Lanzarote is an excellent destination when it comes to a solo trip to the Canary Islands. One of the reasons for this is that in Lanzarote there are accommodation options to suit a solo traveller. That’s to say affordable accommodation that lands you in the best spots to explore the island, while allowing you to have fun and meet others.
If you’re looking for luxury accommodation options however, this is not your place. As mentioned we’re talking affordable – budget style – as that’s my solo travel vibe! But don’t worry, I don’t like to slum it, which is why I will recommend the accommodation options in this post which I experienced and enjoyed!
(This post contains affiliate links. If you chose to book accommodation based on my recommendations form the links provided I will receive a small commission, to not extra charge to you :)!)
Which area of Lanzarote to stay in as a solo traveller?
ARRECIFE
The best place to base yourself as a solo traveller in Lanzarote is the main city of Arrecife.
- Easily accessible from the airport, which is very important especially as a solo traveller. You don’t want to find yourself arriving alone being stuck on reaching your desired location, and/or incurring a big taxi fee.
- The public bus runs from outside the airport terminal into the heart of the city. It costs only €1.40 one way and is a short ride away.
- Buses run into the late evening. However of course do check the bus timetables if you have a late flight. That being said, if you do have to take a taxi due to your flight being delayed or so, the proximity of Arrecife to the airport would still make it a top option.
- Day trips around the island can be done with ease from Arrecife
- As a solo traveller you’ll likely want to fill your days doing and seeing as much as possible around the island. Buses run direct to most places from Arrecife since it is the main city. You can therefore travel cheaply and as you wish, not feeling like you are tied to one resort town.
- Experience a more authentic view of Lanzarote than you would in a resort town
- Most tourists don’t stay in Arrecife, look at this as a positive. Experience the city of locals, where tourism is not as prominent as other areas on the island.
- Everything you need is there
- By this I mean Arrecife is a city so you have all the amenities there that you might need. With a beach right in the city too which is always bonus points!
So, staying in Arrecife is excellent for a solo traveller wanting to experience the island of Lanzarote as a whole. If you want to venture even further than Lanzarote itself you can take a trip to a very small island called La Graciosa. In this case, you will want to stay in Órzola at the northern tip of the island, is the perfect place to stay. I highly recommend heading up there for 2 or 3 night and visiting La Graciosa – a day trip there is perfect!
ÓRZOLA
- Located at the northern tip of Lanzarote. Take time to experience the lovely coastline on the north.
- Gateway to La Graciosa island – 25 minute ferry ride. I highly recommend heading to Órzola for 2 or 3 night and visiting La Graciosa – a day trip there is perfect!
- Very affordable (and nice!) accommodation for a solo traveller.
What accommodation to stay in as a solo traveller in Lanzarote?
ARRECIFE
LA CASITA DE ARRECIFE HOSTEL
La Casita de Arrecife is a small, very affordable and generally homely place to stay. As the name suggests, it is a hostel, so you will likely be sharing a room here. Most of the rooms are dorms but there is a private, triple room available which is also very cheap!
Here are some of the pros of a stay at La Casita de Arrecife:
- Excellent location in Arrecife
- The bus stop ‘Biblioteca Publica Vuelta’ is just a 3 minute walk away. You can take the bus from here to most if not all places you will likely want to visit.
- You can see a supermarket from the front door – it is less than 100m away. While it’s not the biggest or best supermarket it is SO handy having it right there. Beyond this there are other supermarkets very close by too.
- 10-15 minute walk to Playa del Reducto (Arrecife’s main beach).
- 15 minute walk to Open Mall – a big mall that has all the shops you could need, including a big supermarket. The shops and supermarket are open even on Sunday’s until 10pm, while usually these shut around midday on a Sunday. No need for a Sunday food stress! (Food is important to me so I assume it is for you too!)
- Very affordable
- Beds tend to be around €23 on booking.com.
- Friendly, homely feeling hostel
- As a solo traveller it is nice to meet like-minded others. This hostel is the perfect place to do that. I always find that the smaller hostels have the best, friendliest vibe to them. This hostel proved that correct. Of course it depends on who else happens to be there when you are but you can’t really help but meet others here!
- Fully equipped kitchen
- The kitchen is VERY small, one person (two max) cooking at a time kind of small. However, during my stay this surprisingly wasn’t an issue – I always seemed to be able to use the kitchen without having to wait and I cooked every day. You might not be so lucky but the little kitchen worked out very well for me!
- Free tea and coffee + salt, oil, spices etc available to use
- Light + plug and USB sockets by each bed
- When the main light is off you can turn on your own little light which I always love since I’m usually the last one still awake!
- Easily charge your devices in your own space.
- Shared lounge areas
- Despite its small size there is a decent amount of space where to chill out in this hostel. There is a lounge area around which most of the rooms are (pictured below), with a separate little alcove room with a table where you can eat or work from comfortably, in addition to a whole other lounge room (not pictured – woops!).
- Fast WIFI
- The wifi is GOOD! The hostel is therefore good to work from. Although it is very small, there are some areas from where you can comfortably work from. The afternoon or later in the evenings were the best times I found to work. Mornings are ok but it can get a bit busy and noisy around.
- Hassle-free check-in
- Can check in anytime from 3pm. You receive a message with the door code and some information about the hostel, your room etc. After you have this you can enter anytime. Names are written on the beds so you can confirm you’ve found the correct room and bed (there is no reception as such and the host might not be there as you arrive. They’ll introduce themselves when they do see you and show you around!)
- Lockers in room
- Safely lock away any valuables in the room – do remember to bring your own padlock.
- Towel provided
- I love when hostels provide towels. Such a basic but excellent added touch, so many never do!
For all the good points there are of course some bad ones. These are a few of the main downsides that comes with a stay here:
- As noted the hostel is small. You can hear everything. Most of the rooms lead directly to the main lounge room, with adjoining kitchen. Trying to sleep before 11pm, which is when you must be quite, won’t be so fun (I’m a late bed person so didn’t have the problem, rather I had the opposite problem of the noise in the morning waking me). Earplugs are your friend – after the first night I used them and they really did help!
- The bathroom situation is a little strange but you get used to it.
- All in the same area there are two toilets and two showers – for everyone in the hostel to use. The showers also don’t have doors as such it’s more of a double curtain situation. Don’t worry it’s absolutely fine and just initially it seems a bit odd!
- There is no key to each room – they don’t lock
- Don’t let this put you off, I may have had I known this beforehand! But again this a point you just get used to after the initial ‘this is weird’ moment. Just be careful with your valuables – do keep them on you and/or remember that padlock and put them in the locker.
I spent 8 nights in this hostel, before heading up north for 3 nights and actually returned to La Casita de Arrecife after this for a couple of nights. As I did return again I can say I enjoyed my stay there and I spoke to others in the hostel who also had either been before and come back, or were already planning to come back in the future.
BEACH HOUSE LANZAROTE, ARRECIFE
Beach House Lanzarote, Arrecife is another Arrecife hostel worth staying in as a solo traveller. I did only spend one night here – my last of the trip as the other hostel was full that night.
Here I’ll give you a little insight into both the good and the not so good points of this accommodation.
- Very affordable
- One of the cheapest accommodations you will find in Arrecife and probably the whole island. Beds tend to be 2/3 euros cheaper than those as La Casita de Arrecife.
- Excellent location
- As the name ‘Beach House’ suggests, the water is very nearby. Just two streets down is the oceanfront, with Playa del Reducto a five minute walk away. SO perfect!!
- The bus stop for taking trips out of the city is around a 12 minute walk away. The bus to/from the airport stops is a 15 minute walk away. Not too far although the difference is noticeable in relation to the proximity of the bust stop when staying at La Casita de Arrecife.
- Free breakfast
- Bonus of this hostel is it includes breakfast. There is a selection of bread, cheese, meats, pastries, doughnuts, fruit etc laid out every morning which you can help yourself to. If staying for a while you might not want to eat those things every day, but it’s a lovely touch. Even if you don’t want it then take a little snack for later in the day!
- Kitchen
- A small kitchen but equipped enough to make some meals.
- Free tea and coffee available 24/7.
- I did have trouble finding a place to store food that wasn’t for the fridge. So it lost some points from me on that!
- Outdoor terrace area
- Small outdoor area with space to relax/chill with others.
- Shared lounge area
- There is a shared lounge area inside the hostel too. It’s fine to chill at, work from there or eat the food you’ve cooked in the kitchen. Overall however it it pretty small and not the most homely feeling area. A better lounge would really improve this hostel I’d say however it beats nothing though and for a few days really it’s absolutely fine!
- Towels provided
- TV in each room
- This is not normal in a hostel and I’m unsure how many people use them. But there is a TV in each of the rooms!
- Good wifi
- I was able to work from the wifi so therefore I will vouch that it is good! However, there is not so much space from where to work from. Both myself and another guy were trying to work at the same time – me teaching English and him on a video call or so… the space is not great if you need to work in a quiet space. Likely during the day you would be the only one there though!
- Lockers with a key are provided
- You can safely store your stuff in the lockers provided. You don’t even need your own padlock. However, the lockers are not in the rooms themselves. I did find this somewhat inconvenient but still beats no locker!
- Light and plug by each bed
- Check-in process
- To check-in you will receive a message asking what time you will be arriving. You need to respond to this as the host then comes to the hostel for that time to check you in. As, like with La Casita de Arrecife, there is no reception as such.
- BE AWARE of the check-in times. This is where this hostel loses big points I’d say – check in is somewhat limited: it is from 12pm-3pm. The early time of 12pm check-in is so good, especially if you are already in the city and moving accommodation or so, as was the case for me. But the 3 hour limit on check-in is not always going to work for everyone. I believe you CAN arrive at a different time but you would need to check with them beforehand. If your flight arrives in later for example I *think* they let you away with it but they may charge you extra for not checking in at the designated time. MESSAGE to check before you book/go!!
- Lovely host
- The host is lovely and super chill! I even ended up getting a free ride to the airport as he saw me about to leave for the bus, and got his colleague to drop me off. I had only stayed one night and it was just a lovely touch!
I’ll be honest I preferred La Casita de Arrecife over this hostel. It felt much more homely and there was more space to chill/eat/lounge around. Perhaps had I started my trip here, and spent more time in this hostel, I may have felt differently. Either way it’s another excellent, super affordable, well located option for a solo traveller. The proximity to the beach is so good!!
MIRADOR DEL MUELLE HOUSE, ÓRZOLA
Lets move to the north of the island now, to ÓRZOLA. Mirador del Muelle House is the place to stay in Órzola. A few others I spoke to in Arrecife had or were going to stay here, and I even bumped into someone who had been on my flight a week before. Those who had already been told me how much they enjoyed it and I can say so the same now too!
Made up of private rooms but shared facilities allows the price to be kept low but with the standards still high. You essentially are in a very nice shared house with your own room. Even thought it is kind of a hostel it is definitely a big step up from your normal hostels!
Lets take a look at what makes Mirador del Muelle House the perfect solo traveller accommodation choice in Órzola:
- Excellent location in Órzola
- Under a minute walk from the bus stop.
- Under a minute walk from the ferry port.
- 6 minute walk to the supermarket of Órzola, Suma.
- 20 minute walk to Órzola beach.
- Amazing price for your own room – a treat for a budget solo traveller as you can get your own room for the price of a shared dorm room elsewhere.
- The accommodation is made up of single/double/twin rooms.
- Bathrooms and other areas are shared, which is how the cheap price is justified (even at that, so good!).
- I paid €32 per night for a double room (the double was available on the dates I wanted so I took that over the single, because it was still so cheap). The single room can be available for as low as €25 – SO good. This price will increase in peak season no doubt but it will still be excellent value!
- Shared kitchen
- Having a kitchen gives this accommodation bonus points over a hotel, I’d say. A kitchen is somewhat of a necessity for me, it makes life so much easier, and I am sure some of you would agree too!
- The kitchen isn’t super well equipped (there are not many pots and pans etc) but is equipped enough including a stove and microwave.
- Each room has its own shelf in the fridge alongside a cupboard which includes plates/mugs/glasses/cutlery etc and where you can store any food.
- Shared outdoor rooftop terrace
- The best little addition to this accommodation is the rooftop terrace. You can take in the view of the ferry port from here, laze on the sun-loungers, eat at one of the little tables or even hang some washing to dry. It is a lovely little addition to this property, especially at the price you are paying to stay.
- Shared lounge area
- On the entrance to the accommodation there is a small shared lounge area where you can relax.
- Easy self check-in
- You receive a message with a link which takes you to a check-in page. Following this you receive the code for the front door, the information about your room and the code for the lock box (found next to each door) in which the key to your room is.
- Check in is 3:30pm HOWEVER it is likely that you can check in earlier. When the rooms are ready they send the message. For me this happened around 1:30pm so I got to check in two hours early (I took the early bus to Órzola, hoping I would be able to check in early and it worked out!)
- Check out is easy too, just leave your key back in the lock-box and that’s it.
- This does mean there is no reception as such so don’t go hoping to talk to a member of staff.
- Strong reliable wifi
- The Wi-Fi works well throughout the house (once I realised there was a different password for the Wi-Fi upstairs – don’t be like me and be sure to connect to the right one!). I was able to comfortably work using it.
To sum up staying in Lanzarote as a solo traveller…
Overall, when it comes to where to stay in Lanzarote as a solo traveller there are for sure options to suit and without breaking the bank having no one to split the price with! There is also Nirvana Yoga Centre, which is another hostel in Arrecife. I didn’t get the chance to stay here but it also has good reviews and with the added bonus of morning yoga should you wish to join with that.
If you were to double your budget per night – so still a good price, you can definitely find a room to yourself around Arrecife or beyond. For me at least as a solo traveller in Lanzarote or elsewhere I find it is nice to be around others when at my accommodation. You never want to feel ‘lonely’ – as much as I love having my own space sometimes staying in hostels feels like the best thing to do! I met people of ALL ages in the hostels of Lanzarote.
I hope this post gave you an insight into some generally friendly and welcoming, solo traveller accommodation choices in Lanzarote :). If you stayed in any other accommodation which you recommend do comment it below!
