Playa del Ingles is the largest holiday resort in the Canary Islands and is situated on the southern tip of Gran Canaira. It was also the first area of the island to be developed for tourism in the 1960's.
Once the party-capital of the island, the resort has managed to shake off it's once "club 18-30" young-fun reputation and although there are still plenty of party nights (Kasbah / Metro / Plaza commercial centers), clubs and booze-cruises to keep the revellers happy, nowadays the resort appeals to almost everyone from more mature, retired travellers to the gay market (Yumbo commercial center), families and couples. It is also appeals to all nationalities.
By day the resort can appear to be a bit of a concrete jungle. Street after quiet street of large hotels and apartments complexes. On every major corner a commercial center (I think there's about 12 commercial center in the resort). The streets are so quiet as most people head off to the beach or the pool to spend the day soaking up the sun. A few will be in one of the commercial centers having breakfast maybe or meeting up with friends. If the weather's bad (a half-dozen clouds here even if 25C is considered bad weather!) perhaps the shops will be busy.
By night if people leave their all-inclusive hotels it's to find some entertainment, elsewhere people are heading out for dinner first then on to a bar somewhere. The Yumbo commercial center is the largest and busiest area for night time entertainment. Although it's the gay center of the resort, early on in the evening there's quite a mixed crowd as families and couples have dinner then catch one of the commedy drag shows. After midnight it becomes almost exclusively gay.
In addition to the entertainment the resort has to offer, it's main attraction is Playa del Ingles "blue flag" beach. It connects with the beaches of San Agustin to the east and Maspalomas to the west so you have 6 kilometers of shoreline to find a spot for your towel.
If your catching a cab down to the beach (not much more than 3 euros or 5 minutes from the furthest part away from the beach) then ask for the Annexo 2 center. Thats's the shopping center on the start of beach-front. There's easy access onto the beach itself from there, showers, a center full of shops, bars and restaurants and on the beach itself plenty of sunbeds, as you can see from the above photo.
With the resort being so big there's a great choice of accommodation to chose from and with very competative prices. Watch out for "carnival" towards the end of January or early February, gay pride at the beginning of May. Don't hold out for a hotel close to the beach but next to the nightlife as the two are far apart. More photos of the resort here
