January 2027- hotel princess Yaiza first extended family holiday

[KitschenReno]

By January 2027 I’ll have 3 grandchildren , two babies and a toddler. We are all keen to begin process of carving out regular time for cousins and aunties and uncles to bond.
we are looking at all inclusive or half board in Lanzarote. The first place suggesested was princess yaiza in Playa Blanca. To me it feels outrageously expensive at nearly £1600 (as I am single) for bed and breakfast. I’m not very affluent and I could imagine spending this on a 3 week retirement trip!
Has anyone visited this hotel in particular and Playa Blanca. We all normally prefer cultural holidays , visiting monuments museums etc and enjoy eating out.
secondly can anyone recommend somewhere we could all stay in an apartment or villa but have access to all of the facilities of a resort/ hotel?
TIA for helpful suggestions!

It’s a lovely hotel and that’s a pretty decent price.

if that it what you’d spend on a 3 week holiday - then perhaps you and your family have different ideas for this holiday

We all normally prefer cultural holidays , visiting monuments museums etc and enjoy eating out.

wont be much of that with a baby and two toddlers!

Jan is still peak season for the Canaries so prices will be high.
I prefer the golden sands of Gran Canaria but I don’t know about villas there. It’s very much geared to hotel tourism so really good options wherever you go.
I’ve just done a quick TUI search and a week in January has plenty of AI at around a grand for one person. They will take off another £100 if you could add a child to your booking too.

Princess Yaiza is brilliant for children and opposite a lovely, child friendly beach. If you can afford it then it is a very good choice.
I would prefer 1 week in a good hotel/location to 3 weeks in a low budget option.

Playa Blanca has golden sands.
To Op, there are other good hotels in that part of Playa Blanca and you used to be able to use their kids club bit even if you weren’t staying there. Try the Gran Castillo a bit further along - also 4/5 star but better value as all inclusive (handy with toddlers/small children as they get plenty of choice and don’t have to sit around waiting for meals to arrive) and rooms which include two separate sleeping areas.

Lanzarote has some interesting cultural experiences particularly with the Cesar Manrique foundation. There’s also the volcanic national park experience which is fun and other nice areas to explore. Playa Blanca is a resort but one of the better ones - it has a marina and plenty of restaurants. You’d have a better experience with a car as you can explore more widely.

You are right and that is the bit I am struggling with. I am used to doing things on the cheap and ad hoc, it’s very hard work with a toddler to be spontaneous.And I’m a slightly boomer and my DC much more comfortable!

Forgot to say the Gran Castillo is about a 10 minute walk along the seafront promenade from Princess Yaiza.

I think you are absolutely right. Definitely need to recalibrate my expectations. Following recent trip with toddler my DC doesn’t want to have to prepare meals, eat out in restaurants or manage a baby in Roman ruins

To be honest I’m increasingly thinking I need to bite the bullet and not be the one to make everyone else compromise.

Whyever not?

^We all normally prefer cultural holidays , visiting monuments museums etc and enjoy eating out^

Lanzarote is perfect for all that. If you don't want to drive you can get public transport or go on an organized coach tour around all Cesar Manriques houses, volcano park, vineyards etc.

Princesa Yaiza is very expensive, you'll definitely find somewhere lovely for a lot less.

I will look up the Gran Castillo. When it was mentioned earlier I thought it was a monument rather than a hotel resort. Playa Blanca sounds nice I’m guessing it’s not too rowdy!

More general question, is it warm enough to swim in the sea in January? With regards to the Princess Yaiza it looks like the half board option is about £300 extra. Is the food good?

We stayed in the Princess Yaiza twice when my DC were little and it was amazing for children. They had kitchen facilities in the rooms which is fantastic for kids and you could order homemade blended food to be delivered too (the first time we went we were weaning DC1). The rooms are much bigger than a standard hotel room so we didn’t feel on top of each other.

The location was really good too and there were lots of bars and restaurants in walking distance. I am stuck to school holidays now (which is very expensive there!) but would definitely recommend it.

What made my babies and toddlers happy campers on holiday (and therefore me!)…. Same eating and nap routine as at home
paddling in the pool
paddling in the beach
building sandcastles
walking short distances to local marina for a wander and an ice cream and hopefully to come across a playground

not monuments and museums 🤷‍♀️

I read this at first that you were paying but I think your dc are and you are paying for your bit of the holiday. If so, let them decide what works best for them and then i think you will need to accept the cost for your bit if you want to go with them. They are wrestling toddlers and babies, I'm afraid you are not the priority on this trip. I'd just be happy to be asked.

When you say it has been suggested to you… by whom?

Thank you for sharing your experiences there. Kitchen facilities brilliant and sounds like they can adapt to children’s needs very well. What is overall standard of adult food. We have a chef in the group but we all enjoy eating!

Very true , these are preferred activities and very cheap as entertainment goes!

Yes I’d only be paying for my bit! On the other hand the in-laws pay for the cost of entire holidays.
I am pleased to be asked as financially I won’t be contributing to their costs!

We only had breakfast in the hotel and maybe the occasional lunch. But for evening meals, we went to local restaurants. There was lots of choice and everything was in walking distance.