My partner and I have just returned from a holiday in Lanzarote with my parents, where we stayed at the Cinco Plazas apartments.

We were given 2 apartments - each big enough to accommodate 6 people, which were spotless and well equipped. There were plenty of sunbeds available as there are 3 pools, so there was no need for us to get up really early to get a sunbed. The shops and beach are just a couple of minutes walk away, and we were spoilt for choice with restaurants and bars.

My only gripe is that on the last day the maids wanted to clean our room at 9 am and we were not due to leave our apartment until around 10. They were not easily persuaded to return later!

I would recommend these apartments to all ages due to the close proximity of the beach, shops, restaurants, etc., and am already considering returning early next year.

Spotlessly clean reception and apartments.

Everything possible provided in the spacious apartment,we stayed in a 2 bed apartment,which was one of the biggest we have ever stayed in, having travelled a lot over Europe.

Nicely decorated. Staff spoke excellent English and were always helpful.

The building work was being done directly behind our apartment. It went on from 8am until between 6-7pm 7 days a week with no break. At times they were grinding tiles for what seemed like hours on end. The maid was excellant though.

The entertainment was poor at night, with the noise we did not stay around during the day to find out. It should be mentioned that we booked on line and were not notified by the tour company of the works being caarried out. They are now rectifying this problem on their Website, but for others if you see - For building works see file - on your invoice, contact the tour company. We are being compensated.

This is divided into 3 areas, only the 1st area was complete when we arrived. The second area opened 3 days into the holiday and was superb. The 3rd area was still under construction and work would start at 8am every day. This will be a very good complex when all the work is complete. The bar closed every night at 11pm so sleeping was never a problem (until 8am when the work starts).

A nice apt/hotel. Close to the beach and restaurants and shops.
Spotlessly clean.
Staff was friendly and helpful.
We only had breakfast,It wasn't special but acceptable.

There was a lot of people smoking in the restaurant, not so fresh...
The karaokeman was fun.
The weather wasn

We travelled to Lanzarote on our first family holiday, Olivia only being 10 months old. We found apartments lovely and clean and all lightbulbs working.

The hotel food was ok, only had breakfast once there, but was your typical English breakfast cooked by a Spanish chef!!!

Didn't see the entertainment on an evening as to eager to enjoy the cocktails in The Red Indian Chief bar.

We loved this holiday so much we've booked to go back for 2 weeks this September.

We stayed at the apartments in late September and were thoroughly pleased with all aspects.

The rooms were clean and large with a nice balcony overlooking the pool and restaurant.we were pleased to be able to rent an ironing board and iron from reception for the duration of our 2 week stay.

The staff were polite and helpful. The location is good but the hill or "hill of horror"as we called it was the only bad thing along with the food in the bar.however there is a little restaurant just down the hill that was excellent and we would recommend it totally ate there on many occasions cant remember the name but the food was the best we tasted for the whole of our stay and we had everything from paella to pizza there!

There was also a lauderette which was just round the side of the pool which was good. The little supermarket was handy too but the bigger one next door was much more substantial.

We like these apartments so much we are returning in September 2006!

This was our first visit to Cyprus.
I am an 11 year old girl and I stayed at these apartments in August 2004 .I found them brilliant. I went to the kids club and received a free hat and t-shirt. Funky Fi and Disco Debbie are really funny.

I didn't see one cockroach at all that

We booked at the last minute and did not know where we would be staying. I was pleased to find that we were allocated in the Cinco Plazas, and it was a bonus to be in an apartment rather than a studio. The apartment was well equipped, modern and really clean. We only saw three cockroaches, but we were on the ground floor. The ONLY gripes were that there was very little shade around the pools (you really need this in peak season)and there was no air-conditioning. We hired a fan from the shop down the road which proved a godsend at night. To be fair we never used the entertainment in the apartments as the resort centre was so close. For the money paid it was a very good value for money holiday - I'd really recommend it both to couples and families.

i Booking
Unfortunately, following high expectations, our stay at Cinco Plazas wasn't enjoyable. We booked our holiday 14 months in advance, having experienced an enjoyable stay in Costa Teguise three years previous. On booking we were assured that Cinco Plazas was a wonderful place to stay, was quiet and ideal for families. We opted for a two bedroom apartment.

i The journey
On beginning our journey we should have realised that our holiday was to become a nightmare. Early into our journey to Manchester Airport, a rabbit ran straight towards the headlights of our car - the rabbit had no chance... this upset the children.

i No in-flight food
Then when the Britannia flight was underway, we were informed by the cabin crew that our in-flight meal hadn't been booked - yet it was stated on our tickets that it had. After a little gentle persuasion we obtained the meals that we were entitled to.

i Alarm bells
The transfer to Cinco Plazas took around 15 minutes. On arrival at Cinco Plazas we were allocated our accommodation. Alarm bells should have begun to ring as soon as the key for A13 (unlucky for some) was handed over. Cinco Plazas comprises of three Plazas: Plaza Amarillo, Plaza del Sol and Plaza Montana - we were staying in Plaza Amarillo.

i Apartment faults
On entering the apartment we found many lights didn't work, some bulbs were even missing from their housings. A couple of electric sockets were broken - a hazard for children. Mould was present around the bath/shower. The toilet seat was broken. Wicker seating was damaged. Window pane (sharp) edges were exposed. Tiles around the bathroom sink were cracked and some were missing. The floor was stained from previous guests at the apartment.

i The pool
The pool area was dangerous for children, depths were marked but a fancy surround at the pools edge created an overhang which made it almost impossible to exit the pool in an emergency. Tiling around the pool also left a lot to desire. Some were cracked and many had grout missing. Because of the cracked tiles, my children sustained cuts to their feet - it was felt necessary to ban them from the pool area because of this.

i Rowdy revellers
When night-time arrived, our problems continued with noisy neighbours. To the right (A12) were a noisy English family - generally following a night of heavy drinking. At around 3am, they would arrive home shouting and diving into the pool to everyone's annoyance. A quick trip to the Thomson Rep. quietened them down a little. To the left (A14) a Spanish family lived in private accommodation. Every night at around 11pm the washing machine began, then at 12pm-1am they would have a bout of arguments. On top of all this, music could be heard from the local entertainment. When the music subsided, rowdy revellers could be heard on the road to the rear of our apartment. At around 5am every morning refuse was collected... the beep-beep of a refuse wagon can be VERY annoying!

i Sunbed vultures
In the mornings, if you wished to sunbathe, you had to compete with the sunbed vultures that swarmed to ensure that they obtained 5-6 beds... even when they only used two.

i Cleaning
Linen was changed once a week and cleaning was carried out 5 times a week. Cleaning consisted of bin emptying and a quick mop of the floor with some disinfectant. Scrubbing would have got the floor clean as we discovered after our youngest son had a bout of sickness! Simply giving the floor a quick mop wasn't sufficient. When the floor dried you could still feel dirt under foot.

i The hill
According to 'Thomson Summer Sun', which we booked our holiday through, Cinco Plazas was set on a "small incline, approximately 450 metres away from the beach". Because a small incline was quoted and that the complex was close to the beach, our minds were swayed. I suffer from a medical condition so a steep hill would not be ideal. On arriving, I was stunned to find that the "small incline" had grew to a steep 1-in-4 hill. The hill had to be negotiated two-three times daily. It was also noted that the beach was not 450 metres away. It was more like 1,000 metres.

i Gold award
On checking out of Cinco Plazas it was noted that a gold award had been given to the complex - we were very surprised... until we looked closer to find that it was awarded in 1994. The combined Plazas may have been outstanding then, but have obviously been neglected since.

i Flat battery
On arriving back at Manchester we proceeded to the BCP Carminder car park... only to discover that our car battery was completely dead - a final reminder that this had been our holiday from hell.

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<font color=blue>EDIT: Sean ... if you would like to upload some of your pics to our Photo Galleries, you will find a link at the top of the page.
Regards
HT Review Team</font>