Los Gigantes is a very quiet location, with few amenities and a very small beach, so of an evening there are no walks along the beach to take and the majority of the shops all close early, not that there are many in this resort, so your only option is to find a pleasant bar, of which there are a few.

The Los Gigantes Hotel, is pleasant enough, with large sun terraces around the pool, the down side is you have to queue for your sundbeds of a morning.

The entertainment and food caters generally for the over 70's with the evening entertainment starting at 8.30 with line dancing and ballroom dancing.

A must is the Coffee shop just up the hill from the Los Gigantes Hotel with its fantastic variety of cakes.

This is one of the best run hotels in europe the service is above average,the food is first class,the manager is always on hand just in case there may be a problem and there never was one as far as i could see,the waiters are excellent,please remember to smile and talk to them,some people just sit back and never bother to talk with staff its no wonder some think they appear to be a little sullen far from it.the maid service is first class,gardens and both swimming pools are excellent this again i put down to good management.The Thomson reps where a cut above the normal but i must give a mention to Lucy<Bubbles as i call her,this young lady did quite a lot of the outdoor games i have never seen so many people enjoying themselves day after day just non stop laughter she was a joy to watch and they certainly missed her on her day off she had a great following well done Lucy i would like to point out i did not participate myself its just not my thing but i do observe and want to give credit when it deserves itThis young lady deserves promotion quickly before another company grabs her.We had a first class holiday.But i must point out one in my opinion one very very bad thing that should be addressed immediately and that is the luggage room which is located outside the hotel and is never locked .i did report this and was told it would be locked at 12 noon which it was not anyone could have come in off the street and taken whatever they wanted or left something there.i would have thought that the way things are around the world security should be tightened. this needs to be corrected before a possible incident may occur

We've just returned from another great holiday in Los Gigantes (we're a family with 2 small toddlers) and would highly rate it for anyone looking for a quieter, family oriented location for their holidays. There's no pumping nightlife, late night raucous bars, drunken teenagers staggering about the streets. Instead you'll find a good range of low-key bars and restaurants - pretty much all of which welcome children and often have child menus. There is a huge range of activities for families in and around Los Gigantes: whale and dolphin watching, 2 large public lidos, and a public pool and tennis courts and crazy golf at the Leisure Centre - if you don't have a pool at your hotel or apartment, large sea water rock pool, beaches, trips further afield to Loro Parque (the older Puerto de la Cruz one is best), various aqua parks, animal parks, Masca, Oritava, Mount Teide... Basically there's something for everyone.

I would recommend for families - particularly small kids:
Meals: Los Gigantes Leisure Centre - the Bistro does free kids meals between 7 and 8.30. You can sit and enjoy a meal (pretty standard fare though) and let your kids play on the lawns in freedom; Jessi's, down by the small beach and cliffs, has outdoor tables and is all paved so again you can have a more traditional canarian, seafood meal without having to bolt your kids to their chairs if they want to run off and play; Sinatras, at the top of the square behind the church (probably one of the nicest resaurants food-wise) has a small playgound next door and is all pedestrianised so again, you can set your kids free! Most restaurants do welcome kids and it's quite different to taking your children to a restaurant in the UK with lots of tutting neighbours!
Bamboo - cakes and coffee are a must (on the road opposite the big Thomson hotel) for that sugar rush!

Loro Parque - a must!!! The best thing we've taken our kids to on the island. There are now two, a newer one near Los Cristianos and the older, much better one, at Puerto de la Cruz. The grounds are beautiful, the availability of food, cafes, restaurants etc is excellent (and not a McDonalds in sight!), facilities are excellent - you'll need a whole day here - catch both the dolphin and seal displays if you can, and the penguinarium, the largest in the world. There's a new area for small children - small rides and adventure playgrounds if they need to run and let off steam.
Masca - If you have a hire car, a trip to Masca is a must. The drive is hair-raising but spectacular. The drive up from Los Gigantes will take about 30-45 minutes and try and get there for lunch - but arrive early (about 11.45) as parking is very limited. It's a lovely place to walk around and the precarious little cafes and bars are delightful. With older kids it's worth doing one of the tours where you can walk down the valley and be collected by boat back to Los Gigantes.
Mount Teide - a spectacular drive even if you don't do the cable car ride or climb. Drive on through the northern pine forests and down to Santa Cruz.
Glass bottom boat ride out from Los Gigantes marina - great for small kids to expore life under water. The water is very clear and the marine life abundant.

Other things: The July festival fireworks in Puerto Santiago are spectular - the best I've probably seen. There are various festivals throughout the year and they generally have lots of kids activities. Spanish life is focussed around children it seems! Also the Los Gigantes Leisure Centre run lots of kid friendly things - bouncy castles, Easter Egg hunts etc, so look out for their programme of events.
Supermarkets are all over town and you can get anything you would need for babies, self catering etc. Their opening hours are generally 8 til 8 but if you get caught out arriving late at night at a self catering place, there's a late night store (maybe 24hr -not sure) that will do staples like milk, bread, fruit, juice etc, next door to Mama Lucias Pizza (which are great pizzas by the way and they do take-aways) as you come into Los Gigantes on the steep road down from the viewing platform, just as the road branches in two, by the Colonial Park apartments.

If you feel you're experiencing too much of a holiday resort, Canarian life is very much in existence, you just have to know where to look. Walk around the back streets of Puerto Santigo and you'll see where the real life is happening - Spanish shops, feretarias, old guys chatting in bars, kids in playgrounds or playing football on the road. This is where you can practice your Spanish properly!

Anyway, just enjoy your holiday! We've liked Los Gigantes so much we've now bought a holiday apartment there. The ultimate recommendation I guess!

For more general info go to (-).

The Los Gigantes Hotel is a nice place with just a few little niggles. It is very comfortable and has plenty of areas to relax including a first floor terrace, gardens and so on. The indoor lounges are very pleasant with lots of deep sofas and chairs.

Generally speaking the staff are very good although the waiters in the restaurant can be over-zealous in clearing away. The odd one or two are very sullen as well. It should be noted that the restaurant Manager - Snr Tomas - shakes hands with all male guests in the evening and kisses the female ones, and there is nothing wrong with that. The real problem with the restaurant is that it is only just big enough and there can be queues. As for food quality and choice, it is excellent with a least ten choices of main course for dinner. During our stay the clientele was 100% British and mostly over 60 which did make for some interesting observations in the restaurant!

The bedrooms are large but drab. They are very clean and well-serviced but do lack colour.

Our one big gripe was that the management allows people to put towels on sunbeds to reserve them in the mornings and this is rather sad.

It is fair to say that the hotel has everything anyone could want and that it is scrupiously clean. The veiws from the back or the front of the hotel are excellent.

The hotel staff will book a car for you (and a car is well worthwhile for a couple of days) but it is much cheaper to book one in the nearby shops.

The main square is just across the road from the Los Gigantes Hotel and there is a first-class bar called Highland Paddy 3 which has superb entertainment plus live football for those who need it. It must be said that the entertainment in the hotel is staid although there was a very talented male opera singer one evening. Mostly, though, it is a pretty timid affair.

Los Gigantes is a pleasant and well-kept town although the steep hills may preclude those who are less able. The marina is very pleasant and offers a variety of boat trips of varying durations and prices. We didn't see any timeshare or holiday club touts in the town. If you don't fancy staying in the hotel in the evenings there are scores of bars and restaurants nearby.

If you get the chance to go out and about the village of Masca should not be missed and also the forests and foothills of Mount Teide.

All in all this was a good holiday in pleasant surroundings.