In my humble opinion...yes it is completely tacky.

If you want somewhere a little more upmarket, try Taurito or Puerto Mogan. Mogan is my favourite place in the whole of the canary islands.

It is not all fish and chips though. There are some good Canarian restaurants about. These have been posted here before but...... that said, generally the area is now looking a little sad and in n eed of some TLC
If you are thinking of renting a car during your stay then it is well worth getting away from the main tourist area to find some good local fare

I agree with Justval. Mogan is really nice well worth a visit and a trip on the submarine is good too.

Must agree PR is becoming more and more 'tacky' every year, but, imo not as tacky as Blackpool, yet!!

There are still some great bars that aren't 'party type bars' just nice places to chill out, without music blasting in your ears or someone nominating you for a shot!!! There are definately some lovely places to eat, canarian, chinese etc. aswell as the usual 'english breakfast' places (must admit though, I love an english brekkie when on holiday)

Mogan is definately worth a visit, it's really picturesque and a lovely ferry bus ride from PR.

I find the top of Pr ( near the Europa Centre) to be a little less tacky than the main centre of PR.

We've never hired a car before, but I believe there are some lovely traditional places to visit inland.

When are you going? We are going for a week beginning 23rd Feb. flying from Newcastle.

I'm sure you'll have a great time in PR

Each time we go we say not going again, but we do. The commercial centre needs to be knocked down. very 60's If you go down to the harbour area there are some nice restaurants up above the shops. Oscars is lovely, also a Greek. In the main Commercial Centre our favourite is Mephisto. Agree with Mogan, very pretty for a day out.

Thank you for all your honest replys... Yes i have heard about Mogan and how pretty it is. We are going in mid may so maybe it will be quiter then?

Very tacky .
I have been to P.R 15 times when our children were younger up until they were teenagers.
We have watched it get worse and worse.
It really needs a lot of work.
We now go on our own to P. Mogan which we love.
My daughter comes home from P.R today.
She as 3 young children and stays at the Eden which is ideal for young families.
But would I stay in P.R again.
Never.

I'd agree with everything said. Our 1st trip to Gran Canaria was to Playa des Ingles but I wasn't overly impressed. Fitted the bill for a winter break with our teenage son, but wouldn't have returned.
2nd visit( about 7 years later ) was to Puerto Mogan and I couldn't believe the difference & how much I loved the place: so much so that we're returning for Easter this year to a privately owned apartment. The hotel Cordial Playa is great but a bit pricey!
With regards to Puerto Rico It's marginally more up-market than Playa del ingles but I don't think from the sound of your e-mail it'd be for you. I'm not knocking these places---- it's just that everyone wants something different from a holiday and mine is to feel I've actually got away from egg & chips etc!
I think it's time the Canarian authorities followed the lead of Majorca & try to cultivate a better image for their islands. They have so much to offer that's different and the islands have a really unique, strange beauty. I think they are let down by this awful kiss-me-quick reputation they seem to have allowed to develop.
We'll be hiring a car this time to try & get a real feel of this special place.
Hope this has helped!

I'm not knocking these places---- it's just that everyone wants something different from a holiday and mine is to feel I've actually got away from egg & chips etc!

Hahaha thanks for that! Yeah i suppose its not going to be us, but im willing to make the best out of a difficult situation! Anyone else want to tell me if puerto rico really is that tacky??

Mainy -- hope I didn't paint too bleak a picture!
PR is actually in a lovely setting and you'll have a good choice of restaurants ( egg & chips was an exaggeration!)
You can take boat trips to P. Mogan or to Arguinegan(sp) in the other direction. Las Palmas is well worth a bus trip. It's the largest city in the Canaries and is surprisingly big... great shopping.
And I totally agree: I've holidayed in a few places I wouldn't be that keen to return to. However I've never had a bad holiday. I look back fondly on all the destinations. Being in a new environment is always interesting. I hate listening to the 'moaning minnies'...you've spent a lot of money so get the most out of it & you will enjoy yourselves!

You have not painted a bleak picture at all, to be honest im surprised at the responces, i half expected to come under cross fire as some members are a little touchy regarding their beloved holiday destinations. Your humour has been uplifting....

We have a timeshare based about halfway along the road from P.R. to Amadores. We used to own a months timeshare until we moved fulltime to Tenerife but we got rid of it all apart from the one in Gran Canaria. We love the ambience of the timeshare resort and of P.R. but with one major exception, they should bomb the commercial centre (in fact both of them) and start again. They really are the most awful,tacky monstrosities and whoever came up with the idea in the first place should be left in the middle when they bomb it.
Seriously though, the setting of Puerto Rico is quite spectacular at the mouth of the barranco and it's a shame that it is ruined by these tasteless, ill-conceived 'shopping centres'. There are plenty of places to eat etc. away from the centre and we prefer to use the beach area.
In Playa de las Americas, here in Tenerife, they have realised that it was becoming extremely tacky and are putting a lot of effort and money in to improve the area and largely succeeding. Having said all of this, we are off for two weeks to our timeshare in Gran Canaria in June, so it hasn't put us off too much.

Totally agree with you there on PR have been many times, and the commercial centres are awful, Down by the harbour is fine, the beach is fine the restaurants over from the beach and above the shopping centre near the harbour are ok too. Love the walk on the prom to Amadores also.

I always said that Amadores was the "posh end" of PR.

There are some nice places in PR, especially around the harbour area and it is lovely to walk around..but head away from there and along the front to where all the shops/bars etc are and that is when it starts to get abit scruffy.

Last time we were in GC, we sailed from Mogan to PR and it was lovely..but we couldn't wait to sail back again. We got nowt but hassle from "looky looky" people who were slightly more upmarket than your normal standard and were trying to persuade us to by timeshares but the police move them on and then 5 minutes later they spring up somewhere else and are on at you. If it wasn't them it was people trying to drag us into their bars/cafe's etc. It reminded me so much of PDLA in Tenerife!

I was relieved when we headed back to Mogan for some peace and quiet!

i suppose some had better step in a put up some sort of defence for PR!!

I think that whilst the commercial centre may not be ideal, i really cant see how we can be regarded as "tacky". The business here can only survive on the people who come here so if we are tacky then does that make them tacky too? I dont think so,having had hols around the world and having worked in Paphos, Limassol, Ayia Napa, Fuengirola, Benelmadena, Torremolinos, Alcudia, Palmanova, Magaluf, Calan bosch, Calan Forcat, Son Bou, Playa Del Las Americas, Sydney, Playa Del Ingles and Puerto Rico and Southport!!!!! as well as a few more too boot! out of all those (bar Sydney), Puerto Rico really doesnt rate too badly. The bars and restaurants are varied from the "party" bars to the relaxed ones, cheap to expensive. Restaurants from English breakfast to Spanish Tapas and Canaian cuisine. The shops stock what most people want to buy here- cheap perfume, fags and booze .

We are a resort that caters for EVERYONE, families, youth, couples and for people that want ANYTHING from their holiday time. Access to the main road to get out and about touring, the best beaches on the south coast nearly year round sunshine and warmth, variety of accomodation to suit every budget, traditional culture, shopping and friendly locals who want people to come over and see this incredible island. And whilst we do have our fair share of "bugs" like timeshare touts, so does everywhere else. So perhaps instead of focusing on this blinkered perception of tacky and this rather over used cliche of blackpool in the sun, perhaps people open their eyes and see what a fantastic place this is and head of to the travel agent and book themselves a fantastic holiday here!!!

Well said Neil, I came to Puerto Rico last October and loved it, so much so am bringing back my elderly mum in 2 weeks time...........she will love the shops......a bit like wandering around the coastal towns of Cornwall.......again full of the tack you expect for tourist areas........but mum loves it so why not give her that pleasure.

The beaches are great ........people are friendly and I feel comfortable and safe there.

So here's to our hols in 2 weeks

I visited PR a couple of years ago when staying in Taurito during our first visit to GC, we had a walk round the place then walked to Amadores and back and breathed a sigh of relief that we hadn't chosen to stay in PR. We thought it was tacky in the extreme. Amadores was OK but PR was awful.

Just what is it that makes a place "tacky"?

tacky - (of a glutinous liquid such as paint) not completely dried and slightly sticky to the touch; "tacky varnish" hmm not that one

tacky - tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts";

Cant call PR showy in any way shape or form!! (Tasteless...probably!! ), if anything we could do with a tidy up!

I think that people who perhaps regard themselves as too good or above all that, should realise that supply and demand shapes the society we live in and therefore by defining the things that people enjoy as tacky your are in effect defining these people as tacky.Which i dont think the THOUSANDS of holiday makers who come here and have a bloody good time, would really appreciate. (They will probaby attack you with their Primark Mock Crocs!!!! ;))

Anyway too hot to type , back to my tacky garden lounger (its sticky!)

I'll be over in June!