Oh and other info. like what kind of english speaking channels you can get on the satellite TV would be interesting too lol I'm curious too far in advance I guess but oh well we'll find out in the end one way or another!

Hello IzzyS,

We're going out to exactly the same villas (Virgo) as you by the look of it, over Xmas.

We've tried to identify it on Google Earth, and think we have found them, but would like confirmation.

How did it go? Was there enough sun, and was the pool warm enough? Was there much construction going on near by?

Are there any good walks in the vicinity?
And what about your other questions, are you in a position to answer your own questions/

Hope you had a good time.
djf

djf im sorry, I don't remember getting any email notification to say that you'd posted that message and obviously im too late in responding now. I've only just logged in again for the first time since probably last August or something... as we have this years holiday booked lol... I didn't realise anyone had responded to this old post... so I apologise that I didn't reply and I hope that you enjoyed the holiday over Christmas.

My dad did the same thing, using Google Earth to try and identify the area... it was a bit of a nightmare on the evening we got there, it was really dark by the time we found the right area and then we got lost trying to find the property, its hard to figure it out in the dark and I'd recommend getting an early flight, not an afternoon flight, so its light for some time when you get there! (this is general advice for anyone else going here).

Oh yes the weather was great and we had no problems with the pool, I believe it is a heated pool so should have suited you well for that time of year.. there was construction work on a trench opposite the property but they didn't really work on it while we were there and it didn't affect us much. Hopefully that work is completed now.

You can walk around the estate, it is quite pretty in parts, though really car hire would be recommended I'd say, its hard work walking to the local Spar shop and back and its not entirely extensive I'd say. I think there were places nearby you could go for good walks... depends on if you mean big long hill walks or what... I saw some people walking around the craggy hills by the villa at one point, which looked a bit scary to me, don't know how stable/safe that was! but I guess some people do that.

I know this is months on but having found your post, I guess I felt I ought to reply all the same, for the use of anyone else who may be thinking of going to this property or to one of the nearby ones... hope your holiday went well djf, sorry I didn't reply before. It looks like im going to Malta this year so this year ill be asking all about there instead lol I've never been there either...

Thanks for the reply, it shows there's someone out there who cares!

We were right actually we had found it on Google Earth.

And I'd say for anyone else that a car is essential absolutely. The area is built between those ridges that define the coastal areas down there, and it's not designed for pedestrians.
Most people we saw walking, went to the Spar and then walked along the dual carriageway hard shoulder. We tried avoiding that by walking across the golf course, but ended up jumping a ditch and using a hole in a fence on our strole to the 'beach'. We didn't bother going there again.

We don't let things like that get us down though. We used the villa as a good base, staying around the pool in the morning and going out for the afternoon, or coming back before the sun went behind the hill. The pool next door always seems to be warmer than ours, but we enjoyed the water all the same - I find it sooo relaxing just being able to sit with my feet in the pool even.

We had our 2 primary school age kids with us, so we spent time in Puerto Mogan and the beach there, and around in the bay Puerto Rico. We were always pleased to be able find parking so easily since the other tourists spend there time using taxis and buses.

It was a wonderful holiday, although I much prefer the general feeling and ease of movement in Lanzarote.

We did have a few nightmares, which might be a warning as to how to cope there in the future.

One suitcase stayed in Gatwick and was sent that same day on a later flight, but the address we'd been given for the villa was useless. The road had duplicate numbers, but none of them related to the info we'd been sent. So the taxi driver took the bag back to the airport when he couldn't find us.
The airport people and the airline people refused to talk to each other to solve the problem, so we just went back ourselves and picked up the bag ourselves.
It might work getting a bag sent to a hotel, but otherwise do it yourself!

Our daughter then fell over outside the Spar due to the rain on the tile flooring, got concussion.
I'd say, after going to clinics where they got angry with her for being delirious and having to pay for ambulances from private clinics who charged but refused treatment. (Apparently the Childrens hospital in Las Palmas doesn't have an address either!). If you have an ill child don't mess around, the real help in in the Las Palmas hospital. They don't speak english, but someone will. They are professional and kind.

Inspite of all that - it was a great holiday!

Sorry to hear about your daughter. Yeah it isn't really good for walking and its certainly not as close to the beach as you might hope, especially as it takes some effort walking far when its very hot... but the villa I was at, was very comfortable and they all seemed good. I think James Villa classed it as 'car hire recommended' but sometimes their a bit bad at sort under-warning you, if you know what I mean, it probably should say 'car hire essential', just about. I couldn't imagine relying on getting all supplies at the Spar shop really but maybe that shows my snobbish-ness or something that im used to going on holidays with my family and we're able to afford car hire for the length of the holiday. I know I am lucky... I remember walking long distances when we stayed in Majorca, before we could afford the car hire for so long, it wasn't fun...

Still it sounds like you got some enjoyment from the holiday, which is good to know. Puerto de Mogan is a great place, very sort of relaxing and nice for eating out in the evening I thought... they held a Jazz festival there one Saturday evening, we saw an old English jazz group performing in the square... that was a nice night out.

Anyway im glad you seemed to get some kind of enjoyment from your holiday after all that... again sorry I missed your post before! but maybe this might benefit others going to the same place this year(?)

Oh and about the numbers, we had similar problems... when we got a taxi to pick us up and take us to the property, as it was dark at night he was just as confused and lost as to where we were meant to stay... the numbers had been changed and even worse, while other villas had name signs, ours didn't! so it was very difficult to identify which property it was and we ended up walking up to a few which had other people in it... I don't think we found the right place until just before 11pm and we left the airport at around 8:30pm when it was still light lol... with us, our direction/documents mentioned that this miami sun apartment address, which was nonsense as when we got there (a few days later, to try and sort something minor out) it was closed, with no sign of life (looked pretty run down too, cue snobbish-ness coming back *sorry*) so we were left knowing that if there were to be an emergency, it appeared we had basically nowhere to go! im not sure if we ever did find a rep at all... and I did feel that was bad, for such a big name company to kind of do that. We're not sure if James is aware of that or if it was a mis understanding and the accomodation company claim that address is where people who need help should go but at that time, it had some sign saying closed until October, open October to February or something daft and utterly useless for anyone there during summer anyway... blah... I'd forgotten about all of that lol... ah well... I remember I had said to my parents back then during the holiday, that they should write to James Villas to tell them about the problems finding the property and possibly more importantly, about the uselessness of 'miami sun apartments' which they thought about but decided in the end not to bother. It irks me when stuff like that happens though because its not altogether impossible for an emergency to arise and if things you think are in place, aren't, well, its just not good, is it? especially when, lets face it, such companies are hardly offering their holidays (accomodation and flights and whatever else, car hire) on the cheap, its getting more expensive... I think if we have any similar problems *crosses fingers that we dont* since we're again using this company this year, I'll be the one writing lol... it gets my goat stuff like that, you don't pay so much and end up being on your own trying to figure out with a local none the wiser, where your staying and then realise you don't appear to have any reps on the island - its not good for the price it costs, not good at all... maybe you had a better experience though(?) I hope so perhaps they sorted things out since last Summer, I don't know. I mean luckily we didn't have any real emergenices and we like to plan our own trips and discover things ourselves so we rarely use reps but I feel we should have been able to have had access to one, like I say if an emergency were to have happened... but anyway, ill shut up lol...

For general information we were Villa Virgo, which is the one adjacent to the road. The road was not a nuisance since it's so quiet, and lower down than the villa.
It is on Google Earth at 27degrees 48'18.11"North & 15degrees 42'45.59" West.
It wasn't worth trying to put the car on the drive since the curb was far too high.

We found the hotel who were acting as reps. a little too 'manyana' for us. There was some sort of electric fault in the villa which blew the fuse if we used two particular sockets, so there was no CD player provided like the other villas. We also experienced minor electric shocks off the microwave, and the electric hob failed in the middle of meal preparation & we had to twist arms on the telephone to get attention. But an electrician did come out even though it was dark. (He never returned as promised though.)

My advice is to find out right at the start the things that need fixing, (our toaster didn't work) and mention it all right at the start.
Once you're in you only get one bite at the apple, otherwise it's just a string of niggly calls they ignore.

We did most of our shopping at a big cheaper Maspalomas supermarket with an underground car park. But the local Spar was great for convenience.