Training in Lanzarote: Occidental Lanzarote Mar Hotel

A new training venue for triathletes: Occidental Lanzarote Mar Hotel

The Canary Island of Lanzarote is well known as a training destination for triathletes and endurance athletes for many decades now. With easy access from all over Europe thanks to the huge number of flights available, reliable year-round weather and the draw of riding in and around the roads of the infamous IRONMAN Lanzarote, the island is likely to remain a firm favourite for triathletes for many years to come.

While Club La Santa is by far the biggest sport-specific training base on the island, many other hotels and more boutique operations have opened in recent years specifically catering to the sports market, for those perhaps looking for something a little smaller in scale or more personal.

With it’s seafront location in Costa Teguise, the Occidental Lanzarote Mar Hotel (www.barcelo.com) is one of those seeking to attract endurance athletes – and providing the facilities and service to do so.

The town coastal town of Costa Teguise attracts more than its fair share of triathletes, and even has several events taking place through the year including the TRI:122 Middle Distance, the Sailfish Lanzarote Open Water Swim and Ironman Lanzarote 70.3 amongst several others through the year.

Facilities

The hotel offers a wide range of sporting facilities, alongside the ability to relax in comfort in its four-star surroundings. These include:

On-site, Olympic-sized (50m), 10-lane heated swimming pool maintained at 27°c
Bkool cycling simulator
Gym facilities with Technogym equipment
High-performance bike hire available
Wellness centre
Hypoxia rooms are also available for “sleep high, train low” altitude training

For athletes, the hotel uses the tagline “Enjoy training – and forget about everything else”.

Alberto Lorrio, the Sports Manager at Occidental Lanzarote Mar, says of the venue “People looking for a sports hotel such as ours seek the highest quality sporting facilities, a location close to other possible training areas, and high quality rooms that ensure maximum relaxation and fast recovery to continue training the next day. This is what we offer them, in addition to a highly professional service, the main objective of which is to make their lives easier, helping them with anything they may need during their stay: from sports materials and technical advice to menus for athletes, relaxation massage, and leisure activities so that their families can share in the getaway and have fun whilst the athlete in the family focusses on training”.