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FEATURE
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An
Accommodating Island - Tenerife Hotels - Summer 2005
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From
Subtropical gardens and pools to Bauhaus furniture and Art Nouveau glass,
the hotels on Tenerife offer a rich experience. Carol Wright seeks out the best. |
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Tenerife's year-round warm climate enables enjoyment of everything from botanical gardens to whale watching, golf and tennis, gastronomy, thalassotherapy and symphony concerts. Hotels can be selected to suit hobby interests, adding an extra dimension to a holiday on the island. The North Hotel Botanico, as its name suggests is handily near the Botanical gardens, founded 200 years ago as a nursery for mainland royal palaces. But the hotel can boast 109 species in its 6 acre gardens and parrots in cages (the owner also has the nearby Loro Parque, the world's biggest collection of parrots, as well as animals and other birds). |
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| Plants swirl past two pools, jacuzzi set in black lava rocks, little lakes containing koi carp, plus tennis courts and mini-golf. Breakfast and lunch can be taken out of doors. In the evening there's live music, nearby casino and in-house restaurant choice: La Parilla (charcoal grills). Il Pappagallo (classical Italian) and The Oriental (Tai).The hotel's Vital Center spa has just been enlarged and offers a huge treatment selection, including ice and heat caves, laser-acupuncture, seaweed baths, body peelings, anti-cellulite, weight loss and quit smoking programmes. 1 to 3 day programmes are offered from 170 euros. | |||||
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Hotel Botanico, Avenida Richard J Yeoward 1, 38400 Peurto de le
Cruz. Hotel Tigaiga has been owned and run by the Taig family for 40 years in the Taoro park area of Peurto de la Cruz, near the casino (guests have free entrance). It too, has lovely and relaxing subtropical gardens, with named plants around its freshwater swimming pool - alongside which, displays of both Canarian dancing and wrestling on Sundays attract many visitors. The Tigaiga's 83 rooms look out over the resort, the Orotava valley and Tiede's flanks. The hotel has 2 restaurants, tennis courts and guided walking tours 2 to 3 times a week. For the past 5 years the hotel has won the tour operator Tui (owner of Thomson holidays) Award for Environmental awareness. Hotel Tigiaga, Parque Taoro 28, E-38400 Peurto de la Cruz.
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Parque Tajinaste is also near the Botanical Gardens in Puerto
de la Cruz's La Paz residential area. The apartments are built in terraced
Canarian style around a swimming pool, set in colourful gardens spiked
with palms. Each apartment has bed / dining room, kitchen, satellite
TV, phone, breakfast bar, bathroom and an ample terrace edged with flowering
plants. The complex also includes a mini-market and there's a poolside
snack bar. It's an opportunity to shop for superb fruits, fish and vegetables
and visit food markets such as the excellent one in the centre of La
Laguna and the African market in Santa Cruz. Hotel Victoria is termed "rural" but is in the centre
of La Orotava - an enchanting hilltown containing some of the best examples
of Canary Islands balconied buildings and excellent craft shops. In
June, for Corpus Christi, the town hall square has a religious "painting"
depicted in different coloured volcanic sands. The family-run Victoria
is a 17th century townhouse with original facade. Its 13 double rooms
and one suite have local furniture and fabrics; the ceilings are high
and the doors wide for wheelchair access. The rooftop sunbathing area
has views over La Orotava and up to Teide. |
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| Hotel San Roque is in Garachico, which was Tenerife's
first port until Teide lava flowes destroyed much of it, though many old
houses and churches remain in its colour-washed narrow cobbled streets
fanning round the harbour and lava rock pools. Originally built for the
de Ponte Genoese banking family, the Design Hotel San Roque is owned by
Dominique and Laly Carayon who have lovingly created comfortable modern
accommodation within the original 17th Century walls. A modern steel sculpture spears upwards past verandahs surrounding a central patio that is candlelit by night. Gazing down on the stairs are 450 ceramic eyeballs - an art work by Carmen Calvo. The 20 bedrooms, served by 20 staff, feature different furniture - Charles Rennie Mackintosh, le Corbusier, Eileen Gray, Miles van de Rohe - set against simple colour-washed or modern walls. The Hotel's hub is a courtyard swimming pool, surrounded by dining tables. "We can eat out 350 days of the year" says Carayan; his wife Laly is the excellent chef. The hotel provides maps for walking, fishing tackle, zodiac boats, sauna, terraces for sunning. Every 3 months chamber or classical guitar concerts are arranged for guests, with Champagne before and dinner afterwards. Hotel San Roque, Esteban de Ponte 32, 38450 Garachico. +34 922 133 435 90 minutes from the international airport. www.hotelsanroque.com |
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Hotel Mencey. Santa Cruz, Tenerife's walkable capital, has a
large beach area, Las Teresitas, to the north of the city. Hotel Mencey, Avenida Dr Jose Naveiras 38, 38004 Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Tel +34 922 276 700 The South Sir Anthony is a crescent shaped 72 bedroomed hotel terraced
over an oval pool - the top floor rooms have private plunge pools. In
the Mare Nostrum complex, guests have access to 4 further hotels, entertainment,
sports and spa facilities, and receive a gastronomic passport to a dozen
different restaurants embracing Mediterranean, Canarian, Argentinian,
Spanish, Italian, Russian and Mexican cuisine. The Casino Royal is a
big band dinner dance spot, and its nightly entertainment includes 30
artistes performing their stunningly balletic Spanish folklore show. Hotel Sir Anthony, Avenida Las Americas s/n. Playa de las Americas,
38660 Arona. Tel: +34 922 757 545 |
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Gran Hotel Bahia Duque. Andres Pineiro created a stunning architectural concept at the Gran Hotel Bahia Duque, on the Costa Adeje - 20 separate buildings in different turn-of-the-last-century Canarian character, plus hints of Venetian and Victorian styling, as still seen in Santa Cruz. The pastel-washed buildings are grouped round pools, gardens with little seating areas and a belltower, to create a village feeling. Staff in period Canarian dress add to the atmosphere. The Casa Ducales (manor houses) ar 4 buildings with their own breakfast area, pool, open lobby bar and butler service. A special children's programme and baby-sitting are available. The central building's lobby is adorned with Corinthian pillars and statues, and groups reception, PR and entertainment in the Club House. |
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Some of the 10 restaurants and 10 bars are are set round a fountain patio. Venues offer tapas, Italian cookling, buffets, french cuisine, Latin American food and informal beach cafes. Activities include tennis, jogging track, squash, mountain bikes, fishing, water skiing, para-gliding and diving - or more sedentary bridge games or stargazing in the observatory. Gran Hotel Bahia Duque, c/ Alciade Walter Paetzmann s/n, 38660 Costa
Adeje, Tel: +34 922 766 933 |
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Jardines de Nirvaria. Nivaria ("snow peak") was the Roman name for Tenerife, commemorated in the Jardines de Nirvaria - overlooking Playa de Fanabe. The hotel spreads its rooms through 5 different canarian style buildings around a central pool. But its most memorable architectural feature is its hand-made lead crystal 15mm diameter dome, containing 12,000 pieces of stained glass depicting the constellations over Tenerife at 10 pm on the March equinox. The Art Nouveau lobby has a Tiffany-style glass dome over the bar. The presidential suites include hydromassage cabinets. The hotel bakes its own bread and pastries - featured in breakfast buffets - and has a weekly gala buffet with a folklore show. The Playa Nivaria restaurant serves rice and fish dishes, and there is a piano bar and nightclub. Free-form pools are edged with lava rocks and palms, and paths wind round pavilions, waterfalls and fountains. An open-air theatre presents folkloric events. Tennis, squash, billiards, free bikes, children's play area, a spa and golf packages are available. Jardines de Nirvaria, c/ Paris, Urbanizacion Playa Fanabe, 38660
Costa Adeje. Tel +34 922 713 333 |
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Hotel Jardin Tropical. A healthy appetite helps at the Hotel
Jardin Tropical. Fruit and sherry welcome guests to their rooms, all of which have a terrace and are named from plants found in the subtropical gardens, which contain 300 tree varieties and 16,000 plants. Highlights are a cactus garden of over 60 varieties and a collection of canarian, Washington and coconut palm trees. Other facilities are a spa offering 35 treatments, deep sea fishing and golf-reservations department - the hotel has official PGA recognition. |
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| Hotel Jardin Tropical, Grand Bretana, s/n 38670 Costa
Adeje. Tel: +34 922 746 000 25 minutes from the international airport. www.jardin-tropical.com |
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Further Information Holiday packages to the hotels and resorts are available through :- Prestige Holidays - 1 Fridays court, High Street, Ringwood, Hants BH24 1JA - Tel: 01425 480400 Cadogan Travel - 159 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9BE - Tel: 020 7730 0721 For more information about golf in Tenerife - see www.tenerifegolf.es
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More
information
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www.gbairways.com Spanish tourism office |
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by -
Review date - Website - |
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