La Cuadra

La Cuadra is an old, traditional, Canarian villa, with a central shade outdoor courtyard, which effectively becomes the dining room, linking together the kitchen, living room, and downstairs bedrooms. There are two bedrooms and another living room in a slightly separate apartment reached through an external stairway in the courtyard. This is not a modern, IKEA-filled apartment. Yes, there is good WiFi and a microwave. But the kitchen is a worktop with shelves screened by curtains. The flagstones in the courtyard have been polished by a hundred years of footprints, and everywhere there are little touches of care and a sense of generations of extended family life. We thought it was utterly charming, and a wonderful place to cook, eat, relax. In terms of location, it was a great base from which to explore the beautiful green rolling countryside of northern Gran Canaria and its coastal villages. Not for IKEA fans. I totally loved it!

The barbeque was in the kitchen.

Excellent location in the middle of Firgas, and that definitely is the biggest asset of La Cuadra. It's a small town, but the stairs are cool. From Firgas, we drove all around the island. Las Palmas is less than 30 minutes away. The house itself is traditional, and old-fashioned, but that added to the charm. On the whole, it is well-equipped, but we could have used more power outlets (or just a distribution plug) in the bedrooms, so we would have been able to charge our phones and use the lights at the same time. All the rooms were thoroughly cleaned, with plenty of towels.

A drawback of the traditional style, is that you can hear every sound. When someone gets out of bed on the first floor, the people sleeping in the rooms on the ground floor will more than likely wake up. Not a lot of sound isolation, and most of the rooms are right next to the street. Two of the five bedrooms are separated only by a curtain, which might be good to keep in mind. There was no dishwasher, which can be a bit of a hassle, especially if you're travelling with a large party. Also, after some heavy rain, we found that it had rained over the kitchen table, where we had kept some of our foods. On the whole a good experience, but with room for improvement.

Great location - central but quiet. Good for local walks into the town or hills. Shop almost opposite the house and cafes within 100-200m. Good position for driving to the caost or mountains. The house itself is old and traditional, with lots of original features but plenty of modern faciilties.

There was nothing I didn't like about the house. Some people might find it a little dark inside, but its a traditional house not a modern flat.