Introduction to the Canaries
Date Of Visit - Jun 20, 2011
Date Of Review - Jul 06, 2011
8.5
Driving from the airport with the sea on your left, continue through a pair of highway tunnels to the Arguineguin exit. After passing through Arguineguin, exit left at the rotary and immediately enter the guarded parking for Anfi Beach.
Anfi is a very large resort hotel complex, something like the Mayan complexes in Mexico. Our RCI assigned room was on the same level and just down the hall from Reception with a spacious balcony overlooking the gardens below but no ocean view. Two-bedroom #409 was large, comfortable, and luxurious. Master bedroom and marble bathroom with tub and separate shower. Second bedroom equally large but its bathroom although just as fancy had only a tub with hand-telephone type shower attachment. Weather in late June was sunny 30c to 35c (86f to 95f) and higher. Only the bedrooms are air conditioned and even closing the doors the bedrooms were warmer than we wanted.
Access to the pool and the beach beyond was by elevator down four levels and an easy walk out through the gardens. Pool was large, with very warm water. Ample chaises but often every umbrella-shaded chaise was reserved by somebody's towel contrary to the rules. Nationalities mainly Spanish, then German or English. I didn't count but maybe 25% of women at the pool or beach were topless. Ocean is a protected bay with about 200 meters of beachfront but quite crowded by a mix of guests and walk-ins (the pool and hotel area are gated and guarded, but beaches are publicly accessible). Umbrellas and chaises are available for hire on the beach. The central area of the beach is an open area where people put up their own umbrellas if they have them. Sea temperature in late June was a cool but refreshing 22c 72f.
We had no meals at the hotel nor on the ocean boardwalk. We drove out several times to the large, modern Spar supermarket in Arguineguin and we cooked most meals in the unit, finding it pleasant to eat on our outdoor balcony. We had a wonderful restaurant meal at Taberna in Puerto Rico (short drive from Anfi, in Puerto Rico urbanization take the left-hand uphill road passing the Post Office/Correos or you could go by taxi).
We drove several times to Playa del Inglés. To find easy pay parking and access to the beach, exit the highway and follow the signs pointing to McDonalds. A wonderful almost endless beach, very swimmable and if you walk a couple of hundred meters in the direction of the nudist beach (which is 700 meters west from the beach entrance) you'll have the beach almost to yourself. McDonalds is also a good beach lunch since you can order salad, potatoes, gazpacho and cafe con leche from the one euro menu.
Maspalomas Beach backed by the famous dunas/dunes, a few kilometers from Playa del Inglés (look for the faro lighthouse) was rocky, surfy and hard to park. We got there by walking along the water from Playa del Inglés which was a mistake, much farther than we expected and our first view of Maspalomas was the gay nude beach that's 1,000 meters east of the Maspalomas lighthouse. Walking back was out of the question so we took a taxi back to Playa del Inglés for 5 euros.
1
A great resort
Date Of Visit - Apr 10, 2010
Date Of Review - Apr 30, 2010
9
We stayed in unit 213 which happens to be next to the service road. Earlier this year Anfi apparently had to have the external wall knocked down. This meant that we were subjected to a an endless stream of local people passing within a few feet of our lovely balconies. At the weekend there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of local visitors to Anfi beach!
We thought that this would completely spoil our vacation but we came to enjoy Anfi Beach Club despite the problem boundary wall. Ours was a 2-bedroom unit and there was only the two of us. We alternated bedrooms and had a lovely large bathroom each!
We did not attend the welcome meeting although these do take place every Sunday and Monday. There seemed to be an excellent kids club with loads of activities. The resort facilities and amenities are great because there are 3 other 'resorts' on site just as good, if not better, than Anfi Beach Club. All the attractions needed are provided on site - we especially liked the beach and the 18-hole mini-golf - although we enjoyed exploring the island in the mornings before coming back to sunbathe around the pools. A word of warning is called for regarding sun loungers. These are reserved by largely non-existent people who leave towels on them just in case they need them!. The resort lifeguards appear unwilling or unable to enforce the supposed rule about not reserving sun loungers.
There were no additional fees assessed apart from the extra 7 nights accommodation that we needed because of the volcanic ash flight crisis. I have to say that Anfi handled this extraordinary problem well and seemed to ensure that all who wanted to stay were looked after. Indeed we were extremely lucky to be transferred to a really lovely 1-bed ground floor unit at Club Gran Anfi. This is the newest resort and it really was top-rate - I'd say on a par with the best American rersorts such as Marriott etc. The maid seemed to spend longer in our unit than we did and she came every day!
I'd reccommend Anfi to all TUGGERS who are looking for a high quality resort on a par with the best American resorts.
Just booked a week in a 2BR at the Anfi Beach Club for Sept. 2014!!!! This will be my first trip to Europe since 2004 and I am busting! 
Does anyone have any tips about the Canary Islands? I've also never booked through RCI before. Now that I've booked, is there anything I have to do/wait for/look for? Will my points automatically change/reflect my reservation on the DVC Member site? Any info anyone has would be helpful. Thanks!
