The best kept secret in Tenerife

Advantages: Quiet, picturesque and relatively unspoiled. Year round sunshine.
Disadvantages: Very hilly. Parking can be a problem. Maybe too quiet for some. Small beach.

...Tenerife is the largest and the second most popular of the Canary Islands. Sadly, nowadays Tenerife has developed a bit of a reputation for pubs, clubs and chavs. Luckily, the north (Puerto de la Cruz and Santa Cruz de Tenerife) of the island still retains a better reputation, being rather more picturesque and lush. However, the south of the island is a lot more built up, with the most popular southern resorts being Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos, both of which are fairly teaming with nightclubs, high rise hotels, neon signage and fast food eateries. To be frank, Playa de la Americas is rather dirty and seedy looking in places - it's really seen better days. Los Cristianos (once a quiet and sleepy fishing village) is a little newer and shinier. However, both resorts are loud, brash and overcrowded. Yet if you are after...

Bollinger28 15.12.2007 · Read review
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Review of Los Gigantes

The "giant" of the town

Advantages: Good location, 4*, adequate choice of food, clean, comfortable, friendly
Disadvantages: Buffet style meals, other guests(!)

...I'll do this review in two sections, firstly concentrating on the Hotel Los Gigantes, and then the resort. HOTEL LOS GIGANTES: This hotel is a Thomson 'Gold' hotel, and the awards are proudly displayed on the walls next to the reception (successive awards have been won for the past ten years). The brochure lists the hotel as being 4 star, so I was expecting a lot, having stayed in many 4 star hotels on business here in the UK. We arrived early evening, and checked in but wasn't given our room key, instead being told to go through to the restaurant to get dinner. We opted to stay in our room and asked for the key instead, which they duly obliged to. I'm glad we didn't go in that night, as nothing prepares you for the restaurant, as we found out the next morning. All the meals are served buffet style, which inevitably...

indiegirl 08.09.2003 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Los gigantes Tenerife

Hotel Noelia Sur, Tenerife

Advantages: Quality, Family Friendly Hotel
Disadvantages: Non really, just needs to sort out the sunbed situation

...I have just got back from Tenerife and staying at the Hotel Noelia Sur. My family go to Tenerife every year and this is the second time we have stayed at the Noelia. It has always been known as a quality hotel, but like many hotels it has its blips. Our flight was with Monarch airlines and to be honest it did leave certain things to be desired. I was told to expect to pay £10.00 for the inflight meals, which basicaly are crap, but Monarch tried to hit us with a £15.00 bill for them.As there were 7 in my party, this would have been an extra £105.00. I honestly do not think there is a need for such a price, as this would bring in more than £5000 revenue for the company, just for the inflight meals. They already charge a price of £3.00 for a 330 ml can of beer that costs 60p in an off license. On top of this there is a hire charge of £1...

jacksback40 15.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Noelia Sur, Tenerife

Hotel Paradise Park, Tenerife - Great Base

Advantages: Good food
Disadvantages: Mega Hill

...matter where you stay as far as that goes. ***********SUITABILITY*********** I would say the hotel is more suited to adults and off season thevast majority of people on the complex seem to be over 60. **************ENTERTAINMENT**************** I liked the entertainment but it really didn't start until late at night, but the shows are good quality. Nothing out of the ordinary, the standard singing acts that you get in any hotel. ***********RESORT********** I would recommend Los Cristianos more as a starting point to explore the Island, or for those wanting to relax more around their hotel. It really does not have enough in the way of shopping to keep you occupied for 2 weeks !!! You can go into Playa De Las Americas, which costs about 5 Euro each way in a taxi. If you want to go on up to Torviscas it will cost about another 8...

traveller10 24.05.2007 (29.05.2007) · Read review
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Review of Hotel Paradise Park, Tenerife

Princesa Dacil, Los Cristianos, Tenerife

Advantages: Staff, Entertainment
Disadvantages: Food

...Hotel Sol Princesa Dacil *** Los Cristianos Tenerife Just returned from a week?s stay at the hotel and can happily say that this was an excellent holiday, I flew over with my friend from Manchester with Thomas Cook, a flight which took about 4 hrs 20 mins and then only a short transfer from the airport to the hotel of about 20 minutes. I could not fault the holiday and although this is only a 3 star hotel in my opinion it should be upgraded, I have stayed in 3,4,5 star hotels and this more than met my standards. As I said it was only a short transfer and we arrived at the hotel about 15:30 and were immediately checked-in, the receptionist informed me we had been upgraded to a superior room free of charge. The Superior rooms are by far the best and are worth paying for; they are situated on the top three floors of the hotel...

lplliam 28.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of Sol Princesa Dacil, Tenerife

The Giants of the Canaries

Advantages: Beautiful, well kept resort
Disadvantages: Not for clubbers or those with mobility diffculties

...for places to stay I can tell you of a few. The most notable hotels are the Hotel Barceló Santiago and the Hotel Los Gigantes. Both are four star hotels offering accommodation on a full board, half board or all inclusive basis. Having spoken to friends who have taken on the all inclusive option, I personally would not recommend it. You pay the extra for drinks and food inside your hotel, which means you're essentially "wasting" money eating or drinking outside the hotel. So while this is suited for places you perhaps can't leave your hotel, but for Tenerife and Los Gigantes in particular, there are so many places you'll be dying to eat and drink that it really is not worth it. Both hotels are stunning, however. Barceló Santiago is built into volcanic rocks right on the coast, which makes for stunning views. One thing I was shown by a friend who...

staceycav 03.08.2006 · Read review
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Review of Los Gigantes

......here comes the summer sun

Advantages: year round sun
Disadvantages: nope, cant think of any!

...is a top, middle and bottom part to the town, which makes it a bit sprawling, with a mixture of homes, hotels and apartments. There is a huge array of bars, shops, restaurants, a post office, and nightlife mainly in Santiago bajo (which we never found, but I believe is in the lower part of the town!) Possibly the most famous part of Puerto de Santiago, is the funny bend in the road that everyone seems to get jammed on! - including us! We somehow managed to get our car, with us as passengers, lodged between a coach and the curb - that poor hire car!! There isn't much else to say about the town to be honest, it's the kind of place you have to see for yourself to know what its like! Getting there:- To get to Los Gigantes, you can fly into the local airport Tenerife sur Reina Sofia ('Sur' meaning 'South' in Spanish) which is...

sazy 24.11.2005 · Read review
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Review of Los Gigantes

Los Fariones Hotel, Lanzarote - FANTASTIC

Advantages: Beachfront location
Disadvantages: None that I could see

...This Is a lovely and the location is simply ideal, it is on a couple of small beaches that I think are very picturesque due to the volcanic rock. One of the thing that I loved about this hotel is that all the rooms have good sea views and balconys. This hotel has been a firm favourite with travellers for quite a few years now and has lost none of its appeal. It has lovely trees and gardens which are extremely well tended. The hotel has two pools, not very big but a lovely one for adults only, sunbeds cannot be reserved, and there were always plenty available. Our room was very spacious (TIP - you can pay a little extra and get a seating area). Another plus was the wardrobe space which was superb. The breakfast is served till 10.00 am and the selection is excellent as was the lunch buffet. The evening meal was very good as well, great...

traveller10 23.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Los Fariones Hotel, Lanzarote

Salou, Hotel Los Angeles

Advantages: Beach, Scenery, Monday Salou Market, Close to Barcelona, Cheap (there and presents to bring back)
Disadvantages: Some people - don't go if you don't like being pushed out of the way by locals!

...What a wonderful holiday! We searched the Internet for ages for information on our hotel prior to our holiday and found nothing - so here you are for anyone else interested in going! Hotel Los Angeles is 5 minutes from the beach, less than one minute to the bars (across the road!) and less than one minute to the restaurants and shops. It is very commercialised - you don't feel like you're seeing much of Spain, but the cheap prices for everything including our holiday and beautiful scenary and beaches make up for it. The hotel itself is a bit more than basic - it has 2 twins and either a single or bunks in the two rooms we had between the four of us (myself, my boyfriend and two friends, all early 20s). A bath and shower and TV (only CNN English speaking). The walls are paper thin. I would not recommend it as a hotel for light...

Vix_Ricks 09.06.2001 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Los Angeles, Salou

Excellent hotel, nicest in tenerife.

Advantages: Excellent hotel, close to amenities, beach not far away.
Disadvantages: None

...to about £1300 i think, boyfriend payed, lol Its cheap aswell to eat out and we did that too on some nights. Lovely chinese not far from the hotel. Would i go back again, definately. I dont think i could stay anywhere else in tenerife after staying in a high standard hotel. It was lovely. We really enjoyed our stay here. You all have got me remembering things now, i've blabbed enough! lol I can add pics but i dont know how to do it. lol...

Cocobaby 02.02.2006 (03.02.2006) · Read review
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Review of Hotel Noelia Sur, Tenerife