Holiday Village Lanzarote (HL Rio Playa Blanca)

We booked the Holiday Village Lanzarote as a last minute get away after our original plans were cancelled (We should have been in Florida!)

We booked through Tui and used Top Cash Back – Click here to register and start collecting cash back on your online purchases

Bristol airport is where we prefer to fly from as much as we can as it is the most convenient for us and the parking is super convenient as you can park literally right outside the terminal – no transferred needed!

You can find out more about our trip out here and our return here

Lanzarote

Lanzarote, the third most popular of the Canary islands, located off the coast of West Africa administered by Spain, is known for its year-round warm weather, beaches and volcanic landscape.

It is just a short ferry trip over to Fuerteventura from Playa Blanca, perfect for day trips.

We flew from Bristol and it was approx a 4 hour flight.

Check in

When we arrived at Holiday Village Lanzarote we were given a number and taken into the upstairs bar area – soft drinks, hot drinks and alcohol were available. As it was late (almost 11pm) we had missed dinner but they did open up the restaurant area for us and there were sandwiches and fruit available.

We were asked to email our vaccine proof and / or pre departure PCR results to the hotels email, or you can give them a copy if you have it printed off.

The little ones were all given a Holiday Village Lanyard and activity passport. These were filled with activities to complete during their stay.

You will be given towel cards to swap at the towel hut for pool towels – make sure you do not lose these cards (or your towels) or you will be charged

You can swap your towels back for the cards before you leave, you can do this between 10am-1pm or if you need to do it outside of these times just find one of the lifeguards and they are happy to do this for you.

---

The Holiday Village Lanzarote App

All activities need to be booked via the app, everything goes live at 6pm for the following day so make sure you are ready to book at 6pm as everything fills up VERY quickly.

You can also book the kids clubs via the app, but the creche has to be booked at the creche between 12.15 – 12.45pm.

We found the app really useful as you could view everything that was going to be on, book and it would send you a push notification 15 mins before the activity is due to start to remind you.

---

Creche – 0-35 months

The Creche is payable at 6€ per hour. Unfortunately as several staff members were off sick daring our stay we weren’t actually able yo use the creche – so no child free time was had!

It is located in the kids club block between the park and the football pitch.

Kids Club 3 yrs – 15 yrs

The kids club is free for those over 3. There are up to 3 sessions a day, they are split into age brackets 3-8yrs and 9-15yrs (and some 3-5yrs & 6-8yrs sessions)

Holly attended lots of sessions over the week and loved it. She came home with endless artwork and crafts. They also did a sports day session and had a pirates and princess party!

They also got branded items from the clubs including Water Bottles, T-shirts and Sunglasses which Holly loved!

The staff were lovely they all spoke very good English and seemed to genuinely enjoy their roles within the clubs

Chloe and Lottie only did a few sessions but again they really enjoyed the ones they attended. They played games, watched movies and did some activities in the pool.

---

Food

There are 3 self serve buffets a day in the main restaurant which has indoor and outdoor seating and has pool views.

Breakfast 7.30-10.30am

We were really impressed to find Holiday Village Lanzarote serve english style bacon and sausages – although I don’t mind the bacon most places have, I really don’t like the hotdog style sausages they serve.

They also had hash browns, beans, tomatoes, scrambled egg, fried eggs, made to order omelettes, pancakes, porridge, pastries, fruit and a continental selection.

Strangely they also had sweetcorn, chicken nuggets and carrots most mornings.

Lunch 1-3pm

We actually only went in for lunch twice, mainly because it was easier to go in the snack bar (see below) but when we did go in there was a selection including chicken, chips, pizza, vegetables, fruit and salad.

Dinner 6-9pm

We noticed as soon as we arrived that they offer different themes through the week so while we were there, there were Chinese, Hindu, Mexican and International nights.

Each night had a selection of the relevant themes food alongside all the usual pizza, chips, salad, vegetables etc

Russell the Brussels Children’s section

Russell the Brussel (sprout) is one of the character / mascots of the park. You’ll see him each night at the entertainment.

Each lunch / dinner this is filled with a selection of chips, chicken nuggets, pasta, spaghetti, carrots, sweetcorn etc this area is lower down so little ones can serve themselves from here.

Snack Bar

Snacks are also available 12-5 from the pool bar and include ice cream, sandwiches, chips, hotdogs and burgers. You will also find a little arcade in here too.

American & Italian restaurant

Also on site are 2 à la carte restaurants offering either American or Italian dishes. I would highly recommend booking these when you check in as the availability is limited.

We didn’t and when we finally remembered to book them on Thursday we were told they are both run from the same kitchen so are available on alternate nights and only Monday to Friday.

So when we went to book we only had the Friday night left which was Italian. It was ok, I didn’t like what I had (some sort of weird battered steak thing!), but the girls liked their spaghetti bolognese and pizzas.

Bars

You will find tiny paper cups available around all the bars, however I would recommend taking your own reusable plastic cup, flask or even pint glass to save you keep coming back to the bar.

We also recommend grabbing yourself one of these little Drinks holder trays we saw so many people with them and have now ordered one ourselves! You can even have it personalised for your Holiday Village Lanzarote trip!

---

Day time Entertainment

Around the pool there was always something going on – from quizzes to party dancing, even 45 minutes of aqua aerobics! There was always something you could join in with.

Alongside these are the bookable activities which including hover boarding, hover carting, archery, aerial high ropes, aero ball, football challenges, body zorbing and various water/pool games.

Although booking some activities was a bit tricky we did manage to book on something (and sometime several things every day) as we were here at the end of the Summer holidays I could imagine in the peak times we may not have managed to get on as much as we did.

---

Swim, Stage and Football Academies

We didn’t use any of these but we did ask about the Swim academy – it was €40 for 5 sessions.

All 3 are available to book at the box office each day.

---

Night time Entertainment

Most of the evening entertain takes place over in the Theatre – Widget World – there was some around the pool on the small stage but we went to the theatre every night. Doors open at around 7pm ready for the first show at 7.15pm

The evening starts off with a couple of shows with the Widgets – Gizmo, Whatsit, and Doobley both on screen and some live stage shows.

These are followed by some party dancing, the PTY show (that stands for party!), games, loads of fun party dancing then at 9.30pm you would have the main show – while we were there we had some great musical shows – Dan, Kiszey, Charlotte and Marti are fabulous entertainers and the kids loved it.

There was also a flamenco show but our little ones weren’t so keen on watching that. The night time entertainment ends at around 11pm.

Be prepared for the merch they sell at the side of the stage – A cuddly Gizmo, a talking Whatsit and a Doobley hand puppet – you can also get a Russel the Brussel cushion – this, Gizmo and Doobley teddy are €12 and Whatsit is €15 if you miss out on them you can buy them online – Doobley was completely sold out while we were there!

I would also get yourself familiarised with these songs because they will be stuck in your head!

---

Accommodation

As there are 7 of us we opted for a master suite which is 2 bedroom apartment (everything is ground floor here which is a bonus!) and has a private terrace with a hot tub.

The bedrooms are 1 x Kingsize bed, 1 x Twin room, 1 x double sofa bed and 1 x single sofa bed.

All the beds were made up on arrival as was the travel cot, which was much appreciated at it was gone 11pm by the time we got to our room and we often have to chase up travel cots as they get forgotten.

The lounge has additional wardrobe space for those sleeping in there. I would suggest bring hangers as there were only around 25 between all of us.

There is a microwave, fridge (with a bottle of water in) a kettle & coffee machine (which takes these little pods – They look like Nespresso pods)

Tv’s in the lounge and each bedroom – with English TV channels – BBC, ITV, Channel 4 & 5, CBBC and CBeebies to name a few. There was also a washing machine and drier which isn’t mentioned anywhere on the Tui site otherwise we would have brought some wash tabs with us, you can buy them in the supermarket but we didn’t bother.

Air conditioning again in the lounge and both bedrooms.

Bathrooms

There are 2 bathrooms, both with toilets, sink and showers. Both have their own hairdryers and plug socket. Body wash can be found in a dispenser in each shower and under the sink you’ll find soap, a comb and a shower cap. Neither bathroom has a lock on the door.

We also had a small sun bathing area outside of our terrace with 3 loungers on which was a nice touch as sometimes we needed to let Oscar nap so it was nice to have the option to still lay in the sun while he slept in the room.

Our only niggle was that we really needed a gate on the terrace – Toddlers don’t really cooperate with staying put! There also wasn’t a proper light in our bedroom, just 2 side lamps and the light around the wall art which meant it was quite a dark room.

There was a safe, but with no instructions of how to use it and none of the normal tricks worked so we ended up just not using it.

Worth noting – If you have a hot tub master suite be warned if the water is splashed about the floor is like an ice rink. Oscar went flying several times as it is so slippery! It is worth putting some towels down around the outside.

Also the bars on the windows are wide enough for even a small adult to climb through so I wouldn’t recommend leaving windows open when you are out.

---

Maintenance / Cleaning

We had a couple of issues during our stay. Our first one was something we have encountered a lot when staying overseas.. ants! They invaded the twin bedroom and were everywhere, climbing the walls, in all the beds, just in everything. We reported it and housekeeping were out within an hour with spray which seemed to do the trick.

Our hot tub also stopped working on our 2nd day. It just cut out and had no power to it. Again we reported it and within the hour the maintenance team were out and repaired it pretty quickly.

Lastly our door cards stopped working. Although the receptionist blamed us for putting them near our phones at first, I was sure it was the sensor that was the problem. After having the issue a couple of times and eventually being completely locked out they sent someone to look and a quick battery change soon sorted it.

We prefer not to have the cleaners in every day so do hang up the ‘do not disturb’ sign but when we did need anything they were happy to leave it on the terrace for us.

---

Holiday Village Lanzarote Site

The whole site is very flat with just a slight incline in areas. It is extremely accessible with a pushchair and we have seen several wheelchair users also. There is a lift up to reception or you can walk round the outside if you prefer not to use lifts.

The grounds are well kept, bins are emptied regularly and we didn’t notice litter etc.

There is a supermarket on site which sells all your usual holiday bits, it also stocks washing powder as I mentioned above, they had milk which is all we really needed while we were there, for Oscar.

They also have a pump to blow up inflatables so you don’t have to sit there blowing them up! You’ll find this located by the main pool behind the tower / activity meeting point and it is open 10am – 6pm daily. They accept cash and card / contactless.

You’ll also find an ATM located in reception if you need one.

The play area on site is actually a decent size too – although it is sandy which drives us crazy!

---

Near by

We didn’t venture too far but you’ll find Flamingo Beach just a few minutes walk away from Holiday Village Lanzarote, a beautiful cove filled with crystal clear calm waters, soft sand and a couple of small cafe/bars to grab a drink.

Further down you’ll find the marina and more gift shops and restaurants, will stunning views out to sea. Gaz and Miles also booked to go jet skiing for 45 minutes here – it was €100 each but they would allow Miles to have his own (as he is 16) whereas the Tui on’s wouldn’t allow him until he is 18 so it was worth the extra for him to be able to do it.

Across the road you’ll also find AquaLava water park, you can book tickets via the Tui / HV reps by reception.

---

Gaz and Miles also used the E-scooters that you will find dotted about they are from a company called LINK you just download the app to get started.

---

Swimming pools

There are 3 pools to choose from as well as the splash pad.

We stayed around the main pool and the toddler pool but there was also a ‘Semi-olympic pool’ where they do the swim school which is more suitable for those who want to lane swim.

The main pool is where most of the daytime entertainment happens.

You’ll also find the cabana beds over by the main pool but we never bothered with them as there were plenty of sunbeds closer to the pool available

The splash pad is open 12-5pm everyday.

Tip : Check the showers for inflatables that are free for you to use – we found loads, along with a toddler floatie vest and also snorkelling goggles!

Lottie actually cut her foot on the pool on our first day and the life guard was quick to clean it up and dress it.

---

Wi-Fi

There is free wifi available across the site – no log in required. The only place it didn’t work for us was when we were sat in the bottom of the theatre.

Other than this it was super fast and reliable.

---

You will also find a facebook group dedicated to this hotel full of posts that can help you – guests who are leaving often leave tables full of things they don’t want to take home that you can grab! Join the group here

I think that is everything! I hope you have found this useful and please feel free to ask any questions you have below in the comments or over on my socials via the links below

ChrissyJ xxx

---

Walk round of our Master Suite at Holiday Village Lanzarote