Spring Week in Lanzarote 2016

My wife Gail and I had planned a week in the sun. We booked it last year as we thought it would be good to have something to look forward to during the cold wet winter that we had – something that we were right about. Little did we know that whilst we were away in April it would still be snowing here in Northern Ireland! The holiday was planned for the most convenience and best use of our time so I had booked a low cost airline from Belfast to take us directly to Lanzarote. We checked in early and had a lovely cooked breakfast at Belfast International before our four and a half hour flight to Lanzarote. Service on board was super with a couple of drink and snack services as well sales of duty free items and gifts. All too soon we had arrived in Lanzarote, collected our luggage and were in our private transfer to our hotel in Puerto Calero. A very nice transfer it was too, in a beautiful Mercedes saloon booked of course by me through Travel Counsellors, it was great to experience the standard that I recommend for my clients! The resort of Puerto Calero is a few miles outside Puerto del Carmen (Lanzarote’s largest resort). It is very easy to reach Puerto del Carmen by road (regular bus and taxi), by sea (waterbus) or you can walk there along the coastal path. Puerto Calero is quite small with two hotels, the Hesperia Lanzarote and the Costa Calero (where we were staying), however for a small resort it does have a lot going on, primarily due its large marina which is backed by a good selection of restaurants and shops. We had booked all-inclusive at the Costa Calera as we just wanted to relax and enjoy the sunshine without having to budget for meals and drinks. We quickly checked in and were directed to our large well-appointed room with a lovely sea view (over the roof of the adjacent block). All the meals at the Costa Calero are taken in one of two large buffet restaurants, the La Magdalena where breakfast and dinner is served and the Oyambre which is open for lunch. There was lots of choices at every meals and staff were always around to help and clear tables very quickly. Although the hotel was full there was never any problem in getting a table even at the busiest times of the day. After dinner we usually then went to Bar Matalenas where the entertainment took place, I was very impressed by the quality of entertainment that the hotel had arranged with some great music acts keeping everyone entertained. The next morning allowed us to start soaking up some sunshine and although the Costa Calero is a large hotel the landscaped gardens around the four swimming pools made it feel very relaxing. Also there was no problem in obtaining a sun lounger as there were plenty to choose from right throughout the day. Our holiday then followed a regular pattern of enjoying the sunshine interspersed with regular visits to the bar and restaurants for our meals – a wonderful relaxing holiday! The hotel also has a super Thalasso and Spa, and although we had great intentions to use these facilities we just enjoyed relaxing by the pool every day. All in all we had a super relaxing week in Lanzarote and came back refreshed – just what I wanted from this holiday. I would certainly return to Lanzarote and to the Costa Calero for a great sunshine break.