to the doubters dont doubt, this is a first class hotel, with first class amenities,food was excellent ,room was spotless, cleaned daily to a high standard,no miserable spanish waiters, and corteous staff on reception. beer was san miguel on self service, lush.

I stayed here from 18-25 November 2009 on a half board deal, booked directly on the Barcelo web site..
A late arrival at almost midnight. I Had put on the booking form a request for fruit and water in the bedroom on arrival - in lieu of dinner due to the late arrival time. This was not provided!
The bedroom on 6th floor was clean, it was however 'tired' looking. A fridge was provided. I would recommend asking for a room on the 6th floor, or higher, for a view. - no view from lower floors.
The resturant management, or lack of it, lets this hotel down badly. If you want to use a resturant which is operated like a works canteen this is the place for you! There are far too many tables in the resturant leading to over crowding at times. The hotel 'dress code' for dinner was not enforced, and no greeting or interaction with guests from the head waiter at any time. Some guests particularly new arrivals did not know what to do with regard to table selection. That said for both breakfast and dinner the food was generally satisfactory.
I did not use the bars discos or other facilities provided.

We stayed in this hotel after booking through Teletext. We arrived in Gran Canaria and used the airports taxi service to get to the hotel (approx 32 euros). We were pleasantly surprised on the outside image of the hotel as i'd never visited the Island before and had been told Playa del Ingles was quite 'chavvy' but initial impressions were good. The front desk staff were extremely pleasant and could speak excellent English and German. The rooms were slightly outdated but the massive balcony made up for it and to be honest when the weather is 29 degrees in the middle of November, why would you be in your room???
There is a shuttle bus that takes you to Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles beach, but we found the beaches quite windy so on days that we relaxed the hotels two pools suited us fine. The bar staff are friendly enough but i found their English not as strong as the front desk staff but they do their job very well.
The restaurent food is of an excellent variety, catering for the majority nationalities as well as integrating authentic Canarian food, there are info points by some of the food explaining the origin and how its traditionally eaten to assist with anyone a little unsure. There was also Pizza and chips for British visitors who daren't try anything new! The pool snack bar was typical all inclusive snack bar style but what i found really handy was the self service drinks area (including local spirits and wines) Plus the fridges in the restaurent were always stocked with beer, bottles of wine, water and soft drinks to help yourself.
The entertainment staff work hard all day, providing archery, water aerobics and yoga then in the evening there is always a show that guests can participate in. The entertainment programme could do with updating but considering its out of the British high season its great that they provide entertainment at all.
The other guests are mostly German/East European but they were very friendly and not as stuck up or as obnoxious as the other Brits staying at the hotel, ironically it was a British couple who kept putting their towels on loungers rather than the notorious Germans.
The hotel is situated in a nice area with good local pubs and shopping centres. We hired a car from a local rental place and drove up the mountains to Tejeda which i would definatly recommend. Honest, the landscape is fantastic. You do need to be quite a confident driver to take on the roads however as you feel like your on a ghost train at times! We also visited Palamitos Park which is a conservation bird park and its well worth the visit however the water park is in need of a make over.
Dont be put off by other reviews slating the staff/food etc, its all down to personal taste after all. I've stayed in gorgeous hotels in the Carribean and granted this one is not of that standard, its not trying to be either!
We would definatly go back, and we would take children next time as well as the hotel does suit all ages.

It helped that we had excellent weather but the food was good many choices,entertainment was a bit tired but they done well considering their resources. Location is central&no problem getting to beach and no problem getting sunbeds. Bar is self service so you able to get beer,spirits and soft drinks including ice cold water sparkling or still without any wait. You can use the other hotel next door's pool as well which had the sun all day. Lovely week