Punta del Rey

"Punta del Rey is a relatively small adults only complex and therefore has a pool proportionate to the size of the property. It is not attempting to provide an enormous lagoon pool for 800 hotel guests. Personally, that is part of what I like about it. There is something wonderfully straightforward about going downstairs, finding a lounger, having a swim and looking out towards the sea without children's entertainment, water slides, whistles and organised activities happening around you every fifteen minutes. Adults only also seems to be misunderstood. It means adults only. It does not mean every adult staying there will be silent. It does not mean every guest will have the same bedtime. It does not transform a holiday apartment complex into a Swiss wellness retreat. It simply removes one significant source of noise and activity from the equation, which for many couples and older travellers is exactly why they choose it. Then there are the “extras”. This is another area where I think some reviewers lose all sense of proportion. Budget and mid market accommodation often structures its pricing differently from large hotels. Certain optional facilities or services may carry an additional charge. Prospective guests should absolutely check what their booking includes, especially things such as air conditioning, WiFi, safes or other optional equipment. But there is a perfectly legitimate conversation to be had about whether one would rather pay a lower base accommodation price and choose extras, or pay considerably more upfront for a hotel where everything is bundled into the rate. What is not particularly reasonable is booking the cheaper model and then writing as though optional charges amount to some extraordinary moral betrayal. If air conditioning is absolutely essential to you, especially during the hottest periods of August and September, then make that one of the first things you check when booking accommodation anywhere in Gran Canaria. That is sensible travel planning. The same applies to WiFi. The same applies to accessibility. The same applies to catering. Read what you are buying. The staff deserve an entirely separate mention because this is probably what annoys me most when I see Punta del Rey reduced to a list of complaints about furniture and steps. Aday, Raquel, Sergio and Oscar work extraordinarily hard. These are real people dealing day after day with arrivals, departures, questions, maintenance issues, directions, requests and all the strange little situations that arise when dozens of people from different countries are living temporarily under the same roof. In a smaller complex like Punta del Rey, guests actually see the same people repeatedly. They are not an anonymous corporate workforce disappearing through a staff door. That personal element is increasingly rare. And some of the people criticising the property most aggressively still manage to acknowledge that the staff were helpful or friendly. That should tell prospective guests something. None of this means Punta del Rey is perfect. Of course it isn't. An older apartment may occasionally require maintenance. A guest may find the mattress different from what they prefer. Somebody may wish a particular facility were included rather than charged separately. Somebody else may find Gran Canaria too hot without air conditioning. Another person may simply hate stairs. Those are legitimate individual observations. But they need proportion. A holiday is seven or fourteen days of your life. If you wake up to sunshine, sit on a balcony overlooking Puerto Rico harbour, walk down to the Atlantic, spend the afternoon around a clean pool, have friendly staff who know you by sight, eat somewhere along the coast and then return to an adults only complex at night, I find it bizarre to describe the entire experience as catastrophic because the décor was not contemporary or because Puerto Rico contains hills."

"I have read enough of the complaints about Punta del Rey now that I genuinely think somebody needs to say this plainly. There is an enormous difference between a property being bad and a guest booking completely the wrong type of property for what they personally wanted. Punta del Rey is a small, adults only apartment complex overlooking Puerto Rico harbour. It is not a five star resort. It is not an all inclusive hotel. It is not a newly built luxury complex in Meloneras. It is traditional holiday accommodation in one of the oldest established resort areas in the south of Gran Canaria. Yet some reviews seem to judge it against precisely those standards. People complain about stairs as though somebody secretly constructed a mountain after they booked. Puerto Rico is built inside the Barranco de Puerto Rico. Look around the resort for five minutes and this becomes obvious. The apartments rise up both sides of the valley. Agua La Perra is on one side, the main Puerto Rico hillside is on the other, and countless complexes throughout the resort require either steps, slopes, lifts or taxis. Punta del Rey sits above the harbour and Puerto Rico beach. That elevated position is precisely WHY it has the enormous open views over the marina and Atlantic that people photograph from their balconies. You cannot simultaneously demand an elevated sea view and become outraged that sea level is below you. If stairs are genuinely a mobility issue, that is completely understandable. Puerto Rico may not be the easiest resort for somebody with restricted mobility unless they use taxis. Fortunately, taxis here are plentiful and short journeys around Puerto Rico are inexpensive. There is also a supermarket on the upper road around the level of the complex, so there is absolutely no requirement to carry enormous bottles of water and shopping all the way up from the bottom of the resort. This is the sort of practical information that is actually useful to prospective guests, rather than simply writing “too many steps” six times. The location itself is excellent if you know the area. Directly below is the Puerto Rico waterfront and marina. The port is right there, where many of the excursion and fishing boats operate. Puerto Rico beach is below the property. Head around the coast and you can walk towards Amadores, which in my view is still one of the nicest purpose built beaches in the south. In the opposite direction you have Agua La Perra and its marina side restaurants. Around the Escuela de Vela area there are transport connections that make it extremely easy to get out towards Puerto de Mogán, Arguineguín, Maspalomas and elsewhere. So when I read reviews portraying Punta del Rey as though it were somehow stranded in an inaccessible wilderness, I honestly wonder whether we are discussing the same place. Then there are the complaints about the apartments being “basic”. Yes. They are holiday apartments. They have never been marketed as suites at the Ritz Carlton. The entire point is that somebody can stay independently, have their own space, use kitchen facilities, sit on a balcony, spend the day around the pool or beach and eat wherever they fancy in Puerto Rico rather than paying the considerably higher prices associated with a full service hotel. Basic and dirty are also NOT synonyms, although Tripadvisor sometimes appears to treat them as such. One thing Punta del Rey deserves considerably more credit for is cleanliness. The communal areas are constantly attended to. The pool terrace is kept clean. The apartments are serviced. The whole place is orderly. Furniture being traditional or a building being older does not mean somebody has failed to clean it. This distinction seems extraordinarily difficult for some reviewers. A newly installed white bedside table with dust on it is dirty. An older wooden bedside table that has been thoroughly cleaned is old fashioned. Those are two entirely different observations. The pool area is another example."

"I know Punta del Rey and Puerto Rico very well and honestly some of the reviews make me wonder whether people actually looked at where they were booking before arriving!! Puerto Rico is built into a volcanic valley. Yes, it goes UP!!! There are stairs everywhere. Apartments on both sides of the barranco are built into the hills because that is literally the geography of the place. Complaining that Punta del Rey has steps is a bit like going to Venice and being shocked to find canals 😂 And actually, the location is really good. You are directly above the Puerto Rico marina, with Puerto Base below, the beach very close, restaurants everywhere and the coastal walk towards Amadores nearby. If you walk towards the Escuela de Vela area you also have buses for Puerto de Mogán, Maspalomas and other parts of the island. Taxis are everywhere and cost very little for short journeys. What people dont mention enough is the VIEW. Looking over the marina, Puerto Rico beach and the Atlantic in the morning is genuinely beautiful. I would much rather have that than a completely flat location staring into another apartment block. The complex itself is adults only and relatively small. That means it is quiet and uncomplicated. It does not mean there will be five restaurants, a spa, entertainment until midnight and someone carrying your suitcase around. Aday, Raquel, Sergio and Oscar deserve mentioning too. They are lovely people and work extremely hard. Because Punta del Rey is smaller, you actually get to know the staff rather than feeling like room number 423 in a giant hotel. It is also kept very clean. The pool area and communal spaces are looked after constantly and the apartments are straightforward but well maintained. Yes, check what your booking includes. If air conditioning is essential, book accordingly. If you cannot manage stairs, use taxis or choose something completely flat. But for adults wanting sunshine, a pool, an amazing view, Puerto Rico and Amadores on the doorstep and decent value for money, there is honestly a lot to like here."