La Chiripa Gardens & Resort

“Spanish and Germans only............”

We were never supposed to be staying at this hotel but due to a foul up by All Tours our holiday to Crete was cancelled leaving us just 3 weeks to find another location - there wasn't a lot left to choose from for a family of 4. The arrival at Tenerife South airport was fine and we cleared throu... more

We were never supposed to be staying at this hotel but due to a foul up by All Tours our holiday to Crete was cancelled leaving us just 3 weeks to find another location - there wasn't a lot left to choose from for a family of 4. The arrival at Tenerife South airport was fine and we cleared through arrivals quite quickly. The journey to the North took about an hour - very few airlines fly into the Northern Airport. The check in at the hotel was quick and efficient but it became very evident, very quickly that this was a hotel for Spanish and Germans - everything is geared around these 2 nationalities - including language and entertainment. There are no English TV stations in your room and surprisingly no tea and coffee making facilities. The rooms are comfortable and have a balcony - we were lucky enough to have one overlooking the pool. There are 2 pools, 1 between blocks A & B and another between Blocks B & C, the lifeguard is present from approximately 9 o'clock until 5 o'clock. The main problem at this resort is the weather - out of 14 days we had 9 cloudy days, when I say cloudy I mean the whole sky was covered and although it was still warm (a bit too humid sometimes) there was no sun. This is common in this location - unlike the South of the island which normally has wall to wall sunshine. We had to hire a car and drive across to Santa Cruz to find the sun - not ideal on what was supposed to be a relaxing holiday. The food is buffet style and, like most buffets was not always hot, that said it was never a problem to find anything to eat although week 2 was a bit of a struggle as the menu repeated itself from week 1. Breakfast was a bit of a disappointment as the bacon was not fully cooked and although eggs could be cooked to order the chef often mad a batch lot and left them to go cold in the tray. Omelets to order would have been a nice touch. The town of Puerto de la Cruz is well worth a visit and is straight down the hill from the hotel, about a 15 minute walk. It's advised to get a taxi back as it is quite a steep hill to negotiate - the taxi back from town costs about 2.50 Euros. Food and drink in the town is inexpensive. Whilst you are in the town pay a visit to Molly Malones - it's an irish bar with a great atmosphere and live music. The hotel does have 2 machines to enable access to the internet but these were broken for 10 out of the 14 days - the town has plenty of cyber cafes where it will cost 1 Euro for an hour. The hotel is set in stunning gardens which are well tended. All in all it is not a bad hotel but is let down by the weather which is a known feature of this region. People with mobility problems may have difficulty getting around the location due to it being on the side of a hill - there are ramps and lifts available though.

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