This review is based 3 adults & 1 teenager (age 14) staying at Barcelo Active Resort in Lanzarote in May 2025. We booked our visit in April 2025 and stayed for 4 nights all-inclusive during school holidays. We paid for the entire holiday via a package booking with Easy Jet – this post includes some affiliate links within it.
If you are looking for a family-friendly holiday resort in Lanzarote or even an active holiday in the sun, you will find out review useful to read before you book.
How to book Barcelo Lanzarote Active Resort
- We booked 4 nights All-Inclusive at Barcelo Active Resort Lanzarote in May 2025.
- We travelled to and from Edinburgh Airport as Scottish schools were not on holiday this week and it was significantly cheaper than Manchester Airport.
- Airport transfer & 23kg luggage each was included in our booking.
- We had 2 inter-joining double bedrooms with sea view and balconies.
- Our holiday cost £2,722 for 3 adults & 1 child.
What we like about Barcelo Lanzarote
- The 50m Olympic Sized Pool
- The hotel is super clean
- When it is quiet, this is a really good hotel
- Good sized rooms
- Being able to book different lengths of holidays
- Suitable for families and sporty people alike
- Many of the staff are great, including gym staff
What could be better about Barcelo Lanzarote
- Too busy – Towards the middle of our stay, the hotel was obviously struggling with capacity
- Reserving sunbeds – The age old problem!
- Themed food nights did not quite work
- Reception are slow
- Only 10% off A la carte restaurants
- Website unclear about what is included in your booking
About Barcelo Active Resort Lanzarote
This is a 4* hotel based in the Costa Teguise area of Lanzarote. The hotel is around 10-15 minutes by car from the airport. Our transfer took around 20 minutes due to other stops along the way but still really easy to get to.
The hotel is spread across 2 sites – The main hotel area, which is more family friendly and the Active resort, across the road, which houses more rooms, another bar and restaurants and the 50m Olympic sized pool with gym facilities.
We stayed in the main hotel but used the Active resort every day during our stay.
Checking In
Our check-in experience was fairly quiet and smooth. We were one of only 3 groups on our minibus to be staying at the Barcelo resort though. Later in the week, we saw huge queues of people waiting up to an hour to check-in.
Every guest is offered Cava, still, sparkling or lemon water on arrival. The restaurant was still open for another hour after our arrival, so we’re able to eat there. Otherwise, we would have access to the overnight snack bar.
Reception Area
As expected, reception is manned 24 hours per day. Occasionally. this area gets really busy with people checking in and out and asking questions. We had to ask reception some questions on a few occasions as we really couldn’t find the information elsewhere – If information about facilities, times, what is included in all-inclusive was clearer, reception would be less hectic.
We were handed a paper map of Lanzarote and a leaflet about the actual hotel. The most useful part of this was the restaurant timings, which we could not find anywhere else.
Reception has a spiced scent pumped into it throughout the day – This is quite overpowering but not unpleasant and stops around 10pm.
Free luggage storage is available for check out and arrival day.
The Rooms
We were pleasantly surprised by the size of our rooms. We booked 2 separate double rooms, which were adjoined by a locked door. Our rooms were clean and well maintained with all the usual facilities:
- TV (with access to several UK & European channels)
- Mini fridge (empty)
- Wardrobe space
- Large balcony with recliners
- Pool view
- Tea/Coffee making facilities
Our room came with bottled still water on arrival – This was not topped up throughout our stay but there is plenty of water in the restaurants and overnight snack bar that can be taken to the rooms.
We did feel that the corridors let the hotel down somewhat. The decor felt rather tired and old fashioned – I believe this is an older hotel that has had a modern facade added.
The Bathrooms
The showers are fabulous in the bathrooms – The overhead shower was not as strong but the hand held shower was so powerful with no shortage of hot water. Our shower really leaked all over the bathroom floor, no matter what amount of towels we placed down. The floor remained flooded for 2 days as our cleaner did not arrive one day (We were given a free late checkout until 2pm to compensate for this).
The sinks were separate to the shower and toilets. We had Jack & Jill sinks, complete with a large mirror and glasses. Hand wash and body lotion were supplied – The hand wash smelt divine of parma violets.
Body wash and Shampoo were supplied in the shower, along with 2 bath towels and 2 hand towels.
Is the Barcelo Royal Level worth booking?
We didn’t book the Royal level for our stay. We didn’t really give it a second thought due to the short length of our stay. We also weren’t exactly sure what was included in our stay and what we would be entitled to if we were Royal level.
We had the chance to upgrade mid way through our stay and this would have been €50 per room for the remaining 2 days.
Included in this would be access to another restaurant, the Royal level infinity pool & the Royal pool bar. On that particular day, the Royal pool was closed for maintenance so we were advised that it would not be worth it for us to upgrade. We appreciated this honesty but were still slightly tempted, even if it just meant us getting some sunbeds.
The hotel has a policy though that upgraded guests have to move rooms and cannot just upgrade to use the extra facilities which really was not worth doing for us.
Children are allowed in the Royal level at Costa Teguise Barcelo Active resort.
The Food and Drink
We had access to the main buffet restaurant and 10% off any visits to the other A la carte restaurants during our stay. I felt this was slightly misleading and unclear on the hotel website as the hotel described the hotel as having ‘A-la carte restaurants’ but did not say that it was such a small discount off them all.
The Buffet Restaurant
This was actually one of the best things about the hotel. There was something for everyone here. The salad selection is outstanding, full of fresh, varied food options.
Soft drinks, beer and wine are self service with no queues. Staff are attentive and whisk your used crockery away at the speed of light.
We visited the buffet restaurant every evening, some mornings and most lunchtimes. Breakfast is served until 10.30am, lunch 1pm-3pm and dinner until 10pm. I really liked that the staff come round to check you have had enough of everything before clearing away the buffet at the end of service.
Themed nights are held every night, ranging from Mediterranean (Sundays), Canaries (Monday), Tex-Mex (Tuesday), Italian (Wednesday), Chinese (Thursday) & Indian (Friday). We were really looking forward to Tex Mex but couldn’t see any particular Tex-Mex offerings that night. Weirdly, the featured section had lasagna for that night with tacos available the following evening instead.
The Pool Snack Bar
This was really popular but never too busy. Soft drinks, beer and water are self-serve with the counter offering a range of 6 alcoholic slushies (Pina Colada, Mojito, Strawberry Daiquiri, Lemon Daiquiri, Barcelo’s own and Tequila Sunrise) until 6pm. These were ok but not amazingly true to taste. Really refreshing in the sun though and not too strong.
Little pots of warm food were were in constant supply in a hot self service counter:
- Chicken nuggets – fairly tasty but never felt hot or fresh enough,
- Onion rings,
- Tuna empanadas – odd, not a fan,
- BBQ chicken wings – these were the tastiest.
Sandwiches, salad bowls and cheesecake were also available in the fridges.
The Lobby Bar
This was the bar that was available at nighttime. It gets busy when the entertainment is on but any queues move quickly.
We did not know what was available in the All-Inclusive and whether certain brands were included or just for Royal level. Our bar waiter happily showed us the menu, explaining that anything that does not have a second price next to it, is included in all-inclusive.
Drink quality was ok. Not the best, not the worst. I didn’t enjoy my gin & tonic (Gordons) as it was just too strong & the tonic not the best. The mojito was fine, if a little heavy on the syrup. The draught beer was Cruzcampo, which I felt a good offering for an all-inclusive venue. Branded Baileys is not included but the ‘Creme with whisky’ was a decent substitute.
Soft drinks are branded CocaCola, Sprite and Fanta. Mocktails again were fairly heavy on the syrup so rather artificial but fine for a bit of fun. The coffee machine was self service and available at the side of the bar, so you don’t have to queue.
Snacks were not readily available but nuts can be provided if requested.
The lobby bar is open until 1am.
The Overnight Grab and Go Snack Bar
This is a refrigerated unit to the right of reception and does what it says on the front of it, ‘Opens when you are sleeping’.
Many of the snacks are leftovers from during the day – Sandwiches, salad bowls (this hotel LOVES a salad bowl) and biscuits, individually wrapped cake portions.
There is a coffee station, along with a selection of soft drinks and still/sparkling water available in bottles.
Champs Bar
This is a sports bar over at the Active side of the hotel. There is an additional charge for anything bought here – again, we didn’t really feel this was properly explained beforehand or even on arrival.
The Pools
There are 2 main pools in the main hotel area. They are adjoined but you need to get out of one before getting in the other. One is much warmer than the other – This is the one where the pool activities take place and is quite deep in places.
Activities include water yoga, aqua aerobics and water polo, which looked great fun. The music was not nearly as loud around the pool as it has been in other resorts which was great. a really relaxing area.
Our main disappointment with the hotel though is that people are still reserving sunbeds with towels at the start of the day (The pools open at 9am). There are simply just not enough sunbeds for the amount of people the hotel holds. We kept looking around and eventually went to reception to ask them for more sunbeds.
The manager tried taking towels off sunbeds herself but soon got told by people who were actually only swimming in the pool. This is why we were looking into upgrading to the Royal level as their pool had plenty of free sunbeds.
The Active Resort
Well, I never thought I’d be saying this was one of my favourite parts of the holiday, but it really was. I was nervous about swimming in the 50m pool as I’ve never done it before and worried that everyone would be super athletic, young and fit.
There were plenty of athletes, but there were also plenty of older types and allsorts of shapes and abilities. The lifeguards are welcoming & direct you to which lane to use. I managed to get a lane to myself each day, apart from one day when Tara came with me and we shared.
Pool use is €4 for an hour (You can charge this to your room if you don’t want to carry cards/cash around). Children welcome aged 8+. The pool tends to be quieter between 10.30am-3pm. After 3pm, swim groups tend to come in but you should still get a swim. The water is warm for an outside pool with a depth of 2.5 metres.
The hotel also has its own professional cycling centre. For golfers, there is a course 4km away.
Swimcaps are compulsory. I hate them but they soon feel normal as everyone is wearing them (the problem I have is trying to keep it on my head). If you don’t have one, they are available to buy from gym reception for around €3.
You can actually book to use the 50m pool, even if you are not a resident at the hotel. This costs €7 (soon to rise to €8) per hour.
Millie & Dermot both attended a multi sports gym class one morning and loved it. It was a high standard and they loved the gym instructor. They were actually inspired to sign up for the triathlon (Iron Guest) but had to pull out due to injury. Dermot is still gutted as he loved the thought of this (300m swim, 10km exercise book, 2.5km run around the resort) – Maybe next time!
Shower and toilet facilities are well maintained and clean plus never too busy.
We never saw the gym to be too busy either. There is plenty of equipment and it is well ventilated. Gym staff are really friendly and welcoming.
Night-time Entertainment at Barcelo Lanzarote
I’m going to be honest in that we don’t really pay much attention to hotel entertainment anymore. When our girls were younger they loved a good disco but they are much too grown up now.
At Barcelo Lanzarote, there is an outdoor children’s disco every evening (around 7.30pm) with Barcy, the hotel mascot. This was well attended and looked like plenty of kids took part with lively entertainers.
In the main hotel, there are alternate nights of bingo/acrobatic entertainers, mixed with piano players. Bingo was so well attended and the acrobatics also drew large crowds.
I actually loved the piano players (we saw 2 different ones). They were so talented, playing some really technically and varied difficult pieces. Entertainment finishes around 9.30pm, when you are invited to move to the bar across in the active part of the hotel for live musical performances.
The band that we saw were more of a karaoke style but really got the party going. This is one lively bar!!
Children at Barcelo Costa Teguise
Aside from the children’s disco, this hotel also offers the Barcy Club
- Aged 4-11 full entertainment programme 7 days per week including themed games and activities.
- Under 4’s cannot be left but are invited to join in and play with supervision.
- Small toddler pool with water feature.
Check out at Barcelo
On arrival, we asked about hiring a room for a late check out as our flight home was an evening flight. This is not something the hotel offers are there are shower cubicles available poolside at both main hotel and active side for free.
Usual check out is 10am but we were given a late check out of 2pm in compensation for our bathroom flooding and cleaners not attending.
The Local Area
There is a small SPAR supermarket next to the hotel. This is well stocked, selling typical souvenirs, alcohol, toiletries & suncream and crisps/chocolate. It is fairly pricey but shop assistants are really friendly.
Access to a small rocky beach is through a gate at the back of the main hotel at the side of the pool and takes only one minute. The views are magnificent but the beach isn’t that comfy to sit on. There were people swimming in the sea but it looked a little rough and too near rocks to be completely safe.
A bus is available to take guests into Teguise. The local market is held every Sunday but we only arrived on Sunday evening so missed this.
About Lanzarote
I’d heard people talk about how windy Lanzarote was before we visited but it really is! You need to be super careful to cover up and use sunscreen as you will burn without feeling it. People often tell us that they have had their best tans from Lanzarote but that windburn can be brutal.
The landscape is very rugged. You will volcanos in the distance.
Hiring a car is advised if you want to see more of the island and will cost around per day. It takes around 1-2 hours to get from one side of the island to the other. Drink driving laws are very strict with a 1000 fine if over the 0.5mg limit. Lanzarote drive on the right hand side of the road.
The timezone is exactly the same as the UK.
About Barcelo Hotel Group
Barcelo also has other hotel in Lanzarote:
- Barcelo Costa Teguise Adults Only
- Barcelo Playa Blanca Family Resort
- Barcelo Royal Level Playa Blanca – Adults Only
Barcelo Hotel Group have 180 hotels across 31 countries, making them sure to have a resort suitable for most holiday makers.
Check out Barcelo Active Resort on Booking.com for more details on booking and availability.
I’m glad you enjoyed the swimming, that pool does look amazing! Such an interesting and detailed review of this hotel, it will help a lot of people – especially as there is so little information about what is actually included and what isn’t!