welcome and my children were sad to leave you all!
We went to the Marina Rubicon (about 10 mins walk along a lovely promenade) for lunch one day in a tapas restaurant. Again, spotless and very pretty - just remember to take some bread with you to feed the huge fish! We also booked to go on a submarine, which was fab if you were thinking of going anywhere.
Last thing but not least, our room was gorgeous!!!! Massive! Walk in wardrobe, bathroom with double sinks, massage shower room and toilet aswell as all the complimentary toiletries. We paid for the superior sea view and it was heaven!
Would definately come back here, all of you moaners who say it is not a 5 star, you get what you pay for and this was such good value for money in our opinion.
Would love to come back here again, thank you Gran Castillo for another lovely memory to treasure. :-))

Date of stay: June 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
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3  Thank Jillyboo7
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 12 June 2012

Just returned back from Gran Castillo 10 day break with Husband & two sons age 11 and 8. The hotel is kept clean & tidy aswell as the gardens, the food is lovely in the restaurant but basic in the bars, the staff are very hard working but always make time for a smile and a hello. The animation team were excellent especially Layla that looked after the Junior club my children had there best holiday ever!!!!!

Date of stay: June 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
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    • Sleep Quality
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    • Service
1  Thank Sue F
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 12 June 2012

Just returned from our second holiday to this hotel, this time was a different experience but no less enjoyable. Went last year out of school holiday time and it was, as you would expect, much less busy than we found last week. If you want a very quiet time, go out of school holidays.

I guess we must have been just lucky on sunbeds because we never had a problem finding a couple for us to use although they mightn't have been in the 'prime position' none were really bad. We even changed pool (from the main one by the front to the pool with slides, about 10 minutes walk apart) late one morning and were still able to get beds.

The food in the main restaurant had a reasonable selection and was refreshed regularly. Some is freshly cooked in front of you and you may have to wait a few minutes in a queue but, hey, I was on holiday and not in a rush. The restaurant can get busy as everyone seems to go at the same time but we didn't have a problem finding a table at lunchtime (for evening meals you are assigned a table at the start of the stay which you then use each night). We ate at both the Italian (twice) and Chinese restaurants and found these a more relaxed atmosphere and the food was fine (it mightn't be Chinatown but for a Spanish Chinese, wasn't bad at all). We also ate out at the harbour one night - Lani's is worth the walk.

The animation team were brilliant - clearly enjoyed performing the shows and a good standard which makes it more fun, peolpe were genuinely disappointed when the Team had a much deserved night off on Sunday. They still had entertainment on with an outside act brought in, who were also good.

The old 'Papagayo hotel' has the pool with slides and most of the daytime activity takes place here, we preferred the other pool in the older part of the Gran Castillo (which is also by the main restaurant). If you want the activities, contact the hotel and ask for a room in the Papagayo part of the hotel and they will try and accommodate.

Is it 5 star? For a holiday holiday hotels you can stay in across Europe, it is a high standard. I've never been to Sandals or Beaches hotels in the Caribbean but would expect it to be a lower level than these but it comes at a much lower cost and for value for money. If you want to, you can find fault but why bother, just go, have a great time and enjoy all the hotel has to offer.

Room tip: If you want to take part in the activities, ask for a room in the old Papagaya part of the hotel.
Date of stay: June 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
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5  Thank Peter W
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 12 June 2012

Just back from half term week at the Dream Gran and finding it very interesting to read reviews by others there at the same time as us.This hotel is great and we will definitely go back.

We were a party of 6, 3 adults and 3 teenagers and have been to many other canaries AI hotels generally at Whitsun half term. This time we arrived before the holiday started so were able to see the hotel fill up over the weekend. Although it was noticably busier it did not cause any inconvenience to us at all. We did however find there were a LOT of small children, but maybe as ours are getting older we notice this more.

Rooms
We were given a glass of bubbly as we checked in (yes it could have been a bit quicker but the staff were extremely professional and helpful) We were then driven by buggy to our rooms which the kids thought was great fun! Our family room was very large compared to many others we have stayed in and was spotlessly clean and very well maintained, with plenty of toiletries.The complex is very spread out as people have mentioned but we were glad to be in the quieter area and enjoyed the short walk back and forth.

Food
We ate in both buffet restauarants and found the food to be very good and varied. There were no issues with queues or food running out, apart from 1 occasion when we had to wait a few minutes for a table to be cleared for breakfast as we had arrived at their busiest time of 9.15.
The italian a la carte was good- the pasta was a little mediocre but the steaks were fantastic.
The oriental was superb - one of the best I have ever eaten in. A big plus was being able to book the a la carte restauarants as many times as you wanted, so we chose to eat twice in both.

Sunbeds
I have found it very rare to find a hotel in which you do not need to be up by 7.30 to reserve a sunbed, but during our week we did not make it to the pool much before 9.30 every day and even though we were 6 we still managed to get sunbeds each day. We did use the middle pool complex near the spa which was quieter, so this may be the reason.

Staff
The staff in this hotel work their socks off with a smile on their face!
They appear to be very well trained and are without exception friendly and attentive. I dont think I have been to any other mediterranean hotel that has the quality of staff that the Dream Gran has managed to obtain.
As soon as you are seated in the bars or restaurants a waiter appears to take your drink order, even on the busiest days when you could see the main restaurant was full.

Location
We find it can be difficult to find a good AI hotel with varied restaurants that is not miles away from civilization. The Dream Gran is far enough out to be big and spacious but close enough to walk to the main resort.
There are beautiful beaches (with no facilities) about 15 mins walk away, and in the other direction the marina is barely 15 mins walk (and we walk slowly!) with another 15 mins to the main resort beaches and shops,bars etc.

Room tip: Go for a quieter room for no noise disturance if you dont mind a walk.
Date of stay: May 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
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6  Thank Alison G
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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