This week, I’ll be launching a series of posts about Lanzarote. We’ve just spent a week as a family of four (Mummy, Daddy, Heidi (1yr) and Dexter (3yrs)) in the sun and have tons to say about the trip. If you’re planning a family vacation and considering the Canaries, hopefully this will help. We also took Dexie to Fuerteventura a few years back (you’ll find our write up HERE). First up, a review of Casa Esther in Lanzarote, Playa Blanca.

Situated in the heart of Playa Blanca, just a few minutes from the beautiful sandy beaches of Playa Flamingo, Casa Esther is a 2 bedroom detached villa with private pool.

• Bedrooms: 2
• Bathrooms: 2
• Sleeps: 5
• Pool: private

Off street parking | Lockable Safe | High chair/cot available | Children welcome | Sun loungers | Patio table and chairs | Heated private pool | Barbecue area | Music stereo | Games console | DVD player | DVD library | Cable/Satellite TV | Book library | Washing machine | Toaster | Microwave | Kettle | Iron & board | Fully fitted kitchen | Fridge/freezer | Cooker (oven) | Hot tub | Pool table

Location

Casa Esther is two minutes walk away from the main harbour in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote. Here, Fred Olsen Cruise boats can whisk you away to Fuerteventura if you fancy island-hopping. There are also mini yachts for hire and a water taxi to the unspoilt and desolate Pagagoyo Beach (although lack of amenities would put me off recommending this as a family excursion).

In it’s crudest sense, this means the villa is at one end of the Playa Blanca strip, and I’d definitely say this is the quieter end. Beyond this is just one hotel, a water park and what I presume to be the residences of locals. It faces out onto the Main Street in Playa Blanca and is neighboured by what look to be other private holiday villas - all in what can loosely be translated as a gated community.

There are two supermarkets within a two minute walk (one being a well stocked SPAR), two well respected Irish sports bars and a half decent restaurant, El Volcane (looks a mess outside but provided us with my second favourite meal of the trip and seemed popular among the locals). For convenience sake, walking in either direction from your front door you’ll find a cash point within minutes.

To get to the main bustle of the harbour will take you approx five minutes on foot, and paths, roads and walkways are all notably buggy and wheelchair friendly. Here, you’ll find a wide selection of restaurants and shops, and a small sandy beach nestled within a natural break in the jet black rocks of the harbour defences.

Further on, is the slightly nicer Dorada beach with sun loungers, parasols and pedalos to hire. I spotted a few lifeguards and there appeared to be a nice mix of locals and holidaymakers topping up tans. For those who are craving a slice of Britain, there’s also a Burger King (I don’t know whether to laugh or split my head open with a rock!).

Onwards to the Marina Rubicón which boasts the best restaurants and more exclusive shops. All this within a half hours pleasant walk from your villa.

Home Comforts / Facilities

Loved the huge corner sofa in the lounge and a soft rug under the coffee table to stop that horrendous scuffy noise when wood meets tiling. There’s a 42″ plasma (with Irish Sky Entertainment Package) DVD player and PlayStation 2 for those who forgotten why they’re on holiday. No WiFi, yet this is readily available at bars and restaurants on the main drag. We knew this before we arrived and it didn’t and wouldn’t put us off the place.

Decor-wise, some rooms were better than others with the lounge and bedrooms appearing to be recently updated. Bathrooms could do with warming up and prettifying but nothing major to criticise.

Poolside, you have a heated kidney-shaped pool (which was seriously impressive - not the usual lies on villa descriptions) and hot tub which are well maintained although slightly overlooked by the road. I say “slightly” as pedestrians and people within cars are not afforded a view thanks to dense shrubbery, but buses and coaches can see what you’re up to as these sit slightly higher on the road. Owing to the heat, this certainly didn’t stop Craig or I, and our underwear was regularly tossed aside to the delight of those aboard their hotel transfers.

There’s also a pool table and no fewer than 30 places to sit in, and around the villa (I counted). There’s a choice of al fresco dining on rattan, metal or plastic seating which manages to look both clumsy and charming at the same time. Finally, there’s also a stone BBQ although we didn’t get around to using this.

In the kitchen is a microwave, oven and hob and large fridge/freezer if self-catering is your thing. The owners of the villa have also provided plates, bowls, glasses and plastic beakers for the kiddies. Basic cleaning products such as scourer, washing up liquid and anti-bacterial spray would have been to theirs and our mutual advantage but were strangely not provided.

My biggest niggle on this score was the woeful mattress in the master bedroom. Climbing into bed saw my knee plummeting past knackered bed springs to the slats below, and Craig and I would regularly roll towards each other in the night - and not in an amorous way! Simple to replace though and I’ll nudge them into action via Trip Advisor.

An en suite to the master bedroom has a large and functional shower (sadly no power-shower) and the “family” bathroom opposite the twin room has a bath.

As regards security, to gain entry to the villa you need three keys, and the outside areas are well screened / cordoned by metal fencing and menacing-looking shrubbery. Surrounding villas seem well maintained yet buildings here vary greatly from street to street - just one row back we see the villas shrink in size and look a little shabbier.

Child-friendly?

I’m leaning more towards the positives for this one. The high hair and travel cot were of a good standard and the villa owners provided plenty of DVDs and a few dog-earred yet welcome books for mini people. There’s also a bath for shower-phobic youngsters and bathroom doors are lockable from the outside if your children, like ours, are obsessed with flushing toilets.

There were a few hazards. The patio features the same rough stone effect that paves the main streets of Lanzarote which can be rough on delicate knees. In an upcoming post I’ll be describing how Dex has been possessed by Satan this holiday, and poor Heidi saw herself pushed, dragged and wrestled across this harsh surface as the week went on. In fact our poor little princess was crying out for carpet and grass throughout the holiday. A softer landing on the patio would therefore have been nice.

My only other niggle, and it’s a big one but easy to remedy, is the poolside gate. There’s a latch on here which whilst I’m sure registers somewhere (albeit low) on the child-proofing scale, was no match for Dexter or even my now 1 year old (she celebrated her birthday whilst we were away). In order to make the area truly child-safe, a simple twist and pull mechanism on the side of the gate closest to the pool would prove more tricky for dexterous kiddies yet easy for mum and dad. An easy 2 euro fix that will give parents peace of mind.

Anything else?

Yes. Sadly, yes. By day 4 there was an inescapable smell of raw sewage in the bathrooms. We tried everything to stop it but it worsened as the week drew on and the stench of the en suite eventually saw me abandon my bed for the lounge. For those local to me, I’d helpfully refer you to the Whitley Whiff, for those from further afield, it smelt like the toilets at Glastonbury.

I’ll hold my hands up and say that we didn’t, and should have, contacted the villa management team about this. Because we didn’t, I’m loathe to really mark down the villa because of it. Perhaps we were doing something wrong, or it’s just typical of Lanzarote, but it really was unbearable and I was secretly glad to be returning home at the end of the week.

All in all, Casa Esther is hard to fault. Aside from the smell (which may or may not be typical of the drains on the Island), my complaints were minor and all easily remedied to make it a truly outstanding place for families to vacation. Book for yourself at LanzLuxuryVillas.com