La Pared powered by Playitas is the place to be if you want an active vacation. Located on Fuerteventura and famous amongst Swedes and Germans, this is a safe haven hidden on the island. Its location makes it perfect for people that want to focus on their training. However, there’s more to La Pared than training. Read all about the hotel and our stay here!
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La Pared – How did we end up here?
Ok, so Mini and I are not huge freaks when it comes to training. This was actually our first vacation with a focus on training. Sure, we have walked the Inca trail but that was different. We had never heard of La Pared before but when we talked to people and told them that we were going there, surprisingly many had heard about this place.
In Sweden, it’s the travel agent Apollo that has flights and stays at La Pared. They have tailored trips that cater to your needs and they will gladly help you to book your trip. We usually use another agent for our trips but we will make sure to book with Apollo again because we were really happy!
Our trip to La Pared powered by Playitas
Do you remember that Apollo had a competition where they were looking for the “explorer of the year”? And do you remember that we won that competition? So our price, except for the prestigious title of becoming “explorer of the year” was a trip to Fuerteventura. And the hotel was La Pared powered by Playitas.
We quickly found out that the hotel was a sports hotel where they had a gym and offered several workouts each day. This was our first time staying at a sports hotel but it won’t be our last. This post is a summary of our week and what we were up to! All the thoughts are our own and we didn’t get paid to write this post!
La Pared – have an active vacation
In 2016, Apollo decided to launch yet another hotel with a sports theme. Their first hotel, Playitas resort had been flourishing for years and they wanted to expand. La Pared is the result of that! The hotel was not built in 2016, Apollo just re-established it. And they did a great job (even if there are several things that need some sprucing up).
People come here to be active during their vacation. But at the same time – this is not a place where you need to be fit to fit in. To each his own – you decide yourself what you want to do during your vacation and stay here. We decided to be active and train each day. But, there were people that spent their week just lying by the pool and that’s fine too!
Flying to La Pared
Our flight was from Copenhagen and it was a straight flight to Fuerteventura. We flew with Novair and the flight took about five hours. We got lunch on the flight and it was a lot better than many other flights. Now, we both like airplane food but recently we both feel that the quality has become worse. But that wasn’t the case with Novair.
As always, Mini slept through the whole flight. I was watching tv-series on my phone. Today, when you have everything you need on your phone, it’s a lot easier to make time pass on an airplane. And five hours ain’t that bad for a flight that takes you to a warmer climate!
Getting to La Pared from the airport
Since we were traveling with Apollo, there were people waiting for us in the terminal. It’s always nice to not have to think and to just follow the stream! Usually, when we travel, we have to make all the arrangements ourselves so this was a nice pace of change. We got a bus number and then we just went out and found the bus.
The ride to the hotel took about 40 minutes. We had no idea what to expect and the bus was stopping at several different hotels along the way. Anticipation grew with each stop. Since we hadn’t looked up the hotel in advance (more than that it was a sports hotel) we had no idea what to expect. And soon it was our turn to get off the bus and to check-in at the hotel.
Greeted with champagne
It seems like the staff at the hotel knew that we were coming before as soon as we got off the bus, they were there – greeting us with champagne. The line to check-in was quite long so the champagne helped and kept everyone happy and satisfied during the wait. Mini and I had breakfast included in our package and there was an option to buy dinner, lunch or both.
Different guests get different bracelets depending on what kind of package they have. We decided not to add on anything else and just take the breakfast. We ended up buying dinner vouchers but more on that later.
Our room at La Pared
There are different kinds of rooms at La Pared. We were booked in a double room with a terrace. The room was ok. One thing that we were missing all week was a kettle in the room so that we could make coffee. We heard that the people that stayed in apartments had kettles and even small kitchens in their rooms.
One woman from Germany that we got talking too said that she paid 10 euros and got a kettle in her room. Unfortunately, we heard about this only a day or two before it was time to leave so we didn’t ask for a kettle. Like we said before, the room was ok but it was also in need of some freshening up. The bathroom smelled pretty bad during the whole week and the cleaning was “so so”. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, they don’t clean the room and that’s fine, even if we wish that they cleaned it better during the days of cleaning.
Briefing by Apollo the first evening
Apollo is constantly close. They come to the hotel several times a week and you can always get in touch with them by phone or email. There is also a folder in the reception with all the information you need. Here you can also find all the excursions that Apollo offers. On the first evening, we got invited to a briefing.
We learned more about the hotel, the concept of a sports hotel and about Fuerteventura as an island. It was really nice and made us come into a real vacation mode. Apollo also offers different excursions that you can sign up on to see more of the island. During the briefing, we got to hear more about the excursions too.
La Pared Location – Getting to Costa Calma
The fact is that La Pared is located somewhat in the middle of nowhere. If you are here to focus on your training that’s great because you will not be tempted to explore the island. Sure, you can walk around the area and find a restaurant or two but otherwise, it’s pretty deserted in the hotel area.
The closest town is Costa Calma. It takes about 40 minutes by bike to get there (you can rent a bike at the hotel). It is 9 kilometers from La Pared to Costa Calma. If you want, you can also take the bus there. The problem is that you will have to take a taxi back because there are no buses that take you back to the hotel. However, this place is located nicely near the beach and you can take some really nice walks around the area.
Rent equipment at the hotel
A lot of the equipment is free of charge to use. But there are some things that you will need to pay an extra fee for. For example, if you want to rent a bike, play tennis or try surfing. There’s a company called Wellenkind that specializes in teaching people how to surf. It seems to be a popular place and they offer daily lessons in surfing.
And the same thing goes with the spa. If you want some treatments, you will have to pay extra for them. There is a spa at La Pared but we never tried any of their treatments. But if you want a yoga mat or use the gym – it’s free of charge! That’s part of the package and you are welcome to use it as much as you want.
Breakfast at La Pared
We had breakfast included in our package and they serve breakfast between 08.00 and 10.00 each day. It’s the classical buffet and focus is on healthy food. It was a good selection to choose from and we enjoyed coming here and eating each morning. I loved the selection of fresh fruit and nuts that they have.
Each morning they also served smoothies and sometimes they were amazing and sometimes they didn’t taste good. We got the feeling that the smoothies were made out of “leftover fruit” and that’s great because things don’t get wasted. However, a smoothie made out of watermelon is not that great to drink. And the coffee was not even close to as strong as we like it. But otherwise, there was nothing to complain about!
Lunch at La Pared by the pool bar
Now, we didn’t have lunch (or dinner) included and we skipped lunch. But we saw that they were serving lunch between 12.00 and 14.00 each day. The lunch was served at the pool bar during our stay and they served burgers and other goodies. We visited the pool bar daily to get a decent cup of coffee. A regular americano cost 2 euros and a latte set us back 3,50 euros.
That’s kind of expensive for a coffee, especially when you don’t have any other choice. If we could we would have made coffee at our room but since we needed our coffee, we ended up buying it at the pool bar.
Dinner at La Pared
Since we only had breakfast included in our package, we bought dinner vouchers. We paid 90 euros for 6 dinners at the buffet. If we would have paid each dinner as we went (and skipped the vouchers) each dinner would have cost 17 euros per person and that didn’t include drinks. The dinner was also focused on healthy eating but there was a lot to choose from.
After a while, buffet dinners become somewhat “same same” even if they keep changing the food that is served. But the food here was fine. Each week they also had a grill evening and that was a refreshing meal. My favorite was the evening when they served asparagus and broccoli stew – that was so good!
Bar Plan B
Located right outside of the hotel complex, this cafe and restaurant serve sandwiches and burgers. We went there and had a burger and fries. Yes, it felt kind of awkward – being on a sports hotel, binging on burgers and fries but we still wanted to check this place out. It’s ok, not more or less. The opening hours are changing at all times so you can’t trust the sign on the door.
We went there two times and it was closed both times before we finally got to have our meal there. One evening it was closed due to a private party. The second time it was just closed. But the burgers were ok and it was nice to have something different to eat for a change. There are not too many restaurants to choose from in this area.
Bahia La Pared – A nice restaurant with a view
About 10 minutes from La Pared there is a really nice restaurant by the cliffs. If you are going there during the evening, make sure to start the flashlight on your phone because the road to the restaurant is not that “walk-friendly”. Bahia La Pared serves some really nice seafood and fresh fish.
I finally got to have my Gambas al Ajillo and boy, were they good. This is more of a high-end restaurant in the area and it is often a lot of people there. We didn’t make reservations and we were fine but if you want to be sure to get a table, ask the reception at the hotel to make a reservation for dinner at the restaurant.
Minimarket Yolanda in La Pared
There is a smaller store where you can buy water and other things that you might need during your stay at the resort. What we liked the most is that it was a fair price – not overpriced like a lot of small supermarkets are. For example, we bought a bottle of wine for 3,50 euros.
This is the only store within the resort area where you can buy groceries and food supplies. There’s no huge selection but you have everything you might need. And it’s nice to have a store where you can get some chocolate or some snack in the evening! Training or not – candy is still good and necessary!
The facilities at La Pared
Neither Mini nor I are huge training freaks. But we do know what a training sports hotel should look like and we believe that La Pared has nailed it! You have everything you need within the facility. There is a yoga studio, a tennis court, a gym and a multicourt, just to name a few. There are also several different tracks that you can either walk, run, hike or bike.
Each week they release a new sports program that is current for the week. Most of the activities are free of charge and you just show up when it starts. However, for the Yoga, you need to register in advance. But yoga is free and it’s really good! The different facilities are opened as follows:
- Sauna & Jacuzzi: 14.00 – 20.00
- Gym: 08.00 – 20.00
- Tennis: 08.00 – 20.00
The pools at La Pared
You are not allowed to reserve beach chairs at the resort, a thing that we love! There is one “regular” swimming pool and a jacuzzi. The water is heated in both pools and we spent every evening with a dip in the jacuzzi. It was nice to get in there and most often, we could have it to ourselves. I called it “meeting time” and then we would soak in the pool.
The swimming pool was nice even if we didn’t use it that much. I tried the “Aqua at the pool” with Andrew and it was so much fun! 30 minutes of training and laughing all at once. What was great was that there were always beach chairs available for everyone!
The Sports program at La Pared
During our week at La Pared, I tried several different workouts from the program. Mini spent most of his time at the gym and I ran around, doing yoga, stretching and relaxing, mobility, core training, and dancing. I liked all of the things that were in the program. The only thing that was disappointing was the morning walk.
We walked to the main road and back again. No trail, no nice hike – just a walk to the street and back. There were three of us going on the walk and we were all kind of confused by the whole thing. But other than that, their program is good and it changes each week. It’s versatile and I believe that everyone can find something that they like.
Free workout trails at the reception
At La Pared, they offer workouts each day according to a schedule (that changes each week). For people who want to explore the surroundings and the island more – they also provide small pamphlets with information. There are routes for jogging, running, and cycling. Here are some of the options that you can do:
- The morning jog (1,7 kilometers) – An easy run along a gravel road to the beach.
- Desert Dreams (8,8 kilometers) – A challenge for the runner. This includes a long climb.
- Sand Storm (8,9 kilometers) – Sand roads and pavements for this bike ride.
- Vuelta Da Chilegua (18 kilometers) – A nice bike ride around the area.
- Coast To Coast (18,8 kilometers) – Bike to Costa Calma and back.
- La Pared Beginners Tour (20 kilometers) – An easy bike ride around the area.
- La Pared – Playitas (32 kilometers) – Bike ride and running to Las Playitas.
- Desert Adventure (32,1 kilometers) – A pretty challenging bike ride.
Getting around
There are several different ways to get around the island while staying in La Pared. Onsight, there’s a car rental (CICAR) where you can rent a car for a day (or as long as you like). If you want you can get a taxi, rent a bike or take the bus. We spent most of our time right at the resort and just did some walks around the area.
If you want to explore Fuerteventura more, they offer several different tours that you can sign up for. There is a lot to see and explore on this beautiful island and even if training is your main focus when coming here, it might be nice to go somewhere else and get to see more of the surroundings.
Book an excursion
All the information with prices and pick-up time is in the folder in the reception. Here are some of the excursions that Apollo offers to their visitors:
- A day a the beach – You go to Morro Jable and spend the day at your own leisure.
- Corralejo and the Dunas – The Dunas are a truly magical place that you don’t want to miss.
- Walking on Isla de Lobos – Go to the island of Lobos and see another island.
- The caves of Ajuy – Part of a tour where you visit more highlights of the island.
- Betancuria – The old capital of the island. Today this is a really nice town that you want to visit!
- Oasis Park – Not in the excursion program but La Pared is pretty close to the huge Oasis Park in Fuerteventura.
Information about La Pared powered by Playitas
Address: Avda. del Istmo N 6. E-35627 La Pared.
Phone: +34 928 54 91 30.
Thank you, Apollo, for getting us this memorable trip and for letting us become explorers of the year according to you!
Looks like a perfect spot for an active vacation!
It really was! We were really happy with our visit there!
Härligt med nytta och nöje på semester. 😍❤️😍
Is there a shuttle between la pared and la playitas
Not that I know but ask at the hotel reception. They are very helpful.