- Tenerife Holidays
- Puerto de la Cruz
- Parque San Antonio
Ideal for beach vacationers, this 4-star hotel is situated in a quiet area in Puerto de la Cruz, about 20 minutes by car from the beach. There are a number of shops nearby. The hotel has an elevator and features 23 single rooms and 227 double rooms. The reception desk is open around the clock. A car rental service, medical assistance, a coin-operated laundry and a lounge are available. Wireless internet access is provided in public areas (no extra charge). The tour desk offers assistance with booking excursions. A garden provides extra space for rest and relaxation in the open air. Services include a hotel shuttle bus. Rooms are equipped with air conditioning. Valuables can be securely stored in a safe for an additional charge. Guests will also find a mini fridge included among the standard features. A direct dial telephone, a flatscreen television and WiFi (no extra charge) are provided as well. A hairdryer is provided in the bathrooms. For extra comfort in the bathrooms, guests are offered cosmetic products. The hotel has 250 non-smoking rooms.
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
I have just returned from a 5 day stay at the Radisson Resort and Residence Hotel in Puerto De La Cruz. It was a lovely stay and I would highly recommend it for it's peace and quaint vibe and being located in a quite but authentic area in Puerto De La Cruz, located towards North Tenerife. The trip was booked pretty last min through Jet2.com, which provides a good service throughout.
Prior to my travels, I was a little concerned about the weather after having read one of the reviews stating the area had little sun for this time of the year. On the whole, I was very pleased with the weather and definitely caught the sun without it feeling uncomfortably hot.
My room was a lovely Junior Suite, which was a very good size, with a separate seating area. It was airy and modern throughout. I asked to be placed on a higher floor and was given a room on the first floor with a balcony. The room had little sun, as there was a large tree, taking over the sunlight, but it felt nice as if I was in the middle of nature. My room had two thick additional blankets located in the cupboard, which were just perfect and snuggly and warm, for the more cooler evenings. I really thought this was a good touch.
I booked a half board package, which worked out well, as aside from a local Mexican and Thai restaurant, I did not see any other restaurants within walking distance. Breakfast and Dinner were both served in the Tremor Restaurant with tables located inside and outside, both covered and uncovered. The breakfast was of very good quality and a good selection of choice. There was a lovely chef who cooked eggs of your choice and a very good fresh orange juice machine which you can help yourself too. There are plenty of coffee machines located in the restaurant serving a range of coffee options which you can have at breakfast.
Dinner I found more limited and less varied. Although the hotel advertises different dinner themed nights, I found most evenings there was little variation. However, there was still enough to eat but I think the hotel would improve if they offered different dinner variations. Drinks (both alcohol and soft) were reasonably priced, which was great. The hotel bar also offered a number of dishes throughout the day, although I did not try any, the selection looked good. I would suggest you book the half board option at the point of booking, as it works out much better value than booking at directly at the hotel when you arrive. The times for both breakfast and dinner were very good, breakfast served until 10.30am-11am and dinner until 9.30pm-10pm.
I used the hotel spa one afternoon and booked a massage, which was good and also of decent value.
The pool area is relaxing and calm. The hotel is within walking distance to a popular park, great for walking, and a small Church, which was being used for filming when I visited it.
There is a free shuttle bus going into the centre, although I did not use it and a few classes they advertise in the hotel, such as weekly yoga, stretching and aqua held on 3 specific days a week.
All the staff were nice, welcoming and friendly. There is a bus stop located opposite the hotel which took me to the town Laguna, although arriving in Laguna felt a bit dodgy at first, once you get to the main area it is nice, colourful and lively, it is about a 35-40 minute bus journey away, but hotel reception printed me out the bus timings which was helpful.
A couple of suggestions, which I feel would improve the hotel even more, would be if the hotel provided some more amenities in the room, such as slippers, robes and a simple box of tissues. These items would not make or break the stay, but would provide more comfort to the guests and help it move more towards a comfortable 5 star category.
The Junior Suite have Nespresso machines, which was a very welcome touch. The first 4 capsules are provided but any additional capsules are charged at 1 euro each; whilst this is reasonable, I was told that when I ordered additional capsules the small milk portions were not included and are charged at an extra cost. I found this very strange for a hotel of this category, only to later read in my room that the milk portions are included with the coffee capsules. Whilst this does not take away the overall good service and information provided by the hotel, it is important that guests are provided with the correct information.
I also feel at times there could be a little more flexibility. I asked for an additional towel in the pool area, and the pool guy was very clear he could not provide me with an additional towel unless I got another towel card from the reception, despite there being ample of clean towels on display. It felt a little school like. I would suggest the hotel provides some flexibility with small requests such as these, when not in peak months. All these small gestures would overall improve the service and comfort experienced by guests and give it a more 5 star feel throughout.
Dinner options, as stated could be further enhanced with more choice and variation. Breakfast was perfect.
All in all, this is a good adults only resort which is comfortable and unpretentious in a lovely hill side setting allowing one to feel relaxed whether there in a group, as a couple or on a solo trip. The hotel is well maintained throughout, very clean and tranquil. You won't be disappointed if you stay here.
We really loved this hotel! It’s very modern, and from the moment we arrived, we received excellent service at reception. I absolutely loved the breakfasts on the terrace with views of Mount Teide. A holiday worth repeating! The food was generally very good, and I’d especially like to mention Albert at the bar. He was always attentive, highly professional, and on top of everything. He made us the best cocktail! A big thank you to all the staff. We’re leaving with wonderful memories and a great taste in our mouths. We would definitely love to come back!
The problem with five-star hotels is the high level of expectation they encourage in first-time guests. The Radisson in Puerto de la Cruz is a very nice hotel, but there are areas where they let themselves down (and some areas in which they excel).
Firstly, it's a no-smoking hotel - anywhere in the grounds. So you can lie on your sunbed by the pool, or sit at your table outside the bar, and not be engulfed by the smell of the smoker next to you. And it's adult-only, so no noisy kids (but sometimes noisy adults). But you can take your dog, as it's advertised as 'pet friendly'. I find the idea of sharing my holiday with other people's dogs a little strange, and I wonder how people with allergies to dogs cope with it. But I mustn't exaggerate, as we only saw four dogs, of whom only one of which caused a problem whining outside the restaurant until it was fed by its owners from food on the table. Yuck!
There's no doubt that the team that did the design and renovation of the hotel have done a superb job - in most cases. The pool and garden areas are very attractive, and what's been spent on the bar and restaurant has clearly achieved value for money. The exception for me is the rooms, where - although spacious and attractive - have several faults. The lighting is not sufficient, particularly in the washbasin area, where guests need good lighting to shave, apply make-up, etc. And in the bathroom, where I usually expect to find the washbasin, there are towel shelves where there's excellent lighting - but no mirror. And there are a couple of nasties awaiting careless guests - the low-hanging bedside lamps which are at the right height and heavy enough to inflict a wound on a head colliding with them. And be careful how you straighten up from the fridge, as there's a strategically placed shelf ready to catch your head. Or maybe I'm just a bit clumsy... And perhaps I was expecting too much that the tea and coffee facilities would be accompanied by tea, coffee, milk and sugar. And maybe a box of tissues in the bathroom? And what about a clothes drying rack for those wet pool things? But regarding noise, we heard very little externally in our room, so we were happy with it being so quiet.
The heart of a hotel is its staff, and in this Radisson there are some who are gems, and a few who just do their jobs adequately. Among the gems are Natalia and Lidia on Reception, always ready and willing to take on a problem, and Albert in the restaurant and bar, always cheerful and helpful.
Generally there's a relaxed atmosphere around the hotel, with guests not having to rush for sunbeds around the pool, tables in the restaurant or seats in the bar. There's no dress code in the restaurant, with some guests taking advantage, but the few bikini tops and swim shorts didn't spoil the general ambience.
Unfortunately, our arrival experience wasn't the greatest. I had emailed ahead of our journey to request a ground floor pool view room, and as a Radisson Club member I was hoping for my request not to be totally ignored. But when we arrived we were given a second floor garden view room - totally different to my request. We tolerated the room for two days, having continual problems with the key cards, until at 11pm one evening we found all three cards given to us just didn't work. Thankfully, a meeting with the Guest Relations Manager the next day produced a change of room - to a ground floor, pool view room and key cards that worked (mostly) for the remainder of our stay. For all the advertising around the hotel for the Radisson Rewards Club, a disturbing number of staff were not aware of the benefits offered to members. I was not offered a discount on my non-alcoholic drinks until our second week, and then it was 10% instead of 15%. Thankfully Lidia resolved the problem, but more staff training seems to be needed.
In the restaurant, the food is OK, but could be better. The selection is not massive, and the salads get samey day after day, but what there is, is generally good, and usually fairly hot. The exception is at the meat carving counter, where the meat is invariably cold to tepid. And on one evening the freshly carved beef was so tough it could have been used on the soles of my shoes. On another, the pork was served almost cold and without gravy or sauce. But the lamb - with gravy - was really tasty, albeit not hot.
Breakfast wasn't brilliant, with things running out a particular problem - English Breakfast tea bags, tea mugs & unsliced white bread were a bone of contention for me. And breakfast items were more likely to be tepid or cold than at dinner.
And as for the bar, what an inconsistent place this is - an area for management to concentrate on. On our first few evenings we would leave the restaurant and sit down in the bar, and within a minute or two, a waiter would be there to take our order. In the middle of our stay there would be no table service until about 9pm, when a waiter would appear from the restaurant to take table orders. By our last few evenings table service had disappeared altogether, and guests had to get their own drinks from the bar - in a five-star hotel...
And the entertainment in the bar is very hit and miss. This was a big negative for us, as we like to plan when to stay in and when to go out. According to the information monitor, live music is scheduled three times a week. In our first week we had live music four times, in the second week, only twice - and not on the days on the schedule - but the monitor information schedule was never corrected. On our last Saturday night there was no live music in the schedule, so we went out. We returned at about 10pm to find live music in the bar. What utter chaos and confusion! Even the staff at Reception couldn't tell us for sure if their schedule was correct. Forget the technology - it just needs a sign in Reception giving the correct information on what's happening that day - and a member of staff who knows what's going on and updates the monitor info correctly!
There are also clashes in the bar between the live music and non-music interests. On one evening we were enjoying a good live singer when a large noisy crowd (30+ people) invaded the bar, shouting to each other to get above the music, totally ruining the whole show. We and at least one other couple were so disgusted with their rudeness that we finished our drinks and left. On another evening the singer was competing with a crowd of people supporting Barcelona in a Champions League match on the TV. There was one pleasant incident-free evening we spent listening to live music in the bar with an artist called Jess Fraser, who gave us two hours of pleasant music without competition from rude crowds or football on the TV. Something needs to be done about this urgently - move the TV, schedule the live music for non football nights, or something. Above all, communicate what's happening to guests!
For guests who get frustrated by the bar situation here, the nearby Puerto Palace hotel has live entertainment every evening, and they offer table service. Tuesdays are particularly interesting, with a local Folklore show, & Thursdays they have Flamenco. And the equally close Tigaiga Hotel offers live music on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
I used the hotel gym every day. A good selection of apparatus, but no instructions anywhere on how to set up any of the multi-functional apparatus. I had a problem with the pin regularly falling out of the multi gym apparatus - looked to me like an equipment fault. And it's like a steam room in there, with no functioning air con.
One of the issues with this Radisson is its location, on the edge of town, and up a hill. It's at least a 20 minute walk to the interesting tourist parts of town, quite precarious in places, and a long uphill walk back. However there are several cafes and restaurants not too far away - a quiet one in the neighbouring Taoro Park, and Mexican and Thai on one side of the Puerto Palace Hotel. There are also a couple of local cafes nearby - possibly ok for lunch. The free hotel shuttle bus runs on weekdays although is of limited use in the evenings with the last one leaving the hotel at 6pm. The bus takes you to the Martianez shopping centre, from where you can walk to the San Telmo seafront area - lots of shops, bars and restaurants, but maybe a little lacking in character.
The local buses stop regularly outside the hotel, and for €1.45 will take you to the bus station (3 stops), reducing your walking time to the front by at least 10 minutes. The bus station is near to the old town area with its collection of quaint bars and restaurants (around Calle Mequinez), and also Plaza del Charco, with its lively atmosphere, restaurants and bars - also the easiest place to get a taxi back to the hotel for around €6. And if you're in Plaza del Charco and like local culture, look for the big Chinese restaurant on the corner, walk along Puerto Viejo next to it, until you come to a delightful local bar called Tejas Verdes. Great local live music, reasonable drinks and friendly and welcoming table service.
If you have a spare hour on a Weds/Thurs/Fri/Sat morning, take a 15 minute walk to the Mercado Municipal (or two stops on the bus), where the place is buzzing with little shops, stalls selling amazing stuff (much of it second hand), food outlets, live music and a supermarket.
A couple of improvements I would like to see at the hotel. How about a selection of ice creams on sale at the bar - Trufos/Magnums/Cornettos, rather than the current limited range of Artisan ice lollies. Closer supervision of the food in the buffet. Also some functioning air con in the gym to make exercise a little more comfortable. Clothes drying racks on the ground floor patios? And definitely more effective communication to guests regarding entertainment & buffet themes; how about a simple , 'What's on Today' poster in Reception?
Will we go back to this Radisson? We might, because despite my criticisms I feel there is a better side to the hotel. It needs some effective micromanagement of the details, but it could be a much better place.
What a wonderful hotel. Fabulous staff throughout, always friendly and smiling. The food is outstanding. Huge compliments to all staff for making our stay so memorable.
The hotel is located a 20 minute pleasant downhill walk from the town centre, although the return journey would be a bit of an uphill hike. However the hotel operates a limited daytime shuttle bus service 6 days a week, and a regular bus service is available at the front of the hotel. There are very few amenities around the hotel, so an inexpensive taxi ride would be required in the evening to access the town centre. The hotel itself is lovely. Very quiet and relaxing, with lovely central gardens and pool area. Friendly helpful staff are always on hand, and all areas are spotless. The bedrooms are excellent, being spacious and having all the facilities you would expect in a top rated hotel. Bathrooms are also well appointed with an excellent double walk in shower. I believe the hotel has undergone a major refurb and this is reflected in the quality of the rooms. There are a few fitness activities in the hotel, and on some evenings, there may be a singer or music in the bar. The restaurant is a quiet relaxing experience with a wide choice at both breakfast and dinner. A minor point, but the hot food could really be a lot hotter, (or a microwave provided for use of the guests) and there is only a limited main meal choice for vegetarians at dinner. Overall, I would strongly recommend this hotel for a quiet relaxing holiday
