Lopesan Villa Del Conde Gran Ho Maspalomas

We returned yesterday from a week the Villa Del Conde and the hotel and its gardens do rate a WOW but the food and service are definitely a WOE!!

The hotel itself takes your breath away, it really is spectacular. The rooms are large, the air-con works and is quiet. The grounds are beautiful and like the previous correpondant we kept discovering new areas. Lots of quiet places to sit in the shade, the pools are fab, all 5 of them, there will be 6 when the hotel is finally finished. But and its a big but, the food is definetly not 5*. We have previously stayed at 4* Iberostar and they way surpass this hotel for food and service. There simply are not enough staff. And should you want a late departure room, well unless you have the tenacity of a bulldog, don't bother. The hotel information says to ask on arrival and it will be arranged. We finally manged to arrange to keep our room at 12noon the day of departure and that was only after a meeting with the hotel Director, who by the way was very helpfull. However he did say he thought we were getting a 5* holiday at 4* prices..... Not the most tactful, people has paid full brochure price. He also said he was having difficulty getting staff. It is certainly a beautiful and peaceful place and will probably settle down in the next 12 months but I don't think the food will improve, a Dutch guest told me that he has stayed in the sister hotel and while the service is good the food is the same. Sadly one further niggle, the brochure price for theis hotel next year is approx £900 per week per person but you have to pay extra to use the safe.

My husband and I have just returned this morning from this beautiful hotel.Our first impression on arriving at reception was "WOW"Any picture just doesn't do it justice.Our rooms were huge and very comfortable.The maids clean your room daily and put ladies night gowns in a fan shape with a continental sweetie in middle.It really does take a bit of time to walk round this enormous hotel and we kept finding new bits we hadn't explored previous.The restaurant had an amazing choice of foods to cater for all with show cooking.The waiters on the whole were very attentive however there were a couple of times when after eating our starters and 1/2 way through our main meal we hadn't been approached by a waiter at all for drinks with our meal and trying to get one was impossible as we could only see 2.Given the sheer size of the restaurant they need to have more staff on and I'm sure this is a minor hiccup.However it was a comment made by others we later spoke to at this hotel.Another point we must make is there is some building work going on as they are building a spa onto the hotel but we can honestly say it did not spoil the holiday at all and we were quite secluded from any work going on.Would we go back?Very much!!Look forward to a return trip next year.

Me and my future wife have just returned from a lovelly time. Honestly as all the other reviews say this is a nice place. Book now for next year as all the facilities will be complete by then ie sauna, gym, private beach etc and it mat get more expensive. Mainly a spanish resort, but so what, they were all very nice to us apart from the odd rude one. Food is great.A fish counter and seperate meat counter nightly,made myself sick of king prawns.Loads of spare sun beds and space even though it was full to capacity. A Welcome change. This hotel is setting the standards of the future and it is worth the extra little cost for your holiday stay,if you can pay the extra for two weeks you wont regret it.it is a place we will go to again in the future. Ps they building a nice golf course minutes away .

What a great place. The whole holiday experience at the Villa del Conde is pretty overwhelming. It's a truly 5-start hotel, with sumptious architecture, furnishing and fittings.

The staff are efficient and friendly and all fluent in English, Spanish and German, and despite what a previous review reported, we experienced no bias, always being served promptly and with good humour. A 5-euro tip goes a long way, and perhaps that was the difference.

Maybe the management do read these reports, and have responded to earlier feedback, because we found no problems with the food 'running out' either. Staying on a half board basis we were frequently the last down for breakfast, and the last to leave after dinner, with no queues to mention.

There's live entertainment each evening in the main square, and although of only an average quality, it gives the place some extra life and colour. Having said that, there's really not much to do after 11.00pm, as the disco's not yet completed, and the bars become deserted.

There are a far more sunloungers than guests, and even during the late morning to mid-afternoon busy spell, we found no problem in finding a couple of sunbeds in decent spots.

If staying there, I recomment that you really should go out of out of your way to visit the Spa of the sister 'Grand Hotel'which is about 500 metres away. The Spa at the Villa del Conde is not due for completion until 2006, but the spa facilities, and experience at the sisiter hotel are out of this world. Well worth the 35-euro charge.

My opinion is that this is a terrific hotel, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing holiday.

Stayed in this hotel in February and liked it so much that we returned in July.

Everything was as good as before and the hotel was a lot busier.

Our flight was early and we we able to check in at 05:30 for no extra charge.

I look forward to returning for a third time.

We booked our holiday three weeks before departure using Orchid travel (teletext) best deal ever ! there was very little written in reviews about this hotel.

We arrived and being used to quality hotels the first impressions were we had made a superb choice.

The setting, gardens ,rooms, were all top quality. The rooms were spotless, cleaned every day, huge bed, excellent walk in waldrobe, bathroom and decor.

The food espically the breakfast was good. As we stayed half board which was good value if booked at time of holiday £9.

The only couple of let downs were that if all the seating on the varandor had been taken you sat inside the restuarant which was a little dark as for some reason the curtains were half drawn. Also if you took the later sitting for dinner 1st 18.30-20.00 or 2nd 20.30-10.00 then the food ran out fast and was extremly slow at re-stocking. Please take note that if you turn up sometime after 18.30pm then you only have until 20.00 to finish your meal.

At times we found all the afters had gone and we had to settle for ice cream. Mind you we used to chop and change which was fine with the hotel depending on if you had been on a tour in the day and wanted a late swim.

The meat served for dinner is good quality but like all hotels on these group of islands they will try to serve all red even the chicken at times. You soon get to learn the word well done please .

With that said ,there was choice, but as we only stayed a week did not get too bored with it.

I would recommend the italian resturant on site which is free and needs to be booked at reception 24hours in advance and at times can be booked on the same day. The meal is a set dinner but the service and food is top quality. They need to transfer this over into the buffet one and all would be fine!

The only major bug bear is yes you guessed it the hotel is mainly 90% visitors from other countries. You get use to it i guess as being a regular vistor to the canaries.

I am a great believer that us english on the whole are polite and have manners so why is it we are always the last to get served.

I do believe that once the waiters knew you were english they moved to the spanish and germans before us. Why i don't know as tipping was out of the question as all bills went onto a hotel credit card. Well i put it to the test we were first in queue one eveing and still the last to be asked what drinks we wanted. Also get used to eating with dirty plates on you table as at times once again these sometimes get ignored if your english.

HOTEL CREDIT CARDS! Explanantion as i saw a few people get confused on arrival . When you arrive you have to hand over a credit card as a gaurentee. Then you are handed a room card that has to be handed into the resturant every time you visit for breakfast or dinner. The drinks in the resturant are then put onto your card and you have to settle up either by cash or credit card at the end of your stay.

The bars are either cash or you can use you card . We opted to follow the process of using only for dinner drinks so we could track what we had spent.

The towel situation does not change when you visit a five star. Even though the hotel says they do not allow the reservation of sunlongers they do not inforce it and the best seats are taken even for the ealiest swimmer.

Mind you if you are brave like me take the towels of the seats if they look like they have not been used otherwise they will be there all day and then you see someone appear late on in the day for a swim. Not acceptable.

If you are into keeping fit whilst indulging in the local brew or food, then i would highly recommend the well being classes in the mornings. The instructor is very friendly and great at her job. Try the nordic walking along the beach great experience.

Also the best beer at non hotel prices has to be Paddy's bar. This can be found just past the light house -sign on lamp post. Small bar but a great pint of caffreys or black russian can be consumed. Very friendly and had some great eveings here with the must see singer.

On the whole i will looking to return and look forward to the hotel improving over time with experince. If they read this even though us british are the small majority we do expect equal treatment.

My husband & I have just returned from a week at this hotel & it was excellent. I would describe it as more of a holiday village than a hotel as it covers a huge area with a variety of architecture & colour, not to mention a magnifiscent central square.

The rooms are spacious & well designed with a very nice separate dressing room & seating area. The bathroom is excellent with separate shower cubicle (which doesn't leak) & Jack & Jill sinks. The high standard of assorted lighting is the best I've experienced.

There is plenty of space around the 5 swimming pools & other areas to sunbathe, with no necessity to reserve loungers or parasols. You could certainly find a sechluded spot away from most guests if you prefer peace & quiet.

The food in the main restaurant is good with plenty choice although the 2 sittings for dinner isn't ideal. We chose the 2nd sitting at 8.30pm rather than the early 6.30 option but this means that everyone wants the same course at the same time. Although this wasn't a problem midweek, when the hotel is invaded by spaniards at the week-end, you can queue for a good 20 minutes, just for the main course.

The a la carte restaurant Ovo was a welcome alternative. This serves a set 4 course meal with a different menu each day & you can choose the time you dine. The food was excellent, although no good if you were in a hurry as service was 'relaxed'. The good news is that there is no extra cost if you are staying on a half board basis.

The spa area & gym are still under construction & don't look like they'll be ready for another few months but this didn't spoil our stay. The disco was open Friday & Saturday nights only.

We will definately return to this hotel which certainly deserves its 5 star rating.

We stayed here for 11 nights from the 2nd July to 13th July 2005.

We booked two standard rooms, for 4 people, through Hotelopia and booked our flights separately.

The hotel is truly excellent, the rooms are we appointed, well kept and very comfortable. Its nice to have a separate dressing room and the sofa in each room was very useful as you don't have to lounge on the bed if you want a rest in the day!

The hotel lobby, which is apparently a replica of a genuine Canarian church, is stunning and features a cocktail bar, grand piano and plenty of seating. There is a helpful concierge and a cash desk as well as the standard reception. The service from the staff at reception was always good. Also located in the same building is the Disco Tizziri although as this is not yet opened.

The hotel grounds are very well planted and at time it feels like you are walking through a tropical garden. The pools are large, there are 4 regular pools, 1 saltwater pool and 1 childrens pool. All of the pools are well maintained and even at the weekends when the hotel was full most people didn't seem to want to swim you could virtually have the pool to yourself!

There is an artificial beach on the edge of one pool. Loungers and sun shades are plentiful. There is a pool snack bar by one of the pools, this can get very busy and at times it takes a long time to get served (this is probably as this is a new hotel and the staff need time to familiarise themselves with the job)!

We stayed on a Bed & Breakfast basis and found the breakfast to be of a good standard, the food was fresh and the range was wide. Also breakfast was available from 7.00am to 11.00am so there is no need to get up too early if you don't wish to.

One evening we paid 30 Euros each to go to the Buffet evening meal which has two sittings. We went to the later sitting and found the food to be of a reasonable quality with the chefs cooking a large range of meats and fish to order. The deserts were very nice! However we felt the if you were not staying on a half board basis 30 Euros for the evening meal was slightly on the expensive side.

It should be noted that as this is very new hotel not every facility is open yet. The disco looked virtually finished and the Thalassotherapy and gym centre looks as if it won't be finished for at least 3 or 4 months. However there really is minimal disruption to guests and in our opinion this hotel will only improve with age although it is already very very good.

Just a quick note on the surrounding area: The hotel is on the edge of Maspalomas in an area called Meloneras or Costa Meloneras. This is a new area. Around 300metres walk in one direction is Meloneras beach along with the Centro Commercial Meloneras which is a new shopping centre which is largely empty apart from the ground floor where there is about 6/7 restaurants and a few small shops/supermarkets.

Around 800 metres in the other directions are the Maspalomas Dunes, Maspolmas Lighthouse, Boulevard El Faro and the Varadero Shopping Centre. The Varadero has a large number of shops and cafes and Boulevard El Faro has about 10 restaurants and bars as well as a large number of very expensive designer shops. There are one or two lively bars but no nightclubs etc.

All in all we had an excellent holiday here and would truly recommend this hotel. The hotel is not an overly pretentious 5 star hotel and provides a good standard of accomodation in a relaxed beachside setting.

This is a hotel everyone should try. If you can afford it, don't choose any other in the area, or even come to Maspalomas just because of this hotel - it is worth it!

Sumptuous architecture, beautifully decorated, wonderful swimming pools, the nicest staff. You'll find yourself admiring this hotel for the whole of your stay.

One thing though: the food may not be the best, but it is good.

Note: if you are expecting full-blown luxury don't even think about it. This is a beach hotel so it is a relaxed one. It is a low-profile luxury, you have everything you need, not more. And this proves to be an excellent recipe for one to enjoy one's holiday with a lot of comfort but also with the relaxed attitude that sometimes is missing from a 5 star hotel.

We went there in June 2005 and the majority of clientele was german. But staff will equally speak english, french and portuguese... (I didn't try other languages)

So, go and enjoy!!!

PERFECT. The staff, the rooms, the food, the location, all are without a doubt the best. One experience that I think speaks volumes about the hotel however, I will share.

We decided to lunch poolside one day (Semana Santa - busiest time of year I think) and were seated on the far side of the restaurant at one of the last remaining tables. Fine. We had the most inexperienced waiter who knew nothing about the menu (likely new). We were ignored by him and then the maitrede when I went up to address the problem. A few moments later the table fell on me because a foot broke off of the bottom. Before I could ask for him, the General Manager was by my side asking if I was okay. I shared with him the details of my lunch experience and how displeased my guests and I were. Not only did he comp half of our meal, but he invited us down to a private dinner, under the stars, where we had champagne and grilled rock lobster -- all you can eat and ON THE HOUSE. Any experienced traveler would agree that this is the level of service you expect from a five-star establishment. They can admit when they make mistakes and then make it up the guest such that it doesn't hinder your opinion of the hotel or the restaurant one bit.

With the exception of those two individuals, everyone you meet is lovely and at least tri-lingual. The rooms are complete with a large bathroom, a separate dressing room, bedroom, sitting area, large veranda. If you have the option to stay here and select another locale -- your vacation will not be as great as it could have been otherwise.