Cala Blanca – Gran Canaria

As Diamond resort members for 20 years we have always enjoyed a high standard.

Unfortunately, we had a nightmare of a holiday due to cockroaches in our apartment. Room 512.

We picked up 3 on our second day, reported it and were told it would need to be fumigated, this didn’t happen due to them being too busy though my wife who has asthma could not have gone back into the room due to this.

They could not give us another room as they were fully booked, They put poison down the tunnels and thought this would deter them. My wife and i spent the whole day cleaning the place with disinfectant, plugins etc.

We were then offered another apartment a few days later but there were no guarantees there would be no cockroaches there either. We never slept constantly scanning the place for fear of stepping on them. On the morning when we were due to come home we found another two.

It is such a shame as the resort overlooks stunning views of the ocean, well-equipped apartment, lovely staff Zoe, Cecilia, reception Henrietta, animation, Matteus the porter and Todd the waiter.

With more attention ie cleaning and emptying the bins on a daily basis, would prevent this from occurring.

I know cockroaches are native to this country but no one wants to live with them especially on holiday.

We are very sorry to have to write this review but hopefully, it will save anyone else from this experience.

Sadly we have had no response from either Cala Blanca Manager or Diamond Resorts due to having emailed them both.

Bill & Anne

We visited here 3 years ago and loved it but this stay was poor, the place has really gone downhill.

The apartment needed updating urgently! Kitchen units falling apart, stained sofa and rickety dining chairs/table made the apartment look very shabby. The high chair left in our room was absolutely disgusting and the straps were broken.

We are diamond members and are used to very high standards but this place is nowhere near up to Diamond standards…and the really frustrating part is that a lot of the accommodations have been updated and modernised but these are only given to non Diamond members!! (To impress before they bombard them with the HARD sell!) an employee at the resort (who shall remain nameless) confirmed this and encouraged us to complain directly to the company, which we intend to do.

We travelled with a baby and requested a room close to the pool…we ended up as far away as you could get and our room was down 2 flights of steep stairs (no lift) getting to and from the room with a baby in a buggy was a nightmare. I requested a change of room but was told they were full…they were clearly not! This is when the employee told me about the crazy room allocation system!

The pool is deep and not really child-friendly (we knew this prior to visit) but the lifeguards did not allow any inflatables to be used!! Basically, no fun allowed at one point my daughters had a beach ball taken from them by the lifeguard. They probably the most inept lifeguards I have ever seen anywhere.

The pool has also been surrounded by an ugly mouldy screen which looks very unsightly. FairPlay it was cleaned every day but it didn’t make much difference.

The towel removal policy is good in principle but the place was so quiet that it wasn’t really needed but it was zealously enforced by staff. At one point myself and my wife had gone for a coffee at the pool bar and an employee harassed my 2 daughters about our 2 empty sunbeds …we had been away less than 10 minutes, were 20 yards away and about 2 thirds of the sunbeds around the pool were empty! This policy might want to be revised?

The only positive was that the food in the on-site restaurant was really good and Todd the waiter is a top guy( otherwise i would score 1 star) although the happy hours (at 12 & 4) that advertise ALL drinks buy one get one free…don’t include all drinks!!! So check before you order as we got caught out.

Overall a poor experience and I will be taking my concerns direct to Diamond resorts

Basically, the place just seems poorly managed with many arbitrary rules and policies that make little sense and do little to enhance the customer experience.

A tale of 2 resorts. Where to begin? We stayed here in February with our 3 children.

I posted a review of the hotel as soon as we arrived as we were less than impressed.

However I have removed it as after the first night the management changed our room. We knew about the hit and miss nature of the rooms, and had been in constant contact with Miguel Dominguez (manager) after booking, he assured us he would try and do his best to ensure we had a refurbished 2 bedroom apartment. However on arrival we were informed this was not possible as they were fully booked, this clearly was not the case as the resort was very quiet. When asked if we could view our room Ignacion Rodriguez who checked us in told us ‘the room is being cleaned, you are a doctor would you let people see you when you are operating?’. He was clearly not a happy man, when I asked to speak to the manager Miguel he informed me Miguel had resigned 3 hours prior to us arriving and currently there was no manager on duty. The first room we had was clean but clearly run down. The bathrooms were awful

Needless to say we were furious, my wife spent most of the night in tears. The following morning I sent an email to Miguel and also Mike Flaskey’s office (CEO of Diamond Resorts). We spoke to another person at the resort called Francisco who informed us for a 30 euro surcharge we could have a refurbished apartment, we agreed and were told the room would be ready in the afternoon. That same day I received an email from Diamond Resorts office confirming they have authorised the apartment change and also waived the 30 euro surcharge. We were then assisted with our luggage and food and moved into our new apartment.

The refurbished apartments are actually very nice, on a par with 4 star apartments, they have everything you can wish for if you are self catering. They are clean and reasonably spacious. The kitchen has a kettle, coffee machine, dishwasher, stove, toaster, kitchen utensils, sink, hob, oven and a microwave. The apartment has 2 floors with the main bedroom on the upper floor. There are 2 balconies with amazing views. All the rooms have a large flat screen TV with some English speaking channels. There is a blue ray player and an alarm clock. Cupboards are spacious and the walk in shower is very nice. Most of the apartments have fantastic sea views and there are large windows.

The complex itself is on a hill and parking can be limited so be prepared for a long walk, also there are lots of steps within the complex, the elevator was continuously breaking down so if you have mobility issues you will struggle. The pool is very nice, but a bit deep for children. The gym is small but functional with a Sauna (worked most days) and spa tub. We did not eat at the restaurant (but the prices seemed reasonable) or sample the evening entertainment. There is a small supermarket opposite but we did not use this.

There is a small kids play area and Henrietta is fantastic with children. Following our room change we were met by the new manager Daniel Rodriguez, who apologised and also made sure everything went smoothly for the rest of the stay, we thought this was really nice as he had only just taken up the job and it appeared he had his hands full already.

Mateusz (hopefully I have spelt it right), the porter is an absolute legend, very friendly and helpful, and the kids loved him.

The resort is a 10 minute walk to the beach where there are some restaurants and bars as well as a small supermarket, however do not forget the 10 minute walk back up the hill, however the views are stunning and if you like walking or running you will enjoy this.

So how many stars should we give Cala Blanca, it’s difficult to say, after our first night giving it one star would be too generous especially as the check in process was very unfriendly and also the room we had was awful.

However the rest of the stay was fine and the apartment had everything we needed making it an excellent base to explore.

So I think 3 stars would do it justice, the resort is not for everyone (e.g. mobility issues) but the newly refurbished rooms are very nice with fantastic views and they everything you could possibly want.

Also as we are in love with Gran Canaria I think anything less than 3 stars would be harsh.