Usually when I see a bunch of good reviews and then one bad, I figure something went wrong for an overly critical person. So based on what I saw here, I had little hesitation checking into the Sol Puerto de la Cruz. We took the guagua from Playa Arena (see my other review) and my wife was sick from the winding roads. I asked for an "exceptionalament tranquilo" room but got one on the side with the road. Since she was ill and wanted to lie down right away I did not try to change, and it seemed OK when the patio door was shut, and had a good view of the volcano. By evening, though, it had become hot and with the door open (temperatures ca. 15 C) the street noise was quite bad. The AC -did- work, but at the level of a gentle breeze, no more. We did get some sleep but if it had been warmer out, a real problem. After the very high food standard at our previous hotel, we found the buffet OK but underwhelming, and as noted by another reviewer, the veggies seemed frozen, a shame in a fresh produce haven like Tenerife. I did find the staff in general very friendly and welcoming. The pools seemed cold but that seems common in Spain. In areas where it gets to +40C that is likely good but in the +20C of Tenerife, not so much.

It is 3 years since we last visited this hotel and this was our 4th visit here in the past few years. We were greeted politely by reception who are very efficient and helpful we had requested a room overlooking the town and got 1 on the 5th floor, as is the usual practice the porter took our luggage to our room for us. upon entering the room we were greeted with a bowl of fresh fruit and flowers as we are returning guests and they always look after their returning guests. The rooms are clean and well appointed the tv is mostly in spanish or German but there is bbc world if you want to watch the news. The hotel has always had quite a mature staff who seem to have been here for years but we noticed one or two new staff who just did not seem as polite or efficient as the older members. one or 2 complaints that we have never had here before. The staff on the breakfast buffet were very slow to lay up on 3 days after waiting nearly 5 minutes for someone to clear and lay up we had to do our own. the other complaint was the standard of food seems to have dropped there always used to be fresh veg on in the evening but we seem to have gone on to frozen veg which has lowered the standards. The hotel is on a hill so if you struggle with climbing this is not for you otherwise give it a go. Puerto de la cruz is a lovely resort to stop at it has an old town and retains a spanish theme that you dont find in the resorts in the south of the Island, it is also very green but does suffer from some cloud the only problem is most flights fly in to the south so there is a long transfer but if you can manage to fly to the north all the better.,

Estuve con mi pareja en este hotel y salimos los dos encantados. El hotel es un poco antiguo en cuanto a sus zonas comunes y también las habitaciones, pero no siempre lo antiguo tiene por que ser peor, y este es uno de esos casos. La zona ajardinada es preciosa, nos encantó, nos asomábamos a la terraza y era como estar en el jardín bontánico (otra maravilla de esta ciudad). La piscina, aunque era pequeña, nunca se llenaba, de echo, a pesar de que el hotel estaba lleno huvo días que estabamos solos dentro del agua. Lo único malo es que al final de la tarde el agua ya estaba un poco turbia. El restaurante solo lo conocimos en el desayuno y simplemente era correcto, adecuado a la categóría del hotel, abundante y con un servicio bueno. Las habitaciones ... la decoración no era especialmente acertada pero tiene todo lo que hace falta, es espaciosa, limpia,... Los colchones un poco viejos, pero no era inconveniente para descansar bien. Los baños han sido recientemente reformados y son una monada, lo mejor de la habitación sin duda. Cuando llegamos nos dieron una habitación con el baño sin reformar, pero pedimos el cambio de la misma por otra nueva y no hubo ningún problema. Un detalle: te dejan un bote de "mousse" de protección solar en el baño. La localización es el talón de aquiles del hotel, al principio bajabamos al centro a pie, pero la vuelta se hacia demasiado pesada por las escaleras que hay para llegar a las puertas del hotel (los contamos, 116 escalones!!) y como teníamos coche alquilado, decidimos por usarlo para bajar al centro ya que son 3 minutos, y en la zona del puerto se puede aparcar siempre. La relación calidad/precio en nuestro caso fue inmejorable, ya que mediante una oferta de la web del hotel, nos costo 40 euros por noche y habitación en alojamiento y desayuno.

Upon arriving at the hotel we were met by a receptionist who could not even raise a smile or a welcome, who checked us in reasonably quickly but who hardly managed to make any eye contact or speak. We then had to take our own bags up to our rooms. During our entire stay we felt many of the reception staff were racist we are British but all live on the adjoining island of Gran Canaria and are good Spanish speakers but were treated rudely where as the Spanish and Germans seemed to be treated much more courteously. One of the bar staff was excellent, one was very rude to myself and a friend when we were laughing at the bar one evening, he tutted and shouted "agua" at us meaning con or sin gas. One of your pool bar staff also spoke rudely to my partner. Upon entering our rooms we were all a little disappointed at the standard of the room, but felt for the price we had paid it wasn't terrible, but most certainly not what we expected from a 4 star Melia hotel having stayed with the group before in Tunisia where the service and accommodation were second to none, how can a 4*hotel in a developing country far surpass that of one in a developed country like Spain? The next disappointment was when we went for a drink to the bar after diner to find that no branded spirits are available in the hotel, I appreciate the hotel offers an all inclusive facility, my party of 5 were Half board, so why shouldn´t we be able to drink branded spirits? Therefore we refused to drink at the hotel and went elsewhere. My biggest shock and what ruined the stay for myself was that the rooms air conditioning did not function, even though temperatures were in the 30´s.We were staying in rooms 523,525 and 526 which all face a junction and set of traffic lights on a steep hill and the room is practically at street level, the noise from the road is horrendous (which I appreciate is not Melias fault.) Bearing this in mind you would think that the air conditioning would work. As a result of this I had a total of four almost sleepless nights, too hot to sleep with the doors closed and not be disturbed by the noise, too noisy to sleep with the doors open! Upon complaining at the reception I was treated with disdain and told the air con only operates between 3pm and 11pm but a technician would look at it, I don´t know if they did as nobody bothered to let me know! (Surely this is madness, the vast majority of people spend little time in their rooms between these hours and need air con overnight to sleep.) I feel very misled had Melia´s website marketed the hotel properly and I had known what to expect, a hotel which I appreciate was proberably a lovely 4 star 30 years ago, but most certainly is not now I would have paid more to stay elsewhere in Puerto de La Cruz for example the SemiRamis where we stayed 3 months ago. My advice if you can afford to pay more stay somewhere else!!!!

Stayed there for 3 nights in october 2007. Recently refurbished and extended . Nice one. Pros: Not very big , so a personal service can be felt. Very good value for money - booked Hakf borad through their site. Good location and free parking . Varied buffet. Inexpensive mini bar options as well as cheap vending machines. Cons: up on a hill , so consider this when going for a walk All in all very good experience , nice food and service. Good base for nearby attraction , loroparque , teide etc ... Will not hesitate to go back.