OPT speaks to our competition winners!

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:14:00 GMT

Left to right: Anaisabel Pérez (editor), Martha Muñoz (OPT project manager),
Gabriel La Gona, Jowita Blak, Hannah Brady (editor)

Earlier this year, One Planet Travel ran a competition for a free week-long stay for two at Hotel Paradise Park in Tenerife, Canary Islands. A winner was indeed chosen, and the lucky one was Gabriel La Gona from London, UK. Gabriel was accompanied by his partner, Jowita Blak, and both have enjoyed a wonderful stay on the island. One Planet Travel spoke to the pair to find out more about their experience:

First of all, I'd like to congratulate you both on winning the One Planet Travel competition. Would you like to introduce yourselves to our users?
Sure, I am Gabriel La Gona and this is my partner Jowita Blak. I am originally from Italy and Jowita from Poland. At the moment we are both working and living together in London. I've been in London for 15 years now, Jowita for two.

How did you find about One Planet Travel?
By coincidence, I think. I work in the travel industry and often visit travel exhibitions, filling in online marketing forms and chatting to representatives of the industry. I may have come across the guide at a stand at one of these conventions. I also surf the net frequently, both at home and at work, so I may have come across your site when browsing.

How did you find out about our competition?
Probably by browsing like I normally do. To be honest I can't really remember, it's been quite a while ago now, and it's been very exciting! I think I filled it in just randomly, I had nothing to lose.

How did you react when you found out you'd won?
To be honest, I was quite sceptical at first. You always get these sort of emails telling you that you'd won the lottery or something, but you'd then had to pay to claim the prize or ring a premium rate number. I decided to call the company using the details on the winner's email, and when they confirmed it was true, I was so excited! The next day I was telling everyone around the office! I just couldn't believe it.

We can imagine! So how was your stay in the hotel?
It was great. The food was excellent, the hotel as a whole was clean and tidy, and the staff were always smiling.
    The rooms?
Our room was very nice. We got one facing the swimming pool, and the sound of the water fountain was very relaxing at night. We had a lovely view of the sea, which was great for watching the beautiful sunset.
    The restaurants?
We were very impressed, the buffet food was exceptional. We didn't try any of the other restaurants in the hotel because we were so full from the buffet! We've also been to other restaurants in Tenerife, and we're still looking for a paella restaurant...
    Other facilities/activities?
Jowita enjoyed the gym, and we also enjoyed the Bar Yaiza, although the DJ was a bit crazy! We also rented a car and toured the island, visiting The Teide mountain, La Masca, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Teresitas.

So you enjoyed your holiday, then! Did you like Tenerife as a whole?
Definitely, it has exceeded all our expections. The people have been really great, as we said before, always smiling. We'd like to visit the other islands as well, if we have time. We've been to another island before, although we can't remember which one.

Finally...which do you prefer, London or Tenerife?
Tenerife is certainly a great destination, good for visiting once a month, but there's no place like London in terms of work. We haven't missed the rain, though!

One Planet Travel will be running more competitions and prize draws in the future, so why not have a go? Next time, it could be YOU!

Find out more about Hotel Paradise Park at www.hotelparadisepark.com

Want to know more about Tenerife and other tourist destinations? Visit www.oneplanettravel.com

One Planet Travel Blog - contest tag

OPT speaks to our competition winners!