The catch at Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel
Five things stand between the photographs and the stay. None of them is hidden, and most are set out on the hotel's own pages, but each one decides whether this is the right room, the right week or the right hotel for you.
On our shortlists
The rooftop pool and the spa circuit come with the suites, not with the entry rooms
Santa Catalina sells its best facilities by room category. VIP Service, which means the rooftop infinity pool at Alis from 10:00 to 17:00 and the outdoor thermal circuit for the whole stay, comes with every Junior Suite and every Suite. Guests in the Deluxe, Deluxe Superior and Family Deluxe rooms swim in the garden infinity pool, which every hotel guest shares, pay to use the spa, and reach the rooftop when its bar opens to everyone at 17:30, except on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Both the spa and the rooftop pool are for adults only, and the spa's minimum age is 18. No spa price for guests is published.
What to do. If the rooftop and the circuit are the reason for coming, book a Junior Suite: €258 for 8 June 2027 against €169 for a Deluxe, and the difference covers both for every day of the stay. Check that VIP Service is named on your confirmation.
The entry Deluxe is 23 m² with no balcony, and it may look onto the hotel's own galleries
The Deluxe is the room behind the headline price, and the hotel is frank about it: 23 m², an open bathroom with a rain shower, a double or two singles, and no balcony or terrace. It faces the city, the palm garden or the hotel's galleries, and the category does not let you choose which. The Deluxe Superior adds a furnished balcony over the same three outlooks for €21 more on 8 June 2027. The Family Deluxe has 35 m² and a terrace, but the terrace looks over the galleries. Size is the complaint guests come back to, and it is about these rooms.
What to do. Pay the €21 for the Deluxe Superior's balcony if you want air and a view of your own, and ask for the palm garden side in either category. It is a request, not a guarantee, so make it at booking and again at check-in.
There is no beach at the gate, and Las Canteras is a 34-minute walk
This is a city hotel in a park. Las Alcaravaneras, the city beach on the harbour side beside the marina, is 15 minutes on foot. Las Canteras, the long golden beach on the far side of the isthmus, is 34 minutes on foot, about 6 by taxi off-peak, or a ride on city bus line 1 from a stop three to four minutes from the drive. The Maspalomas dunes are 46 minutes by car. On a hot afternoon the answer is the garden infinity pool, with drinks and snacks from the Camarote pool bar from 11:00 to 19:00. A car is a cost rather than a help in town: parking under the hotel is about €20 a day.
What to do. Treat the beach as an outing rather than a view: line 1 or a taxi to Las Canteras in the morning, the garden pool in the afternoon. If the holiday is mostly beach, stay in the south and give Las Palmas two nights.
The cheapest weeks are the ones when the starred kitchens keep their shortest hours
June, August and September are the cheap months. The Deluxe was €169 a night for Tuesday 8 June and Tuesday 10 August 2027, against €199 to €229 on dates from November to March outside Christmas, €428 on 29 December and €1,257 for the night of 31 December, which comes only with a two-night stay. Those are also the months when the two starred kitchens are hardest to catch. Poemas serves dinner only, Tuesday to Saturday, and closes from 2 August to 1 September. Muxgo is closed on Monday and Tuesday, drops lunch from Wednesday to Saturday in August and September, and publishes no hours for June and July. On a Monday neither is open.
What to do. September is the sweet spot: the year's lowest prices, Poemas back from 2 September and Muxgo serving. Book both tables when you book the room, keep Monday for 1890 La Bodeguita, and contact Muxgo before planning a June or July stay around it.
It is a busy events venue, and weekend nights can be loud
The hotel has six meeting rooms and eight spaces for events and celebrations, room for up to 1,200 people, weddings, and the Santa Catalina Classics concerts in its gardens and salons. The Alis rooftop bar runs from 17:30 to 01:00, with live music on Friday and Saturday from 18:30 to 23:30, and live jazz plays through the Sunday brunch on the Doramas terrace from 12:30. Guests who sleep lightly report noise at night, from events and the rooftop at weekends especially. Which rooms sit closest to the rooftop and the function rooms is not published.
What to do. Ask at booking whether an event is planned for your dates and for a room away from the rooftop and the event salons. On a Friday or Saturday, pack earplugs.
Who should skip it
Beach-first holidays, since the sand is a bus or taxi ride away. Families who want a kids' club, or children on the rooftop or in the spa, which are adults only. Anyone expecting a big room or a balcony at the entry price, light sleepers booking a busy weekend, and anyone whose trip hangs on a starred dinner on a Monday, or on Poemas in August.
Who should book it anyway
Anyone who wants Las Palmas rather than a resort. The hotel stands in a palm park in Ciudad Jardín, with Vegueta, Triana and Las Canteras a short ride away, a garden infinity pool in the palm garden, afternoon tea in the Carabela Bar, and two restaurants with a MICHELIN star in the 2026 guide in one hotel, a pairing no other hotel on Gran Canaria offers. Book a Junior Suite over the palm garden, come in September or between October and May, book both tables with the room, and this is a grand hotel at a city-hotel price.
The catch elsewhere in Gran Canaria
- Seaside Grand Hotel ResidenciaMaspalomas
No room faces the sea: the villas look onto the gardens or the pool, and the entry Twin Room, about 33 m², sits by the entrance with a garden view.
- Hotel Faro, a Lopesan Collection HotelMaspalomas
The rooftop pools and the Bali beds are paid extras, so check what your rate includes; the main pool is free to guests.
- Seaside Palm BeachMaspalomas
The entry Twin Room's balcony has a limited or street view; the garden, pool or sea starts with the Superior Room, €287 against €246 on the same June night
- Lopesan Villa del Conde Resort & ThalassoMeloneras
561 rooms in ten buildings: loungers by the main pools go early, often held for hours with towels
- Hotel Cordial Mogán PlayaPuerto de Mogán
Dinner is a buffet in two fixed sittings, and the hot stations queue as each one opens
- Salobre Hotel Resort & SerenitySalobre, Maspalomas
Inland on a hillside: no beach, no practical bus and little within walking distance, so the coast means the hotel shuttle, a 15-minute drive or taxis
- Bull Reina Isabel & SpaLas Palmas, Las Canteras
The entry Double is not sold with a sea view; the Double Sea View Room costs about €180 against €145 for the plain Double on the same June night, breakfast included.
- Hotel VeintiunoLas Palmas, Vegueta
The rooftop pool is small and unheated, for cooling off rather than swimming
- Parador de Cruz de TejedaCruz de Tejeda
The pool belongs to the spa: €35 a person for a 90-minute circuit, booked ahead, and children from six only in the first two hours.
Questions people ask
Good questions about Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel
What are the downsides of Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel?
Five things stand between the photographs and the stay. None of them is hidden, and most are set out on the hotel's own pages, but each one decides whether this is the right room, the right week or the right hotel for you. The rooftop pool and the spa circuit come with the suites, not with the entry rooms The entry Deluxe is 23 m² with no balcony, and it may look onto the hotel's own galleries There is no beach at the gate, and Las Canteras is a 34-minute walk The cheapest weeks are the ones when the starred kitchens keep their shortest hours It is a busy events venue, and weekend nights can be loud
Who should not book Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel?
Beach-first holidays, since the sand is a bus or taxi ride away. Families who want a kids' club, or children on the rooftop or in the spa, which are adults only. Anyone expecting a big room or a balcony at the entry price, light sleepers booking a busy weekend, and anyone whose trip hangs on a starred dinner on a Monday, or on Poemas in August.
Our verdict
The Canaries' classic grand hotel, with two starred tables and Las Palmas at the gate. Check availability for a Junior Suite over the palm garden.
Last checked: October 2026