Graham Wickes
Mixed Feelings – Nice Hotel but Not Great Value for Money
First impressions were good — a nice, clean reception area, perhaps a little dated, but perfectly acceptable. We were upgraded to a Junior Suite in the Privilege section, which was a lovely room and a great start to our stay. A bed is a bed to me (perhaps not to my wife!), but overall the room itself was very nice.
However, it did begin to feel like the upgraded room may have been smoothing over some of the hotel’s shortcomings.
We stayed half board, as we couldn’t justify the extra £90 per night for drinks. That said, when you’re paying €2.80 for a 500ml bottle of water and €11.90 for a gin and tonic, you quickly realise they’ll find their margin somewhere. At those prices, I personally expect everything to be fully functional and well maintained.
I understand this isn’t marketed as a 5-star hotel, but in many ways they are charging 5-star prices.
Unfortunately, several maintenance issues were noticeable:
• Three out of four pool tables were not working
• Broken tiles/slabs around the pool area
• Pool tiles missing and sitting on the pool floor
• What appeared to be a waterfall feature not working, left with stagnant, muddy water containing live larvae
• Decorative water fountains running but filled with algae
The buffet food was good — if you arrived early. Go later and dishes tended to be dry and cold. We didn’t try the à la carte restaurant, so can’t comment on that. In truth, we found ourselves looking forward to eating out in the evenings.
One highlight was the piano bar after dinner, which we really enjoyed for a final drink.
We were travelling as a group with three rooms. While we were fortunate to receive an upgrade, the other rooms were not — and one in particular was very dated. Notably, none of the website photos show this style of room décor, which felt misleading.
When we raised some of these concerns with customer services, we were met with a surprisingly defensive attitude. My brother-in-law was even told that he was wrong about the website photos, and the matter became unnecessarily argumentative. A small goodwill gesture — even a credit to the bar tab — would likely have resolved things amicably, but instead the defensive approach left a sour taste.
Don’t get me wrong — it is a nice hotel. It’s just tired in areas and, in our opinion, not good value for money when compared to other hotels in the same price bracket.
We’ve stayed in both 3-star and 5-star hotels across more than 20 countries, so we feel we have a fair basis for comparison. This is the first time I’ve felt the need to write a slightly negative review, which is disappointing in itself.
Les Singleton
Our third H10 hotel, always a cut above, but of course, you pay for that. The rooms are huge, with a good sized patio. Bathrooms lovely, with all lotions etc needed.
First the niggles;
No ice cubes, chiller as opposed to a fridge.
FIRST TIME I've been in a H10 (or other group) with NO tea/coffee making facilities. I think you can hire equipment, but for the price we paid, I'd expect that to be included (we LOVE an earl grey first thing on the patio) ☹️
Strangely, they don't have teaspoons anywhere, so you have to stir tea, eat yoghurt etc with those large desert spoons????
They allow smoking around the pools, and, unbelievably, on the breakfast patio 😲😲😲 We only ate there once, and moved inside when a 'thoughtful' smoker lit up while we were eating 😡😡😡
Now good things.
Super impressive entrance and reception, really WOW!
Comfy seats on patio, not the usual plastic chairs.
Great gardens and infinity pool, plenty of sunbeds.
Love the wristband idea with a chip. No keys or cards to forget, no fumbling looking for cards tompay etc, one swipe - sorted (yes, fully waterproof).
Great balcony, but ours just looked across at another hotel.
Lastly, the food is typical H19, i.e. amazing! I said it's like chefs have cooked it, not just cooks. HUGE selection for all tastes, all beautifully presented and hot/cold. They also do a fresh grill each night - the steaks, unlike a lot of hotels, we're cooked to perfection & it was like eating butter 😍
Little niggles aside, we loved this hotel and, yes, we'd come again.
Vanessa Lancione
Just spent a wonderful week here for our honeymoon/babymoon. We opted for this resort because of its location further away from the chaos of Los Americas whilst still having the incredible weather in Costa Adeje. The hotel itself is right on the ocean front which was a huge plus for us. The infinity pool at the end made you feel like it was just an extension of the ocean. The beach to the rear of the hotel & going towards La Caleta is not very swimmable and very rocky but there’s a nice beach bar that plays live music, and the swimmable sandy beach of Playa del Duque is just a 5-10 minute walk in the opposite direction anyway. We opted for Bed & Breakfast instead of Half Board or All Inclusive since we figured we would have big breakfasts at the hotel, snack during the day whilst by the pool, and go for dinners locally at night. The restaurant across the street from the hotel called Jade Stone is surprisingly good, and there’s an ATM, pharmacy and supermarket in the same plaza which proved to be super helpful. There are some nice local restaurants if you walk towards La Caleta - our fave was the seafood platter at Restaurante Celso. In terms of breakfast at the hotel, the options were plentiful at the buffet: sweet & savoury crepes, homemade smoothies & juices, omelettes of your choice, freshly cooked bacon & fried eggs, your typical “English fry up” options as well as plentiful Spanish options including meats, cheeses, tomato spread, smoked fishes & caviar, etc, along with plenty of different breads, fruit, cereals, yogurts etc. We didn’t experience lunches or dinners at the hotel so cannot speak to that but the bar staff were always lovely by the pool! As for the hotel itself, the main lobby, bars, outdoor pool areas, restaurants, gym etc are all very nice and in good shape. The rooms however are dated. The room was very clean and the staff cleaned it well daily providing new towels, but you can tell the room needs updating. The extractor fan in the bathroom wasn’t working which we raised to reception a few times however we just ended up opening the balcony door whilst showering to air out the room. We were offered a different room but decided against it because we didn’t spend that much time in the room anyway and we had already made ourselves at home. The bed and multiple pillows (3 pers person!) were soooo comfortable and the black out curtains made for perfect atmosphere to have a good night’s sleep. The staff otherwise were all very friendly and helpful. In other parts of Tenerife you really have to be on the lookout for your possessions at the pool but we felt totally safe leaving phones/wallets in our bags by our chairs whilst swimming. This week was filled with older/elderly couples and a few families with young children, not necessarily the typical “party scene” that’s common in Los Americas/Los Cristianos. There’s not that much to do in the party realm in this location so you’d be having a more chilled holiday. The hotel’s piano bar in the lobby is nice, but their entertainment in Bar Tiede is definitely geared more towards the older crowds. Not many bars in the area otherwise. Overall very good experience and exactly what we were looking for.
Charmeon Robinson
Hotel location was excellent!! Everything I could have needed was within walking distance. The staff was amazing, very professional, and friendly. The only thing was there were no tea kettle or coffee in the room. Having a morning tea or coffee on that great balcony would have been perfect. Otherwise, the bed was comfortable and the room was very clean. I would certainly stay at this property again.
M Ost
We were so looking forward to this but it was the noisiest, most overpriced hotel I've ever stayed in. We spent a considerable amount of money hoping for a bit of relaxation, and ended up leaving feeling worse than when we arrived. I'll list the main issues below:
1- noise: slamming and constant noise in corridors began at around 6am. Drilling and construction work began at 8am and at 8.45am someone knocked on door and entered the room, presumably to clean, while we were trying to sleep. It seemed like poor acoustics were amplifying the noise. Didn't have one night of decent sleep and left feeling less well-rested than when we arrived.
2- facilities: you have to pay an extra fee for the sauna, which we found extraordinary in light of how much they already charge just for staying at the hotel. I've stayed at many other hotels elsewhere in Europe which were much nicer overall, less expensive, and did not think to charge customers and extra fee for this facility. The infinity pool area also gets crowded very quickly. We ended up spending most of our time away from the hotel in the fishing village
3- rooms: they are worn-down with chipped furniture. The room we stayed in was not consistent with the usual standard of a 4-star hotel, which this claims to be. No kettle or coffee-making facilities. Credit where due, the bed was at least clean.
4- breakfast: the staff on the ground clearly all work hard, and there's a lot of choice for breakfast, but none of it was very nice. Better to focus on doing one or two things well, rather than trying to do everything. The pastries were stale and the coffee was really unpleasant.
We aren't picky - just a relatively quiet, reasonably priced room would do - but this was the least relaxing hotel I've ever stayed in and I felt we wasted a lot of money staying here. I notice from the other reviews that other customers have been making them aware of the noise issue for ages and they keep apologising, but it's still not been fixed. La Caleta is beautiful, but we'll never come back to this hotel
