Palladium Hotel Don Carlos

We booked the Presidential Suite through the hotel website as you can't book this room through a travel agent, also free transfers to and from the airport are available to those who book their stay directly. This is a fab little hotel with a good standard of decor and cleanliness throughout. Can't really comment on the pool area because the Presidential Suite has a large comfy sun lounger bed and jacuzzi so we spent our days up there. The room itself was a decent size with a fab walk in shower as well as a bath tub, 2 sinks and a decent amount of storage space as well as a mini bar, the mini bar had a few soft drinks and beers, the only downside is that after your first day it only gets restocked with 2 small bottles of water daily. The bed was huge and also very comfy. The view from our terrace was over looking the sea and absolutely beautiful. The food was of an ok standard and there was plenty to choose from, the restaurant has a very good table system where it has a card on it which you flip over to the red side so other guests know that table is occupied. The restaurant can get busy so it can take a while for someone to come and take your drinks order at lunch and evening meal times. At breakfast you help yourselves to tea, coffee, juice etc.. There is also 2 visits to the a la carte as part of your stay and I can honestly say these were the 2 best meals I had all holiday, it has a fair sized menu and had a few vegetarian options too, the a la carte meals are 3 courses so if you're like me and have a small appetite you may want to starve yourself before hand :) You can get some snacks like crisps and nuts at the bar but it's not obvious what they have. There are sandwiches and other snacks just outside too which is nice if you don't fancy a buffet meal. There's entertainment on every night, seemed quite good but would prefer it started at 9pm rather than 10pm. All in all this hotel was perfect for what we wanted, which was a cheap get away after a stressful summer and we would definitely return. I do have one suggestion though, and its not a negative comment at all but I do think there could be a few more perks to having the Presidential Suite, not asking for a butler or VIP treatment but having the mini bar refilled every day and a few more alcohol options in it. This is purely just a suggestion taken from previous holidays we've had before but if you're staying in the best room in the hotel you don't want to keep heading down to the bar.

We stayed for 8 nights in mid-October, and despite the realtively poor weather, including two and a half days of storms, we enjoyed our stay and would love to go back at a time of year when the weather is more certain. We normally go to the Canaries in October, but gfancied a shorter flight and knew the weather wouldn't be as good, but this holiday cost approximately half the amount we'd have spent goind to Tenerife or Lanzarote! The hotel has almost a boutique feel, and it's great that everything is close at hand. We had a standard room, and it was slightly small, though beautifully clean, so we'd probably go for a suite next time. We found the food to be varied and of good quality, though I do agree with other comments about waiting for a fried egg! We didn't try the a la carte restaurant, but people we spoke to who had seemed to have enjoyed it on the whole. I guess it depends what your tastes and expectations are. Entertainment on an evening could have gone on a bit longer or started a bit earlier, as there isn't much else in the area. Daytime activities were enjoyable and we joined in quite a few activities. We found the A.I.+ package great, as it included branded ice creams, nuts, crisps etc. We had beer, wine, spirits and cocktails and all were good quality. In fact the beer is quite strong! The bar staff were lovely and had a very positive friendly attitude despite it being nearly the end of the season and the at-table service in the evening was very efficient. We had quite an early departure and I am pleased to report that this hotel, unlike some others, provided a very good breakfast selection from 6.30 a.m. You do need to advise them the night before if you want this. All in all we'd definitely recommend this hotel. Short flight + short transfer + excellent service + generous food/drink offering. In terms of possible improvements, I would say that a couple of corners in the restaurant are quite dark, and that's gloomy dark, not romantic dark :) I'd also suggest that they need to look at how the burgers are cooked at lunchtime. I am not a burger eater, but we did so a lot being wasted by diners, as when they got to their tables they realised that the burgers were still pink around the sides.