Assessment: Playitas Sports activities Resort, Las Playitas, Fuerteventura

In case your concept of a trip is lounging by a pool doing completely nothing, then Playitas may not be for you. As probably the most well-equipped sports activities resort on the Canarian island of Fuerteventura, it caters finest for many who prefer to maintain energetic.

By some means, although, it appears to accommodate a large spectrum of visitors, from those that merely need 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, operating, 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 prematurely, the Playitas group 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 have 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 condo — the sort 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 primary utensils) so you’ll be able to 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 strain make it a kind of lodge loos that quietly earns your affection.

The services

The place do you begin? Playitas is intentionally complete — a small sporting city quite 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 anticipate (pull-buoys, paddles, fins). It’s a real coaching pool and is used for camps and competitions 12 months spherical.

Round it sit different swimming pools for leisure and restoration, and a packed train timetable that ranges from sun-salutation and mobility courses within the morning to energy, WOD and aqua-aerobics classes later within the day.

Group courses are sometimes free as a part of the resort programme; specialist classes and sure coached clinics carry a modest price (for instance, small method teams and specialist workshops are usually priced from round €5 per session).

In the event you favor to coach solo you’ll be able to 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 traditional — 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 seemed ahead to that mid-week fixture greater than I anticipated; it offers the resort somewhat native flavour and an opportunity to measure progress towards 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 virtually at all times one thing in movement.

The fitness center 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 courses, bike rent and physio simple. Plus loads of social sporting occasions within the timetable which can be self-run by visitors.

In brief: the package checklist is deep and genuinely helpful for those who’re coaching or just topping up health on vacation. And even for those who don’t want to partake within the many services on provide, that’s OK too, which suggests Playitas can also be nice for blended teams and multi-generational journeys the place perhaps not everybody desires to interrupt sweat on vacation.

As for catering, Playitas runs a buffet system that’s so beneficiant in its providing that it caters for many who are attempting to eating regimen alongside athletes who’re eager to devour as many energy as they realistically can. Even the fussiest of diners ought to simply discover lots to go well with 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 the event you’re on a coaching block you gained’t really feel short-changed; for those who’re there as a household, you’ll discover one thing for everybody.

The placement

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 providers each out there at a modest value. In the event you search native bustle, you gained’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 condo — probably a media courtesy quite than commonplace, however a really welcome gesture.

Sustainability can also be taken critically very critically at Playitas the place biodiversity and recycling initiatives are fastidiously adhered to (together with on-site beehives and bug resorts, 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 fee

Pricing varies by season, room kind and whether or not you e-book packages (coaching weeks, half-board, or full board). Bundle operators and OTAs typically present good offers: nightly room charges can seem from low-season costs equal to round €100–€150 for a primary studio, with larger sums in peak season or for packages that embrace coaching programmes and meals; week-long coaching packages and coached camps are priced larger and usually embrace sports activities bookings, teaching and typically meals.

The very best bit

Freedom to focus. Playitas offers you permission to be egocentric about your personal wellbeing: lengthy coached swim units at daybreak, a gradual tempo run with dramatic volcanic views, a motorbike loop timed to the sunshine, after which restoration — pool, spa, a gradual lunch and sleep. For anybody who desires to coach with out compromise (or swap off with objective), 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 cushty place for a household vacation. It’s centered, environment friendly and pleasantly undemonstrative — you pay for the services and the programme quite 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 services (the app is nice for preserving 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 somewhat extra. In case your concept of luxurious is time and house to coach, get better and return house fitter — and maybe somewhat humbler — Playitas could be very arduous to beat.

Disclosure: Our keep was sponsored by Playitas.