I stayed at the Gran Hotel Lopesan Costa meloneras in late June 2009 with my partner, we booked through Thomson holidays and the price seemed very competitive. Due to the credit crunch and alleged relatively high prices of eating out in Spain and other typical European tourist destinations we opted for half board for the first time ever.

We arrived at 12.30-1am, it was totally dead in the hotel so we presumed we were somewhat out of season and it would be quiet, we were wrong. The next day we realised how busy it was when trying to get a pair or sun loungers! They do try to stop people putting their towels down by removing the towels in the morning if you are not there, they leave you a note telling you why. We actually got one of these notes one morning after swimming from 8.10am till 9.40, I was not too impressed but they gave us the towels back and apologised.

The room was good, nice size and all you need really, it was also very quiet with only minor noise from the room above, this was barely noticeable. The standard of cleaning each day was excellent.

The hotel ground were very nicely managed, the pools were a pleasure to use, both the meandering pool and infinity pool could keep me entertained for hours. The water was heated slightly. There were loads of palm trees to find shade under. Even with all the kids it didn’t seem too noisy doe the size of the pools. Most of the guests seemed to be German, there were a few Brits and locals also.

The food was good, OK so it was the most romantic dinning experience but there was loads of choice and it was all good. The only problem is that you had to buy drinks. The drinks prices were not as bad as I’d expected, in fact I found them cheaper than some of the bars on the sea front. The standard of dress varied a lot in the dinning restaurants, from casual beach ware to high heels and very skimpy outfits. Guys need to wear long trousers in the evening.

We did enjoy the 19th Hole bar on the seafront, lots of good live music, the two guitarists on during our visit were both excellent. Drinks were not cheap, about 4 euros for a beer and over 7 for a coctail.

The resorts itself was nothing special, Meloneras was quiet and pleasant to walk along the sea front but there was not a big choice of bars of restaurants. Maspalomas was rather dull and uninspiring and Playa Del Ingles was awful (characterless, tacky, ugly, uninspiring and full of people trying to get us into their bars with clichéd lines about my girlfriend!), we got the bus there once night and got a taxi back within 1h!
However, the one re-deeming feature of the Maspalomas is the beach (and dunes), it took about 1h to walk from the lighthouse in Meloneras to Playa Del Ingles. It seems loads of people do this walk and you see allsorts of people during this walk! It seems to make no difference that there is a nude section of the beach, they get everywhere. The dunes are stunning, well worth a stroll at different times of the day, but you will expect to see lots of guys loitering about in bushes, one guy even stood in the bush naked with his binoculars!
The neighbouring beach at Puerto Rico was worth a bus trip. Incidentally the buses leave from outside the front of the hotel. The trip to Palmitos park was good, watched the parrots, birds of prey and exotic bird shows.

I would recommend this hotel but the resorts itself is nothing special. The dunes are a must see. The hotel transfer was good, about 30 mins. The lack of late night drinking shocked me, although the hotel shows were good fun.

Any questions or further info just let me know. I will post some photos soon.

We have just come back from this hotel and we did have a great time and found the hotel to be lovely with no complaints which does not happen often.

We arrived at the hotel at 4.30am and was pleasantly greated immediately by a bell boy and reception who where ready and waiting for us and check in took no longer than 5 mins before we were on our to our room.

We booked a junior suite which had a bedroom and a seperate lounge which is great if you need to put children to bed during the day or before you at night, having a suite we also gained an extra balcony which was lovely. The room were nice pleasantly furnished with marble floors and spacious rooms however they were not wow the furniture is basis easy to replace and mass produced it was all very easy to clean with min hassel.

We went half board and can not complain about the food there was plenty of choice from fish, meat, salad and bread. Staff were always willing to help and made an extra effort with our little girl.

Drinks prices are a little higher than the other bars but not massively a jug of sangria in a bar on the front was about 13 euro the hotel is 16 euro.

Lots of shops on the sea fronts however all designer with a price to match... we liked Maspolmas and we did not like many other of the areas in gran canaria are run down and dated or very hilly where as maspolmas is flat with lots of new hotels.

Now for the butts... if it is not included then it is at a cost for example parking is 12 euro a day, not kettle in the rooms but you can hire one, the hotel supermarket is a lot more expensive than the two loccaly to it so i would recommended go over the road instead as they has much more selection.

The swimming pools were amazing and never too cold which my little girl loved and we never struggled for a sun bed even when people reserved them. The hotel is mainly visited by dutch and german guest we spoke to very few english people however this was never a problem and everyone was very pleasant.

We would go back to this hotel and we would use this chain again also espcially as they are building a new 5* hotel due to open at the end of the year which looks interesting and could be worth a visit.

There is no dispute that the hotel is excellent. Together with Villa del Conde it is definitely the best hotel on the island. I was on half-pension in the standard room and I was very satisfied with facilities, food, room and everything. Obviously room rates, price of the drinks and Internet is rather expensive, but acceptable.

What is worse is the surrounding area. Be prepared that Maspalomas is tourist-only destination full of German pensioners. I've never seen so much German pensioners on so small place. Think twice if you you are a young couple and want to spent romantic holidays. The facilities on the beach, access to the sea was not so good - I've seen much better beaches. One can't really swim to the sea. Even there is a nice sand on the beach, the sea is rather rocky.

As for the shops, etc. There are few expensive designer shops in the surrounding. The well known Playa del Ingles is awful - dirty, full of gays and shops with cheap Chinese junk - stay away if you can. If you want to enjoy Gran Canaria you want to rent a car and travel far from this place.

I have stayed at the melonearas hotel about 8 times, so I know the rooms I like. I requested a room in the range of rooms I like on my online form comments box. On check in this was ignored and the duty manageress was called, she was most unapologetic and blamed the reservations dept., She did not offer to even try and and do a bit better, a very very off hand manner, just take it or leave it attitude. The girl at reception did try her bit and eventually a better room was allocated some 3 days later.
I shall not be returning to the melonearas, there has been no response to a letter by both post and e mail. The reservations policy seems to be "take what we give you and be grateful for it", well im sorry I wont, especially when I request something and the booking is not answered with " we cant do that" !. There are other hotels out there with duty manageresses that have manners and civility !
Otherwise a very pleasant location, lovely gardens and pools, marred by poor reservations dept and senior staff with a I just dont care attitude, there are loads more peple coming after you tomorrow