recommendations for the canaries anyone?

[elliott]

Thinking of a relaxing break early November and thought somewhere in the Canaries might do the trick - anyone know what the weather might be up to in November?
Does anyone have any specific resort/accommodation recommendations? We'd be looking for a 2 bed self catering apartment or possibly a hotel with interconnecting room for the boys, if it doesn't cost an arm and a leg... We like walking so somewhere with nice countryside and/or a beach in walking distance would be good, as would nice local restaurants within walking distance.
I guess it will be fairly low season so we could possibly get away with a more commercialised resort than we'd generally go for - normally we like unspoilt off the beaten track type places.
Boys will be nearly 4 and nearly 2 btw.

Hope someone has some ideas! Thanks

could try La Gomera? It's a ferry ride from Tenerife. We went a few years ago at Christmas. First we booked into a hotel in the mountains (La Gomera is an island shaped exactly like a funnel). Horrible drive through cloud-induced rain to find hotel shut! Drove back down to the coast and stayed at a tiny resort, just a string of bars and apartments overlooking the sea - and it was fab. There wasn't a huge amount to do, but it was warm and sunny enough to swim, different restaurants to try, lovely walks, and the beach just in front of us.

Not much use as I can't remember the name of the resort, but you might want to look at La Gomera itself.

The other place I liked in Tenerife was the capital (Santa Cruz?) but I'm not sure where the beaches are. Otherwise we stayed in Los Cristianos which was OK but very resorty.

Weather is nice pretty much all year round, i went to Teneriffe a few years back in January and still came home with a touch of colour!

Would avoid Las Americas and Los Christianos in Tenerife liek the plague - think clacton and thats about as good as it gets!

The north of tenerife is LOVELY though.

acnebride, how frustrating, I love the sound of your 'tiny resort' - can you think of any clues that might help track it down?
I've now done a search on canaries in the archives and have come up with the following recommendations:

jardin tecina in la gomera
simply travel villas
bahia del duque in tenerife
playa blanca in lanzarote - rubicon palace
fueteventura - caleta de fuste or correlejo
Anyone got any comments on these?
Suspect some might be a too pricey; off to do a bit more research now!

Fuertoventura (sp?) is lovely. We went there a couple of years ago.

We stayed at Lanzarote Princess in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote in November a couple of years ago.

Think I did a review, hang on...

lots of discussions here

Can't find the review. The hotel was lovely, big family rooms (A bedroom and a living room with additional bed & cot)The staff were great with kids, there was a kids club, meals served from 6pm, entertainment for children through the day. It sounds like I am describing Butlitz, but it wasn't like that at all. A lovely relaxed atmosphere, great food and very close to the beach.
Playa Blanca is a small family resort, with a smattering of bars and restaurants. A nice centre and harbour and there was a lovely walk along the coast.
You could take a ferry to Fuertaventura from the harbour - a day trip was possible. The rest of Lanzarote is great to explore hire a car - Timanfaya volcano is a good trip. We enjoyed visiting Cesar Manrique's house and other places he was associated with (I forget the places now)

gingerbear, I've heard quite a bit about the lanzarote princess. A few questions - how loud/intrusive is the evening entertainment? Can you describe the room in a bit more detail - how separated are you from the kids? Is the food not too English? is there any babylistening? how far is it to get to the beach?

think it sounds a possibility but a bit worried that it might be too big/busy.

It is a horseshoe shaped, low rise hotel. The dining room, lounge bar and entertainments bar are in the centre of the horseshoe. We had a 3rd floor room out at one end of the horseshoe away from the 'action'. Most of the family rooms are situated at the further ends of the hotel. We did not have a problem with noise at all. You did have to time meal times well though - there were queues at the dining room doors at certain times, but there was always plenty of choice - and the dishes were constantly renewed (no stuff left to congeal for ages, which is the thing I hate about buffet style meals)There was English stuff for fussy folk, and traditional Spanish/ medeterranean style food for the more adventurous. We were happy to see Spanish families staying in the hotel and enjoying the food - always a good sign IMO. They had theme nights too - Chinese, Mexican etc, but you could always get a basic spanish style meal any night.

The bedroom/ living room had adjoining doors and had plenty of space. We only had 18 month old DD though - if you wanted to get away from more or older children, you might need an additional room? Think they had babylistening, but we did not use it.
The beach was a walk through the hotel gardens, through a card entry/exit side gate, then across a (quiet) road.

Lanzarote Princess
more pictures

Fuerteventura is lovely, we were there last October and the weather was fantastic. We were staying in Caleta de Fuste, which I wouldn't recommend, it is a purpose built resort with a man made beach, although on a plus point there are lots of lovely restaurants.

We hired a car and were far more impressed with Correlejo, IIRC this is in the South and the resorts in the North of the island are beautiful with the most amazing beaches, although the North is more windy.

If you go to Fuerteventura try a visit to the ship wreck, also when you are out that way visit Ajay, a tiny village with a black sand beach and the most amazing fish restaurant on the front (looks like a grotty caff).

ooh, will try! I think it was just near the jardin tecina so that might help. Having a look...

gingerbear - thanks v much. Only two more questions (sorry!) - who did you book through - and do you think B&B would be better than half board? eternal gratitude is yours....

Hooray, found it! Playa de Santiago
Trouble is, it looks as if it is expanding rapidly - I remember we bought postcards there which had obviously been taken a few years before and it was even smaller then. I see that it has been 'earmarked for the construction of hotels' which sounds dubious... Also the stony beach may not be ideal.

We just walked along the seafront and asked in bars for a flat, but I think we were lucky, and with kids I would definitely book ahead.

Google for Fred Olsen for timetables of ferries to other islands.

many thanks acnebride -looks lovely though ds's might prefer sand....

reviews here
We booked with Direct Holidays, but Airtours and Thomson go too. Thomson web prices (Adult) for November are £450 for one week half board in November at the moment. Think we paid £350 for one week in November in 2003.

Ditto what Demented has said about Fuertaventura, lovely island but Caleta de Fuste was horrid and tacky IMO.

IIRC Corralejo has a lovely long white beach.

We also went on a coach trip to a restaurant in the mountains and a zoo which was quite good, sorry can't remember the names.

Elliot, are you still looking?

gingerbear, I'm almost on the point of booking for November! The only thing I'm unsure of is that in the Thomson brochure it describes family rooms as being all on the ground floor, and with a partition separating a twin bedroom from a living area with sofa bed. I'm not sure if this is the same type of room you had (your description sounds more like separate rooms), and I wonder whether this will be separate enough for us.
Might see if I can find it on Direct Holidays.

Hi Elliott

We have been to Lanzarote before in winter weather has been fine.We have stayed in the Rubicon Palace.Both the Rubicon Palace and Lanzarote Princess are owned by H10 hotels.Thier web page is www.h10.es We have always found it much cheaper to book independantly.You can book via H10 website.I found security travel cheaper.My friend travelled with them in summer.The rooms in the Rubicon are very large with 2 double beds and a sofa bed.Lanzarote princess is nearer the beach.However the rubicon has a nice coastal walk.

Hi Elliott, I'm flying to Lanzarote on Thursday & got the best flight only deals from Travel Republic. We've booked a bungalow on a complex in Playa Blanca where we've been before. I booked it direct too with the owners, much cheaper & out of high season you can haggle. There doesn't tend to be much in the way of entertainment for the little ones in the smaller places but you can go to all the hotels anyway to try their shows. This type of thing might suit you better for privacy as you'll have a separate bedroom and lounge area.

elliot, i can get you a price now for the l.princess- family room, im at work at the mo so if you see this let me know.

This place looks like good value for money for anyone interested in Lanzarote. It's not in a coastal resort but nowhere is more than a short car ride away.

Elliott, this summer we stayed at the Broncemar Beach, Fuerteventura , can't beat a Mumsnet recommendation! (Toasters and kettles now included).

The resort of Caleta was perhaps a 'bit' tacky, not the sort of place we would have gone if we didn't have children, but loads of restaurants within walking distance. The Broncemar was perfect for 5.5yo ds. When he was bored with the pool there was a soft play area/ball pit right on the poolside, so I had a very relaxing time!