XQ Vistamar

XQ Vistamar is an apartment complex for divers who prefer a proper living space to a standard hotel room. You get your own kitchen, a sitting area, and an outdoor space, so the day can run at your pace rather than according to a dining-room timetable. Self-catering suits couples who want a quiet breakfast before a boat departure, and families or small groups who appreciate room to spread out without paying restaurant prices every time somebody wants a sandwich.

The atmosphere is modern, bright and uncomplicated. Every apartment has sea and pool views, while the beachfront position keeps the Atlantic in view when you are making coffee, drying off after a swim, or deciding whether the sofa has won the evening. The hotel's website is available in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian, so you can check the essentials in the language that suits you before travelling.

You are in Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria, Spain, with direct access to Playa de Puerto Rico. This is a genuine seaside base rather than a hotel inland with a beach somewhere down the road. Amadores Beach is about 0.8 miles away on foot, while Playa de Tauro is roughly 1.4 miles away on foot. Playa Los Frailes and Anfi Beach are further options for a change of sand and scenery.

The immediate area keeps practical matters easy. Super Grill is about 250 feet away, Golden Beach Restaurant around 400 feet, and Pizzicato roughly 500 feet, giving you several nearby choices when the kitchen is being ignored for the evening. Chester Beach Club is about 900 feet away, with Little Star Bar and Wig Wam Cocktail Bar also within reach. Maspalomas is about 11 miles away by road, with its lighthouse and botanical park available for a longer outing.

These are apartments rather than rooms dressed up with a kettle. The living room gives you a sofa, a sofa bed and a flat-screen TV, with a dining area and breakfast bar for a quick meal or a more civilised sit-down. A private balcony or terrace lets you step outside without negotiating the corridor in flip-flops. Sea and pool views come as part of the picture, not as an optional bit of scenery from the car park.

For two people, the one-bedroom apartment is the straightforward choice: enough separation between sleeping and living space, a kitchen for breakfast, and an outdoor area for the important post-dive ritual of doing very little. The two-bedroom apartment makes more sense for a family or a group sharing the trip, giving everyone a little more room to exist without turning the sofa into somebody's permanent bedroom.

The kitchen includes a refrigerator, stovetop, microwave, toaster, coffee machine, kettle and kitchenware. That means cold water waiting when you return tired, and no need to hunt for breakfast before an early start. Air conditioning and a fan cover warmer nights, while the private bathroom includes a shower, towels, toiletries and a hairdryer. The apartments are non-smoking, and the building has a lift, with accessible units and ground-floor options for guests with reduced mobility.

The format is self-catering, with no breakfast package described. Your apartment kitchen is therefore the useful centre of the meal plan: coffee first, something quick before the boat, and a proper plate when you return hungry and not particularly interested in dressing up. The dining table and outdoor dining area give you the choice between eating in and taking the meal outside.

There is one on-site bar, the pool bar. It serves drinks and light meals, so you can stay by the water for an aperitif or a modest bite without abandoning the sun loungers. A snack bar is also available. It is a practical arrangement rather than a resort food parade, which leaves you free to use the nearby restaurants when you want somebody else to handle the cooking.

Around the apartments, you can reach Super Grill, Golden Beach Restaurant and Pizzicato within a few hundred feet. For drinks away from the pool, Chester Beach Club, Little Star Bar and Wig Wam Cocktail Bar provide nearby alternatives. The choice is yours: cook, snack, eat out, or call the day finished with a drink beside the pool.

The heated outdoor pool is the main answer for the hours when you are not underwater, eating or sitting at the bar. Its water is kept at 25°C throughout the year, and the surrounding sun terrace has loungers and parasols. After a dive, that gives you a simple recovery plan: shower, swim, horizontal position. Scientific research may call it rest; the sofa may call it competition.

The beachfront setting also makes a non-diving day easy to arrange. You can walk to Amadores Beach, join a boat excursion, or try fishing in the Puerto Rico area. The hotel can organise car hire, which is useful if you want to explore beyond the immediate coast rather than make every outing a taxi negotiation.

For a day away from the water, excursions include Amadores Beach and the fishing village of Mogán, along with cultural outings. Hiking is available off site. The tour desk gives you a place to organise these plans, while the garden, terrace and pool area keep the quieter option entirely respectable.

Gran Canaria Airport is about 27 miles from the apartments by road. Car hire can be arranged, and an airport transfer is a sensible service to ask the property about if you would rather arrive without dealing with a rental car straight away. WiFi is free throughout the hotel, and luggage storage is available for the awkward gap between travelling and getting the keys.

Check-in runs from 15:00 to 22:00, with check-out by 11:00. You need photo identification and a payment card at arrival, and the property needs your expected arrival time in advance. The minimum age for check-in is 18. Cash is not accepted, so keep a suitable card to hand rather than discovering this at reception with a suitcase in each hand.

Quiet hours run from 23:00 to 06:00, and parties or events are not permitted. Laundry service is available for an additional charge. Children of all ages are welcome, with cots available on request; accessibility includes wheelchair-accessible units, ground-floor apartments and upper floors reached by lift.