Fantastic Fuerteventura...
The flight from London was just under four hours and I was beginning to think that I should have made better use of my iPad. All around me people were watching films and I was just finishing my latest e-book and the in-flight magazine – so go prepared to entertain yourself for almost 4 hours if you go for the ‘low cost’ carriers!
When we travel as a couple, my husband and I like to be quite independent so we’d hired a car for the short journey into Corralejo. The hotel we stayed at this time was the Gran Hotel Atlantis Bahia Real GL and I couldn’t wait to find it. We were on the outskirts of the resort but found is easy enough and were greeted by several staff in the national dress of the island. This hotel is an oasis of peace and quiet at the pools and mature gardens with views of Los Lobos from our room across their golden sandy beach.
The design of the hotel ensures that most rooms have a sea view or they look out on the gardens and the pools. At the end of the day so much of our stay was dictated by choice and that started with the pillows, where we had five different types to select from. We also had several restaurants with the Yamatori Japanese, the Spanish Las Columnas, La Alacena Real international buffet, the Coco Beach Lounge over water restaurant, the Beach Club Las Palmeras and the exclusive La Cúpula de Carles Gaig with a prestigious Michelin Star. All of the food was excellent – and you definitely know you can’t go wrong with Cava and smoked salmon on offer to start your day! As you'd expect from a hotel of this standard, you're never far away from a bar whether you choose one of the pools or the beach to soak up the sun.
If you do overindulge there’s a lovely gym and the Spa Bahia Vital spa circuit, which also offers exercise classes, massages and spa treatments. In the evenings the entertainment is low key and gracious with show cooking in some of the restaurants and local musicians who entertain in the El Mirador piano bar.The bar will serve all sorts of cocktails and coffees until late, but it wraps up the music before midnight. The army of staff always say good morning or good evening and keep the hotel immaculate - even down to the fresh flowers on the tables and the groomed sand on the beach.
If you don’t have a car, it’s around a 15-minute walk around the beach and headland to the start of the town and perhaps 30 minutes in total if you carry on down to the town beach and the harbour. If you don't have your own transport, there's a taxi rank right outside and you can be down in the music square in 10 minutes. Now, I admit – there is one fast food chain restaurant in the centre of town - but with over 300 other independent restaurants, there’s food for every taste and pocket - including another Michelin featured restaurant.
You can also choose to go somewhere to eat with live music and where the shops stay open until late in the evening for that after dinner stroll. This is a fishing village that has grown into a charming seaside town and the locals that aren’t fishermen, restauranteurs or boat captains are into windsurfing, kite surfing and dune buggies.
This trip was an unusual one for us and we stayed put in the hotel and Corralejo more than normal – but this time it has left me wanting to go back and explore the island further. It’s roughly 60 miles long by just 20 miles wide so it’s going to be easy enough to explore and return to base every day. Corralejo is right next to one of the National Parks on the island where the kite surfers sit in the sands getting to grips with their manouveurs before heading out to sea. Taking a boat out from Corralejo harbour you can get across to Los Lobos bird sanctuary in around 15 minutes for excellent snorkelling.There's a small cauldron-shaped extinct volcano here as well as lovely deserted beaches for an unusual day out - but it is uninhabited - so be sure to take a packed lunch and plenty of water with you!