FINDING THE BEST RESORT IN TENERIFE

Tenerife… the winter sun destination and home to beach and bar-loving Brits with their permanent tans. Seemingly a purpose-built island for holiday-makers and time-share owners with the promise of year-round balmy temperatures.

And I have to admit, Canary islands such as Lanzarote and Gran Canaria have more than once lured us in for some long-awaited sun after a gruelling British winter. An opportunity for a luxury hotel, no cooking, and a few days on a sun-lounger. But I have to say at this point that Tenerife wasn’t exactly on our radar as the type of holiday we thought we could enjoy. We’re not one for Irish Bars and beach parties, and the reputation of this holiday island had put us off for a very long time.

And yet here we were again, hankering for some sun and turning to The Canaries for the answer!

But figuring out the best area to stay in Tenerife when you’ve never been before is quite the conundrum. There are so many Tenerife resorts and it’s difficult to know where to start. So if you’re in this position yourself and still trying to decide where to stay in Tenerife, we’d like to share our knowledge and experience.

The Best Area To Stay In Tenerife

Whilst Tenerife was maybe historically known as an island to just kick back on a sun-lounger and enjoy the limitless cocktails of your all-inclusive, a growing amount of tourists are starting to get out and explore a little. This was our plan too and we wanted to choose the best place in Tenerife that would enable us to do this.

Another requirement we had for this particular trip was to find the luxury resorts in Tenerife and pick a boutique hotel that would feel great to come back to each day. The best resort in Tenerife to wander in the evening and enjoy the sunset with a cocktail and not have to share it with rowdy tourists.

And finally, Tenerife in April isn’t always sunny everywhere on the island, the more traditional towns on the north and east coasts can get way more cloud coverage than the south and west. So, it had to be the best part of Tenerife for winter sun.

So, after visiting quite a few of the resorts on this coast, and spending a luxury holiday in the sun, we think we have found the best area in Tenerife to stay.

Costa Adeje – One Of The Best Places To Stay In Tenerife

A friend of mine, before we booked, told me that during her gap-year stint of repping for hotels in Tenerife, the Adeje resort was the new up-and-coming place for luxury holidays. But that was 20 years ago, could it still be the place for 5 star resorts in Tenerife?

Absolutely.

Built in the early 2000’s a stone’s throw from the more raucous neighbour, Playa de las Américas, Costa Adeje is renowned for its beautiful beaches, upscale hotels, luxurious amenities and scenic surroundings. And it’s only a 15 minute drive from Tenerife Airport.

Our Tenerife Luxury Hotel Recommendation

Stay at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace at the northern end of the resort of Costa Adeje. This hotel is an absolute dream, with its nods to Colonial architecture in the communal spaces, and their elegant bedrooms full of botanical touches.

It’s located right on the seafront and you’ll have direct access to La Enramada beach from the hotel and the gorgeous local beach bar. The beach is also the landing spot for paragliders, so the entertainment value is high.

Back in the hotel you have a choice of dining options, depending on your board choice, but the Japanese Tepenyaki restaurant is fantastic. The other buffet restaurants are top class too.

We love a H10 hotel and this one is no exception. Plus it’s the perfect location for evening strolls and drinks at the harbour of La Caleta. And if you do want to venture further south, into the throngs of Costa Adeje, and beyond to Las Americas, there is a free shuttle bus from the hotel. But in our opinion, the H10 is in a sweet spot location.

For the best deals at H10 Costa Adeje Palace, click here.

What To Expect Of Costa Adeje

The coastline of Costa Adeje is a long one! Starting at La Caleta in the north, and merging into Las Americas in the south, the two ends of this Tenerife resort can be quite diverse. It would probably take you an hour to walk the whole length. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect…

La Caleta

La Caleta is a charming fishing village at the northern end of Costa Adeje, a little Tenerifan hidden gem with a glimpse into a more traditional way of life. Despite its proximity to the bustling tourist area it has still managed to retain much of its traditional charm and character, with a much quieter and more laid back atmosphere than further down the coast.

We didn’t come across any other fishing ports like this around the most popular resorts in Tenerife and we think this place might be a bit of an anomaly. Probably because of it being the furthest point where tourists would choose to walk to. It’s about a 40 minute walk from La Caleta to the start of Playa de Fanabe beach – the largest tourist stretch of Costa Adeje.

Watch the fishermen deliver their daily catch, take a leisurely stroll through the traditional narrow streets of whitewashed buildings, and sample some of the local seafood dishes on the restaurant terraces. El Cadero was a regular stop for us, either for a plate of tapas and a glass of local wine, or just a morning coffee. This fishing village has all the feels and is a million miles away from what you would imagine of a Tenerife resort.

Playa Del Duque

The area of Costa Adeje adjacent to the little fishing village of La Caleta is known as Playa del Duque. This section has the biggest concentration of luxury hotels in Tenerife. 5 star names like Bahia del Duque, The Grand El Mirador and Vincci La Plantacion have curated this skyline to make you believe you are in Andalusia, not Tenerife! (Our H10 hotel is right on the La Caleta edge of Playa Del Duque)

And the local beach at Playa del Duque is a pretty one too. The backdrop of colonial-style hotels and sub-tropical paradise gardens make this a beautiful place to paddle.

It’s worth mentioning the bar on the corner of the beach called La Hacienda, if you can grab a sofa right at the front this is a sweet spot for people watching on their sunset strolls.

The Main Tenerife Resort Of Costa Adeje And Playa de Fanabe

Definitely the most built-up area of Costa Adeje, and the section where most people will stay, Playa de Fanabe is the heart of this resort. A promenade of shops, bars and restaurants stretches the whole length of Fanabe Beach and draws the throngs both day and night. But what we love about all of Costa Adeje is that from most vantage points on the resort you can usually see the mountains, and even Teidi if you look closely, giving you the most impressive backdrop to your holiday.

And, whilst there are definitely places you can sit with a bunch of cheap-beer-drinking louts (The Las Americas end), the vast majority of this stretch is made up of higher-end family hotels. Come evening, when folk have a tendency to put on more clothes, you can clearly decipher a more upper-class collection of people and a quieter bar scene than Playa de las Americas.

In fact, it was a total joy come the weekend to see hoardes of young Tenerifans spill out of these bars onto the beach just before sunset for a dance in the sand. Then, remarkably, once the sun had set, everyone cleared off and the promenade returned to the usual British punters enjoying the warm evening.

Playa Fanabe was definitely more vibrant and busier than the calmer, and smaller, sections of Playa Del Duque and La Caleta, but we liked it all the same. We definitely think this is one of the better choices as the best resort in Tenerife for families. And, if you’re anything like us and enjoy waking up early, you’ll absolutely love the fact you’re the only one sipping your coffee on the beach. I suppose this is the result of being surrounded by all-inclusive hotels and people sleeping off their hangovers till late.

And, despite the gargantuan size of the Costa Adeje resort, it still has a much calmer vibe than any other resorts we visited on Tenerife. So, if you like to eat out every night and enjoy a sunset cocktail, this stretch is definitely one of the best places to stay in Tenerife.

TOP TIP:

In fact, it’s at this point we want to mention the most amazing Canarian chicken and Papas Arrugadas (Tenerifan potatoes) at Restaurant Otelo on the sea front. You will not find better chicken anywhere on Tenerife! Well, unless you go to their original restaurant a 10 minute drive into the hills, of course. Just go!

We had a fab holiday in Tenerife, even as the explorers that we are. There are multiple Tenerife highlights and places to visit for a more adventurous kind of holiday than just your usual sunbed lounging experience. However, after a day of wandering around cute little towns and national park hikes, it was always great to come back to Costa Adeje, the best resort Tenerife has to offer in our opinion!

We would like to thank all our readers who use our click-through links to make their bookings, whether that be hotels, flights or experiences using Booking.com. We make a small commission from the bookings at no extra cost to you but it all helps fund this travel blog. Thank You!

If you are heading to Tenerife soon, you may want to read some of our other articles about this wonderful island. We visited Bocacangrejo and La Laguna and felt they were both worthy of a day trip and a post all of their own…

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