HL Club Playa Blanca

We have recently returned from a 10-night stay, 2 adults and 2 teenagers (13 years old).

We checked in and was struck by how disinterested and unfriendly the receptionist was. She seemed quite impatient (even though we were the only people checking in and there was nobody waiting to be served). Wifi is charged per device and it only works in the bungalow.

Accommodation The 2 bed bungalows were spacious and clean. There was a microwave, plus cups and a kettle but no tea or coffee. This would have been a nice touch if only for the first day. Earlier in the year I stayed in a 4* All Inclusive hotel in Gran Canaria, each room had its own Nespresso machine and pods which was a really nice touch.

Each bungalow has an outside patio area with table and chairs which was lovely to sit at during the evenings to play cards, have a drink and chat to passing guests. The grounds are beautifully kept, with stunning cacti, palm trees and native shrubs and flowers. The grounds people clearly work extremely hard to maintain these areas.

The main downside were the beds. Not particularly comfortable and the pillows (we had to ask for extras) were flat and very lumpy. I stripped the beds on check out and was horrified to see that the mattresses were covered in stains. As much as the cleaners did a good job of cleaning the bungalows and remaking the beds, I wonder if they had made the management aware of the disgusting mattresses, that had clearly not been sanitised in quite some time (if ever).

Food & drink We have stayed at several 4* resorts in the Canaries as well as Greece. The food at this hotel was by far the worst.

There was just no pride in the food served; quality or presentation. The first morning we went for breakfast there were the usual items - bacon, baked beans, hash browns. However we were startled to be greeted with tray upon tray of greying vegetables and weird sausages floating in water. It appears that all the food is just reheated in water in ovens. I actually felt quite insulted that this is what the hotel thought that their guests would want for breakfast: boiled cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and greying green beans. Would they eat this food? I doubt it.

I can’t deny there was plenty of variety, but sadly the options were extremely unappetising and of very poor quality.

There was a ‘live station’ where nothing was ever being cooked in front of you apart from some suspicious looking burgers. It was abundantly apparent that the quality of these burgers was absolutely terrible.

Meats were extremely fatty, tough and dry.

Salad bar was unappetising. Cold meats were clearly cheap, thin and watery. Even the Moho sauce was watered down – as I say, no pride whatsoever in what is served.

Occasionally there was live cooking at the pool bar, which was a welcome break from the dreadful restaurant food. It was a relief to see something being cooked in front of you rather than just slid out of an industrial sized oven in a tray of water. The regular food at the pool bar is what one would expect (chips, hot dogs, those burgers again….) but one thing that was palatable were the pizzas. These were made throughout the day and served hot, with good crispy bases. There was also fruit and cakes in the fridges to help yourself to.

ce cream only wheeled out during certain times of the day (I think 12pm-4pm?). I have never known this to be the case in previous hotels we have stayed in. If it’s all-inclusive, it should be available all day!

Restaurant staff extremely courteous and polite, but a bit over-eager at clearing plates; sometimes attempting to when still eating.

Entertainment We witnessed the very hyped up “show” which was based on “The Greatest Showman”. The show was supposed to start at 9.30pm, but there was just hype and announcements about the show up until c.9.50pm. What then transpired was 20 mins of the entertainment team dancing and miming to about 5 or 6 songs from the film. It was hardly a “show”.

Again, have seen far better entertainment at other Lanzarote hotels (the Barcelo in Costa Teguise put on excellent quality shows which the adults enjoyed as much as the kids).

Sunbeds As all the other reviews state, the sunbed situation was farcical. All reserved by 6am – many left unoccupied for hours on end with towels on them. Every day we were there, there were EIGHT beds all lined up together in a row with towels on. The family would only emerge around lunchtime – pure selfishness. If you were able to get one at all, many of the sunbeds were of poor quality, many are broken and sunken in the middle. Despite every response from the hotel claiming that “sunbeds are not allowed to be reserved, and that staff are instructed to remove towels”, this did not happen once. There was never a member of staff policing this. The only staff around the pool would be the lifeguards and animation team. Instead of repeating this in every review response, actually ACTION this and stop lying about the flimsy policy that the staff take no notice of.

Pool area There was only one pool so very crowded. It would hugely benefit the resort if there was a separate pool and some slides for the younger children, and the adults could have a pool to actually swim / relax in.

Intermittent waft of sewage smell between the playground area and the upper terrace of loungers.

Not enough shade/parasols, and the ones there are immovable. Some guests were purchasing their own, which invariably would blow away due to the naturally windy nature of the island.

This resort could be so much better, but it feels as though management have no interest in investing in it or making any improvements. The whole experience was that it was very dated, no pride in the food or customer service and corners cut wherever possible. I would definitely not recommend this resort.

Overall, we had a lovely stay at HL Club Playa Blanca. The hotel itself is really nice, with a great layout and plenty of space. The pool area is big, clean and well maintained, and the pool bar and snack bar were both great for grabbing food and drinks during the day.

Accommodation

We stayed in a two-bedroom bungalow, which was really spacious and could sleep up to seven people. There was plenty of room for everyone, and we had absolutely no issues with the accommodation during our stay.

The only slight downside was that the air conditioning was only in the main bedroom. However, we found that if we left all the internal doors open, it actually cooled down the whole bungalow surprisingly well, so this wasn't really a problem for us.

Sunbeds 🏊‍♀️

The hotel does have a no sunbed reservation policy, but unfortunately this didn't seem to be enforced during our stay. Every morning, people were out from around 6am reserving sunbeds with towels, despite the policy.

This could be frustrating if you came down later in the morning and found large numbers of beds already claimed, particularly as the pool area has plenty of space and the hotel clearly states that reserving sunbeds isn't allowed.

Food & Drink 🍽️

The buffet restaurant had some really good choices, with the themed nights, and there was plenty of variety if you're not a particularly fussy eater. The biggest downside was the temperature of the food. As much of it seemed to be prepared in advance, they struggled to keep it hot, so quite a lot of meals were lukewarm or even cold. Maybe that is why there was 1 microwave provided so everything could be reheated.

Breakfast and lunch also became fairly repetitive. Also, who eats brussels and cauliflower and carrots, peas and green beans for breakfast? By our last day we decided to escape and have lunch in town instead. 😂

The pool bar and snack bar were both good though, and perfect for grabbing something during the day.

The Unexpected Highlight: The Gym 💪

One thing that really surprised us was the gym. For a hotel resort, it was honestly probably the best quality and best-equipped gym I've ever come across. It wasn't just a couple of treadmills and a lonely exercise bike shoved in a room — it was genuinely impressive!

Location 🌴

The town and beach are only a pleasant walk away and not too far at all, so it's easy to get out and explore when you fancy a change of scenery — or, in our case, fancy taking your chances on finding a hot lunch! 😂

Wi-Fi 📶

One thing worth knowing before you arrive is that Wi-Fi is not included in your stay and has to be purchased separately. Unfortunately, even after paying for it, we found it to be pretty terrible. The connection was unreliable and didn't work properly throughout all areas of the resort.

So, a little warning: don't expect to pay for Wi-Fi and suddenly have brilliant internet everywhere — we found that definitely wasn't the case!

Overall

Overall, HL Club Playa Blanca is a nice hotel with spacious accommodation, a great pool area, good facilities and plenty of food options. The gym was an unexpected highlight, the location was convenient, and we genuinely enjoyed our stay.

Sort out the 6am sunbed Olympics and invest in some better food warmers, and it would be even better!

Very good ,brilliant dancing kids loved it on Tuesday night Emmy brilliant and funny