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There doesn’t yet appear to be a Canary Island thread. I was looking for recommendations yesterday on the daily chat. I thought I would gather the comments here for future reference.
My OP on the daily chat:
Has anyone stayed at the VINCCI SELECCIÓN LA PLANTACIÓN DEL SUR, Costa adeje, Tenerife? Any other recommendations appreciated. Preference is for boutique style hotels.
I’ve since booked this before seeing this comment from @GillyDee:
“Yes. It was okay, but definitely not a boutique hotel and I probably wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a 15 minute walk down to the beach and a 25 minute walk back. We affectionately refer to it as Stalagluft 15 because of the way it looms over the town.”
Reviews seem to indicate a shorter walk than that, I will report back.
Other Tenerife recommendations:
From @Whatsthepoint: “We had a lovely week at the Melia Hacienda off the beaten track in North Tenerife in Jan. If you’ve got Amex platinum, very handy 20% discount too. We combined it with wonder week deals for an even bigger discount. We’re going to the Melia Paradisus in Lanzarote next Jan. Junior Suite plus CE avios redemption for £2400 plus 55k Avios. Jet2 are selling the same, in economy, for £4900.”
From @jj: “Hotel San Roque in Garachico, Tenerife is a stunning, family-run, adult-only boutique hotel in a former manor house. Garachico used to be the island’s capital so it’s super-pretty, but doesn’t have a beach. Note that the weather is cooler and cloudier in the North. I would hire a car and, at this time of year, pack walking boots as Tenerife has some stunning hiking.
I like it so much that I’ve lost count how many times we’ve been there.”
Fuertaventura
From @simonbarker: “It’s not a fancy brand or boutique hotel but the Barceló Corralejo Bay in Fuertaventura has rooms with a hot tun. There’s a boutique hotel in the old town that might have private dip pool for the penthouse from memory, by the town beach. Old town Corralejo is a nice place to spend your evenings if you’ve not been, music square is usually pretty fun.”
@Tracey, this is not a hotel recommendation, but I would encourage anyone visiting Tenerife to think beyond fly-and-flop. Particularly in the North, the island has some beautiful old towns (places like the UNESCO world heritage site La Laguna, La Oratava, Icod de los Vinos), great local food and wine, and world class scenery. Hiking near Masca, in the Teide National Park, or around the Teno lighthouse is an extraordinary experience – there are few places in the world where you can begin your walk in a banana plantation and walk through a dozen climate zones as the day progresses, inluding temperate rain forest, high alpine, desert, tundra, etc). Getting up to the caldera is a must, and the rocky north-west coastline is a world away from the tawdry excitement of some of the more infamous resorts.
Some parts of the island are very over-developed, though. If that’s not your thing, choose carefully.
Tenerife has something for everyone, it’s one of my favourite places. I did my year abroad at uni there in the early 90s. The scenery is stunning, especially when there’s snow on Teide, and Santa Cruz is a great city to visit for history and food buffs.
We see new things every time we visit – last time was the abandoned, almost fully-built leper colony which is like a film set from a zombie apocalypse movie!
I recently sent someone to the Barcelo Tenerife, virtually next to TFS airport. They were celebrating a special occasion and the hotel went above and beyond to ensure they had an amazing time, despite having paid a bargain rate for the room 😃
We’d planned a dual centre, Costa Adeje & Santa Cruz trip just before Covid hit, hope resurrect it when I’m back on my feet properly. We’ve stayed a few times at the Adeje Gran which we love, haven’t been for a few years though so worth checking latest reviews.
We loved the GF Victoria when we stayed just after lockdown restrictions were first lifted. Easy walk down to beach, good kids club, mini-golf, good variety of pools, and easy walk to restaurants. Parking underground (valet) so car doesn’t get hot, and breakfast buffet something we will never forget.
It was our first foreign destination after lockdown. After 2 years of relentless northern English greyness it was like an exotic sparkling paradise! I’d quite like to stay at Playa del Duque next time, it’s a very lovely beach which almost looks like the Seychelles from a certain angle!
For families wanting high-quality, well-priced accommodation not too far from the airport, the Royal Tenerife Country Club is very nice indeed – apartments which are more like mini villas with huge terraces and full kitchens, but also F & B on site if you want to eat out without going far, and a beautiful lagoon-style pool. (Which I had almost to myself much of the time as it was so quiet following the pandemic!)
@elguiri The Adeje Gran is also part of the GF group, we’ve also stayed at the Isabel which is decent child friendly hotel. It sits below the Victoria and Gran in terms of quality. The GF hotels are family run as far as I am aware.
Are you looking at Tenerife only?
I’ve stayed at “Royal Hideaway Corales Beach – Adults Only” and loved our room with the jacuzzi on the balcony. We ended up spending so much time enjoying our beautiful views and dipping in and out of the tub.
We’ve also stayed at the RedLevel at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora – Adults only and enjoyed that too. It’s like a boutique hotel in a larger resort. We also had a hot tub on our balcony. Their happy hour is great!
The former is more modern and the latter a bit more classic.
I’ve also recently stayed at the the Hotel Faro, a Lopesan Collection Hotel – a much smaller scale hotel in an area where most hotels are ginormous!
Reporting back. Was a definite fly and flop holiday, actually we did a lot of walking too. For anyone considering the Vincci Plantation hotel, it was a 10 minute walk to the beach are and a 12 minute walk back. With a hill, but perfectly manageable as someone in the final stages of recovery from a broken pelvic bone.
Reporting back. Was a definite fly and flop holiday, actually we did a lot of walking too. For anyone considering the Vincci Plantation hotel, it was a 10 minute walk to the beach are and a 12 minute walk back. With a hill, but perfectly manageable as someone in the final stages of recovery from a broken pelvic bone.
@Tracey Glad you enjoyed it, we are looking at branching away from our beloved Fuerteventura to Tenerife based on what everyone has said here.Maybe cultivate a Scandinavian accent first and try paying for things in Krone!
https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/europe/tenerife-warning-brits-locals-demand-32492366
(Nice pic of Playa del Duque!)
Tbh I kind of agree with their sentiment, many Brits are complete louts on holiday and should behave better. I’m eternally grateful for noise cancelling headphones when reading on the beach or by a pool so I can drown us out.
Sadly tourism is not typically an industry that shares wealth, so owners get rich while never paying staff more than 1,000 a month. Not the tourists fault but I can see why anger is directed there.
Fortunately, it’s very easy to avoid the mass-tourism spots of Tenerife, you wouldn’t know they exist unless you have to go into one of them, e.g. getting a boat trip from Los Cristianos. I spent my uni year abroad there in the early 90s (not in Los Cristianos!) and have returned several times and always discover new and interesting places.
Two particularly good Costa Adeje restaurants to mention, both in the Playa del Duque area, La Hacienda (owned by the Bahia del Duque) and La Torre del Mirador (part of the i Eurostar Grand El Mirador).
If possible I’d get out of Tenerife and go to one of the smaller islands – La Palma (not sure how it’s doing at the moment), La Gomera or El Hierro. They are all easily accessible by regular ferries.
Teide is an obvious choice for when the weather is good. It’s not a hard walk carrying young children up the main trail or you can always take the cable car.
Santa Cruz and San Cristobal are much much nicer than Los Cristianos.
For food I’d recommend:
Nub
Solana
La Tasca de Cristian
Marisquería Isleño Delgado
Abama Kabuki
SucasThough again some excellent food on the other islands
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