Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia

My husband and I went to this beautiful hotel in Gran Canaria for a week in March. My husband was celebrating a big birthday and wanted a low key affair. We arrived to a lovely reception from the staff and were shown to our beautifully appointed room. It had everything we needed and was amazingly clean and well presented. The public areas are great too. All of the staff are terrific, everyone smiles and says hello. I was so impressed with everything. Any time we asked staff for help or asked them to provide a service the answer was always yes. The staff are so well trained and beautifully turned out, they are a credit to the management. The pool is stunning and the men who work there are excellent. There are plenty sunbeds and there is a no' bagging' of beds which is great. The pool is well maintained and I was impressed at the level of cleaning that goes on, without being intrusive. There is a smoothie provided late morning, cool cloths provided and crisps and nuts when ordering drinks. The restaurant is excellent - we loved the food both in the pool bar/restaurant and the main restaurant. Both breakfast and dinner are provided here. The food is creative and interesting and not overfacing with enormous portions. |The BBQ evening is fantastic and so much choice. There is a twice weekly afternoon tea but we didn't partake in this - still full from lunch. There is also a gym and wellness centre - we didn't go to either of those. Breakfast is a delightful experience and my sincere thanks to the egg ladies! They work so hard and are always friendly and cheerful despite making sure everyone is happy. We ate out at the sister hotel the Palm Beach in the Tapas restaurant, the Bodega. A separate review will be provided on that but it was also amazing. We loved the whole experience at the Residencia, it was completely faultless and we will definitely be back. One of the nicest things that happened was on my husband's birthday. in the late afternoon the phone rang. It was Reception to say that the staff knew it was his birthday and were sending round a birthday cake and Cava. How kind and thoughtful and as my husband wanted, no drama. It is an amazing place and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to others and we will be back.

This was our first visit to the hotel and indeed our first visit to Gran Canaria, other than for one day from a cruise ship a couple of years ago. The hotel is not cheap but it lives up to the high standards set by the Small Hotels of the World group. If you want lots of facilities, bars, noise and kids then it is not for you. However if you want a relaxed holiday, with extremely pleasant but unobtrusive staff, superb food both on the breakfast buffet and on the dinner menu, quiet rooms and sun beds always available then you could do a lot worse. All this and free newspapers! We had intended exploring the island but spent the whole week lounging by the pool!! We shall just have to return next year to do our exploring!!

Stayed here for an amazing week at end of Feb , early March with my mum and it more than lived up to the expectations set by previous reviews. From start to finish of your stay the staff can???t do enough for you - and have all the little touches to ensure that your stay with them is as relaxing and chilled out as possible . The rooms - as has been said , well appointed , very clean , lovely toiletries , replenished fruit , and Nespresso machine . The weather wasn???t great the week we were there but the quality of the hotel nearly made us forget this aspect ! We were initially in a room with a patio which we found a little dark but staff arranged for us to move to a first floor room ( which we preferred ) once one became available. The way this was handled is a good example of how this hotel sets it self apart ... we have stayed in other similar calibre hotels and requested to change rooms at check in - in other hotels it has usually been accommodated but always with a certain amount of ??? negative ??? attitude . This was NOT the case in the Residenica - the staff made every effort to make moving rooms (even half way through the holiday! ) as seamless as possible and the attitude was very much that of wanting to be sure we enjoyed our stay as much possible and nothing was too much trouble. We had breakfast only in the hotel - amazing selection ! Another lovely example of this hotel standing out - I have a dairy intolerance- but hadn???t warned hotel in advance. I made enquiries on the first morning at breakfast as couldn???t see any suitable alternatives I can have - the person I spoke to said they would order Almond milk for me . By the next morning a Waiter I hadn???t spoken to - greeted me at the table and brought me hot almond milk for porridge and coffee for the rest of the holiday ! It might sound small to others - but anyone with food intolerances will know that having a hotel go the extra mile , without fuss is much appreciated. We joined the bbq buffet one evening and this was also outstanding ( and allergens well marked which again I appreciate !) Other little touches this hotel does well - the twice a week ??? tea party ??? in the afternoon and staff coming around the pool with little shot glasses of smoothies . The selection of drinks at pool was also excellent and the pool staff kept busy our week by the unpredictable nature of the weather ! The clientele of this hotel is definitely older - but as I was there with my mother this wasn???t a problem - and as I work with children I was very glad to have a complete break . Also you should take this as a recommendation for the hotel that they get many repeat guests of the older generation - and as my mother says they know that they like and haven???t time to waste with anything less than the brilliant service available at the Residencia We will return !