This was our first visit to the Canaries for a long time and as the euro has dropped so much in value we opted for all inclusive. In this particular hotel this option was the correct thing to do as the food was really good and the selection available would leave even the fussiest of eaters no room to complain. Must have put on at least half a stone due to all the temptations.
The hotel is very clean and tidy and rooms although not huge were very nice and comfortable. The location of the hotel was fine if you like to be away from the razamatazz of some resorts and the walk to the shops and dunes in the sunshine was always pleasant. If you want to venture further afield then you can easily find the buses or go on organised excursions.
We found the hotel staff to be always polite and courteous and the bar staff was quick to serve and were always having a laugh and joke with the customers.
The local drinks and cocktails were probably not as strong as at home but were very pleasant to drink so you might find it difficult to get tipsy.
The pool area in high season must be a nightmare as I have never seen so many sun beds in one place,the time of year we went meant the hotel was probably not full so we never had trouble getting one.
The only negative I would have about this hotel was the entertainment.
The Animacion team although probably very lovely people worked very hard and there were always games and activities during the day which you could participate in if you wished. However, low and behold when you went to the bar in the evening, who popped up on stage nearly every night... yes you guessed it...the same animacion team. But talented they were not...sometimes you can try to be too funny and as we all know that is when you are not. They would have been more suited in a redcoat/bluecoat outfit and certainly would not progressed very far in a talent show.
Would I go back to the hotel again, well the answer is no but not because it was bad but because once done and enjoyed move on and try something else. Also I now know why I have been back to Goa two times to the same hotel and am going back a third time next year because whole lifestyle is chalk and cheese.
As a one off I would recommend this hotel and don't worry about the other nationalities there as they
were OK when we were there.
Pick the time of year you go or you will no doubt become involved in the sunbed fiasco that must obvously take place.

Club Hotel Riu Club Maspalomas, we stayed here for two weeks over the Easter period, the hotel is always kept clean and the vast majority of the staff are only too pleased to help however, there are one or two members of staff who I would say need to be re-trained in the art of customer relations.

The food as many reviewers have said is of a very high quality, however even on a day to day basis the salads can be very repetitive with little or no variation; the fish on offer for instance in my opinion was not presented as well as could be expected but that

We spent a week here at half-term and enjoyed it very much. We too were lucky enough to be upgraded to an apartment with a great sea-view. Much better for our son than being on a campbed in with us as we expected. He even had a proper bed in the sitting room, not just a sofabed.

The food was good and suited all of us. Teenager glad to find chips and icecream at every lunch and dinner. I especially liked the roasts carved by a chef at dinnertime. The one part of the food which was a little disappointing was the dessert table. A lovely selection of fresh fruit and cheeses, but little in the way of wicked gateaux to tempt you ! The Spanish do love their 'flan', but unfortunately I do not! The lemon mousse was nice, but one grew weary of it after a few meals.

The big disappointment, though, was the swimming pool(s). The brochure claimed it was heated. Well it certainly did not feel like it was and there were no signs up quoting the temperature like you usually get. So don't go here in winter expecting to be able to swim.

By the way, an earlier review stated there were no loos at the pool. In fact there are, they are at the back of the pool bar.

Excellent hotel in an excellent location. The food is superb - so much choice.

You can even dine in a specialist restaurant at no extra cost. All of the staff very friendly and keen to help you.

Plenty of bars with the drink measures very generous! You can self serve beer/soft drinks/wine and hot drinks. The hotel is spotless - very well maintained with beautiful grounds and great sea views.

The evening entertainement was good with regular professional acts although the entertainment did finish quite early each night.

We were on our wedding anniversary and were given an apartment with the most amazing sea view.

Would definitely go back.

Well I cannot recommend this hotel enough, we are just came back from an excellent holiday we were 7 adults, 2 kids and a 20 month old, everything from the excellent bar staff, reception and waiters were first class and I work in tourism on the mainland of Spain and I am very critical of everywhere we go!
The waiters in the dinning room came straight over to say hello to the little one with a high chair and a little fork and spoon ready for her and we were treat fabulous even though we spek the language they all spoke a very good level of english.
If you want peace and quiet I can recommend it for your teenagers too as we have a 14 year old and an 11 year old and we never saw them for a week hence never spent a penny on them, all the activities going on day and night, the entertainers were excellent and really work hard for their money say hello to Henar from us!

Negative points:- N

This is the second time i have stayed at the Riu Gran Canaria and i wil definetely return! Fantastic hotel in all respects, really, really clean and tidy and staff work hard all day making sure that all public areas are kept beautifully. Grounds are gorgeous and are constantly being worked on and pool area is big enough for number of guests.
Rooms made up every day even on sunday and cannot fault the service they provide. Staff on reception are really friendly and helpful, really made us feel welcome at check in and are more than willing to have a laugh and a joke! Restaurant staff are also very friendly and will do anything they can to help and make sure you're enjoying yourself! Very secure hotel as well with security guard on front door and back gate to keep out those not staying at hotel but also nice to see their presence.
Food is fab, i'm a really fussy eater and i find something every day that i liked where as the others in my party couldn't speak highly enough of it! Definetely worth going to the Mexican night which you need a reservation for, and drinks are excellent, not at all watered down as you find in some all-inclusive hotels and also plenty of name brands on offer as can be seen behind the bar and in store-rooms!
Evening entertainment is fab, in many different languages mind but still good fun! Couple of professional acts a week but largely performed by animacion team who work unbelievably hard! Conduct daytime activities, kids club etc throughout the day and perform every night!
Location is fantastic, 5 - 10 minute walk to all shops and restaurants along lovely promenade straight out of back gate of hotel.
Something for every-one whether it be families, couples or friends, as a travel advisor for Thomson i cannot recommend this hotel highly enough and already making plans to go back!

We could not fault the cleanliness of the hotel in all respects. The staff were more than friendly, and could not do enough to please us. Our 2 year old grandaughter made many amigos among the restaurant staff!
We asked for and were given a room upgrade to one of the self catering apartments past the pool, which was lovely, enabling us to have a separate lounge area.Food excellent, but slightly boring and "sameish" after two weeks. Would we go back - NO, simply because of the sunbeds. They ask you NOT to reserve beds, but we are sure that many of the German?Dutch tourists left towels overnight. It was a nightmare. I had to go out at 7.30am to reserve beds near the shallow end for our grandaughter, which spoilt it somewhat. We have previously visited the Riu Vistamar in Amadores on several occasions, and they were HOT on removing any towels left on beds before 9am.Entertanment geared to the German/Dutch contingencies.

Just got back from a 2 week holiday at the Club Hotel Riu Gran Canaria. We had a great time and are obviously now fed up being back at home. This is the first time we have been to an all inclusive hotel (we usually go half board) and we were impressed, particularly by the standard of the food. The food was as good as some of the 4 star plus half board hotels we have stayed in. We heard some people saying they thought the food was a bit repetative, but I wouldn't agree. There was so much choice you could pick and choose and have something different virtually every night. As well as the international restaurant, you could choose to eat authentic canarian cuisine several nights a week in the adjoining restaurant. Plus themed nights - Mexican and Asian could be booked at the pool bar restaurant several nights a week too. We tried both the Mexican and the Asian nights and the food was great. We found the drinks to be pretty good and didn't notice them to be watered down as somebody has previously suggested. Some branded drinks are available if you ask- just have a peek behind the bar counter and see what you can spot. We didn't bother as we found the locally branded drinks to be just fine. The wine wasn't the greatest but was good enough to have with your meal. Wouldn't have drank it all night though. The cocktails were pretty good - considering they are made in bulk and machine dispensed behind the bar. Some people seemed to be a bit miffed that the cocktails weren't all freshly prepared before your eyes, but lets face it - it is a very busy all inclusive hotel. The cleanliness of our room was excellent. It was great to have fresh pool towels every day too (you just swap them by the pool each morning). The pool itself was great - it was split up into 3 seperate ones, one of which was heated. The jaccuzzis in the middle were fine, but not heated. The reserving of sunbeds was a problem however - the worst I have ever known it in all of my holidays ever! We used to get to the pool for about 8.30 to 9.00am and 90% would be reserved, the remainder of which would be really rubbish ones. We gradually noticed after a while that some people were actually reserving them the night before! In fact some people had even pegged the towels down! The hotel should stick to it's 'no reserving' policy and start removing them. Also, whilst the pool was very clean, the poolside floor was quite grubby & not cleaned so often. We saw some fag buts and dirty straws which hadn't moved during the whole 2 weeks we were there. Just make sure you wear your flip flops to and from the pool, or else your feet will be filthy when you get back to your lounger. The terrace around the pool is rather extensive but still no excuse . Evening entertainment ok. The Animacion team obviously worked very hard. Staff were generally pretty friendly although some far more than others. The niceset staff were in the main restaurants, and were particulary good with my daughter who is two. Staff did seem to prefer the German clientel, perhaps as they are by far in the majority. This could be annoying at times, especially as many of the Germans (but to be fair not all) seemed to have left their manners at home. I would say that this is typical of most hotels we have stayed in though - particularly in Gran Canaria. The location of this hotel is very good. It is in an upmarket area. The surrounding hotels are all 4 star upwards. The promenade is lovely. A 15 minute walk out of the back gate (turn left) takes you past lots of shops, some of which are quite swanky, past a lovely lighthouse and straight to Maspalomas beach. I wouldn't bother turning right out of the gate as not much there. Overall fantastic holiday, just let down by a few minor things as mentioned above. We would consider a return visit in the future.

we have just returned from 2 fantastic weeks in gran canaria.
the hotel itself is spotlessley clean, the food is fantastic. theres so much choice, there must be at least 10 different desserts to choice from in the evening alone...
the location of this hotel is in the resort of melonares, which is very upmarket and has 4 and 5 star hotels only.
the promenade is beautiful, which runs along the back of the hotels. there are lovely bars and restaurants and wonderful shops(mostly designer), it was lovely to walk out at night and sit in a bar overlooking the sea.
the staff are extremley friendly but on the down side, the entertainment does not come up to scratch for a 4star hotel. we only saw 2 proffesional acts in the 2 weeks we stayed. the animation team are the entertainment and to be honest it was poor....
so thank goodness for the bars along the promenade..
the only gripe i would have about this hotel is, you have to get up at 7am to get a sun bed arond the pool areas. if you are any later than 8-8.30am, you probably won`t get a sun bed at all!!!!!

Stayed here for one week in July for our honeymoon.

Stunning hotel to look at, food was the best, location was ok, entertainment was good but a but repetitive.

Only problem we came across and I always thought this was a rumour that people actually reserve sunbeds but its true.
This is this first time I have ever witnessed this but people were going down at 4am to save there seats so by the time we got down which would be at 9am they were all taken and the seats would stay empty until they decided to come down at 11am.

Lovely hotel, good place to stay if you want to get away from the British but not for us.