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We tested every way to spend a day on our terrace.
We spent a whole day testing whether our terrace was up to the fine art of doing nothing. Here’s how it got on.
Can our terrace fill an entire day of your holiday?
It all starts on a lazy morning, with a cup of coffee, a light breakfast and a blue sky. We thought we’d only sit down for a minute. By lunch, it had turned into an experiment.
Every test was carried out with full scientific rigour.
Here’s what we did, so you can try it too.
1. Watch the morning ferry leave for Mogán and decide you’ll take the next one. Repeat hourly.
The yellow boat leaves from the harbour right below you, every hour. From the terrace you can watch it fill up, pull away and draw a white line across the bay towards Mogán. It’s a lovely sight. It’s even lovelier with a coffee in your hand and no intention of being on it.
2. Have breakfast so long it legally becomes lunch.
Coffee at nine. Toast at ten. A second coffee because the light changed. The kitchen is right behind you if anyone needs more fruit, and nobody is in a hurry. At some point someone says the word “lunch”, and nobody has moved.
3. Find the best spot on the beach below, then admire how sensible you were to let others have it.
From up here you can see the whole of Playa de Puerto Rico, umbrellas and all. Pick the square of sand you’d lie on. Notice how hot it looks, how far it is from the shade, and how soft these cushions are. Time taken to cancel the beach: one look.
4. Set a personal record for drying your swimwear. The current terrace record is 20 minutes in August.
Lay it out on the sun lounger after a dip in the pool, turn round, and it’s practically dry. The southern sun and the breeze off the sea work faster than any machine, including the one in the apartment. Think you can beat the record? Tell us. We’re keeping score.
5. Read the same page of your book four times, because the view keeps interrupting.
You packed a novel, and it’s a good one. But every time you reach the bottom of the page, a boat comes in, the light changes or someone points at a seagull. Four attempts per page is perfectly normal. Five means you’re doing the holiday properly.
6. Count the boats coming back into the harbour. Lose count. Start again with a glass in hand.
Sailing yachts, fishing boats, the yellow ferry and the odd jet ski making more noise than it needs to. The harbour is busy until dusk, and every boat looks as if it’s coming home from somewhere better. Not quite. You’re already there.
7. Plan an ambitious hike, then test how fast you can postpone it.
Roque Nublo at sunrise. The market in Mogán. A swim at Amadores. It all sounds like a brilliant plan from a cushion with a drink in hand. Write it down, raise a glass to it, and start the stopwatch. Our best time from “let’s do it” to “maybe tomorrow” is under four minutes.
8. Score the sunset out of ten. One guest gave it six stars out of five, so the bar is high.
The terrace faces the sunset, so every evening comes with a show. Some nights the sun slips quietly into the sea; others, the whole sky over the hills turns orange and pink. Mark it out of ten. Argue about it. There’s a rematch tomorrow.
9. Test whether the view makes your dinner taste better.
Cook something simple in the kitchen and try it twice: the first bite indoors, the rest on the terrace as the lights come on around the bay. We ran this test several times, with anything, really. The view was always the best seasoning.
10. Do absolutely nothing for one full hour.
The final test, and the hardest. No phone, no book, no plans. Just you and the view. On day one, most people last ten minutes before reaching for their emails. By the end of the week, the hour flies by and nobody wants it to stop.
The verdict
Yes. Our terrace can fill your entire day. Practise the fine art of doing nothing without guilt: the beach is still 8 minutes away and the mountains have been there for millions of years. They’ll be there tomorrow too.
Can our terrace fill an entire day of your holiday?
It all starts on a lazy morning, with a cup of coffee, a light breakfast and a blue sky. We thought we’d only sit down for a minute. By lunch, it had turned into an experiment.
Every test was carried out with full scientific rigour.
Here’s what we did, so you can try it too.
1. Watch the morning ferry leave for Mogán and decide you’ll take the next one. Repeat hourly.
The yellow boat leaves from the harbour right below you, every hour. From the terrace you can watch it fill up, pull away and draw a white line across the bay towards Mogán. It’s a lovely sight. It’s even lovelier with a coffee in your hand and no intention of being on it.
2. Have breakfast so long it legally becomes lunch.
Coffee at nine. Toast at ten. A second coffee because the light changed. The kitchen is right behind you if anyone needs more fruit, and nobody is in a hurry. At some point someone says the word “lunch”, and nobody has moved.
3. Find the best spot on the beach below, then admire how sensible you were to let others have it.
From up here you can see the whole of Playa de Puerto Rico, umbrellas and all. Pick the square of sand you’d lie on. Notice how hot it looks, how far it is from the shade, and how soft these cushions are. Time taken to cancel the beach: one look.
4. Set a personal record for drying your swimwear. The current terrace record is 20 minutes in August.
Lay it out on the sun lounger after a dip in the pool, turn round, and it’s practically dry. The southern sun and the breeze off the sea work faster than any machine, including the one in the apartment. Think you can beat the record? Tell us. We’re keeping score.
5. Read the same page of your book four times, because the view keeps interrupting.
You packed a novel, and it’s a good one. But every time you reach the bottom of the page, a boat comes in, the light changes or someone points at a seagull. Four attempts per page is perfectly normal. Five means you’re doing the holiday properly.
6. Count the boats coming back into the harbour. Lose count. Start again with a glass in hand.
Sailing yachts, fishing boats, the yellow ferry and the odd jet ski making more noise than it needs to. The harbour is busy until dusk, and every boat looks as if it’s coming home from somewhere better. Not quite. You’re already there.
7. Plan an ambitious hike, then test how fast you can postpone it.
Roque Nublo at sunrise. The market in Mogán. A swim at Amadores. It all sounds like a brilliant plan from a cushion with a drink in hand. Write it down, raise a glass to it, and start the stopwatch. Our best time from “let’s do it” to “maybe tomorrow” is under four minutes.
8. Score the sunset out of ten. One guest gave it six stars out of five, so the bar is high.
The terrace faces the sunset, so every evening comes with a show. Some nights the sun slips quietly into the sea; others, the whole sky over the hills turns orange and pink. Mark it out of ten. Argue about it. There’s a rematch tomorrow.
9. Test whether the view makes your dinner taste better.
Cook something simple in the kitchen and try it twice: the first bite indoors, the rest on the terrace as the lights come on around the bay. We ran this test several times, with anything, really. The view was always the best seasoning.
10. Do absolutely nothing for one full hour.
The final test, and the hardest. No phone, no book, no plans. Just you and the view. On day one, most people last ten minutes before reaching for their emails. By the end of the week, the hour flies by and nobody wants it to stop.
The verdict
Yes. Our terrace can fill your entire day. Practise the fine art of doing nothing without guilt: the beach is still 8 minutes away and the mountains have been there for millions of years. They’ll be there tomorrow too.
Can our terrace fill an entire day of your holiday?
It all starts on a lazy morning, with a cup of coffee, a light breakfast and a blue sky. We thought we’d only sit down for a minute. By lunch, it had turned into an experiment.
Every test was carried out with full scientific rigour.
Here’s what we did, so you can try it too.
1. Watch the morning ferry leave for Mogán and decide you’ll take the next one. Repeat hourly.
The yellow boat leaves from the harbour right below you, every hour. From the terrace you can watch it fill up, pull away and draw a white line across the bay towards Mogán. It’s a lovely sight. It’s even lovelier with a coffee in your hand and no intention of being on it.
2. Have breakfast so long it legally becomes lunch.
Coffee at nine. Toast at ten. A second coffee because the light changed. The kitchen is right behind you if anyone needs more fruit, and nobody is in a hurry. At some point someone says the word “lunch”, and nobody has moved.
3. Find the best spot on the beach below, then admire how sensible you were to let others have it.
From up here you can see the whole of Playa de Puerto Rico, umbrellas and all. Pick the square of sand you’d lie on. Notice how hot it looks, how far it is from the shade, and how soft these cushions are. Time taken to cancel the beach: one look.
4. Set a personal record for drying your swimwear. The current terrace record is 20 minutes in August.
Lay it out on the sun lounger after a dip in the pool, turn round, and it’s practically dry. The southern sun and the breeze off the sea work faster than any machine, including the one in the apartment. Think you can beat the record? Tell us. We’re keeping score.
5. Read the same page of your book four times, because the view keeps interrupting.
You packed a novel, and it’s a good one. But every time you reach the bottom of the page, a boat comes in, the light changes or someone points at a seagull. Four attempts per page is perfectly normal. Five means you’re doing the holiday properly.
6. Count the boats coming back into the harbour. Lose count. Start again with a glass in hand.
Sailing yachts, fishing boats, the yellow ferry and the odd jet ski making more noise than it needs to. The harbour is busy until dusk, and every boat looks as if it’s coming home from somewhere better. Not quite. You’re already there.
7. Plan an ambitious hike, then test how fast you can postpone it.
Roque Nublo at sunrise. The market in Mogán. A swim at Amadores. It all sounds like a brilliant plan from a cushion with a drink in hand. Write it down, raise a glass to it, and start the stopwatch. Our best time from “let’s do it” to “maybe tomorrow” is under four minutes.
8. Score the sunset out of ten. One guest gave it six stars out of five, so the bar is high.
The terrace faces the sunset, so every evening comes with a show. Some nights the sun slips quietly into the sea; others, the whole sky over the hills turns orange and pink. Mark it out of ten. Argue about it. There’s a rematch tomorrow.
9. Test whether the view makes your dinner taste better.
Cook something simple in the kitchen and try it twice: the first bite indoors, the rest on the terrace as the lights come on around the bay. We ran this test several times, with anything, really. The view was always the best seasoning.
10. Do absolutely nothing for one full hour.
The final test, and the hardest. No phone, no book, no plans. Just you and the view. On day one, most people last ten minutes before reaching for their emails. By the end of the week, the hour flies by and nobody wants it to stop.
The verdict
Yes. Our terrace can fill your entire day. Practise the fine art of doing nothing without guilt: the beach is still 8 minutes away and the mountains have been there for millions of years. They’ll be there tomorrow too.
