DECIDING WHERE TO STAY 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 grueling British winter. But I have to say at this point that Tenerife wasn’t exactly on our radar – 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 which Tenerife resorts are worth looking at when you’ve never been before is quite the conundrum. There are so many resorts in Tenerife and it’s difficult to know where to start.

The Best Resort In Tenerife

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 from a recent trip, and a really thorough tour of the island.

In this article we’ll be covering…

• A bit about the four coasts of Tenerife
• All the factors which helped us choose a good base area
• The hotel we ended up booking and LOVING!
• About the resort of Costa Adeje – our chosen area of Tenerife
• Holiday Tips

But if you want to get straight to booking our recommended hotel without reading anymore, here it is in brief…

The Four Coasts Of Tenerife And What They Offer

Tenerife is basically broken down into 4 coasts, each side with its appeal, so it’s important to know what you’re looking at…

Towns in the North, such as Puerto de la Cruz and Garachico are beautiful Colonial style towns with loads of culture and real Tenerifans. But sandy beaches are more elusive, as are good quality all-inclusive’s. Although the area around Santa Ursula has its fair share of celebrity homes so you can expect some high-end restaurants and boutiques in that area.

As for the north-east of Tenerife, the majority of it is covered by the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve – the Anaga Rural Park – known for its ancient Laurel forests, mountain ridges and remote little hamlets. This really is the area for explorers and hikers, with the added bonus of San Cristobal de La Laguna being the obvious choice for accomodation. We loved San Cristobal de la Laguna and wrote about it here...Exploring La Laguna – Highlights From Tenerife’s Historical City

And if you are going to choose this area of Tenerife as your base, be sure to check out the little colourful beach town of Bocacangrejo too…Bocacangrejo – The Rainbow Village Full Of Surprises

The south-eastern coast of Tenerife, from Candelaria down to Golf del Sur is shaped by rocky-shores and black sand beaches. Resorts are small, slower-paced and dare I say it – a little wind-swept. It’s easy to pick up a bargain in these Tenerife resorts, and if rustic combined with local-life is what you’re after then there are some cute little towns to choose from, such as Guimar, Fasnia and Las Caletillas.

And finally there’s the southern coast, although more acurately it’s actually south-westerly, but basically includes the resorts of Playa de las Americas, Los Cristianos andCosta Adeje. We’ll tell you more about Costa Adeje later. But first of all…

Firguring Out The Best Area To Stay In Tenerife

A GOOD BASE FOR EXPLORING A BIT…

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 resort in Tenerife that would enable us to do this. A base that had access to all of Tenerife’s highlights such as Teide, Collonial towns, beautiful hikes, sandy beaches and great all-inclusive hotels.

AN AREA WITH BOUTIQUE LUXURY HOTELS…

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. (We did however book half-board for our Tenerife holiday as we like to explore most days and take advantage of local cuisine as well.)

MORE CHANCE OF SUN IN THE WINTER…

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. Consequently, we were trying to figure out where to stay in Tenerife for the most amount of 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 discovered where to stay in Tenerife that ticks all of those boxes.

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 its more raucous neighbour, Playa de las Americas, 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 Princess Inspire Adult Only Hotel at the southern end of the Costa Adeje resort. The giant impressive atrium that welcomes you in the lobby is just a foregleam of how the rest of your holiday is going to go – superb and luxurious. Everything is top notch and classy and we really didn’t have any complaints at all. Even the hotel app that allows you to pre-book your sunbeds for the following day was an example of how the hotel takes care of your stresses and there’s no missing out to the 5am towel brigade.

It’s located at the back of Playa de Fanabe, far enough to escape any noise (not that this is a rowdy resort), but still close enough to easily walk to the beautiful promenade (5 minutes tops)

Back in the hotel you have a choice of 3 pools, 2 restaurants, and multiple options of places to sit with a drink – it’s such a vast space you could sunbathe or relax in a different section every day and feel like you’d had multiple different holidays!

We have to mention the food as well – for us a holiday feels complete when the food is GREAT and the buffet restaurant at the Princess Inspire was exceptional. Every day the choice was different and the options of fresh fish and seafood was impressive – I think I sampled every local fish to Tenerife and it was all just so fresh. And then there was the salad bar… extensive, colourful and probably covering every international cuisine you could think of. So, whilst the hotel was 10/10 in our books, we’d probably give the food a 12 – although, the coffee wasn’t great. However it just gave us an excuse to go and have a cappuccino on the beach each morning.

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! Colonial style hotels really do make this a picturesque spot. We took a walk to this section most evenings as it definitely has a more exclusive feel to it that Playa de Fanabe where our hotel was.

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

(We found the hotels in this area were more expensive than The Princess Inspire, but if your budget stretches this is definitely a more exclusive section of Costa Adeje to stay in. For a look at some of the hotels in this area, click here.)

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. It wasn’t raucus and unruly – it was young Spanish 20-somethings celebrating the end of their business week with an after-work cocktail. 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 family resort Tenerife has to offer. 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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