I recently spent an AMAZING week at this gorgeous hotel between 25th November - 2nd December 2012. This was a return visit for me and my partner after having spent a week in November 2011 here also. Upon checking into the hotel we were offered a glass of cava and i was really pleased to see that my FAVOURITE bar tender Juani (sorry if spelt incorrectly) recognised me from my previous visit. I took advantage of the Privilege upgrade for only £155 which gave us access to a private lounge with branded spirits and in room facilities such as coffee maker, pillow menu etc. I had booked a sea view room and this is well worth it as the views are absolutley breathtaking with a clear view across to La Gomera. The hotel itself is extremely modern and very very clean. The staff are an absolute asset to this hotel. I want to make a special mention to Juani who is the happiest and most down to earth bar tender ive had the pleasure of meeting, always smiling and making me laugh! Also Charo in Bar Tiede is AMAZING, great chat and willing to talk and genuinely listen to customers!
Maria Jorge ,customer services manager,is also a delight to deal with. Maria is always smiling and walkingaround talking to guests. I had emailed Maria in advance of my stay to request a high sea view room and Maria arranged a 10th floor room for me. Also, upon check out i requested to view a master suite for consideration for my return visit next year. Maria took the time out of her busy schedule and showed me 2 rooms which were lovely. Thank you Maria for the wonderful service.

Overall this a great couples hotel in a prime location with friendly and helpful staff! im already booking up for next year and cant wait to see the Gran Tinerfe again!

BEGIN RANT

This hotel simply has too many rooms for the dining facilities. The bedlam in the dining room each evening meant that if you didn't want to shoulder your fellow holiday makers out of the way you ended up eating whatever limited food you could get at. There were queues to get into the dining room followed by queues at each of the buffet tables. Incidentally - not a sneeze-guard to be seen and I prefer my cheese without flies on it..... but maybe that's expecting too much of a '4* hotel'?

Initially the hotel seemed clean and in good repair, until we started noticing little things that by the end of the week had become quite a long list.
1) The room flood was wood laminate - and starting to warp
2) Walking across the floor on day one (no more than 10 steps) left your feet dirty
3) I had to put the wardrobe drawers back onto their runners before they could be used
4) The grout around the bath was cracked and black with mould
5) There was no anti-slip mat or area on the bath
6) The shower-hose was covered in limescale
7) The toilet clearly hadn't been bleached in living memory
8) We found the water disconnected twice. For a couple of hours on each occasion. I ended up filling water bottles in case we were unable to flush the toilet.
9) Only room temperature milk for cereals at breakfast (why?)
10) No non-smoking tables on the dining room patio

I also wasn't very impressed by the fact that I had to buy water at the meals I'd already paid for, pay for the use of the fridge in the room and pay for the use of the safe in the room.

All in all, if it was a 3 star hotel I'd have shrugged and said 'you get what you pay for'. I rated it 2* because in additon to being only 3* there was a noise problem every evening. The 'music' bar behind the hotel seemed to beam it's music into our room on the 10th floor. The sound insulation between rooms was fine - but the balcony doors didn't seem to stop and noise from outside. Seriously - it was like having a chav parked outside your window with his sound system on full. Also there was quite a lot of noise from some hotel machinery we coudn't see. If you're not willing to pay the extra for a sea-view think twice about staying here.

In short: Not great, not cheap, too keen to charge for everything possible, a bit scruffy and the dining arrangements were wholely unsatistactory.

Just remembered one more niggle,.... what does dead cockroaches in the lifts tell you about a hotel's attention to detail ?

END RANT

We had made a reservation of a room plus half board in hotel Gran Tinerfe through our travel agency almost 5 (five) months on beforehand. We were due to spend a fortnight at this hotel from Nov. 14 th -till 28 th. 2012.
We had already received all the official travel documents (hotel voucher- airplane reservation etc.) when just a few days before we were due to leave from Ostend International Airport for Tenerife, we were informed by the hotel management that the hotel rooms were overbooked and that we could not stay at their hotel.
This was rather a shock. Since 1980 we have made 35 trips abroad and never before had such a thing happened to us . Fortunately our travel agency could propose us a good solution and so we had the opportunity to travel to Turkey where we stayed at Belek Voyage Golf and Spa. A wonderful hotel!

Having been back at work for 2 weeks I thought it time to review our holiday in Tenerife. We travelled as 2 couples with Thomson, the first 2 weeks in November. We have never holidayed this late in the year before and were a little nervous that the weather would be a let down. Having left blue but chilly skies in Manchester we could not believe it as we landed in heavy rain! Fortunately for us that was the last rain we had.
I have read through a few of the latest reviews and most of the points I agree with, however the little niggles we experienced, we never felt necessary to report downstairs, so I do not think I should rant on about here. What I would like to report on was the entertainment that was on in the evenings. The tribute acts they had on were very good (not karaoke), but for me the magic act was unbelievable. He did an illusion whilst tied up that I still cannot work out.
Its easy to say 'all of the staff were great' but they really were. Reception staff, animation team, waiters, cleaners and chefs are pleasant polite and helpfull.
This Hotels best asset is its location right on the beach, west facing, sunsets to die for. Nice bars and restaurants within walking distance, or a qick taxi ride to the Safari Center's bright lights.
The other great feature is NO KIDS. As a Thomson Couples hotel, there are no 'other peoples kids' to annoy you and disturb the peace. We have 2 young and lively grandaughters we love to bits, but it was great to leave them at home ....just for 2 weeks anyway.
This was our second visit to the Gran Tinerfe and we would definitely go again soon.