Hacienda San Jorge Apartments Reviews

My wife and I have just returned from one of the best holidays we have ever had - our first time to La Palma. We stayed at the Hacienda San Jorge in Los Cancajos on a self-catering basis.

WEATHER: We landed in 31 degree heat and over the next week the day time temperature was no lower than about 24 degrees, however the locals (and rep) said that this was very unusual for winter when it is usually cooler and cloudier.

The sun shone for the whole week with blue skies and a few clouds hanging over the mountains.

TOUR OPERATOR: Thomas Cook were superb. We booked with Thomas Cook Direct over the internet. The service was exactly as it should have been with plenty of confirmatory e-mails and info on what was happening. We would definitely do this again to obtain the reasonable net discount. The service on board was good (apart from the meals on the plane - my advice buy a sandwich instead) Both flights departed on time and arrived early. Due to low visitor numbers our flight was amalgamated with another which meant that we had to stop off at Gatwick to pick up extra passengers. This added an extra 2 hours onto the journey but it was worth it.

Our rep was lovely - very helpful, smiley and always had time for a chat. We did attend the welcome meeting where we were offered the usual day trips but were not put under any pressure.

ACCOMMODATION: The accommodation was way beyond our expectations. The entire place was spotlessly clean with maid service every day. The extensive gardens are delightful with streams, small pools, fountains, fish, terrapins, cats, ducks, parrots.

The term ";self catering"; is a little optimistic, but having been to the Canaries before we knew that the kitchenette would be basic and it was. Just a microwave, a 2 ring hotplate, fridge, frying pan and saucepan. No kettle, no oven and no grill. However this did not stop us enjoying our breakfasts. The on-site shop sells bread and croissants which are freshly baked in batches and lovely and hot. We made great continental breakfasts which we ate on our veranda whilst watching ducks and ducklings freely walking around about 2/3 feet away! The complex has a buffet breakfast available (6 euros each) if you prefer. The choice here was amazing with just about every type of breakfast food available including bacon and eggs. You could eat as much as you wanted.

Dinner at the Hacienda is available for 12 euros each but it does not offer an a-la-carte menu despite what it says in the web site above. Again this is a buffet and to be honest didn't really inspire us (e.g green beans in tomato sauce with eggs!) However several other guests said that as long as you chose carefully the food was excellently prepared and went there several times. Again you could eat as much as you wanted.

The (sea water)pool area was lovely. It was very clean, the water was crystal clear and there were plenty of sun beds and umbrellas (free) but it was COLD. The English stayed out of the water but the Germans didn't seem to notice the temperature. There were rarely more than 4/5 people in the pool at any one time and it is a huge pool.

LOS CANCAJOS: The resort of Los Cancajos is almost entirely a visitor resort with no local housing. The shops/restaurant area isn't the most visually appealing but it is clean. The beaches (black, griity sand) are well used with no litter or glass and are a great place to sit and listen to the sea. The resort is only a 5/10 minute drive from the airport and the aircraft do take off over the sea directly in front of the beach but they are so few that it hardly matters and we found them to be a point of interest rather than a distraction.

RESTAURANTS: We chose to eat out each evening but did struggle to find nice restaurants although the La Fontana (50 yards away) was reasonably good. (Here a 3 course meal for 2 including drinks was around 25/30 euros) Far better to use the excellent bus service (92 cents each way) to go to the island's capital Santa Cruz. Two restaurants there that we would definitely recommend are La Azotea (with rooftop eating area) and better still especially upstairs in the restaurant, La Placeta where a 3 course meal for 2 with a bottle of local relatively expensive wine cost 50 euros. Maybe a bit pricy for every day but well worth it. If you go do try the chocolate mouse.

Both these restaurants are on the sea front - The La Placeta from the outside is a most unassuming building but don't let this put you off. The La Azotea is a close by.

THE ISLAND and PEOPLE: La Palma is a fantastic, green, mountainous island. It is simply beautiful. Anyone into walking/hiking would be in their element as there are numerous well signposted walks and several conducted walks which vary from easy to strenuous. The people we met were always polite although they seemed keen not to become your best buddy. It was amazing how a little Spanish brought smiles to their faces - even when we got it wrong.

SIGHTSEEING: La Palma does not have any historic towns, it doesn't have any tourist attractions, it doesn't really have anywhere to spend your Euros, but it does have natural splendour which it has in buckets!

We did go on 2 day trips (33 euros per person per trip each), One to the rain forest of Los Tilos and the other to Las Muchachos. The rain forest trip was extremely informative (a bit too much!) and lovely however the afternoon was a bit too drawn out - half a day would have been better. NB if you go on this trip DON'T go with the tour guide to his choice of restaurant at lunchtime in Los Sauces - instead either find your own bar/restaurant or better still take a packed lunch. We made the mistake of following the rep (I won't go into details here) There is a lovely square with seating which is perfect for a picnic.

The second trip was brilliant, up the mountains to the highest peak of Los Muchachos. NB Take warm clothing - it was bitterly cold up there. The views are fantastic. Walking here for some may be difficult being very steep in parts, rocky and at 8,000 feet the air is that bit thinner. Don't try this trip in flip flops or open toed sandals. Trainers (with good grips) are perfectly OK.

Most of the visitors were German with a few Dutch. As there is only 1 flight per week into La Palma from the UK not surprisingly the number of British visitors is relatively low. As far as we were concerned this was great, the mix of nationalities is something we look for.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Peace and quiet - lovely, polite but slightly distant locals - awe-inspiring views - very little graffiti - twisty, winding, steep, vertiginous roads - excellent bus service that can easily be used by visitors - taxis with proper meters so no need to haggle before getting in - plenty of cash machines

WHAT NOT TO EXPECT: Lively bars - discos - noise - crime - teenagers - drunks - fantastic restaurants - vegetarian food! - ";English"; breakfasts - ";English"; pubs with football on TV - everyone to speak English - shopping centres - warm Atlantic Ocean - time-share touts - wall-to-wall sun beds on the beaches - litter - fast service in restaurants/bars - bucket and spade brigade

OVERALL OPINION: There are plenty of places in the Canaries if you want a lively, activity holiday but La Palma is not one of them. Our teenage children would have been bored to tears here. However if you need a peaceful rest in a warm climate with stunning scenery you will not be disappointed. My wife and I certainly want to go back as soon as we can so we shall start saving now!