Barranco Seco

Lovely block of apartments in an ideal location.

Our apartment was spot on, and each one seems to be individual. The location is great, but the complex needs some money spent on it. The sunbeds are old and stretched, and the pool is dirty and too deep, with a depth of 1.7m at the shallow end.

The nearby places we enjoyed most were Spoons for food, drinks and entertainment, Kings for live music with Concrete Jungle, and Pinocchio’s, where the food was top class and so cheap. Cherry Moon had beer for one euro fifty all day. We weren’t keen on Kiasco, the place everyone raves about. It felt like a cafe and the beer was rank. Puerto Del Carmen is mostly flat and has plenty to do, so in our opinion it’s a great holiday spot. We hadn’t been to Lanzarote for eight years, and a lot had changed since our last stay at nearby Rosamar. We booked easily with Ann through Vrbo, and the clear directions took us to apartment D3. The bus from the airport was easy too: we got off at the casino, then walked two minutes to the complex. On arrival, the sunbeds looked very grotty, and there was what looked like a dirty ring around the top of the pool. Getting into the apartment meant climbing a few stairs, which was fine for us. The key was in a wall-mounted safe, but it was stiff and difficult to use, apparently because it had been painted over. The apartment was dated but generally clean. There were lots of what looked like damp flakes falling from the wall behind the main bedroom door, and the silicone around the kitchen sink was very dirty and grubby. The sea view and good-sized balcony were second to none. Although it’s very central, the apartment was quiet, and the beds were very comfortable, so sleep wasn’t a problem. It gets very hot without air con, but we knew that when booking. The bathroom was modern with plenty of hot water, and the kitchen had plenty of useful everyday utensils. The complex needs serious investment to bring it up to date. As mentioned, the pool was grubby, and it was too deep to stand up anywhere. The sunbeds were disgusting, and we couldn’t always get one. In our second week the school holidays started and the sunbed wars began, with some people putting towels on beds and not even using them. I appreciate someone has to pay for improvements, but the place would benefit from some care in the long run. Would we stay in this apartment again? Yes, if it were on a different complex, or if money were spent bringing this one out of the dark ages.

We stayed for two weeks in July with my husband and our six and two year olds. The area was ideal, with two supermarket options just around the corner and the main strip a two-minute walk away. I can’t stress enough how safe it felt. I hope we can come back next year, depending on availability.