Having read good reviews previous to booking these bungalows, on our arrival we were really quite impressed with the size of them inside. They certainly need a bit of renovating as some of the sockets were hanging off the wall and paint was flaking off the walls.

The location was fantastic, about a 5 minute walk to the Yumbo Centre where we spent nearly every night as it's probably one of the best commercial centres in Gran Canaria.

The Bungalows are also in a quiet location, the only downside to that being the birds. You almost feel like your living in a bird sanctuary. They can be very noisy at times.

The walls are not very sound proof. You can hear people in the bungalow next door as we experienced when we were woken at 7.00am nearly every morning by a very noisy German singing at the top of his voice. It sounded like he was actually inside our room. It would have been better if the bungalows were detached.

The staff were very helpful. When we arrived they put us in a one bedroom bungalow, even though we booked a 2 bedroom one. They quickly realised their mistake and rectified it.

We heard loads of horror stories about cockroaches but we only saw one in the 2 weeks we were actually there.

We never actually ate or drank in the restaurant on site but it did look quite nice.

We'll definitely be staying at this complex next year.

Having been to Playa Del Ingles the year before we decided to try a self-catering holiday at the same resort and booked a week at Biarritz Bungalows last October.

Initial impressions are good, the bungalows look good and the gardens and pool area are great, however first impressions can be deceptive.

The holiday was booked for 3 adults. The 3rd and 4th beds are however only sofabeds, but they are not suitable for anyone over 5

I stayed with my partner and three friends in the Biarritz bungalows in August 2004.

We had an excellent time. The bungalows were ideally situated close to the yumbo centre which has fabulous nightlife and restaurants. There was plenty to choose from for people of all sexualities. It was a bloody good laugh!

The beach was about 15 minutes away which is downhill on the way there but uphill on the way back which isn't a problem because it's about the only exercise you'll do all week.

As for these moaners about ceiling fans yes they were on a timer, but if like me your hardly in the place then it wont bother you.

My partner friends and I are going back to the same place this year we loved it do much. It was a lovely place and there isn't anything to fault.

Although the bungalow we stayed in was spacious enough for us and the cleaners were great, the bungalows are very old.

The ceiling fans made no difference at all and they cut out every half hour or so because they are on a timer switch. This means that you have to keep getting up and switching them back on again, even during the night.

There is no entainment whatsoever on the site, not even any background music to listen to whilst sitting by the pool.

The staff were very friendly and helpful and helped us find the different shopping centres and restaurants situated within walking distance.

The beach is lovely and to be honest that is where we spent most of our time. We got very bored and apart from swimming in the pool there was nothing else to do.

It's ok if you want a very, very quiet and very peaceful break.

As I have already mentioned, the bungalows are very old and do need redecorating and refurbishing urgently.

We had a mixed time at the Biarritz.

The apartments were superb, very, very spacious and as big as we've known abroad. Ceiling fans in the living area and bedroom although to be fair they didn't make much difference. Bathroom was a good size with all expected amenities plus hairdryer and large mirrors. The bedroom was very sizeable, large wardrobe space, mirror, dressing table and safe available via a deposit at reception. The dining area was good with table and built in seats and the living room was on the level below with ample seating, coffee table and tv although only BBC World and CNN in English. The kitchen was kitted out with fridge, kettle, toaster, microwave, oven, cooking rings, plenty of cutlery, plates etc and loads of cupboard space. The kitchen led out to a small, high walled patio with washing line and pegs to dry out those beach towels.

The site was wonderful, nice pool running through the site in a sort of U shape. Two larger areas at each end joined by a strip of pool running through the site. Tennis courts and mini golf were available if you felt that energetic in the 90 degree heat although the mini golf could have done with a bit of maintenance. The maid service is fantastic, didn't speak English but all very friendly.

We could not have been more pleased with the apartments and location but it was somewhat tarnished 2 days before the end of our holiday. We nipped to the supermarket in the morning and came back 10 minutes later to find cockroaches all over the doorway, many more than we had seen before and when we got in the apartment they were all over the hallway floor, bathroom floor and bedroom floor. We regularly saw roaches near the hedges and in the artificial grass but nothing to trouble us(a lot of roaches all round Playa Del Ingles come to that).

We reported it to reception just as about 15 other people were doing the same. It seems they spray the site hedges once a fortnight and it brings all the roaches out for a couple of hours before they head back to the hedge. With our apartment being next to a hedge that ran alongside the front of the site we took the full force of it. The roaches were getting under the building via a hole in the wall and coming into the apartment via a gap at the bottom of the toilet bowl that had not been sealed. The manager helped us fend them back and had the gap sealed after a couple of hours but outside the front door was snided and we could not get past, especially as my girlfriend was hysterical by this point.

The Thomson rep was alerted at 12 but was not on site until 5pm on his daily rounds. He said to wait at our apartment and he'd come to see us but 20 minutes later I saw him drive off. More irate calls later and he came back at 7.30 and had us moved immediately, seems he didn't think it was too bad when got the original call hence it took him 7 and a half hours to see us! Funniest moment was when he bent down outside the building to view the hundreds of dead cockroaches in a pile that he seemed petrified of, his mobile phone rang in his back pocket and he fairly lept 6 foot in the air. We were moved to a fantastic apartment in Maspalomas but lost the penultimate day of our holiday, which we were compensated for eventually and were now further out of where we wanted to be. To be honest it was only a couple of euros back into Playa Del Ingles by taxi though and we only had one day left anyway.

But, I don't want to sound like an old fuddy duddy as this was just one of those things that could of happened to anyone at any location at any time. Our gripe was mainly with the Thomson rep and the loss of one day of our holiday when we should have been making the most of our last couple of days.

Silly as it sounds, despite our ordeal I would highly recommend the Biarritz as the site is lovely, the apartments are great and the location was fantastic.

Despite the bungalows being so close to everything you'll be amazed just how quiet it is. Just around the corner is a supermarket although we were met with the usual shop assistants attitude of pointing to the value of the shopping on the till display and our change placed on the counter. As with many places abroad the things from home cost a packet but the local stuff is cheap enough and more than adequate to keep you going until you stroll to that restaurant at night.

When we went the travel agent informed us the apartments hadn't been in the Thomson brochure long as they had previously been a German orientated location and there was a 50/50 split of English and German with the odd Dutch thrown in but all nice folks, why shouldn't they be.

We're heading back to Playa Del Ingles in November as a sort of second honeymoon but staying at Rebecca Park this time as read some good reviews about it on this site and it's next to the Gran Chaparel. Get married in Cyprus in August but family and friends will still be there after the wedding so as we like Playa Del Ingles so much have decided to head back there in November for a bit of time alone. Hopefully it'll still be lively as our only worry going at that time of year is the risk of places being closed. From what I can gather reading on here and other sites though it is still as good.

Despite our cockroach ordeal I would definitely go back to the Biarritz and recommend them to anyone wanting quality apartments close to everything yet quiet at the same time.