Tenerife holiday dilemma - opinions and advice required

[rookiemater]

Okay so its a really nice dilemma

This year I am getting very organised for holidays and booking them nice and early. We fancy Tenerife in October as we went last year at the Regency Country Club. We absolutely loved the Del Duque and Fanabe beach and wanted to stay at Bahia Del Duque next time. We thought it would be out of our price range but by extensive internet scouring ( cutting into my mumsnet time) I have managed to find that week for £1650 half board in a double room which I think is pretty good for the Bahia Del Duque.

However we generally stay in appartments or two bedroomed places as DS who will be age 5 at that point can stay up late for one evening but couldn't manage all 7, so this means that most evenings we would either be sitting in our room in the dark on our own or would need to pay a babysitter to do the same thing.

I have also seen the Anthelia with a great deal through Sovereign for a duplex Suite which has a separate living area. Still ££ though.

Ok other option is we filled in a timeshare holiday club thing at the airport last time and they are offering one week in the Hollywood Mirage or one other place for £149. Reviews on trip advisor are ok, mostly complaining about having to do the meeting with the timeshare rep holiday club salesman, but I have no doubt that my DH can hold his own so we should be free again after a couple of hours.

So what do you reckon, hotel of our dreams but sharing a room, very nice hotel but still expensive, or el cheapo but slightly dubious location and one day of holiday wasted ?

Thanks Lisa2 I'm sure we will get in touch for babysitting.

Still don't know which hotel to go for, which do you think is better the Anthelia or the Bahia Del Duque ?
Do you know anyone who has been to the Hollywood Mirage ?

Hiya.
OK, my opinion on all 3 -

Bahia del duque is the more grand of the hotels. It is considered a 5* plus complex.
Right on the beach and everything close at hand.
Only negative thing i have noticed about the place is the guests can be a little snobish, for example, we (the children i was looking after and i) were watching a show and we got looked at strangley because we were having such a great time and clapping etc.
I thought, for god sake, let your hair down ... your on holiday!!!
Stunning resort though.

The Anthelia - well, if you have read my posts before you will know that i am a big fan of this resort.
Simply because it is so laid back and chilled out atmosphere, everyone seems on fine form and having a great holiday.
You are on the same stretch of beach as Del Duque (aprox 5/7min walk)
Kids club is great, mini disco every night followed by show.
The spa is lovely and the pools great.
The buffet at the del duque and the anthelia are both really lovely with themed nights.

Hollywood Mirage- Now, i cant say too much about this complex as i have not actually worked there but have been with my boyfriend a few times as he is a musician and used to play there every saturday night.
This is a timeshare complex and is set on a hill, quite steep at that.

There is a mini market and hairdresser on site just oppasite the reception.
I look after a little boy every sunday afternoon and his mum is one of the supervisors there so if you need to know anything, i am sure i will be able to get the answer for you.

You are not on a beach here and i think it would be around a 5/7 minute drive to get to one as you are at the top of Los Cristianos here.
The restaurant and hall areas are nice and you can get a nice meal ... my roast chicken was delish.
The pool also looks lovely, although i have not been in.

That is about all i can say about Hollywood as i have not worked there so i have not seen it properly.

What am i like ... my plan was to give a brief discription and there i go again making it into an essay haha.

Anything else please do ask.

But my last comment will be ...
If you want an exclusive 5* plus resort go to the bahia del duque (and that is an amazing price you were quoted btw)
-if you want a hotel booming with activities for little ones, also in a great location with family entertainment nightly, go for the Anthelia.

Ihope this helps and let me know how you get on ... i am intregued now as to where you will decide hehe.

Many thanks Lisa2, I'm glad to get your comments as I think I am edging towards the Anthelia as although we would love to stay at the Bahia Del Duque, particularly half board, just can't figure out how the room arrangement would work with DS.

I am worried if we go for the Hollywood that we will have to drive to the beach, which is what we didn't like at the Regency and it won't be a lovely beach like the Fanabe one, ok now to talk DH into it !

Hehe, good luck and let me know how you get on!!
Were you at the regency near the gran sur shopping centre or the one in chayofa?
Imjust being nosey now haha.

No problem we were at the Chayofa one. It was ok, the kids club lady was lovely, but it only ran for 2 hrs in the morning as the other person had left. Apartment was nice, but was I felt overpriced for the location as we had to drive everywhere. We loved Tenerife though.

Hi
We have been to the Hollywood Mirage a few times as my parents have a timeshare there. Very lovely place. Ds was 5 last time we went and he loved the kids club, could not get him out!
Everything very clean and well kept, shop and restaurant very good.
It is at the top of a steep hill so easy to walk down, with bars etc on the way. Going back is good exercise! But there is a free coach that runs from hotel to beach and back several times a day and taxis are quite cheap.

Thanks Kahlua, oh now I'm all indecisive again as Hollywood Mirage sounds good ( and very cheap) however we wouldn't be guaranteed to stay there there is another complex as well

Rookiemater, if you do decide to go with the Anthelia I just wanted to let you know that we've just booked (last night!) to stay there in August. I also looked at the Sovereign deals and worked out that I could save a whopping £1026 if I booked the exact same flights with Monarch directly and the exact same hotel room and board basis directly with Iberostar myself. A little bit more effort admittedly but I was more than happy with the saving!!HTH.

Hi Dorothybunny Lisa2 and Kahlua have gone for the Anthelia, I did look at booking directly through Iberostar but for some reason it is cheaper to go through Sovereign for the suites, I think they may have mis priced it , hope you have a good time in August, thanks for the advice everyone

Brilliant, well done you ... have an exellent time :)

A bit late I know, but we 'won' a holiday at The beverly hills club, which is part of the Hollywood complex. This was about 6 years ago and we only had to pay for flights. It was absolutley lovely - especially as we went out of season - in December. We did have a hard sell day but it was on the second day and didn't really detract from the holiday - we just said no and got on with our week, It was a bit of a trek to the beach and I went to Playa de las Yuk for one day which I will never do again!

I stayed at the Anthelia on Nov 09. Loved it has 2 rooms interconnecting as this was the cheapest option hence you could have room to relax with children in bed. Lisa2 did our baby sitting too.

I booked it seperatly through -on the beach.com and saved an absolute fortune over £1000 quoted by soverign and booked flights when ryanair was doing the free ones. Booked the taxi also on-line saved $$$.

I would recommend some sort of half board too - they offer a special deal for a number of days. Eating out is limited and if you go down Fanabe beach its rough and yuk! Eating out full stop was very expensive and passable (rubbish on some occassions!) or if we went back I would eat in the restaurant (£34pp) or grill.

The beach at Fanabe isnt that pleasant - we did use the Duque but also shockingly pricey.

Argh have discovered that my calculations were in Euros I should have booked through the Iberostar site and flights separately, for much cheaper, that will serve me right for being in such a rush !Don't know wether to tell DH or not, I'm usually so good at scouting out a bargain.

Thanks for the info about the Beverly Hills complex, that was the other one that they offered. I am relieved that we don't have to spend a day with a timeshare rep.

Will look at the half board deals too bacon, thanks for the advice. We found a lovely restaurant last time we were there, just beside the Bahia Del Duque, it was pricey but they were lovely to DS and had nice seafood.

Anthelia is really nice, and you will have a great time. Try asking for the connecting rooms at the ground floor so you have direct access to the garden and kids can play ball while you're showering etc....
The hotel offers packages for the dinner buffet, I found it a little bit expensive for the kids as they only ever wanted spaghettis! And personally I find buffet with children a little bit tiring as you always stand up, follow one or more child through the restaurant and in the end I rather prefer normal restaurants.
Around the Anthelia the choice of good restaurants is very poor, you need a car o a cab. Don't eat in any of the restaurant in Playa Fañabe.
The nearer is the San Marco, italian restaurant with of course pasta and pizza but also fish and meat. The best pizza on the island. 5 min walk from the hotel. One evening DP ordered there take away and we ate in our terrace in the garden and it was really relaxing. Kids playing with their dinosaurs in the amazing garden and it war pure magic: stars, silence and good food.
Otherwise: Bar El Cine, Los Cristianos, El Gomero and Meson Castellano LAs Americas, Restaurante La Caleta (fish) in La Caleta, ... and more just ask

how did you get it so cheap??? coming up over £3k :(

The Anthelia was lovely, an excellent location and we had a brilliant time there.
Costs for 2012 seem to be a lot higher so we are going to a different place this time.

We stayed in a suite, which is cheaper than two bedrooms, had a downstairs where DS slept on a made up sofa and then we were upstairs. It was a gorgeous room.

Try the Iberostar site , it has the cheapest prices for the Anthelia but it is certainly not a budget option !

yes looked on iberostar, quite a lot of hotels booked up for half term in october 2012 :(

Oct half term is a popular time of year in Tenerife as the weather ( fingers crossed for this year) is very pleasant.

If youwant to spend a bit less money how about self catering rather than a hotel.

Our friends are going to this place www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187479-d573455-Reviews-Club_El_Beril_Tenerife-Tenerife_Canary_Islands.html at Easter. I can't verify what the inside is like, but its a brilliant location right beside the Del Duque beach and when I jogged past it one day it looked like a nice complex.