Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia

“Very impressed indeed”

We are fussy travellers who were blown away by this hotel. It is probably the best run hotel that we have stayed at, so well managed and all the staff are efficient and friendly, the service is exceptional. It has won many awards and rightly deserves them all. The hotel is not on the beach but i... more

We are fussy travellers who were blown away by this hotel. It is probably the best run hotel that we have stayed at, so well managed and all the staff are efficient and friendly, the service is exceptional. It has won many awards and rightly deserves them all. The hotel is not on the beach but it is a short stroll down the road to the coast. The food is very good indeed at the hotel and we did not feel the need to eat elsewhere. It was only an extra £140 each for the whole week to stay half board which is extraordinary value. At the beginning of May it was about 25 degrees all week by lunchtime and still warm enough to eat dinner outside on the candlelit terrace. The first couple of nights I needed a wrap for my bare arms, Each day the four course dinner is put on the website, there is about three/four choices for each course. A la carte is also available. Twice a week there is a high quality BBQ, not something we would choose as we preferred a served meal. There is no need to book an outside table for dinner as there is room enough for all guests. The wine menu is very good indeed, house wines served by the glass, the local Las Fincas rose wine being just as good as any provencal rose I have tried. We booked an entry level room which was more than adequate. I was apprehensive that there was no separate shower but the bath with a door opening on the side worked just as well. We have noticed that many high quality hotels around the world no longer do turn down at night - not so at the Seaside - the level of detail in the rooms is excellent and the rooms are very comfortable indeed. The whole hotel is immaculately clean and the gardens a joy. The pool is slightly salted and heated to a very comfortable temperature. Some guests do reserve their favourite sunbeds on the way to breakfast but there are always spare beds. They have thick cushions on them and there is adequate shade. We enjoyed a light lunch every day at the pool bar. This is a German owned hotel and most guests are German. There were a few British guests the week we stayed, most guests are 60 plus, it is not a particularly sociable hotel and there is little opportunity to meet other guests as there is no weekly manager's drinks party. Dress at dinner is on the smart side, which we appreciate. No hotel is perfect and there were a few things we found difficult. The island water is not drinkable and although water is provided in the rooms, it has to be purchased around the pool and at meals. A litre of water is 9 euros which we found excessive. One side of the dinner terrace is reserved for smokers but guests smoked throughout dinner which we disliked. Smoking is allowed at the pool bar at lunch and on all the sunbeds. Guests on a balcony near our room smoked and when we had our doors open we could smell it in our room. We very rarely return to a hotel as life is short and there is much of the world to see, but the Canaries are great for winter sun and unlike the tropics are a short flight away, there is no time difference nor pesky mosquitoes. We will definately return to the Seaside.

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