LANZAROTE - Our Holdiay Island ! 
The second time we went to Lanzarote, we stayed at the hotel above. Since
then we have
been all over Puerto del Carmen, and since we always wanted to walk down southwards
from the old part of the city, we have preferred staying in the other end.
The hotel above,
is situated in a area called Matagorda, not too far from the airport. Secondly,
it has a few
rooms on the back-side, where no sun is shining, at least not in winter-time,
and we love
to have the morningsun into our terrasse during our breakfast. So, this time,
our 8th visit,
we did not wish to go to this part of Puerto del Carmen, we hoped for a place
in the Old
Town. And if we should still be placed in the Matagorda-area, we definitely
did not wish
to be placed at the SOL-Lanzarote Hotel, which is the name of the above hotel
today.
I guess you can imagine what happened? And why not.... And if we ever
come back
to Lanzarote again, we would certainly enjoy another stay here. We even talk
about
paying that extra (we normally jump on last-minute trips, with no hotel or
anything
else guaranteed).
What had happened? May be it is because we now are ten years older...
But most of all, we were placed in a room with a beautiful view towards the
beach,
and - of course - with the sun in the morning! Yes, we did not missthe sun
till early in the
afternoon, about 14.00 local time. Later, during spring, summer and autumn,
it will
even last longer.
View from our room at dawn!
(Click here for larger view)
Secondly, the Government of Lanzarote has done a very good job, making
the whole
of the Matagorda area a friendly place to stay. Before, we had the main-road,
with
busses (and you bet there are a lot of them on the island), taxis, private
cars, and not
to forget all the tourists in their rented cars. That main-road was between
the hotel
and the beach, making it more or less dangerously to anyone - especially children
-
to try to get to the other side of the road, and it has now been closed to
all trafic!
A new throughway is zig-zagging through the upper part of Matagorda, which
makes
a trip with the bus an exciting ride in narrow streets, up and down, to the
left and to
the right. But that's another story.
So, now the beach, which at times are more than 60 m (180feet) broad when
sea is
low, and at least 20 m broad when the sea is high, are a place where families
can enjoy
the sun and the sand more than ever. And they do. I should think it would
be difficult
to find another place that family-friendly. As the sea goes out twice daily,
it leaves
behind a small narrow dam, from 30 cm (1 foot) deep at first, and as the water
is
disappearing during the next few hours, it is the most wonderful place for
all babies,
smaller children , grown ups and adults to play at absolutely no risk.
Of cours there are risks on the beach, too. But only if you wish to try
out the
forces of nature. From time to time there are rather high waves rumbling into
the
beach. They can be as high as 2 meters (7 feet), and once, being assaulted
by such
when not keeping my eyes that way, I was thrown around - lost my spectacles
-
and was rather confused when I got my head above again. That was by high-water,
and the next morning, 40 meters further out on the now dry beach, guess what
was
lying in the sand? Sometimes you are more lucky than you deserve.
Well, I was counting good reasons to stay at this hotel. Here is the third,
fourth, fifth and so on:
During our stay, they just finished a lovely, romantic outdoor restaurant,
with view over the
seaside. Lunch and dinner are served á la carte, and the bar is open
at night.
The service you get in the reception is excellent, and the whole place
is very nice and clean.
There are miniclubs for children, shows every night, nice equipped rooms,
with cooking-utensils
as they call it, and of course refrigerator to keep your drinks cold.
Which brings me to another point, where our experience if brought to focus.
The water
in Lanzarote comes from a saltwater destillery, and is a bit salty. Suitable
for coffee if
you are not too sensitive, but you might as well do as most other tourists
if you don't
wish to have a stomack-pain or else during your stay. Buy the water, but for
all sake -
buy 5 litres at a time, they cost just the same as 1 or 1-1/2 or 2 liter bottles...
And for some reason, the prices at the supermarket in the hotel, here
just as well
as in other hotels, are higher than in the supermarket just a 100
yards away. Wonder why? Every morning several guests went our for their
small fresh and crispy canary-breads and almost everyone went to the supermarket
at the nearby shopping-center.
I could go on and on, but somewhere I have to stop - there are other stories
to tell also.
So if you wish to learn more about this beautiful hotel, send an e-mail to
them.
I do believe they will appreciate it, and if you refer to this site, may be
they
will do even more than that.... sol.lanzarote@solmelia.es
this page is NOT sponsored by the SOL Melia Hotel Group
