A week in Gran Canaria: Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort Spa & Casino

[AD: This post is sponsored by Jet2 Holidays]

If you’re a longtime reader of this blog, it’ll come as absolutely no surprise to you to learn that Terry and I are big fans of the Canary Islands.

I wrote a lengthy defense of the islands a few years ago, so I won’t repeat myself (I mean, I probably WILL repeat myself, knowing me, but at least you’ll be prepared for it now…) other than to say that when Jet2Holidays got in touch recently to ask if we’d like to review one of their Gran Canaria hotels (The Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort, to be exact…), let’s just say we didn’t have to think too hard about our answer. Especially when the words “heated infinity pool” and “swim up bar” were mentioned. Look guys, it’s a tough gig, but someone’s got to do it, right?

Our flights

Our return flights to Gran Canaria, plus 7 days bed and breakfast accommodation at the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort were kindly provided by Jet2Holidays, however we paid for everything else ourselves, including evening meals, car hire and activities, and although this particular trip was sponsored by Jet2, I do want to add that we’ve traveled with them several times before (Most recently to Tenerife, back in March), so this is a brand that we’re very happy to spend our own money with, and to recommend to you.

We flew from Glasgow Airport (You can find more holidays from Glasgow Airport here), and, as usual, our flights were both right on time, and totally seamless from start to finish. Jet2 is a budget airline, but thanks to the slimline seats they use, I find they have more legroom than some other airlines we’ve used, and I was easily able to stow my gigantic holdall (Note to self: no, Amber, you probably WON’T need the extra jacket and oversized scarf next time…) under the seat in front.

(Max spent the flight drawing pictures of people missing their flights, and did NOT want to stop to take this photo, Sorry, Max…)

Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort

The flight time from Glasgow to Gran Canaria is just under 5 hours, and, once we’d landed, it was just a 20 minute drive from the airport to our hotel: the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort Spa & Casino, which is part of Jet2Holidays Luxe Collection. (We opted to hire a car for the duration of our stay, so we could explore the island a bit, but you can, of course, choose to take the coach provided by Jet2.)

It was dark by the time we arrived, unfortunately, so we didn’t get the full effect of the place until the next morning, but I have just two words for you, which sum up this hotel for me:

Scented air.

Inside and out.

OK, so that was technically five words, but trust me: this hotel smells like HEAVEN. As Max and I sat in reception, waiting for Terry to check us in, I kept sniffing the air like a bloodhound, trying to work out where the scent was coming from, but the only conclusion I reached was that it was coming from EVERYWHERE – both inside the lobby and just outside it. And it smelt so good I wanted to bottle it and bring it home with me, I kid you not.

Oh, and it looked pretty good, too:

This is the lobby (Pictured the next morning or… sometime), and Max literally NEVER got over the existence of that chandelier. I think he thought he was in a palace or something. And it did feel a bit like that, to be fair.

By now, it was way past everyone’s bedtime, so we unpacked the essentials and went straight to bed. In the morning, we woke up to this:

The pools you can see in this photo belong to the hotel’s spa, and are just two of the many pools on the grounds. The lighthouse in the background, meanwhile, is the Faro de Maspalomas, and it’s actually right next to the beach, which the hotel leads onto. It’s an absolutely perfect location (Terry and I have visited the area twice before, so we know it quite well, and, as well as the beach itself, there’s tons of little shops and restaurants dotted along this stretch of the coast. It’s quite an upmarket part of Gran Canaria, and is much more peaceful than neighbouring Playa des Ingles, for example, so it’s the perfect base for a family holiday, with more than enough to keep you occupied, but no noisy clubs etc to disturb your stay.

But more on that later. For now, it’s back to the hotel, and I have to apologize for these photos of our room: because we arrived so late, I had to wait until the next day to take photos, and by that point we’d already created our usual level of mess, so please overlook the swimsuits on the balcony / juice bottle graveyard, and focus instead on the gigantic bed and gorgeous bathroom…

Our room at Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort:

(During dinner on our last night, Max heaved a contented sigh and said, “I just can’t wait to get all snuggled up in my bed. It’s so much comfier than the one at home!” This is a child who has literally NEVER wanted to go to bed in his life, so it looks like we’re going bed shopping sometime soon…)

This bathroom, by the way, came stocked with absolutely everything you could ever need: so, not just the usual shampoo and body wash, but also cleanser, toner, body scrub, and full-sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the shower. The hairdryer, meanwhile, was a real one (as opposed to those wall-mounted ones you often find in hotels, which make your hair hotter than the surface of the sun without actually drying it…), and we also had thick toweling robes, an endless supply of towels (Including three beach towels, which came complete with their own bag to carry them around in), and… wait for it… a shoe cleaning mitt. Because no hotel room is complete without one, amiright?

As I mentioned, we were staying at the Lopesan on a bed and breakfast basis, so every morning started with us quickly getting dressed, before heading down to the hotel’s vast restaurant area. When we checked in, Terry and I were both given wristbands to wear. Now, I normally HATE these things (And was once almost thrown out of a hotel in Tenerife because I’d removed the neon green plastic wristband, on account of it clashing with my outfit, Yes, I hate me too sometimes…), but luxury holidays with Jet2Holidays mean you get one of these quite tasteful wristbands instead:

As well as giving us access to the breakfast hall, these also contained a little gadget which opened the door of our room (This was SO handy: I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve walked all the way to my hotel room on other holidays, only to discover I’ve left my keycard by the pool or whatever), and allowed us to buy food and drinks at the various bars and restaurants around the complex. The cost was added to our room tab, and we paid at the end of our stay, which was really convenient, as it meant we didn’t have to bring money or cards with us to the pool each day.

(I’m actually still wearing my wrist band as I write this. I’ve told Max I can’t get it off, but the truth is, I just don’t WANT to. It feels so… final, somehow.)

But the breakfast!

Guys, it was SPECTACULAR.

Breakfast at Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort

Breakfast was served buffet style, and, as well as the usual toast, eggs, bacon, fruit etc, there was also a dizzying array of cereal and baked goods, along with dishes like Eggs Benedict, and even free champagne, which you could simply help yourself to:

Every night I told myself I was going to have a decadent glass of champagne with breakfast in the morning, like Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous or something. Then, every morning, I remembered that Max wakes up before 7am, and, as much as I love me some bubbles, that’s a little bit too early, even for me. So I stuck to the coffee and orange juice. Like a peasant. did treat myself to some donuts and pancakes though, which I figured was decadent enough. Living dangerously over here, for sure.

Speaking of donuts, Max could not BELIEVE that they were on the menu for breakfast. It honestly blew his mind. I have never seen him so happy. And, in related news, I now have about 150 photos and videos of donuts on my camera roll, which he insisted I take, so if you need a donut shot, you know who to come to.

This is one of the two outdoor seating areas we had the choice of for breakfast. There’s also a huge indoor area which you can use if you prefer, but the temperature was close to 30 degrees the entire week, and if you’re about to tell me that’s too hot, let me just remind you that Scotland skipped summer altogether this year, so you better believe we were going to make the most of the sunshine while we had the opportunity. We’re Scottish. There’s no such thing as “too hot” in our language. Also, as the Famous Five used to say, don’t you think food always tastes so much nicer outdoors?

(Yes, Julian, it does.)

The pool(s)

So, having gushed over the interior of this hotel, I’m now going to gush even more by telling you that the pool area is even better. I’m sorry, I don’t get out much these days, so this was all very exciting to me, as you can tell.

According to the Jet2 website, the Lopesan Costa Meloneras has five pool areas, and I’m honestly not even sure we made it round them all, because the grounds are so vast you could probably wander around them for hours and never get bored. Oh, and also because it proved REALLY hard for us to make it past the main pool, which is an infinity pool with its own man-made beach:

I’m probably going to be thinking about this place for the rest of my life – it was THAT perfect.

I’m a known wuss when it comes to getting into swimming pools (They’re almost always far too cold for me, even on a blistering hot day), but this one was heated to exactly the right temperature to make it easy to get into, but not too warm to swim in.

Max absolutely loved it. I think he’d have just lived in it if he’d had the chance, and we ended up spending a few hours here every day. As well as the little beach beside it, this pool has its own bar, and we always managed to get a table right by the water, so whoever wasn’t in the pool with Max could sit and enjoy the view. And, well, the cocktails.

This is, however, just one of the pools at the hotel. There’s also another one with a swim-up bar:

One with a full-blown waterfall slap in the middle of it:

(This one also had “cave toilets” near it, which Max was very tickled with….)

And one which just meandered through the tropical grounds, like a lazy river:

Hotel Entertainment

As we were traveling with a four year old, we unfortunately didn’t get to try out the spa or casino which are also on site, but there was entertainment in the hotel grounds every evening, in the form of various different singers, which Terry and I could sit and listen to from our balcony once Max was in bed. (Fortunately the sound-proofing on the rooms was excellent, so he wasn’t bothered by the noise, and if we’d wanted to go to sleep early, we could have…) There’s also a children’s club, which, again, we didn’t use, as we just kept Max with us, but it gets great reviews, so would be something to consider for next time.

Overall, this was quite possibly the nicest hotel we’ve ever had the pleasure of staying in – so much so that I’ve written so much about it that I’m going to have to save my tales of everything else we did on Gran Canaria for a separate post. Look out for that one later this week; and, for now, you can check out more family holidays with Jet2Holidays here. If you want to know what to do Gran Ganaria then check out this site.