H10 Rubicon Palace, Lanzarote
The stunning H10 Rubicon Palace Hotel, situated on the southern tip of the island about 45 minutes drive from the airport, skirting the edge of the Timanfaya (Fire Mountain) National Park, where you will visit the awe inspiring stretch of volcanic wasteland, that covers a quarter of the island which was created over six years of near continuous volcanic eruptions between 1730 and 1736. We had taken a guided excursion trip here three years ago when we had visited this island for the first time, so this time around it was going to be a more leisurely break, also due to the fact that we were only staying for five nights instead of the usual week, due to my daughter’s holiday entitlement at her new job. We were all looking forward to some R&R and the H10 Rubicon Palace Hotel offers that in abundance.
It was also the first time that we had flown with Jet2 from Stansted Airport. Very good experience with them, no delays and they offer a check in service at the resort for the flight home, where you can check your suitcases in at reception and they are then transported to the airport and checked in without you having to worry about them until you arrive back in the UK.
The reception area is quite spectacular, with beautiful interior designs and furnishings, the centrepiece being a display of dolphins leaping up across the stairway.
We had paid for sea view rooms but the hotel kindly offered to upgrade us to “Privilege” in return for this blog post. Our luggage was transported from the reception to our sea front rooms via a golf buggy, which took us on a mini tour of the complex. The hotel is more akin to a village, occupying a vast area of subtropical landscaped gardens, with beautiful water features that include a small stream running through, a life size schooner ship in the main pool, cascading waterfalls and a pond with colourful large fish.
The rooms were very spacious with patio doors opening out on to an ocean view looking towards the island of Fuerteventura on the horizon. the patio area had both table and chairs and sun loungers to relax in. A light, airy feel to the room, large comfortable bed, huge flat screen television which unlike a lot of hotels abroad had a good selection of English channels, including, BBC1, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky News, not that we watched much television but it is nice to have the option to catch up on news from home.
Plenty of storage space in the wardrobe with full length sliding mirror door, free safe, excellent WI-Fi which worked efficiently throughout all of the areas, tea and coffee making facilities, air conditioning and ceiling fan (it kept the room so cool that we actually turned it off). The bathroom was decorated beautifully with illuminated mirrors, bath with normal shower heard and drench shower, complimentary lotions, hairdryer, scales, writing desk and minibar.
We awoke to find two beautiful coloured birds which looked like parrots sitting in these cactus plants. There is an aviary in the grounds of the hotel where you will see lots of small birds flying in and out and feeding inside.
The food at the hotel is top notch with a large variety to suit all tastes. There are two main venues for both breakfast and dinner and they are elegantly decorated. We were half board which suited us fine because we like to explore other places during the day, so will normally have some light lunch at one of the many cafes nearby. You are offered all inclusive at the reception when you check in for approximately €38 per person per day. Breakfast had a choice of fruit, cereals, full English, croissants, pastries, pancakes and yoghurts. We always like the possibility of eating breakfast outside when on holiday and everyday we sat on the terrace. Likewise our evening meal was taken in the same area, where the selection again was delicious and varied, with freshly cooked meats, fish, shellfish, rice, salads, chips, potatoes, stews and vegetables. The desserts were a selection of ice cream, cakes and pastries. Waiter service for the drinks, which you signed for against your room to be paid when you checked out.
There are also some themed restaurants where you can book up and reserve a table if you prefer something different from the main restaurants. In total there are six restaurants, four bars and a coffee shop. Five adult swimming pools and three children’s pools.
In then evening we spent time in our favourite lobby bar which had leather chairs and overlooked the ocean. You had the choice of sitting inside listening to the daily live music, which was of a very high standard and usually featured solo artists, singing or playing instruments or having a drink on the outside terrace and with the evening temperatures still being very warm, it made for a pleasant experience.
The Privilege standard allowed us to visit the Despacio Spa Centre where you can relax and unwind both body and mind with an assortment of therapies that included a dynamic seawater swimming pool, aqua massage beds, hot and cold pebble pathways that stimulated your feet as you walked across them, water mists, relaxation rooms where you laid back and drifted away whilst looking at the lights in the ceiling, jacuzzis, saunas and Turkish baths.
In the same centre you will find the gym which is air conditioned and features an array of state of the art digital exercise machines, that include, treadmills, cross trainers, cycles and weight lifting.
Our days were spent chilling around the pool, in the gym or visiting nearby Playa Blanca. Top tip is to just hop in a taxi that park just across the road from the hotel reception and it will only take you 10 minutes to arrive in Playa Blanca, which has a golden sandy beach, nice restaurants and bars, sun loungers to hire for €4 each for the whole day and the most gorgeous crystal clear water where we even saw fish swimming past. There is a bus that runs every 30 minutes but the taxi only cost us €4 for all four of us, an absolute bargain!
If you’re feeling more energetic, take the coastal path and it will take you about 45 minutes from the hotel to Playa Blanca.
The steps at Playa Blanca harbour where the large ferries transport tourists to the nearby island of Fuerteventura. It takes about 30 minutes to cross to the island.
We paid for this trip ourselves but we received a free upgrade to the Privilege standard for writing this blog post. As always, all opinions are my own.
