Hi Jennie I've only stayed in Puerto Rico but did pop in on the bus once to PDI. Puerto Rico is hilly, but is more compact. PDI tends to be more spread out.

There's plenty of bars and restaurants in both. PDI has 2 commercial centres. 1 on 'ground level' and the other up the hill.

Have just looked on a map for the Altair apartments and it appears you'll be nearer to the 'ground' commercial centre. You can get a taxi (cheap) up to the other centre if you fancy a change.

Jardin Del Sol

"¢1.4km to Playa del Ingles beach
"¢700m to Playa del Ingles centre

Hi Jennie

I live on Gran Canaria, in Las Palmas. Out of the two resorts I strongly recommend Puerto Rico. The south-west corner of the island is much more agreeable and picturesque than Playa del Ingles, which is, excuse my Spanish, a sh!t-hole. I visited P del I a couple of weeks ago for the first time, to see if it was as awful as I'd heard...and I wasn't disappointed. Why anyone would want to spend any time here is beyond me; it is an embarassment to the island. Breezeblock concrete shopping 'malls' and Scandinavian bars blaring out football and serving full English breakfasts; no wonder the Spanish hate us.

In contrast, go to Puerto Rico and you're close to Amadores and Puerto de Mogan which is an absolute gem of a town. The scenery is rocky cliffsides and crashing waves; it's pretty idyllic and does a good job of masking the scores of tourists which would otherwise seem so prominent. This side of the island has a more Spanish, high-quality feel and isn't so 'in your face' as P de I/ Maspalomas.

And please, also consider Las Palmas city. It has a beach, shops, bars, restaurants, parks, nightlife, everything you could want in a holiday; it baffles me why so many tourists overlook it.