Hotel Faro, a Lopesan Collection Hotel

Hotel Faro stands beside the plaza at the foot of the Faro de Maspalomas, the lighthouse first lit in 1890, where Playa de Maspalomas ends and the Meloneras promenade begins. Lopesan fully refurbished the 1970s building in 2019 and 2020 for almost €20 million, respecting the original architecture, reworking the facade and opening the public rooms towards the Atlantic. After the pandemic closure it reopened in October 2021 as the first Lopesan Collection hotel, at five stars. The lobby bar opens onto a panoramic terrace, and the sand starts at the corner of the building.

All 179 rooms, 20 of them Junior Suites, are doubles with a king-size bed and a balcony or terrace. The interiors mix wood, metal and bold prints. The entry Double Deluxe, 35 m² including a 7 m² balcony, faces the mountains and the street. The Double Superior has the same plan and a side view of the sea, towards the lighthouse, along the beach to the distant dunes or over the boulevard, depending on the side. The Double Superior View is the first room sold looking straight out to sea, at 33.5 m² with a 5.5 m² balcony, and the 65 m² Junior Suite adds a sitting area and an 11 m² balcony over the Atlantic.

No guest under 18 can stay. The main pool is 232 m² of fresh water with sunbeds, umbrellas and towels included and the Erizo Bar beside it. Rooftop Faro has two small infinity pools facing the Atlantic, with the lighthouse alongside and the dunes in view to the east, plus Bali beds, cocktails and tapas until 11pm; day passes also admit outside visitors aged 16 and over. Evenings start with cocktails at SURU, then Callao, where fish and meat come off a Josper charcoal oven, or the Ocean Restaurant, which also serves the breakfast buffet. There is no spa: the gym is included and massages cost extra.

The trade is that this is a hotel for people who go out. The standard rate is room only, and the Meloneras promenade is lined with restaurants for the nights you eat elsewhere. The lighthouse plaza is a lively corner of that promenade, and on weekend nights music from the rooftop and the beach bars carries until late. In January, afternoons at the island's airport average about 21°C, and the south coast is drier and sunnier than Las Palmas and the north. Book it for winter sun without children, the sand of Playa de Maspalomas starting at the corner, the dunes a ten-minute walk along the beach and a sea view from bed. If you want every meal included, or a resort to stay inside all week, it is the wrong hotel.