Great combination of guided tours and free time to explore

Spain | Mar 23 - Apr 3, 2025

Great location, very close to public transit and easy to get around. Our room was comfortable and the included breakfast in the hotel lounge was excellent. Bottled water was provided in the room and service was prompt when we requested anything. Our only issue was that we had difficulty setting the water temperature in the shower. Some days it was difficult to get the water hot enough or the hot water seemed to run out after one shower, but other days it was ok.

We did not like this hotel at all. The average age of the other guests skewed much older than us, so we were perhaps not the intended demographic for what this hotel offers. The rooms were sparsely decorated and didn't feel welcoming. The pillows in the room were lumpy and uncomfortable. The thermostat was so old and worn that the markings on it were not visible and we had to set the temperature by trial and error. The Wi-Fi service was so slow that we just turned it off and used data on our phones. The hot tub was barely heated and access to it was closed at 6pm, severely limiting its usefulness when we were out exploring during the day. With the exception of one very friendly and helpful woman at the concierge desk, the staff didn't seem particularly welcoming. We had booked the breakfast-only option and we got the impression that we were not treated as well as the all-inclusive or higher tier guests. The hotel seemed to upcharge for everything including pool towels, use of the in-room safe, and they offered to sell us water when we inquired about filling our water bottles. There was no drinking water provided anywhere in the hotel except for a small machine in the gym which had a sign specifically prohibiting the filling of water bottles! The breakfast buffet featured an overwhelming amount of choices for food - and everything we tried was mediocre at best. Many were outright poor. There were some restaurants nearby but to find any local cuisine or food not exclusively geared towards tourists required a cab ride or a long walk. The one thing we did enjoy at this hotel was the entertainment. In the evenings they had shows in the bar area where we saw 2 very good acro / circus / dance performances and one mediocre magic act. Those were definitely the highlight of our stay. If you don't care about location, comfort, or food any your goal is only to lay in the sun until you are burned to a crisp, this hotel may be for you. Otherwise, we would not recommend it.

We enjoyed our stay here, but it wasn't outstanding. The room was nicely decorated and featured a private balcony with a nice view, and the staff was friendly and helpful. Only downside was that we would have preferred a king size bed instead of 2 twins pushed together, and the pillows were lumpy and uncomfortable. A light fixture in our room had loose wiring but maintenance was quick to repair it when we asked. The food at the breakfast buffet was ok and we found some great local cuisine within walking distance of the hotel. The hotel does offer a bus to and from the nearby Marina area but the times were not convenient so we took taxis to and from which was easy enough to manage. The hot tub was barely heated so we weren't able to use it and we didn't spend any time in the pool, but we did make use of the rooftop mini-golf course which was fun. We tried to use the provided air hockey tables in the game area but they were both broken and ate our coins.

We had a private tour for my wife any myself. Our guide Miguel was fantastic. He was very knowledgeable about the city and told stories in fun and engaging ways. In some tours we've done it feels like the guide is just running through their script, but with Miguel it felt much more like a conversation. He was very attentive to what we were interested in and catered the tour specifically what we wanted to cover. This was not my first time visiting some of the attractions, but I definitely learned new things at every stop. There was a good amount of walking, but the pace was comfortable and the length of the tour seemed just right. Highly recommend this tour!

We had a good time on this tour. Our guide was energetic and enthusiastic which set a good tone for the group. The variety of food was great and we learned some interesting history around the traditions of tapas culture. The length of the tour was good we definitely felt full by the end. We got to sample various drinks and found that we liked red vermouth, although not every stop on the tour offered it. Some stops had only wine or beer and we're not wine drinkers so it would have been nice to have more options.

Wonderful experience. We met up with the group (7 people total) and our chef took us on a walking tour of the market just up the street. After exploring the market a bit and learning about common Spanish ingredients, we returned to the kitchen for our class. Each participant had the option to cook or just to observe. I decided to cook while my wife took photos. As a group, we made Spanish omelets, pan tomate, crema catalana, and 2 different paellas (one seafood and one veggie). Our chef was funny, engaging, and informative. He was also great at managing everyone's activities, keeping everyone on track with their various tasks and keeping the 2 younger kids in the group engaged the whole time. Afterwards we sat down to enjoy our meal! Definitely recommend this experience.

This was a fun and unique excursion. We got to ride on the back seats of the trike on the highway and then a winding road up into the mountains where we made a few stops to learn about the area, see an aloe vera shop, and then visit a bodega to learn how grapes are grown for wine and ending with a wine and food tasting. Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable and the trike was surprisingly comfy - although it does get cold when you get to higher altitude, plus the wind in your face, so dress warmly. The aloe vera shop was disappointing as there wasn't much information about how the plants are grown or harvested. It was much more of a captive sales pitch as we were the only ones there and our guide just sat by the side while the proprietor gave us way too much detail about all the products for sale and how aloe vera is a magic solution for all your ailments. We weren't interested in buying anything and would have been more interested in learning about how aloe is harvested. The bodega, on the other hand, was a fun experience. We're not big wine drinkers but it was interesting to see how the vineyards are cultivated in a place that doesn't get much rain. We got to try some hearty local cuisine including a chickpea stew and Canarian potatoes with the local mojo sauces. We did taste a few wines and knowing our preferences, our guide selected one sun-dried and fermented grape drink that we really liked. Overall a fun experience, but we would have skipped the aloe shop portion.

We had a blast riding quad bikes. After a brief tutorial our party rode up a winding road into the mountains. One guide led the way and another went on ahead to position himself to take photos at scenic turns. The quads were pretty easy to handle but we had to pause frequently to let car traffic pass on the 2 lane roads. We took a couple breaks to stretch and admire the scenery before entering the national park and reaching the volcanic crater. We took some photos at the top and then turned back. On the way back we pulled off the road into a dirt area to do a bit of off-roading, mostly to take photos, then headed back to the garage. Photos were available for €20. The photos weren't great and they just sent us every shot taken, no editing or filtering so we got everyone's photos together, but for €20 it was worth is to get a few memorable shots. Overall a good excursion - would recommend.

Our guide Laura was very knowledgeable about the unique history of the Canary Islands and Tenerife in particular. She shared a ton of history with us through a combination of stories, pictures she had prepared in a binder and videos on a tablet. She mostly stuck to her script, but we appreciated how prepared she was. The highlight was her demonstrations of traditional Canarian musical instruments and Silbo Gomero, the whistling language which she "spoke". We walked around a lot of the Santa Cruz area learning about history and then ended at the local market where she gave us a gift of some local snacks, recommended some foods to try and a local drink called a barraquito - a layered coffee and liqueur drink that quickly became our favorite. For the rest of our trip, we tried the barraquito at every establishment that offered one!

I'm a fan of the architect Santiago Calatrava and visiting this building was the main reason for our trip to Tenerife. We had a semi-private tour of the building (just 3 people) and got to spend a lot of time taking photographs. Our guide was friendly, spoke great English, and we learned some fun new facts about the building and its history. We also spent some time after the tour enjoying a drink and the view from the cafe. There are some areas around the rear plinth that were fenced off and not accessible to the public so unfortunately we didn't get to take photos from those area, but it was fun to get to see the full interior.

Fantastic tour. Our guide Nick and driver Ramon took us through the best spots around the north of the island. We visited Cueva de los Verdes - a lava tube cave that is beautifully illuminated and features a concert hall with cool acoustics, Jameos del Agua - an architectural intervention by local artist César Manrique that is built into another area of lava tube caves, and the César Manrique Foundation which is located in the artist's former home built into an old lava flow and uses natural voids in the rock to create a network of rooms. We also stopped in the town of Haría where we had an amazing lunch at Michelin star restaurant Tacande. Our guide Nick was very informative and we learned a lot about the geology of the island and the works of César Manrique. He would tell us about the locations we passed and the attractions we were going to see while on the road, then we were self-guided through each attraction where we were encouraged to spend as much time as we liked. We appreciated the atmosphere and never felt rushed, despite our full itinerary. Cueva de los Verdes is the only attraction which requires a timed entrance so we did that first to ensure we would arrive on time.

We spent about half a day with our guide Daniel. He picked us up from our hotel and we visited Timanfaya national park where we took a tour bus ride through the volcanic landscape. The views were stunning, although it was a bit difficult to take photos through the bus windows and there is no place to stop on the narrow road. Next we stopped to go on a short camel ride (€11 per person). The ride was quick but well worth it for a fun experience and some amazing photos. Then we visited Los Hervideros, a beautiful area of the coast where crashing waves have carved interesting formations into the volcanic rock. Next stop was El Golfo, a green tinted lake in an isolated volcanic crater. We stopped at a bodega where we learned about how wine is cultivated in the volcanic soil with unique formations that take advantage of condensation in the air for irrigation, then we stopped at Monumento al Campesino, a beautiful compound and monument to farmers designed by César Manrique, the island's most famous architect and artist. Finally we got some lunch at a local restaurant and headed back to the hotel. We covered a lot of ground and got to see and learn a ton in a short time. Our guide Daniel was very knowledgeable and fun to talk to throughout the day. He had some great insights into how to navigate the popular tourist spots - arranging the order of our activities to avoid crowds and making sure we saw all the highlights. It was nice to have a private tour and it was efficient to have a car to get between destinations.