What to expect from an all-inclusive Tenerife holiday

All-inclusive holidays are becoming increasingly popular, and it’s not hard to see why. Having your meals and drinks paid for means that you don’t need to keep opening your wallet, making for a more relaxing holiday experience. Whilst all-inclusive offers many great benefits, it can vary, so it’s important to know what is and isn’t included to get the most from your stay. If you’re new to all-inclusive, here’s what you need to know about all-inclusive Tenerife holidays.

Dining

With all-inclusive, your breakfast, lunch and evening meal are included, but the exact details can vary from place to place. Most hotels normally provide a buffet service, but there may be other dining options, too, such as a la carte. Often, if you book ahead, you can try the other dining options for free, either once or more during your stay, but in other cases there may be a charge incurred. If you don’t like buffet dining, consider what your other dining options are at the hotel on your all-inclusive Tenerife holiday.

Wining

One of the greatest attractions of going all-inclusive is not having to pay for drinks. Soft drinks, hot drinks, beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages are normally included free as part of your all-inclusive package. Bear in mind, that the alcohol is often locally produced, such as Dorada beer, so if you want well-known branded versions, you may have to pay extra. There may also be restricted hours in which you can be served alcoholic beverages.

Snacks

Many all-inclusive Tenerife holiday resorts and hotels include snacks as part of the package, which may include light bites, sandwiches, and ice creams. Find out what is included, as this does vary from place to place. In some cases, for example, you may have to pay for ice creams during the day, which can add up.

Other facilities

Look to see what is also included as part of your all-inclusive Tenerife holiday package. Some hotels may provide free use of gym facilities, sports equipment and facilities, or may even throw in a sports lesson. If the hotel has spa facilities, this is not usually included in an all-inclusive package, so if you want a pamper session, you’ll normally have to pay. Having said that, some resorts may offer a complimentary session or discounts for all-inclusive guests. Evening entertainment is also normally included free at all-inclusive hotels.

Going out of the hotel

There’s often the temptation to stay put when staying all-inclusive, as you might not want to miss out on meals or activities that you have paid for. It does seem a shame, however, to travel to somewhere as beautiful and interesting as Tenerife without exploring beyond the hotel gates. Some all-inclusive hotels can provide you with a free packed lunch if you want to go out for the day, which means that you don’t necessarily have to miss out on a meal that you’ve paid for.

The above article was originally published by Cheap Holidays Tenerife

For more info on Tenerife read the Red Queen Musings everyone’s favourite Tenerife Blog

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Tenerife, best locations and the British favourite hotspots

For many years, Tenerife has been one of the most favourable choices for a holiday destination with British holidaymakers. It is not surprising, with the all year round sunshine and friendly hospitality, this is a big attraction for people wanting a holiday and the Canary Islands is a great choice, any month of the year, even for some Christmas sun.

From my experience, tourists are continuing to increase their visits to this much loved island of Tenerife, year after year. However, if it is your first time to Tenerife or you want to know a little more about which are the popular locations for choice, read on further to find out where to stay in Tenerife for tourists and why.

I can offer you ‘my story’ based on my experience of travelling to Tenerife for the past 12 years.

Playa De Las Americas (PDLA or Las Americas)

My first visit to the island was Las Americas and as I stepping off the plane, it was just a wonderful feeling as this heat hit my face and the sun was shining. I travelled here with my sister Maureen and we decided to stay in Las Americas as it offers really good nightlife. Las Americas as really good bars and some of the best areas to head to is Veronicas (if you are in a group celebrating hen or stag night). The Patch is excellent for soul bars and couples where you can expect to find some great ‘Motown’ live entertainment and a happy, relaxed area which is always a great hit with tourists. There is countless choice of hotels and flexible options for self catering, right up to all inclusive deals.

Our choice of hotel was 15 minutes walk to the beach with no steep banks or hills or challenging steps to take each day. I found Las Americas is a little flatter on the land than Los Cristianos and Adeje so it is a good choice if you have a problem walking or shortness of breath.

You can expect to find a long sandy golden beach which is really lovely so there are plenty of places where you can grab a sunbed for the day, which has a fee attached to the hire. Maureen and me made use of the hotel sunroof top facilities each day, the shower and bar so it was a really good, stress free experience and we left the beach scenery to our daily walks.

I have always found plenty of really good places to eat and drinks and very reasonably priced so we were both really happy with the self catering choice as we like to go out and eat locally at night. If we had our children with us, this might have made us opt for the all inclusive option, as it can save money but then I think people tend to stay in the hotel and miss out on the places to visit. To be honest, the prices are really reasonable for eating out, just shop around.

A traditional choice of Los Cristianos

This town was once the main port for import and export in Tenerife. Today, you can expect to see the Fred Olsen ferries frequently sailing into the harbour, some yachts and boats for tourist excursions and boats leaving each day for some fantastic experiences of whale and dolphin sightseeing.

Los Cristianos is the place to catch the ferry to a neighbouring island of La Gomera, where day trips can be booked. It takes around 70 minutes to get there. I have not experienced this trip yet but it is on my ‘to do’ list.

During my visits to Tenerife, Los Cristianos has been my choice to stay twice and I have stayed at the same hotel each time. It is a great location with a good bus station facility to many places on the island. It offers 2 popular golden sandy beaches, Playa De Los Cristianos and Las Vistas which both offer lots of seating areas, spacious walkways and the harbour. I found that I had everything I needed here for day and night.

There are excellent restaurants which specialised in fish dishes, English food, Italian and more! What I especially loved about this area is the little side streets, cafes and shops that go up a slightly steep hill. This is situated nearer the harbour and towards the end of the beach walk area. The quaint little area is nice to take tapas, coffee or pastry and sit stress free.

Brightly coloured beach-walk of Los Cristianos

Over the past 12 years of visiting Tenerife, I have always stopped off at Los Cristianos to either take a walk along the beautiful beaches with their brightly coloured orange sun loungers or to stop for a delicious ice-cream. I love to relax and feel stress free and take in the sheer stunning scenery which this place has to offer with the bright blue sea, golden sands and variety of shops. It caters for all ages but it is less lively than Las Americas for nightlife.

There is a market on a Sunday and I used to love to visit the shops here to stock up on my Christmas tablecloths and little treats. I like to bring a bit of Tenerife to my Christmas table each year!

The Beautiful Costa Adeje

Choosing the best location is a personal choice and whether it is Las Americas, Los Cristianos or Adeje, all three locations are excellent for food, bars, restaurants and things to do.

My personal choice is Costa Adeje for hotels but then this is probably because I have stayed here the most. I really love Fanabe for walking during the day as the beach is smaller but really pretty with golden sands and more sheltered in an alcove. Puerto Colon is another good area to look to book your hotel as you are close to San Eugenio area where there is a good selection of bars, restaurants and shops.

Fanabe has some great hotels, nice beach bars and restaurants, taking you to the stunning walk to El Duque (with the little traditional buildings offer you an insight into the real Tenerife style). This is definitely one of my favourite parts on the island for sun, sea and stunning scenery. It is a 10 – 15 minute walk up to San Eugenio for some nightlife or we sometimes stay in Fanabe as there are some nice little bars to visit around the beachfront.

Adeje offers some great days out such as Aqualand which is great for the smaller children and easy to get too. Siam Mall has recently been built in this area, so if you want to do some window shopping or buy some treats for home, this is a great place to visit. If you want to attend a full day event, Siam Park is just amazing, so many water rides and it even has a man made mini beach for the kiddies. This is one amazing day out for the kids and to be honest, adults too! Make sure you get there early though and there is a refundable fee for the locker facility but its worth it.

I have noticed over the years that Adeje is becoming a popular choice for holidaymakers but to be honest, the three locations mentioned will offer you a wonderful holiday. I am sure you will want to return again and again.

One of the things you will enjoy seeing when walking along the beaches, are the great artworks made from sand. These are carefully put together and really skilfully done. It is amazing how they keep this together.

In all three locations, there is a range of water sports to book, trips choose from (at reasonable prices) such as going to see the whales and dolphins by boat or even Para Gliding. You can get pick up points for a wonderful day out to Loro Park in the north so any one of the locations will ensure that you have everything you need for a super holiday.

Tenerife is simply a holiday with everything you will need, all year round and I am really looking forward to my next visit very soon. My only decision is which location out of the 3 mentioned here will be my holiday choice this time. Love them all!!

The above article was originally published in Hello Canary Islands

For more info on Tenerife read the Red Queen Musings everyone’s favourite Tenerife Blog

Video – Piramides de Güímar

For more info on Tenerife read the Red Queen Musings everyone’s favourite Tenerife Blog