In case your concept of a trip is lounging by a pool doing completely nothing, then Playitas won’t be for you. As probably the most well-equipped sports activities resort on the Canarian island of Fuerteventura, it caters greatest for individuals who prefer to preserve energetic.
By some means, although, it appears to accommodate a large spectrum of company, from those that merely wish to take pleasure in some downtime to severe athletes who use the resort as a coaching base. For many, it’s a spot you come to get higher — at swimming, biking, working, golf, or just at taking care of your self.
The welcome
This was our second go to to Playitas and so we knew that our flight could be touchdown too late for us make it to the resort’s eating places, regardless of it being only a 30-minute switch from the airport. Having communicated this upfront, the Playitas workforce kindly organized for chilly plates from the buffet to be ready for us on arrival. The welcome was quietly environment friendly: somebody directed us to the meals that had been put aside, and the check-in formalities had been accomplished after we’d eaten.
The room
Simply as we did final go to, we stayed within the aparthotel part of Playitas in a studio condominium — the type of family-friendly structure the resort specialises in. The studios are open-plan with a kitchenette and sofa-bed so the lounge doubles as a second bed room when wanted – sensible, ethereal and unpretentious.
Our studio additionally had its personal balcony with a sea view, and a sensibly-equipped kitchenette (microwave, hob and fundamental utensils) so you may rustle up a snack if the necessity ever grabs you.
The toilet
There’s a sliding door to the lavatory and a strong walk-in bathe that does precisely what you need it to after a tough coaching session: scorching, fast and environment friendly. Towels are beneficiant and the toiletries are simple and sports-friendly — sufficient to really feel cleanly sorted with out being fussy. Sensible structure and respectable water stress make it a type of lodge loos that quietly earns your affection.
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The amenities
The place do you begin? Playitas is intentionally complete — a small sporting city somewhat than a easy lodge.
The headline facility is the 50m eight-lane Olympic pool with beginning blocks, an underground viewing gallery for method work and all of the coaching paraphernalia you’d count on (pull-buoys, paddles, fins). It’s a real coaching pool and is used for camps and competitions yr spherical.
Round it sit different swimming pools for leisure and restoration, and a packed train timetable that ranges from sun-salutation and mobility lessons within the morning to energy, WOD and aqua-aerobics classes later within the day.
Group lessons are sometimes free as a part of the resort programme; specialist classes and sure coached clinics carry a modest payment (for instance, small method teams and specialist workshops are sometimes priced from round €5 per session).
In case you choose to coach solo you may rent lanes or signal as much as coached swim squads, and there’s a Sports activities Reserving desk for personal teaching and physiotherapy appointments. For runners there’s a tidy menu of mapped routes (from brief loops to longer outings as much as 23 km).
The weekly Lighthouse Race — a much-loved Playitas basic — is an out-and-back run to the Faro de La Entallada (roughly a 13–13.6 km spherical journey), a climb with a view that’s each testing and wholly scenic. I appeared ahead to that mid-week fixture greater than I anticipated; it provides the resort a bit of native flavour and an opportunity to measure progress in opposition to earlier visits.
Biking is catered for lavishly: the on-site Cycle Centre runs a fleet of over 250 bikes (street, gravel, e-bikes and mountain bikes), with mechanics, guided rides and route recommendation — a severe operation for eager cyclists.
The golf course is an 18-hole par-67 routed round volcanic contours; courts, padel, a climbing wall, and a number of out of doors sport zones imply there’s nearly at all times one thing in movement.
The health club is a big, well-zoned 700m² house with cardio, a free-weight space and a practical coaching rig. For restoration there’s a spa and a physiotherapy/sports-massage service (my spouse and son each booked sports activities massages; the therapists are skilled with athletic accidents and regeneration work).
There’s additionally an on-site sports activities store and a helpful sports-booking desk that makes organising lessons, bike rent and physio simple. Plus loads of social sporting occasions within the timetable which can be self-run by company.
In brief: the package record is deep and genuinely helpful should you’re coaching or just topping up health on vacation. And even should you don’t want to partake within the many amenities on provide, that’s OK too, which suggests Playitas can be nice for blended teams and multi-generational journeys the place possibly not everybody needs to interrupt sweat on vacation.
As for catering, Playitas runs a buffet system that’s so beneficiant in its providing that it caters for individuals who try to weight-reduction plan alongside athletes who’re eager to eat as many energy as they realistically can. Even the fussiest of diners ought to simply discover a lot to swimsuit them.
Plentiful salads, grilled fish and lean meats, carbs for refuelling, and a hot-counter providing consolation meals for post-session starvation are all on provide. In case you’re on a coaching block you received’t really feel short-changed; should you’re there as a household, you’ll discover one thing for everybody.
The situation
Playitas sits in Las Playitas on Fuerteventura’s east coast, a purposefully quiet stretch of island the place the resort could be very a lot the purpose of arrival. The drive from Fuerteventura Airport is roughly 30–35 minutes (round 40 km by street), with a taxis or shuttle companies each obtainable at a modest value. In case you search native bustle, you received’t discover a lot past the fishing village and Gran Tarajal close by — and that’s precisely the resort’s promoting level: minimal distraction, maximal focus.
Different good touches
Small home pleasures punctuate the purposeful nature of the resort. On arrival we discovered a relaxing bottle of fizz and a field of macaroons within the condominium — presumably a media courtesy somewhat than normal, however a really welcome gesture.
Sustainability can be taken significantly very significantly at Playitas the place biodiversity and recycling initiatives are rigorously adhered to (together with on-site beehives and bug lodges, an eco backyard, and a Playitas Nature programme selling reusable bottles and cotton merchandise), so your energetic vacation doesn’t should really feel wasteful.
The associated fee
Pricing varies by season, room sort and whether or not you guide packages (coaching weeks, half-board, or full board). Bundle operators and OTAs usually present good offers: nightly room charges can seem from low-season costs equal to round €100–€150 for a fundamental studio, with larger sums in peak season or for packages that embody coaching programmes and meals; week-long coaching packages and coached camps are priced larger and sometimes embody sports activities bookings, teaching and generally meals.
The most effective bit
Freedom to focus. Playitas provides you permission to be egocentric about your individual wellbeing: lengthy coached swim units at daybreak, a gradual tempo run with dramatic volcanic views, a motorcycle loop timed to the sunshine, after which restoration — pool, spa, a gradual lunch and sleep. For anybody who needs to coach with out compromise (or swap off with goal), that mixture is the resort’s quiet superpower.
The ultimate verdict
Playitas is what it says on the tin: a sports activities resort that additionally occurs to be a snug place for a household vacation. It’s centered, environment friendly and pleasantly undemonstrative — you pay for the amenities and the programme somewhat than for ostentation. For us, it has delivered on each promise on each of our visits, with smart, well-equipped lodging, an enormous and genuinely usable menu of amenities (the app is nice for conserving you abreast of what’s on) and useful workers.
Better of all, the Lighthouse Race gave me that satisfying measure of non-public progress — I knocked simply over 5 minutes off my time from two years earlier, which is purpose sufficient to return and see if I can shave off a bit of extra. In case your concept of luxurious is time and house to coach, get well and return house fitter — and maybe a bit of humbler — Playitas could be very onerous to beat.
Disclosure: Our keep was sponsored by Playitas.
Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxurious Journey Weblog and has labored within the journey trade for greater than 30 years. He’s Winner of the Improvements in Journey ‘Finest Journey Influencer’ Award from WIRED journal. Along with different awards, the weblog has additionally been voted “one of many world’s greatest journey blogs” and “greatest for luxurious” by The Telegraph.
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