All Inclusive in Gran Canaria

Its funny how things turn out sometimes isn't it? Especially with holidays. 10 years ago the thought of an All Inclusive holiday would have filled me with absolute dread. Fast forward 10 years and 2 kids later, All Inclusive started to seem positively luxurious. No Cooking? Or cleaning? Or even thinking? No mental load whatsoever. No "but this pizza is too spicy" "these chicken nuggets don't look the same" Simply go back and get something else. Bliss. And did I mention the wine on tap? So we decided to venture into the world of All Inclusive. And we chose the Dunas Suites in Maspalomas Gran Canaria as somewhere that looked nice, low rise, spread out with good reviews, especially for the food. We didn't regret it. Whilst a very large resort, comprising of suites and villas, it never felt too crowded, except perhaps at some meal times. With 5 pools, and an entertainments team, the kids lived in their swimming costumes and our 8 year old particularly enjoyed the pool games. The food was good, with a huge choice and a different theme each night. Even so, I think any buffet type service is going to get a bit samey by the 8th night. But overall it was much better than we expected for an all Inclusive, with lots of fresh food, and some dishes such as fish and steak cooked to order. The kids loved the slushies and frozen yogurt in the afternoons and we loved the generous gin and tonics! The Dunas is about a 20 minute walk away from the beach. The beach area is famous for its sand dunes and there is a huge expanse of sandy beach. Being the Atlantic, the sea is a little rough, so not suitable for very young children, but fine for the older ones. Our 5 year old was very happy just paddling (supervised) or building castles in the sand. If you want to explore further afield, taxis are cheap and plentiful, the Aquapark was a huge hit with our kids. Its located about 15 minutes from the hotel by taxi, (6 euros by taxi) and seemed well run with lots of slides of varying scarediness. Our 8 year old son declared it as the 2nd best day of his life! (but he couldn't tell us what the best day was) It is also possible to hire cars at the hotel if you would like to explore the island for a day or two. (there is a company in the hotel foyer every morning - they do need 24 hours notice) All in all I would definitely do it again, the sheer relaxation that All Inclusive affords, not having to think about a single thing , having it all taken care of, especially with kids. Here's to next time!