As i've said in the review title i'm a surfing Dad, my wife isn't interested and I haven't got my two year old daughter up on a board just yet. This presents a particular challenge when negotiating holiday destinations, I need to take the girls somewhere really rather nice to persuade my wife to come with me somewhere I can sneak of for the occasional surf. Lanzarote and Casa Tomaren is the perfect solution. We stayed in a small separate house called Melati, this has a main room with a bedroom off it plus a walled garden, perfect for containing trouble! Nacho the manager is a personable relaxed guy who is there for you if you need him and not in your face if you don't: he has a wealth of knowledge about what Lanzarote has to offer... from volcano's to surf breaks to kids beaches to restaurants. All of which are a million miles from the Lanzarote of package holiday reputation. The pool area is beautiful, set low in a dip in the land to be out of the wind and complete with hammocks and bedouin style shade areas. A breakfast of bacon and eggs is cooked fresh to your taste and beds are made up daily. As you may be able to tell i'm a fan of this place and will be back as soon as I can!

We stayed in casa Mawar, a beautiful secluded house with a private garden and with stunning views on a volcano, from the patio and especially from the bed on the upperfloor. Our casa was specious and fully equiped, there was housekeeping every day except on sunday, we had clean towels once during our week stay. We stayed here in March, in the evenings it got a bit chilly so we used the woodstove, but it was also a bit chilly when taking a shower in the morning. Manager Nacho was very friendly, we felt very welcome and when he was there (in the mornings) he was always prepared to explane what to see and do and where to eat on Lanzarote. Also breakfast was good, with very friendly staff, providing eggs every morning. The location on the island could not be better, with a rental car (also arranged by Nacho) you can easily reach all parts of the Island. We made beautiful walks on, near and in volcanoes, Nacho can give you advice. We ate very good and fresh fish in several small restaurants near the sea (la Quemada, Mar Azul in El Golfo, los Gallegos in Orzola) and tapas at El Chupadero. You can also eat very well in restaurant Caserio de Mozaga. A small supermarket is nearby in Mozaga and at the gasstation near El Monumento al Campesino. We would definitely stay here again!

Casa Tomaren is a really special place. A wonderful hybrid of hotel and villa accommodation in beautiful & very peaceful surroundings. You have lots of space and privacy if you want it but also the benefit of great advice and support from manager Nacho - who is absolutely exceptional! Contrary to the review we never felt abandoned - in fact quite the opposite! But what they offer is very discrete, yet outstandingly good service. Also to add that our young children were able to enjoy exploring the garden in safety. We would definitely go back!

First off we loved the location and the property itself but felt nearly everything was just a little tired. I love independent hotels and places to stay. Invariably someone chooses to run a property because they have a passion for hospitality. Things are done differently but done well. Sadly I felt that this passion, as well as attention to detail, was something in short supply at Casa Tomaren.

We arrived and spent about 20 minutes trying to find someone, anyone( admittedly it was siesta time but it was hardly a surprise that we were coming) so we could check into our room and unpack but it was uncannily like the Marie Celeste.

People say first impressions are important so you decide what kind of first impression was made on us as we went into our cottage.
wardrobe with hangers thrown on the floor inside it, but no hanging space/rail( you hang your clothes over the banister stupid), a sofa that was really painful to sit on, blown light bulbs, broken fridge door handle, tiny pots, bird [--] over the balcony. None of these is particularly irksome but it all contributed to a sense of couldn't really be bothered. if someone had come around and made a quick check they would have noticed these things and could have them sorted.

Shame on us really perhaps we should have flagged some more of the faults at the time but we were tired and just wanted to get on with relaxing. When we did point out a problem it was sorted quickly. Having been in Lanzarote before we knew about a number of local attractions but there was a real absence of info in our cottage( again we could have asked but the onus shouldn't really be on us to be honest) Even a map with a local supermarket on and a couple of local restaurants with opening times would have been helpful.

Breakfast is supplied at Casa Tomaren and it’s not bad but it's not brilliant either. I would recommend that you avoid the coffee, we ended up making our own before breakfast as the luke warm brown liquid on offer was really quite dismal.


The pool area is great but some of the shady areas around could do with a spring clean some of the cushions and mattresses looked as though they were from Glastonbury festival circa 2003.

The staff were friendly and there was a daily maid service which is great but overall things could do with a little sprucing up. I wouldn't want this to become a chain hotel, casa Tomaren has buckets of charm and loads of character and is something a little different. We had a great time in spite of the faults and this place could be fantastic with some effort , maybe it was just off season and we got things at the wrong time.

Would I stay again? I'd love to just not sure if I could be bothered

Would I reccomend this hotel to a friend ?

Yes if they sort things out , No if it stays just the same