During our half-term break to Gran Canaria in October the Cay Beach Princess became our home for the week.
Chosen for it’s over-sized pool and proximity to all the local amenities; this being not too close but not too far away either, we were not disappointed. The price was very tempting too, having just moved house it made for a well deserved little treat!
Locality
The Cay Beach Bungalows are situated on the outskirts of Maspalomas and about 30 minutes coach transfer from the airport. Now, with us being quiet types we prefer staying a little further away from the action and like to get taxi’s as and when we decide to find it. With taxi’s readily available and fantastically priced (between £3-£6 to both Maspalomas and Meloneras), jumping in one for the short 2-3 minute journey was no problem.
The drivers were all super friendly which made it ever so comfortable when Charlie and I ventured to Meloneras on our own. This was the last evening after our adventure to the local hospital! I’ll link the story here if you fancy hearing what happened! (There’s always a drama while we’re away!) The staff at reception will happily order you one and the pull up in no time, quite often only a few minutes later.
Outside the hotel are bus stops which take you to different resorts around Gran Canaria such as Puerto Rico and Puerto Mogán. Again, prices were low and was an easy and memorable experience. The boys loved the adventure! A short walk away, behind Cay Beach, you will find the pick-up and drop-off points for the free shuttle service to and from the local theme parks. The hotel is also a short walk to Holiday World – an amusement centre and restaurant plaza
Inside the hotel
As I mentioned, we chose Cay Beach not only for where it was situated but for the swimming pool. We do love a good pool! Not only was there the main lagoon style pool but there was a smaller heated pool complete with jacuzzi area. (Note: The small pool is only heated in the winter months) Both pools are impeccably clean and had the most fantastic lifegauard on duty throughout the day, up until 5pm. Charlie had a little incident and grazed his knee, she came over to him straight away and soon put a smile back on his face. To the side of the smaller pool was a paddling pool for the younger ones to splash and play. A lot of children, including our own took inflatables into the water, trust Spencer to choose the biggest in the shop! (A huge whale!)
Sun-loungers were plentiful and were dotted around the edge of the pool as well as on the raised sundecks. We aren’t ones to get up at the crack of dawn to save ourselves 4 sunbeds so we were pleasantly surprised to find spare ones, especially with it being the school holidays. The pool area had it’s own bar which sold drinks, snacks, meals and ice-creams. The staff there were all great, so friendly and even opened the kitchen back up when we first arrived at 10pm to cook us hungry travellers a pizza – so kind! On that note, you need to try their pizzas! – Ok, we only stuck to margheritas for the boys but still it was the best margherita pizza I’d had in a long time. Drinks were fine but quite pricey, unless it was happy hour where you get 2 for 1 on any drink you order. This was between 4 and 5pm. Most nights we visited Meloneras (only 2/3 minutes in a taxi) where we found better entertainment and lower priced drinks (even from the 4* and 5* hotels!) Ice-creams were pre-packed (Magnums, Smarties, Twisters etc), they were all reasonably priced. They were the same price you’d find in the little shop next door.
Speaking of which was very handy to have! The shop is outside the main entrance to the hotel and sells everything you’d need. We nipped in for fresh bread, milk and snacks when we fancied. It is slightly more expensive than the local supermarkets but easier than walking back with lots of heavy bags, like we did on our first day! (We didn’t realise how inexpensive a taxi would have been at that point!)
The restaurant to the hotel serves breakfast and dinner – something I can’t comment on as we didn’t use it. From what I saw, breakfast looked pretty delicious but we tended to eat in our villa or ate out in Meloneras. We did order omelette from the pool bar one day and it was very tasty although was quite pricey for what it was. Towards the back of the hotel there was a mini golf area which again we didn’t use, I think with it being out of sight we forgot it was there, otherwise it would have been a fun activity. There was also a kids club room (although this was closed during our stay), little play area and a games area with pool tables and air hockey which was popular with the children. Evening entertainment changed each night with singers or bands playing at the pool bar. We only usually saw the last moments of their acts as we were usually back late from our evenings out.
Our Room
Caybeach Princess consists of a main reception area, lobby, restaurant, seperate pool bar and games area. Accommdation is set within the grounds as semi-detached single story bungalows. These are either one or two bedrooms and each have their own front sun terrace. These are not private as such but there is plenty of shrubbery to feel a little more sheltered.
The villas (or bungalows) are very spacious and airy. Windows are covered with shutters which lend privacy in the evenings. You enter into the living area through french doors. There is plenty of storage, large TV, coffee table and two large sofas which double up as single beds.
We took the matteresses off these and put them on the foor for Spencer and Charlie to sleep on, I always worry they will hurt themselves if they were to fall out nto the hard tiled floor! We didn’t realise until the last day there was a pull out bed underneath the sofa so didn’t have to pull them off every night!
A couple of steps up is the dining room with a good sized dining table and 4 chairs. From there you enter the well equipped kitchen through a doorway. There is plenty of cupboard space with pots, pans and cutlery. Appliances included a two ring hob, toaster, kettle, microwave and fridge with small freezer compartment. These all worked well apart from the broken toaster, which you had to stand holding until the bread was toasted. Non the less it did the job. There was also the sink and drainer with tremendously hot water. Now, when we read reviews (and it also mentioned this in the villa), we were expecting there to be only cold water in the kitchen. This wasn’t the case in our kitchen, so much so we had to be careful not to burn our hands! I’m not sure if the hot water issues are only affecting a small section of the property?
The kitchen opened on to an enclosed yard area which was handy to keep our gigantic pool floats in and to dry towels and clothes on the airing rack.
Just off the dining room was the bedroom to the left and the large bathroom to the right.
First the bedroom… Air conditioned and roomy with a large comfortable but firm bed. This was two single mattresses together so unfortunately had a bit of a gap down the middle – this was’t a big issue for us). In the corner there was a small vanity shelf with mirror above and the opposite side of the room had a bank of sliding mirrored wardrobes which housed extra blankets, pillows and an electronic safe. There was also more hangers that we expected so that’s pretty handy when you’re travelling as a family.
Across the hallway was the bathroom which was surprisingly large. As you walked in there was a large vanity area with sink and mirror and plenty of space to keep creams and lotions. On the wall to the right was a built in hairdryer which looked as though it had been there from when the complex was built. It did it’s job but I’d recommend taking your own. Further into the bathroom was a bidet, toilet and bath with shower overhead. Unfortunately instead of a glass shower screen they had a curtain instead. I understand why as they’re easier to replace and can be cleaned easily, but we’re not lovers of shower curtains! The bathroom was absolutely spotless and towels were changed each day by the maids, toilet rolls were replenished daily as well as the bins. The rest of he villa was just as clean and the maids were all friendly. (When we saw them).
All in all our stay at the Cay Beach Princess was a pleasant experience and certainly would stay here again. We definitely all give it a thumbs up! Everywhere was clean, the grounds were beautifully kept and all the staff were wonderful.
If there is anymore information you’d like to know about Cay Beach Princess or the surrounding areas please do leave your question in the comment section below.
Or, let us know if you have stayed at the Cay Beach Princess, what were your thoughts?
See The World With The Kids 