The best hotel in Gran Canaria depends on which Gran Canaria you are booking, because the island's top five-stars sit in four different holidays. Riu Palace Oasis is the family resort on Maspalomas beach, Riu Palace Maspalomas faces the dunes and takes adults only, Santa Catalina is the capital's grand hotel, opened in 1890, and the Radisson Blu in Puerto de Mogán is the west-coast family base. Pick the setting first and the hotel follows.
Booking for live prices · Review for our take
| Hotel | Score | Policy | Area | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel Riu Palace Oasis | Excellent | Family | Maspalomas beach | Families on the sand | Booking →Review ↓ |
| Hotel Riu Palace Maspalomas | Superb | Adults only | Maspalomas dunes | Couples | Booking →Review ↓ |
| Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel | Superb | Family | Las Palmas city | City, food, history | Booking →Review ↓ |
| Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Mogán | Excellent | Family | Puerto de Mogán | Families, quieter west | Booking →Review ↓ |
All four hold a five-star rating, so the Policy column shows who the hotel is for rather than a nightly rate. Prices on this island move too far between February half-term and a quiet week in May for any printed figure to stay true. Use the Booking link on each row for today's price.
Which Gran Canaria hotel should you book?
Find the line that describes your trip and book that hotel now. These four sell into the same winter-sun weeks, and the rate you see today is not held for you tomorrow.
| Your trip | Book | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Family, want to walk onto the sand | Riu Palace Oasis | Swim-up rooms are adults only |
| Couple, no children anywhere | Riu Palace Maspalomas | The beach is 800m away |
| City break with food and history | Santa Catalina | Beach is a 10-minute drive |
| Family, quieter and further west | Radisson Blu Mogán | ~10-minute walk to the beach |
If none of those lines fits because you have already chosen an area, go straight to the local guide for Playa del Inglés or Puerto Rico and Amadores. Maspalomas and Meloneras have a dedicated hotel guide too. If you have not chosen an area yet, our where to stay in Gran Canaria guide settles that in two questions.
Choosing by policy rather than area? Our best family hotels and best adults-only hotels guides each compare four more.
Hotel Riu Palace Oasis
The family booking for anyone who wants the beach under their feet. Riu Palace Oasis is a five-star on the seafront at Maspalomas, with direct access to the beach and its pools set in palm gardens, which is exactly what most people picture when they book Gran Canaria.
The family side is built in rather than added on. There are three outdoor pools plus a children's pool and playground, the RIU Land entertainment programme for children, and two-bedroom family rooms. Adults get a spa and wellness centre, a gym, guided RIU Fit sessions and live music or shows every night.
Food runs across a buffet with live cooking stations, Botánico for Spanish cooking and Krystal for fusion. The detail worth knowing is the room list: Riu sells a Swim-Up double here, and it is adults only, so a family cannot book its way into a pool-side terrace.
Book it if you want children, a beach and a five-star in the same place without a shuttle bus. Check current rates for Riu Palace Oasis.
Hotel Riu Palace Maspalomas
The adults-only booking, and the only one of the four with no children at all. Riu Palace Maspalomas is an adults-only five-star next to the Maspalomas Dunes, with views over the dunes and the sea. It was the first hotel of Riu's Palace line anywhere, and reopened in 2021 as a five-star and adults-only after a five-month refurbishment.
It runs on half board, with buffet breakfasts and dinners with live cooking, plus themed restaurants. The pool deck has two outdoor pools, heated in winter, with in-water sun loungers and a chill-out terrace, and the superior junior suites add Balinese beds. There are 367 rooms, so it is large but not a mega-resort.
Read the location carefully. Some booking sites call it beachfront; Riu's own page puts it 800m from the beach at Playa del Inglés, with the dunes between. Book it if a child-free pool matters more than stepping onto sand. Check current rates for Riu Palace Maspalomas.
Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel
The city booking, and the one with the most history. Santa Catalina opened in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1890 and sits in Doramas Park in the Ciudad Jardín district. Barceló, which reopened it in 2019 after a full refurbishment, calls it the oldest hotel in the archipelago.
The draw is food. As of September 2026 the hotel lists Poemas by Hermanos Padrón and Muxgo by Borja Marrero, each with a Michelin star, plus the 1890 La Bodeguita tapas bar, and it holds Gran Canaria's first Michelin Key. There is an outdoor pool, a gym for every guest and a spa.
Two things are gated by room type: the rooftop pool is for Junior Suite and Suite guests during the day, and spa access costs extra for everyone else. Las Canteras beach and the old town of Vegueta are each about a 10-minute drive away.
Book it if the trip is Las Palmas itself, and see our things to do in Las Palmas guide for how to fill the days. Check current rates for Santa Catalina.
Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Gran Canaria Mogán
The family booking for the quieter west. The Radisson Blu Resort & Spa sits in Puerto de Mogán, about a 10-minute walk from the beach, and is built for families who want the harbour village rather than the main resort strip.
It has two outdoor pools with hot tubs, a separate children's pool and a supervised kids' club with a daytime family programme. The spa adds an indoor pool with water jets, a sauna and a Turkish bath, and there is a climbing tower, tennis and volleyball courts and a running track on site.
The trade-off is distance. The hotel is about 39km from Gran Canaria Airport and 18km from Maspalomas, so nightlife and the dunes are a drive rather than a walk. Book it if a calmer week with active children suits you better than the busy south. Check current rates for the Radisson Blu Mogán.
Two more worth knowing about
Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort & Spa is the large Lopesan family resort in Meloneras, and one of the most-booked names on the island. We cover its pools and kids' club in the best hotels in Maspalomas guide, alongside the other Meloneras options.
Parador de Cruz de Tejeda is the choice for a night in the mountains rather than a week on the coast. It sits at one of the highest points of Gran Canaria, about 9km from Tejeda village, with a spa and a Canarian restaurant, roughly 35km from Las Palmas and 45km from Playa del Inglés. It suits a night or two around Roque Nublo before or after a beach stay.
What five stars actually buy in Gran Canaria
Compare these four properly and three patterns come out, each of which trips up bookers.
The Riu Palace name tells you nothing about children. Riu Palace Oasis is a family hotel with a kids' programme, Riu Palace Maspalomas is adults only, and Riu Palace Meloneras, a third hotel, takes families. Check the policy on the exact listing, not the brand.
"Beachfront" is used loosely. The clearest case is Riu Palace Maspalomas, described as beachfront by a booking site and as 800m from the beach by Riu itself. The hotel's own page is the one to trust.
The best parts are often sold separately. Santa Catalina's rooftop pool and free spa come with suites, and Oasis keeps its swim-up rooms for adults. If a private pool terrace is the reason for the trip, book that room type, not just the hotel.
When to book a Gran Canaria hotel
Gran Canaria is a winter-sun island, so rates climb hardest when northern Europe is cold and off school: Christmas and New Year, February half-term and Easter are the expensive, fast-selling weeks. Adults-only rooms like Riu Palace Maspalomas's are the smaller pool of stock, so book those first.
If everything included matters more than the setting, our all-inclusive resorts guide compares the island's best 24-hour and premium options.
FAQ – the best hotels in Gran Canaria
Featured image: Beta15 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
