Apartamentos Tamaragua — Hotel in San Bartolomé de Tirajana

8-21/3/22||||We three middle aged brits had booked a fortnight in Gran Canaria in this resort. ||||We arrived on a Tuesday evening having got off the express 66 bus (from the main airport) at the Jumbo centre (although the previous stop Plaza Maspolomas is just as close) and walked the 500m to the gates of the resort. On ringing the bell on the gate we were buzzed in, went down the path to reception to meet the masked concierge who checked us in. He took us to the lift which would take us to the fourth floor. Unfortunately it was tiny and a sign specified one person only (with suitcases). I walked up the stairs, no big deal for me but be aware of this.||||The apartment 412 was directly by the stairs. In we went to find a fairly spacious and clean space with a kitchen to the left, twin bedroom to the right, proper BATHroom, a larger twin bedroom all leading off a long lounge with a fairly big balcony at the end separated by a big sliding glazed door.||||Kitchen ||Steel sink, plug and draining board with crockery draining cupboard above. Induction 2 hob at end by big fridge freezer (fed by a single socket behind, make sure you close the main door properly, this on (421) stuck slightly ajar). Shared lounge work surface with the only available electrical socket, servicing a simple microwave and filter coffee maker. A variety of pans, frying pan, plates, egg cups, teacups, saucers, wide bowls, tumblers, small glasses, small wine glasses, cutlery. A small steel teapot poured most of the tea behind it so near useless. Cooking implements were ok, including corkscrew (with broken screw), whisk, spatula, soup ladle, cheese planer, bread knife, chopping board, lemon squeezer, white China salad bowl, blue plastic fruit bowl, tray and (hurrah) an ice tray in the freezer! A welcome sealed kit of nylon sponge, washing towel and washing up liquid was welcome (it lasted us the fortnight). Under the sink was a bin and dustpan and brush, a small broom would have helped us as we are self catering and cleaning! The only light was a central overhead light with a low powered LED in it. As there were no sockets near the sink I could not plug my emergency bulb anywhere to shed light on preparing food as one worked in one's shadow from the light above. I plugged it into the shared surface, double thankfully, socket which was low, too far away and so inadequate. I wonder sometimes if architects actually cook! If you are working at the shared surface mind your head against the shelf above.||||On the first day we broke to small tumblers as I had put them in the freezer to chill for some white wine. We replaced them cheaply from the big Chinese Shop in San Fernando. We also added a big matching white tea mug, working waiters friend and two tall cocktail tumblers. I nearly bought a measuring jug too! ||||The lack of a kettle was the most annoying thing but I ordered one from the reception so it was not standard issue. It arrived before we got back from the pool, brand new! In the lounge was a notice saying you could rent a microwave, toaster and towels for the pool.||||The furniture throughout the apartment is pine. ||||Main lounge||A 32 inch modern led with hdmi, usb, etc. sockets for playing your own films as there is nothing in English available as it is geared to northern Europeans. Diamonds are Forever on VOX in German was not quite the same as the original (and they cut off the credits!!!). Euronews' dubbing options did not work, oh well, no catching up on the so sad UA situation then! This is a shortfall though and ought to be corrected as in high season I'm sure English speakers would expect it. ||||A long sofa, two matching armchairs were centred round a long coffee table with a glass top. A glass topped sideboard was under the TV, itself under a print (with a print opposite over the sofabed). General and Covid (a bit outdated) rules were displayed under the glass. There were two central ceiling lamps controlled independently from both ends of the room (plus an independent lamp in the corridor). A modern standard lamp was in the corner without a bulb (I usually bring my own LED just in case, it paid off this time to make the lounge less dark. Full length black out curtains and curtains were present across the end full length glazed windows to the balcony.||||The armchair and sofabed had no pillows but bed pillows worked fine. There is no A/C in this South facing apartment. This was no problem in March. Opening the back bedroom windows and south windows or doors would create a draught. There are slide windows above the balcony doors.||||Three chunky bar stools were lined up under the shared kitchen table. I used them for other things.||||Corridor side Bedroom||Two single beds with overhead bedlamps, central bedside table with drawers. A central light was switched by the door or bed array. A wall of fitted cupboards with plenty of coat hangers and shelves. Extra blanket and pillows inside. A small mirror was on the wall by the door. Above the bed was a set of high windows, one slatted but openable.||||Under the living room sideboard glass were the hotel instructions and rules, including not behaving in a scandalous manner! Lucky I have left politics far behind! A telephone to reception was available, never used by us.||||Unfortunately the room only had one available socket for devices which was used by the standard lamp (the TV and phone took up the other two), obviously a hangover from less device led days. As usual I bring my own multi-adapter which served me well, albeit a bit loose! These are readily available (as are extension leads) in larger chinese stores, having come on a slow boat.||||Balcony||It was off season so instead of noisy revellers at night you got angle grinders in the distance during the day working on roads or hotel refurbishments. I bit annoying but generally quiet. A ceiling light was controlled from inside. There were no electric sockets for devices (I usually bring my own ten foot extensions!). A convenient run of clothes drying lines was installed. A circular upvc table and matching chairs took up most of the space. For meals outside I borrowed a bar stool from the shared breakfast table. ||||Our balcony had a narrow view of the sea between two buildings either side of the wiggly road. It was directly in front of the crown of the only (large) palm tree of the south side of the complex so we were entertained by the odd bird resting on it.||||Occasionally we had a waft of what I thought originally was bad plumbing but ended up as scent from a plant (maybe the date palm) so not so unpleasant anymore. On Tuesday at 8:15 I was awoken by what I thought was a game of squash! Taking a look outside it was actually a tree/palm surgeon pruning the older branches at the base of the crown of the date palm right in front of the bedroom. He obviously had to do it when no-one was by the pool. Later when I woke up finally, the job was done and the flowers had been removed too (maybe because they did smell). It is a pity for biodiversity (bees or some birds) that the palm was tidied up so much. After the pruning there was no smell at all!||||Evening sunsets were round the right corner but the view of the sky over the sea in the gap was quite colourful sometimes. ||||We pushed the ash tray into the corner. No smoking is allowed in all rooms thankfully. The balcony is private enough and oriented to be able to get that all over tan!||||Bedrooms||3 of us sharing the two bedroom flat for four (plus a sofa bed) found it spacious enough. The pool facing bedroom's beds though were annoying single beds sliding around on smooth plywood topped bed frames that had wheels at one end. This meant that a couple could not sleep together easily without plunging into the gap between. Furthermore (as usual in the Canaries) the flat bed sheets were hopelessly small, riding up especially so exposing the mattress (the mattress protectors were crinkly and hot so were removed). It was only after several attempts at a variety of furniture arrangements of beds using tables, stools, sideboards and armchairs to brace the beds and mattresses did we actually manage to get a good night's sleep. We ended ip sleeping across the two beds jammed into the corner by the window, irrespective of the fixed headboards with reading lights and electric switch and socket console. We put them back to the original arrangement as the chambermaid must have been a bit surprised to see one of the arrangements when she remade the bed.||||The bedroom itself had fitted cupboards, including a safe, with plenty of coat hangers and spare pillows and blankets. The original orientation was a bedside table between the beds and a dressing table opposite which had a fixed wall mirror over it. The large windows overlooked the pool and had blackout and normal curtains across it.||||Bathroom||Had a real fair sized bath with a shower at one end and full length shower curtain. A toilet and sink were under a marble shelf over (mind your forehead!) which was a full length mirror topped with a long fluorescent lamp switchable from outside. An electrical socket was present for shavers. No hair dryer was present (not a problem for us). A bidet was opposite the toilet (unused by us) and two hooks were by the door. By the toilet was a toilet roll holder and a toilet brush was by the bowl and a bag-lined bin for toilet paper (a pictogram of no flushing toilet paper was on the cistern). Despite a sign for dual flush there was only a big flush in this water scarce island; maybe this got damaged earlier and replaced? The shower was powerful and water hot. The tap water pressure was enough to jet out razors. There are no windows or extraction fans, only a small ventilation grill that didn’t seem to go anywhere. You could have your own private sauna in the bath with the curtains round! ||||Stairway, Lifts & Disabled Access||Could do with a good sweep as fluff and sand piles up over the weeks, much like airport corridors and escalators! The two lifts are on each ‘arm’ and not to be used by those freshly dripping from the pool! A slope leads from the only gate on Mercantes down to the reception. The lifts can just about accommodate a wheelchair, but not an assistant too.||||Pool||On day three, Friday, we decided to venture into the pool area. As it was off season there were still sunbeds round the pools with parasols at 11:25. The actual pool was heated and very quiet so all to myself at one point. The restaurant/bar side was full with diners and drinkers outside by the pool (with glass, forbidden elsewhere). The female pool attendant was doing her job spraying where necessary and stopping old people taking loungers off the piles (some reviews described her as grumpy). The loungers by the windy, wiggly road obviously were noisier with road traffic but not bad.||||The pool had cold showers by it, in the mild wind, so when entering the warmed water it was welcome! ||||The evening life guard attendant was also masked. I felt sorry for him. The pool was open 10-18:00hrs according to a pictogram but 09-21:00hrs according to the notice by the apartment door! Some kids were swimming at 19:30 and no-one threw them out. Obviously at that time there was no lifeguard so they took their chances. Both notices indicated 'no reserving loungers with towels' which should be respected in high season!||||Sports Facilities||Near the pool instructions was a €1 pool table which I saw being used on a Sundays. I expect reception has the cues.||||A set of steps at the front by the pool instructions led to paths that led to a locked football/squash court (used quite noisily on a Sunday) whilst at the East end and a large open tennis and basketball court at the Western end. The paths to them had not been swept for a while. Maybe balls and racquets were available from reception?||||A set of steps at the northern end led to a hardly used and a bit grubby weights terrace overlooking the tennis court. A gardener with a leaf blower was seen in the area which has a plant pot full of cigarette butts.||||General ||Our apartment seems to have been one of the refurbished ones. Over lockdown the owners must have decided to do the works and hope for the best.||||The walls of the apartment seem pretty thick so no disturbance from next door. A little noise from above when furniture is moved around. Occasional wafts of cigar smoke came across the balcony. The apartment 412 is by the stairs do the back bedroom gets a bit of night traffic. ||||Fire safety information (exits etc.) was inside the door and outside was a variety of fire extinguishers.||||Rules on the notices were contradictory on some matters. Pool towels could be rented as taking the apartment blue ones out of the room was forbidden. This must be heavy on washing which is hardly environmentally friendly. People by the pool were obviously using the blue towels and were not challenged by the pool attendant. Obviously as COVID rules change some notices are outdated. Masks were to be worn outside of the room environment, most people did this but not by the pool. The staff were always masked, even the gardener with his leaf blower (grrr the noise!) which is H&S anyway!||||At the weekend a noisy group of weekender Spaniards were dominating the tranquility day and evening, oh well. Also a persistent late evening singer rendered songs from his balcony occasionally. Such is life! In general we found weekends noisier with people and weekdays noisier with maintenance works wherever, especially Mondays, after a busier weekend.||||Shopping locally is quite expensive although there is a more reasonable Superdino across the wiggly road in Shopping Centre La Sandia. This is down the side steps, cross the wiggly road and up opposite, along to the brilliant Chez Luigi restaurant and into the centre, far side fronting the main road Alemano. The cheapest is Lidl a 3km return walk to the edge of town to the north.||||There is also a closer but untried Hiperdino Express our side of the Kasbah centre down the other steps. ||||On our first morning a cleaning lady knocked on the door! We certainly did not require her services so it was a 'manyana' as she left. I met her again on Friday and declined her cleaning option and fresh towels. According to the sideboard notice she comes five days a week. I told reception too that we did not want fresh towels almost daily to be eco friendly and we just did not really use them much. On Saturday she just left a big black bag of loo rolls and fresh towels outside our door as I put a small post-it note saying 'no cleaning, gratias'. There is no 'do not disturb' sign inside. Occasionally we met the friendly and busy cleaner and once she remade the beds whilst another time she just left the fresh sheets, towels, bin bags and toilet roll for us. She replaced the tea towel when asked and offered to give us another welcome bag of washing up liquid etc... which was not necessary. We made it last the fortnight. A non scratch nylon sponge would have been useful to clean the bath properly and scoop out the omnipresent sand as necessary (it blocks the drains otherwise). ||||Before we left we realised we had spare unopened mayonnaise which we could not take back as hand luggage only (for a fortnight - we are seasoned travellers!) so I offered it to the cleaner which she was happy with taking it after we had left in the morning. ||||Specific to no 412 the cabinet door in the kitchen under the sink had seen better days and needed yet another repair whilst the fridge door needed a good push to properly close it! ||||Occasionally an annoying man arrives at lunchtime to sell Canarian lace tablecloths (I hope they are local and not from a slow boat from wherever!) to unsuspecting families and groups. He gets quite familiar with them loudly greeting them on his return.||||During our last few days a local collared dove adopted us as its feeders as crumbs and seeds were occasionally offered. It even came in the balcony door on our last full day! A little light entertainment!||||When we left on a Tuesday morning the hotel was getting ready for the busy pre Easter week ahead so the groundsman came out with his hot air gun at 08:30 to do something to the drains rather noisily. The managers attended the groundsman and the pool cleaner with his long hose out. We had Breakfast on the balcony, sorted the food for the cleaners, finished packing, tidied up and left, leaving the keys at reception. We walked off to the departure bus, at the Yumbo end of the road (where recycling bins are) turn right past the next junction, to catch the 09:45 #66 bus to the airport (€3:50). The same stop opposite on Avenida D’España is for the arrival bus #66. ||||Overall yes we would stay again but there is a lot more world to see...

Meine Erfahrung mit den Tamaragua Apartments in Playa del Inglés||Seit 2008 reise ich regelmäßig nach Playa del Inglés und habe im Laufe der Jahre viele verschiedene Apartments kennengelernt und bewohnt. Insgesamt habe ich dabei fast immer positive Erfahrungen gemacht – mit einer kleinen Ausnahme beim vorletzten Aufenthalt im Apartmenthaus Teror, wo man mich nicht vorab darüber informierte, dass der Pool renoviert wurde. Letztlich ließ sich aber auch das klären, und es gab sogar eine Mietminderung.||Nach so einem Vorfall ist man bei der nächsten Buchung natürlich etwas vorsichtiger. Ich habe mir diesmal daher die Bewertungen genau angesehen, das Kleingedruckte gelesen und den Vermieter im Vorfeld kontaktiert, um sicherzugehen, dass alles passt.||Von den Tamaragua Apartments wusste ich bereits, dass sie vom Schnitt her den Dorotea Apartments im Nachbargebäude sehr ähnlich sind. Auch hier gibt es zwei Schlafzimmer – ideal also für bis zu sechs Personen, wenn die Schlafcouch im Wohnzimmer mitgenutzt wird. Im Dorotea war ich schon mehrfach zu Gast und war stets sehr zufrieden – mit Komfort, Sauberkeit, Lage und dem freundlichen Personal.||Ob das Tamaragua mit dem Dorotea mithalten kann, war ich zunächst etwas skeptisch – auch wegen einiger gemischter Bewertungen, die ich zuvor gelesen hatte.||Für mich war vor allem wichtig: eine saubere Unterkunft, eine funktionierende und gepflegte Ausstattung, ein nutzbarer Pool (ich schwimme fast täglich beruflich bedingt) und ein hilfsbereites Personal.||Gebucht habe ich schließlich über destinia.de, mit denen ich bisher immer gute Erfahrungen gemacht habe. Der Preis von 600 € für 11 Übernachtungen war absolut fair. Über das Portal konnte ich dem Tamaragua-Team direkt meine Wünsche mitteilen.||Als ich am frühen Abend ankam, erhielt ich an der Rezeption meinen Schlüssel – übrigens ist diese rund um die Uhr besetzt, was ich als großen Pluspunkt empfinde.||Oben angekommen, öffnete ich das Apartment 204 – und war sofort begeistert:|Ein helles, gepflegtes Apartment mit zwei Schlafzimmern, alles sauber und freundlich eingerichtet. Das Badezimmer schien frisch renoviert, was mich sehr freute. In beiden Schlafzimmern standen zwei Einzelbetten mit guten Matratzen – ich habe wunderbar geschlafen, obwohl ich wegen meiner Halswirbelsäulen-Implantate normalerweise recht empfindlich bin.||Das Wohnzimmer war gemütlich, mit einer modernen, hellen Couch (ausziehbar zur Schlafgelegenheit) und einem kleinen Flachbild-TV mit diversen Sendern. Die Küche war zwar nicht die neueste, aber bestens ausgestattet – Kühlschrank, Ceranfeld, Mikrowelle – und alles in gepflegtem Zustand.||Besonders schön war der Balkon mit Poolblick, der den positiven Gesamteindruck abrundete. Eine Klimaanlage war ebenfalls vorhanden, die ich aber kaum brauchte – durch Lüften wurde es abends angenehm frisch.||Das WLAN habe ich nicht genutzt – im Jahr 2025 hat ja ohnehin fast jeder eine mobile Internet-Flatrate.||Der Pool war ideal für mein tägliches Schwimmtraining, stets sauber und mit einem anwesenden Rettungsschwimmer von 9:00 bis 18:00 Uhr.||Die Reinigungskraft kam fast täglich, wechselte Handtücher und gelegentlich auch die Bettwäsche – ein wirklich guter Service.||Besonders praktisch fand ich das Late-Check-out-Angebot: Da mein Rückflug erst abends um 20 Uhr ging, konnte ich für nur 20 € das Apartment bis zur Abreise behalten. Das war perfekt – denn wohin sonst mit Koffern und Co. nach dem Check-out um 11 Uhr?||Insgesamt kann ich nichts Negatives über das Apartment oder das Tamaragua sagen – im Gegenteil.|Manchmal war es nachts zur Straßenseite hin etwas lauter (getunte Autos oder Motorradfahrer), und am Pool ging es bei Familien mit Kindern gelegentlich lebhafter zu – aber das ist wirklich Meckern auf hohem Niveau.||Alles in allem war ich sehr zufrieden: Das Apartment war sauber, gut ausgestattet und bot alles, was ich brauchte. Ich habe dort meist nur gefrühstückt und abends auswärts gegessen – auch das funktionierte perfekt.||Ich würde das Tamaragua jederzeit wieder buchen.|Ich habe gesehen, dass viele Apartments gerade renoviert und neu möbliert werden – das spricht für eine stetige Verbesserung.||Mein Fazit:|Ein sehr gutes Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis, freundlicher Service und ein angenehmes Ambiente.|4,4 von 5 Punkten – klare...

As others have said it looks like one of the older apartment blocks but don’t assume that’s a problem. ||There were some areas needing maintenance that meant it wasn’t perfect, but they also weren’t a problem.||My room was meticulously clean, and serviced three times in my 7-night stay. It does lack air conditioning, but could be ventilated well so it wasn’t an issue. ||The pool area gets sun all day and is lifeguarded until 6pm. The bar serves a good selection of snacks Tuesday-Saturday and if you want something else to eat, the Red Cow, the Yumbo centre and the beach area are all within 10 minutes’ walk. Cita is a bit further away, but still close enough to walk.||Its location is excellent.||If I could be sure I wouldn’t have a ground floor apt, I’d...