"Gran Canaria Princess Hotel – Playa del Inglés
Unfortunately, our stay at the Gran Canaria Princess was deeply disappointing, and I am genuinely baffled by the volume of positive reviews this hotel receives.
Check-in, while extremely quick, was the most unwelcoming I have ever experienced. The receptionist didn’t say hello or welcome us. She simply held out her hand and said, “give me the passport”, typed for a moment, slid a key card across the desk, and said “third floor.” No information, friendliness, or effort whatsoever. It set the tone for the rest of our stay.
The location is one of the few positives. The hotel is well situated with a bus stop and taxi rank directly outside. Buses run regularly in both directions, and we used them to visit Las Palmas and Puerto de Mogán (the latter I highly recommend). There are plenty of supermarkets, pubs, restaurants, shops, and pharmacies within walking distance. The beach is less than a 10 minute walk, though the nicer areas of the beach and the dunes are closer to 20 minutes away. Despite being next to a highway, noise was not an issue for us.
I will say- you have to be very careful entering and exiting. There is no pedestrian entrance and the car/coach entrance is very all of a sudden- the coach drivers are extremely dangerous and swing round into the complex with no thought for pedestrians. Twice we were nearly taken out even whilst being super cautious!
The hotel desperately needs renovation throughout. While generally clean, many areas are extremely dated and visibly falling apart. It feels tired and neglected.
After checking in, we went straight to sleep following a long travel day. The next morning, after breakfast, I tried to take a shower only to find the shower tray completely backed up due to a blockage from the previous occupants’ hair (see attached photo). Reception appeared unbothered and said they would send a technician. After waiting two hours with no one from maintenance arriving, we decided to head out for the day. I spent the entire day feeling dirty and uncomfortable having been unable to shower in our room. The issue was fixed when we returned, but the lack of empathy from reception staff was incredibly disappointing. The sink also drained very slowly, suggesting the plumbing is generally old and problematic.
Another issue was the shower temperature, which fluctuated between freezing cold and boiling hot. I actually burned myself on first use. This was reported alongside the blockage, but reception showed no concern whatsoever about this issue.
The rooms are basic, spacious, but very dated and in need of refurbishment. The walls are paper-thin, and you can feel some of the tiles moving beneath your feet as you walk. This only reinforced the sense that the building is overdue a renovation. Facilities were not exactly minimal, but were poorly maintained: a mini fridge hidden in a cupboard with a door hanging off, a safe with missing buttons, and a TV offering only basic Spanish channels. There is no iron in the room.
Housekeeping fell well below expectations and was extremely inconsistent throughout the week. We stayed for total of 8 nights and were never given fresh bedding for the entirety of our stay- even after I had a nosebleed on night five that left visible blood on the sheets. Tea and coffee were also never replenished after day one, the bin was emptied occasionally, and overall cleaning was poor.
What was particularly concerning is that the hotel does not use proper duvet covers. Instead, there is a duvet sandwiched between two sheets. This is extremely unhygienic as everything comes apart during the night, and you have no idea who has been using the same duvet before you. As an ex-housekeeper myself, I find this practice is unacceptable. I genuinely don’t know what housekeeping did during their daily visits other than very poorly making the bed. On one occasion, I returned to find my pyjamas, which I had left on the bed, screwed into a ball and dumped on the floor.
Aside from the lovely ladies who clean the grounds early in the morning, who were friendly and always said good morning in passing, we did not have a single positive interaction with staff during our entire stay. Reception, restaurant, and housekeeping staff all gave the impression that they did not want to be there, and made this very clear in their attitudes. When you visit a hotel you want to feel welcomed- the staff made us feel the complete opposite.
Breakfast was nice and offered plenty of choice, but it was exactly the same every day. It was acceptable but far from the best hotel breakfast we’ve experienced. There is an omelette station, but it was always extremely busy, so we never managed to try it. Breakfast would really benefit from a 2nd omelette/egg station.
The pool is advertised as heated. There are two sections, with the smaller one supposedly heated, but it was still far too cold for the time of year we visited (December 2025). Sunshine around the pool is limited due to the layout of the hotel. There are plenty of sunbeds, but not enough sunny spots, but it’s very much an either-or situation, sunshine in the morning or in the afternoon, not both unless you move.
WiFi was unreliable and frequently kicked us out, requiring us to repeatedly sign back in. It also didn’t work properly with Netflix on any of our devices due to the proxy/VPN settings. This was frustrating given that the TV in the room has only basic channels.
The hotel lacks adequate security and does not control disruptive guests. One night, we were woken at 4am by a drunk couple staying a few doors down. They decided to sit in the corridor and have a loud conversation. When I opened the door to ask them to be quiet, I was confronted with the woman sitting entirely naked on the floor outside our room. It became a rather worrying situation, and there was no way to contact reception as the phone in the room was blank.
One of my biggest pet hates in hotels is excessive rule signage, and this hotel is full of it. Everywhere you look, there are signs telling you what you can’t do. It does not create a relaxing holiday atmosphere. The most prominent rule of all is “no reserving sunbeds,” yet staff don’t appear to enforce it at all.
At breakfast one morning, I was standing near what I believed to be the smoking area (having read the various orders on signposts!) When my partner briefly returned to the table to collect something, I took a puff of my vape. Apparently, I was just outside the permitted boundary. Instead of addressing this calmly and politely, a staff member inside the restaurant aggressively banged on the window and shouted at me. His behaviour was completely disproportionate, as though I had done something outrageous and this caused everyone in the restaurant to turn their heads and look- utterly embarrassing and nonsensical.
Check-out was just as poor as check-in. A different receptionist barely acknowledged us. When I asked about luggage storage, she slid a card across the desk and told us where to go. No thank you, no goodbye, and no question about how our stay had been. Approaching the reception desk was like having to approach a group of mean girls at school. They stand around chatting or on their phones and you’re stood there waiting for them to finish before they barely even acknowledge you.
For what we paid, disappointed would be an understatement. The hotel has all the basic services you’d expect from a four-star hotel, but everything is delivered at the lowest possible standard. I’ve seen numerous adverts on TikTok that completely misrepresent this hotel and appear to be heavily enhanced with AI. I always try to review both positives and negatives, but sadly there were very few positives during our stay.
Having read further reviews, it seems the hotel also uses AI to respond to these reviews, reinforcing the fact that they do not care about customer service and will take very little of our concerns onboard.
I would not return, I would not recommend this hotel based on our experience, and I hope this review helps some of you hoping to visit."
