Holiday Rentals in Gran Canaria

Furthermore there are also hostels, pensions, timeshare facilities and other accommodation. The offer is enormous, and so is the request. Therefore it is advisable to always book the accommodation for your Gran Canaria holiday early in advance, because the cheapest and best deals are usually sold out quickly.
The following article, which divides the accommodation into categories, should give you an overview of the offered accommodation types in Gran Canaria and at the same time serve to generate ideas.

Self-Catering Accommodation

Private Rooms / Bed & Breakfast

Ever since Airbnb, there is an easily accessible and wide range of rooms offered by the providers in their own apartments. These are single rooms that can be rented for the period of your stay. They are furnished and should at least have a TV and a closet. The bathroom and the kitchen are shared with the apartment owners. 

The prices for a guest room in Gran Canaria start at € 13 / night. A “Bed & Breakfast” includes a cooked breakfast in the room rate.

Hostels

Hostels are primarily aimed at single travelers, groups or backpackers with a small budget. They mostly offer shared dorm rooms that provide a bed and a cupboard for each guest. For space reasons, the beds are mostly bunk beds. Meals can be prepared in a communal kitchen and the sanitary facilities are shared with the other guests. Since hostels are mainly used by teenagers and young adults, a modern and casual look has prevailed. Some hostels offer communal areas, like chillout areas and small bars. The socializing factor is correspondingly high. When choosing a hostel, ensure internet access and washing machines are available. The cheapest hostel beds in Gran Canaria cost about € 15 / night. Recommendable, is for example, the Volver Hostel in Puerto de Mogán or the cave hostel El Warung in Artenara.

Apartments

Apartments are fully furnished and are only intended for weekly rental. In Gran Canaria you will find everything from studio apartments to multi-bedroom apartments. There are big differences in the equipment. The furniture for example can vary from simple to high quality. The kitchen and bathroom equipment can be very different. You should definitely make sure that your apartment on the sunny island Gran Canaria has a terrace or a spacious balcony. Unfortunately, this is not standard.

The location of the apartments can also be very different. There are apartments in residential buildings among locals or in apartment complexes that are exclusively used for holiday rentals. The facilities are usually characterized by the fact that the buildings have a communal swimming pool.

The basic amenities required by law include at least one internal bathroom, windows to the outside in all living and bedrooms, washing machine and internet access, to name only the most important ones. Small apartments can be found from € 25 / night. Price rule: The larger, the better equipped and the closer to the beach, the higher the rate.

Cave Houses

Something special and really extraordinary are cave houses. There are a few on offers in Gran Canaria. Many of these caves have already been built and were inhabited by the indigenous people of Gran Canaria, the Guanches. The Spanish conquerors have then expanded these. So that most of the caves have extensions that are used as living and dining area. The sleeping rooms are in the caves though. This distribution is very pleasant as these cave rooms are nice and cool in summer and warm in winter.

Since these cave houses are more likely to be found way outside the tourist areas, therefore when you spend your holidays in a cave, you will find yourself the middle of the mountains far away from a good infrastructure with supermarkets, restaurants and beaches. For those who like the individual, natural and simple, that’s just the thing to do. Highly recommended is the Cave House in Acusa Seca from € 60 / night. It is located in a small cave village in the middle of the breathtaking mountain-world in the inland of Gran Canaria. With views of the mystical Roque Bentaiga and the landmark Roque Nublo, you will experience an absolute natural highlight on this island.

Holiday Houses / Villas

If you travel in larger (family) groups or if you simply can afford it, you can book one of the countless Villas in Gran Canaria. This can be a single-story (bungalow) and multi-storey house, with and without its own pool, a Casa Rural (rural villa), beach or town villas. Same as apartments – villas can also vary extremely in size and features. Refurbished villas often have a private swimming pool and their own private grounds. If you travel to Gran Canaria with children during the winter months, make sure that you have a pool heating. Because even though the day temperatures are spring-like at 23 – 24 degrees, in pools can be quite cold.

Villas are already available from € 40 / night, but these are for max. 3 persons, have a very simple equipment and are located in the middle of nowhere. For better equipped villas in the south of Gran Canaria you have to expect prices from € 100 / night. Take a look at the Canarian Company Villas Gran Canaria. They offer a large portfolio of high quality holiday homes and surely also have something suitable for you.

Boats / Yachts

A few providers allow guests to stay on their boats or yachts. The so-called houseboats are firmly moored in one of the marinas of Gran Canaria and are equipped just like apartments. So you will not have to do without any comfort. This type of out of the ordinary accommodation provides for a special relaxation and a romantic ambience. Such houseboats are not cheap. You have to calculate with at least € 100 / night. You can stay for example in the 5* Mogan Yacht Xperience in Puerto de Mogán. But be quick, because this houseboat is rapidly booked up.

Unlike a houseboat, which does not move away from the harbor throughout your vacation, you can also charter yachts; with or without crew, for your vacation. And travel the waters around Gran Canaria by yacht. This extravagant vacation is also not suitable for small budgets. For a yacht charter without crew you have to pay at least € 150 / day.

Accommodation With Catering

Pensions

In pensions you can rent a room just for a few days or weeks. You will stay in a furnished room. There are pensions, where you only have a washing facility in your room. In this case, the sanitary facilities are shared with other guests. In other pensions, the rooms have their own private bathroom “on suite”.

Characteristic feature of pensions is that the guest service is reduced to room cleaning and breakfast. Some pensions offer free internet access. The apartment facilities are very simple and the front desk is only occupied temporarily. Since pensions are a lot cheaper than hotels, this type of accommodation is ideal for those on a low budget that don’t want to share the dorm. On Gran Canaria you will find pensions with room rates starting at € 20 / night. The Guest House San Fernando has good reviews and is very popular.

Bungalow Resorts

A bungalow is a house in the broadest sense, with only one floor. Gran Canaria offers countless accommodation in bungalow resorts. These resorts are run like hotels and are characterized by correspondingly high quality service. Guests stay in small, detached houses with one or more bedrooms, bathrooms and terraces. A bungalow in a complex can be booked with breakfast, half or full board. The front desk is staffed at least during business hours. The bungalow facilities range from simple to high quality according to the star classification of the resort. There are one or more swimming pools on the premises. Some resorts offer children and adults entertainment. The prices for double occupied bungalows start at about € 50 / night. The Cordial Sandy Golf in Maspalomas is popular and well rated.

Aparthotels or Apartment Hotels

This type of accommodation is not just like a usual hotel-room or suite, but it is a fully furnished apartment including kitchen, bathroom, at least a living room bed room combination or a living room with one or more separate bedrooms. In contrary to the holiday apartments, renting can also be done on a daily basis here. Another difference is that the service available here has hotel-standard. This includes towel and bed linen change as well as apartment cleaning.

There is a reception desk that is staffed at least at the usual business hours. Furthermore, breakfast is offered and some apartment hotels even do All-Inclusive and there are leisure and entertainment facilities such as pool areas, tennis courts, etc. And they often also offer children and adults entertainment. The cheapest apartments in an aparthotel with double occupancy and no meals are available from € 30 / night. The 3-star aparthotel Cordial Valle in Puerto de Mogán is very popular.

Hotels

In this category, there is a huge span in terms of quality and prices. First of all, a hotel is defined as a tourist accommodation, which also offers a variety of services in addition to the daily rental of rooms and suites. Hotel services include 24-hour reception, daily housekeeping, change of bed linen and towels, a restaurant for residents and externals, and additional facilities such as a gym, spa, tennis courts, pools, etc. A hotel should have at least 20 rooms. Hotels in holiday destinations should also offer children and adults animation.

Prices, quality and features of a hotel vary depending on the star certification. On Gran Canaria you will find all categories from 1 star to 5 star hotels. Even the only 5 star plus hotel in the world is located on this island. It is the Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia, the only hotel in the world to receive the “Gran Lujo” award, which actually corresponds to a sixth star.

While most hotels have specialized in vacationing and can be booked as a package holiday, there are also many hotels that have been designed for business travelers and companies. These hotels provide meeting and training facilities, which can be rented.

The cheapest hotel room on Gran Canaria starts from € 20 / night and person. Highly recommended is Europe’s largest hotel Lopesan Costa Meloneras with 1,200 rooms, where many Hollywood stars have stayed, when filming a movie on Gran Canaria or when just spending a holiday.

Timeshare

This holiday product, which is also known as the right of usage of a holiday residence, has meanwhile established as well as hotels and holiday apartments in the classical sense on Gran Canaria. In the case of timeshare, the customer acquires the right to use a holiday home (apartment, bungalow or room) for a specific period of more than one year for a defined time in the year. The rights of use are usually entered in the land register of the timeshareresort. There are even models 

where the customer buys this right to life. The lifetime models, however, are barely used nowadays. Usual time periods today are between two and ten years. The right of residence can also be transferred to third parties by reselling, giving away or inheriting it.

Fee Payments

As a co-owner, the customer is obliged to contribute to the maintenance costs of the resort, which he does through an annual fee. The amount of the payment depends on duration of the annual right of usage and the size accommodation.

Holiday Exchange Organizations

Most timeshare providers are connected to holiday exchange organizations, giving users the opportunity to enjoy their stay anywhere in the world. Prerequisite for this is the membership of the customer in such an exchange organization under payment of the membership fee and free availability at the desired time.

What to Watch Out For

Flight, transfer and meals are not included in the timeshare. In addition fees are charged for i.e.: maintenance, membership in exchange organizations and the actual exchange among other things.

Important Notes

As there are many non serious timeshare provider in Gran Canaria, there is some advice below:

• Above all, stay away from provider who pretend to distance themselves explicitly from the timeshare model and sell individual vacation weeks as a package. These promise customers holidays in exclusive facilities but when customer makes a request, there supposedly are no availabilities.
• If possible, do not be persuaded by the street vendors to attend a sales presentation in exchange of a promised grand prize.
• Never make any payment at a sales event. Vendors who request an immediate down payment act unlawfully.
• If you are interested in a timeshare model, research about the provider on the Internet beforehand.
• Also in timeshare, the higher the quality of the resort, the more expensive it is. Calculate the purchase price and add all the additional costs to determine whether you can afford it.
• If you have fallen for a dubious provider, immediately turn to the consumer protection on site. Your Hotel receptionist or your holiday rep can help you with this. After departure you can contact international or European consumer protection.

Our Recommendation

The most beautiful timeshare facility on Gran Canaria is undoubtedly the Anfi in Arguineguin.