I looked at the reviews of this hotel and thought maybe I won't bother as everyone seems to be saying the same thing. Hotel beautiful, food great, pools beautiful and not freezing!! Staff wonderful. The only down side is the cost, take a full wallet. According to the Manager the prices are dropping on 8th July, don't know by how much though. Every single person we met discussed the rip off prices of everything. 4 euros for a kids orange, 8 euros for a gin, 3.5 euros for an ice lolly, 9,45 euros for a cocktail which tasted strongly of fruit juice and not much alcohol. Won't be returning because of this.

Spent one week at this hotel mainly to rest and enjoy some sun. Booked all-inclusive (which is basically full board+), was upgraded from a superior to a premium room; worth the additional few hundred spent for the AI & room. However make sure to learn the specific rules for AI! Checking the bill after a few days proved useful in my case; at the end I only paid for the Spa; AI = 3 very good meals every day, as well as soft and alcoholic drinks (other than cocktails) all day long.
- very quiet hotel in general, except on 2 nights when the front hotel bar was taken over by a group thinking they are alone in the world crying and partying until sunrise; on 2nd night however hotel staff managed to put an end to this in due time; as I found it quite nice to be able to sleep with my balcony door open and hear the ocean
- staff in bars & restos extremely friendly (jezus & rodrigo at parador dinner, all staff at vivace pool bar, staff during lunch at vivace and japanese resto staff; spa staff - mainly mariana and head supervisor/ yoga teacher), so that there was not one moment when I regretted having taken this break by myself (small exception: blondish supervisor woman during breakfast in parador resto, quite the opposite of friendly..)
- ambiance was so relaxed and quiet that even the noisiest groups seemed to quiet down after one day
- great Spa; tried quite a few of their treatments; worth if if you want a time out and do not care about the money spent; however I found out that not as many products as I would have expected are used during even a one and a half hour session; during one hour of body wrap I hardly spent 10 min 'wrapped' in a thin layer of product; there's always a welcome and a farewell ritual which take a lot of time which I'd prefer be dedicated to the treatments instead... At the Spa they also run pilates & yoga classes, some are free and the rest cost EUR10/ session, they are worth it. All in all, I enjoyed it a lot, I do not regret having paid quite a significant bill at the end.
- very clean rooms, large bed, big bathroom with shower and bathtub; small fridge which can prove quite handy; coffee & tea maker however! had to ask to have new coffee/ sugar/ milk every day
- tried only parador for breakfast, selection quite vast; not being a big eater found the croissants, fresh organge juice, coffe, fruits and yoghourt quite sufficient (last 2 days I no longer found my natural yogurt any more though..); tried the japanese resto, extremely friendly staff but vegetable plate quite salty for my taste (japanese resto also included in AI), didnt try it a 2nd time though as found the buffet dinner/ grill varied enough for anyone; lunch at vivace resto very good, however if I wouldn't have been in AI I would not have paid EUR30 for a salad, a soup & water.
- I was pleasantly suprised to be able to find a bed next to the pool at any time of the day; there are still some inconsiderate people who leave their towels on all day long without even showing up
- I was not particularly bothered by kids, majority being quite calm & quiet;-) the only noisy kids I heard (and their screams can be quite annoying when trying to relax..) were on last 2 days, parents would let them yell and cry but I believe this was only when some Spanish groups/ familied arrived
- beach within 5min walking distance, EUR6 per day for a bed worth it as the sand being 'volcanic' it tends to get very hot/ cold
- took the bus for south coast visits (EUR 1.30 one way); knowing bus times proved useful, as they tend to be 10min early/ late, and normally pass by every hour (bus stop 50 m far); did not regret having waited 10min each time, it's only tourists taking it and this allowed me to see a little of the local ambiance
- a few boutiques and restos nearby along the coast, the walk along the coast at sunset was wonderful, the scenery is lovely and there are only 4 & 5 star hotels nearby; more shops in Las Americas, worth a visit
- did not go on any trips, however El Teide seemed most interesting, I left it for the next visit though
I will definitely go back to this hotel when I'll need a similar break, however under same conditions!

This is the second time we have been here. Good location nr to Playa del duque or La Caleta in the other direction. With the Pound suffering against the euro, this really exaggerated the prices even more for drinks and food at the hotel and in the Adeje area. 12 euros for a toasted cheese sandwich at the hotel is alot even when the rate is a decent exchange, but needless to say, I did not bother order much food from the hotel.

The hotel itself is nice enough, service ok- typical canarian cant really be bothered to serve you attitude but this is the same throughout Spain- not Mauritius after all!! One or 2 of the male waiters at breakfast were very nice towards our 11 month old son while one or 2 of the female waiters could have learnt some manners.

I was a bit alarmed that as we were staying on the 3rd floor, the cleaning maids twice left our balcony door slightly open! With an 11 month old baby full of energy crawling, this could have been dangerous! I mentioned it to the hotel and felt that with the number of young babies at the hotel, an accident could have been just waiting to happen.

breakfast- a good selection. if you want eggs, get fresh cooked ones in front of you otherwise they are cold.

as the hotel was about 30% full and we had a baby, we asked for a late check out as they said they did not need our room. They then asked for 85 euros for the favour!!! As a 5* hotel I found this to sum up their money grabbing approach! we mentioned we had a baby and the fact it was our 2nd visit to the hotel, they then agreed to reduce this to 45 euros. we said no thankyou to this and mentioned we would not be staying there again!! they called us back 3 mins later to say that we could keep the room free of charge! Finally.

the place itself is lovely but somewhat let down by the staff service- 3* at best with the exception of one or two people and the prices.

Even if you can afford the prices, you feel like you are being ripped off some of the time

We were able to book this hotel for a good price on alpha rooms. It got very good reviews and seemed far enough from the bit of Tenerife we dislike to be worth a try. We have stayed in this hotel two years in a row now (Sept 2006 and Sept 2007) so I will cover both stays in this review which actually contrast an unlikeable change in the hotel within only one year.

The first time we visited this hotel we were given a disabled room. It was very large and had a good view of the inside arc of the hotel and the pool / restaurant area. The rooms are very high quality with quite spectacular bathrooms. Beds were comfortable and everything was as it should be for a hotel of this rating (and price!).

The second time we stayed we booked a room on the same floor of the same grade but to our disappointment the hotel had upgraded all rooms on the inside arc (with pool views), so instead our room had an enchanting view of the car park. Having discussed with reception that we had agreed over email the grade of the room and our requirements, they refused to acknowledge the email exchange and as in many hotels quickly lost interest, and the ability to understand me. In addition and irritatingly it seems only well-dressed arrivals get a glass of champagne when they arrive. Sadly my plane-hair and cargo trousers didn't cut it. Ironically we were easily one of the smartest dressed couples in the restaurant each night.

All of this I can tolerate due to the quality of the hotel and it's location but on our second visit the hotel also seemed to be relieving guests of money at every opportunity - I went to the pool bar to order two cocktails and two tubs of ice cream. I expected it to be expensive but what I didn't expect was that when they said "Do you want two large cocktails or two small cocktails?", it actually meant "Do you want two cocktails or four cocktails?". Having said I wanted two large cocktails they ended up making and charging me for four cocktails and two tubs of ice cream which was around 40 Euros. So beware - I have no issue in paying for things in hotels and this is an expensive hotel, but that in my opinion is just taking the michael. This is why we will have to consider carefully whether we will return.

In and around the hotel the gardens and facilities are kept pristine - you cannot argue that this hotel has spectacular pool structures and sun-bathing areas with plenty of space to relax. The restaurants available also make this hotel stand out from the others in the area as they have a "local" themed restaurant, a Japanese restaurant (I recommend booking a teppanyaki table in advance), another restaurant that never opened but looked nice, and a pool-side restaurant which you choose your meat and they cook it for you. If you went half board in 2006 you would have received a generous credit off the bill in the other hotel restaurants. Sadly the second time we went, the credit was much reduced and meant that our half-board investment would effectively be wasted if we were to eat in the other restaurants. The Spanish restaurant often had a very talented guitarist playing which could be heard from the half-board restaurant poolside tables.

The buffet restaurant (half board stay) is one of the best we have experienced having wonderful outside tables by the pool side and lit romantically to give a Laguna style dine. The food was very good at all food stations with a really good range and mixture of meals that are kept well maintained and fresh for the whole dining period. Service is also very good in this restaurant with particular waiters/waitresses always making an effort to find a romantic table for us each night.

The entertainment sadly was not really much better than any other hotel in the area we have stayed in. We were offered the usual "lorra's" (Parrots) and also Sonny and Cher killing the audience softly with their keyboard classics. You have to walk quite a way to the "posh bit" before you can relax in a bar, and part of the walk crosses an unlit beach area which is a bit mood-killing.

The hotel is situated quietly away from the hustle, but just close enough for a stroll to the "new bit" (Duque). The gem that we found was walking the other way into the real La Caletta and dining in the Italian Rosso su la Mare restaurant which offered brilliant Italian food and a great bay view. Sadly this was still a bit quiet in the evenings though. Between la Caletta and the hotel is a beach bar which is actually quite nice as well for a cheap beer and music.

This hotel is a very good hotel and looks fantastic inside and out, but just beware of the rather greedy attitude towards guests that seems to be developing there. Our first stay there was great but on our second stay we were made to feel that we were not good enough to stay there, so the following year we saved our money and went to St. Lucia instead :-)