Date 20 Febuary 2008
2 Adults
Sunrise Club Paraiso Playa, Jandia. Fuerteventura. All Inclusive.

The Holiday was booked fifteen days before travelling with Airtours Direct and after checking East Midlands Airport we decided to fly from Birmingham as this was £250 cheaper for the same holiday! Do be aware that Airtours charge a late booking fee of £30 if you book within 14 days of your departure date so keep this in mind if looking for a late bargain.

The check in desk formalities were a breeze and we went to departures, foolishly we decided to purchase a ‘Birmingham Flyer’ breakfast this was by far and away the biggest waste of money ever at £6.00 each for an extremely small ‘meal’ which consists of low quality food poorly presented on badly washed plates.

The MyTravel flight was on time and was typical of a package holiday short pitched seats etc but this is what you now expect, the meal and service acceptable, except the entertainment system was broken so a pretty boring flight altogether.

Arrival and luggage reclaim was really very quick and we went to the Rep who directed us to coach E10 it really is quite a walk to the new bus park so do get a trolley. However Juan the bus driver decided he was not going to our hotel and we could not board his coach. Another long walk back to the Airtours desk convinced us that the E10 was indeed our coach and a phone call to Juan with a few raised Spanish voices convinced this belligerent driver to allow us the privilege of riding on his coach. The transfer time was about an hour with a few drop offs on the way.

As we were the only drop off at the hotel check in was quick and smooth a very helpful receptionist who spoke good English told us all the facilities and explained the way to the room very well. The safe is quite expensive at 3 Euros a day and a 10 Euro deposit but the safe is huge and took all our valuables and DVD player with ease. We found our room on the fifth floor with ease and settled in.

The room is not spectacular but is clean and adequate the beds are comfortable and the pillows surprisingly o/k the patio style door was way out of square and when shut had a 4-5cm gap at the bottom. There is a TV but only news and Eurosport in English plenty of wardrobe space and air conditioning. The bathroom is clean but tatty looking due to poor tiling missing grout and a low quality shower curtain and a lot of cracks in the walls causing the mosaic tiles to be uneven and cracked. The cracks in the walls, floors, balcony and everywhere is worrying, a walk around the complex reveals major movement and cracks everywhere staircases have been closed off and steel replacements installed, cracks you can put you hands in have been either filled in or cheaply covered up it seems the hotel which is only 6 years old had been poorly built on unstable foundations this will not interfere with your holiday unless the place falls down when you are there We had paid an additional amount for a ‘deluxe / superior room’ but have no idea what this was for possibly a sea view but don’t bother to pay extra as all the rooms seem to be the same it certainly was not superior or deluxe.

We found all the staff to be amongst the most helpful and friendly we have ever come across. All the facilities are clean the restaurant excellent and the food hot and varied including proper thick bacon at breakfast. There is a table allocation system for the evening meal which means you may end up sharing your table with strangers but invariably they are of the same nationality, There are two sittings for evening early and late we were on the late sitting and found the system to work well, all other meals you turn up and sit at whichever table you like.
The snack bar near the pool is the main place during the day for drinks and snacks ranging from salads to hot dogs all good and varied. The coffee is mainly supplied by machines but if you like better coffee ask at the bars and you can have fresh coffee to your requirements. Unusually you are not discouraged from filling drinks bottles to take away so take a refillable bottle and you don’t even have to buy water.

The main bar at night gets quite crowded but the wait for a drink was never above a couple of minutes the drinks are local brands but are acceptable quality the all inclusive ends at midnight but if you want a drink up to 1am you can pay for them. The Bar staff are the most efficient that we have had the pleasure to come across.

The animation team work hard throughout the day and night and provide the entertainment most nights with the odd ‘professional’ act thrown in overall the entertainment is really quite good.

The hotel is quite a way out of Jandia it will take about two hours to walk along the beach and the Taxi fare is around 7 Euros Costa Calma is a bit further there is no acceptable way to walk via the road. There are no hotels or shops near this hotel but there is a small hotel shop which sells virtually nothing you would want and is only open from 10:00 until 14:00, also there is nowhere to walk to at night so you will have to stay in the complex or use taxis. It is defiantly not a hotel for any body that is not reasonably fit being set as it is on a sloping site.

The Hotel is very close to the beach this is accessed via quite a few steep steps however these are in very good repair with a good handrail and the sand and sea are absolutely fabulous with some naturists baring all but don’t worry its really not an issue.

The mix of nationalities at the hotel is predominantly German with French and Spanish and the smallest group is the British but again this is not an issue. In fact our view is you could easily stay at this hotel and never spend any more money it really is quite unusual.

The return coach pickup and transfer to the airport was on time and the check in at the airport was quick and the only delay was at security with people trying to get liquids through in there hand luggage it’s really not that hard to understand it needs to go in the hold baggage.

The flight home was delayed after the brake on the airbus overheated whilst taxing so we had a three hour delay with no work carried out on the plane the following may interest you. During this episode the Pilot told us a startling fact that there is only on airplane technician in the whole of the canary islands he works for Monarch airlines and his location was unknown, we laughingly thought all airports had technical staff that could have a look and perhaps effect a repair. So with no work on the brake carried out we set off, whilst having a complementary drink as compensation and landing three hours late.

Conclusion
Great holiday despite indifferent weather the hotel is really well run and located on a stunning beach staff are hardworking and friendly. We would recommend this hotel and would return again.