Best Hotels in Maspalomas: the Lighthouse End Is Where the Money Goes

The top end of Maspalomas is not really behind the dunes. It runs along the seafront from the Faro de Maspalomas lighthouse west into Meloneras, and that short stretch holds the resort's most ambitious hotels: a beachfront spa resort built like a Canarian village, a design hotel facing the lighthouse, and big garden resorts a few minutes' walk back from the sand.

With that much quality in one place, stars stop being useful. Age policy, spa and the walk to the beach are what separate them. One takes nobody under 18, one runs a thalassotherapy centre on the seafront, and the other two trade the beachfront for bigger pools, one of them with a kids' club.

Booking for live prices · Review for our take

The grid carries the policy and the position rather than a nightly rate, because Meloneras rates move sharply between holiday and quiet weeks. Each Booking link opens the live price and guest rating.

Which Maspalomas hotel should you book?

Take the first row that fits and book it. These four compete for the same winter-sun weeks, and today's rate can be gone by the weekend.

The best-known family all-inclusives in this area, Riu Gran Canaria and Kumara Serenoa, are compared in our all-inclusive resorts guide instead, and Abora Catarina by the dunes is in the Playa del Inglés hotels guide.

Hotel Faro, a Lopesan Collection Hotel

The couples' booking. Hotel Faro is a five-star, adults-only hotel for guests aged 18 and over, facing the Faro de Maspalomas on the first line of the beach. Some third-party listings still quote a 16+ rule; Lopesan's own site says 18.

It has 179 rooms, from Double Superior rooms up to Junior Suites, a main pool of 232 square metres, and a small rooftop infinity pool in the Sky Lounge looking straight at the lighthouse. Three restaurants cover the day: Ocean for the buffet, Callao for Mediterranean cooking from a Josper charcoal oven, and Callao Beach for casual food with DJs.

The rooftop is open to non-guests too, with day passes from around €40 including a lounger, welcome cocktail and three-course lunch. Staying means you get the view without buying it by the day. Check current rates for Hotel Faro if an 18+ hotel by the lighthouse is the trip.

Lopesan Villa del Conde Resort & Thalasso

The spa booking, and one of the two here that sit right on the beach. Villa del Conde is built as a traditional Canarian village, with a cobbled square and a lobby inside a full-size replica of one of Gran Canaria's oldest churches, bell tower and dome included.

It is large, with 561 rooms and suites, six pools including a children's pool, and five restaurants. The reason to choose it over its neighbours is the seafront thalassotherapy spa, with Turkish baths, an African sauna, a flotation pool and a hydrothermal circuit, with treatments charged separately.

Children are welcome, with a kids' pool and mini disco, and the Junior and Senior Suites have separate living areas that suit families. Check current rates for Villa del Conde if a spa and beachfront matter more than a quiet, adults-only pool.

Lopesan Baobab Resort

The family resort, and the most distinctive design on this coast. Baobab is set in tropical gardens with African-inspired décor throughout, about 600 metres from Maspalomas beach.

It has nine swimming pools, a children's club and babysitting. There are four restaurants, including Akara for African cuisine and Pili Pili for grilled meat and seafood, as well as a buffet, two poolside bars and a coffee shop.

The walk to the sand is the trade for all that water in the grounds. Book it if the pools and the kids' club are the holiday and the beach is an outing. Check current rates for Lopesan Baobab.

Hotel Riu Palace Meloneras

The pool booking outside the Lopesan group. Riu Palace Meloneras has two outdoor pools and two infinity pools with swim-up loungers, plus a children's pool, and Riu places it about 800 metres from the beach.

It has a spa and wellness centre with a steam bath and whirlpool, and Riu's FAQs describe a half-board basis, with breakfast and dinner included. Riu Palace is the chain's top hotel category.

It welcomes children, so do not confuse it with an adults-only hotel because of the Palace name. Check current rates for Riu Palace Meloneras if infinity pools and a spa on half board suit you better than a full all-inclusive.

Two more worth knowing about

Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort & Spa is the other large family resort here, with six pools including an infinity pool and a lazy river, a kids' club for ages 4 to 12 and a free shuttle to the Meloneras golf course. It sits about a seven-minute walk from Maspalomas beach.

Two of this area's hotels also make the island-wide cut in our best hotels in Gran Canaria guide, if you want to see how Maspalomas compares against Las Palmas, Puerto de Mogán and the rest of the south.

What the Meloneras premium actually buys

Look at the four together and one thing stands out: this stretch sells two things, the seafront and the spa, and very few hotels have both. Villa del Conde has both, and is enormous. Faro has the seafront and the lighthouse, and fewer facilities. Baobab and Riu Palace trade the beach for pools and gardens.

The second pattern is ownership. Three of the strongest hotels here, and several more nearby, belong to Lopesan, so the difference between them is the brief each was built to, not the brand. Choosing between them on "Lopesan" alone gets you nowhere.

When to book

Meloneras is winter-sun territory, so demand from northern Europe sets the price more than the weather. Christmas, February half-term and Easter carry the highest rates, and the adults-only rooms at Hotel Faro are the smallest pool of stock, so book those first.

Before walking from any of these hotels into the dunes, read our Maspalomas dunes guide: the reserve's marked-path rules are enforced with fines. For the island's other bases, see the where to stay in Gran Canaria guide.

FAQ – hotels in Maspalomas and Meloneras