"We had a great time at La Pinta, hugely due to the hotel itself, all the staff and what they put on throughout the day. I still have Globi's (the hotel mascot) theme tune in my head!
The hotel has a great setup, with 3 good sized pools (main, junior and baby) for the number of guests. The decor is typical low-maintenance tile-based rooms, which is easy to keep clean and is done so everyday. Cleaning is also performed outdoors of all the flooring, sunbeds and surfaces, as well as the pool. Location felt really safe for my kids (8 & 11) to wander around without me, using the wristband controls on doors to the apartment.
Air con worked well, and operated when the balcony door was closed. It was very noisy through the night, but the human brain does a good job filtering it out so sleep wasn't much impacted by this.
The staff were all really helpful. At the reception desk, they assisted with my [many] requests and questions without hesitation. We lost a kid's teddy, and not only assisted with repeated queries with the outsourced laundry company (as we suspected it had got caught up when the bedding was changed) but they had a personal involvement as well. 2 days later when the teddy turned up, beaming smiles all round from the reception team as well as my boy!
Down in the dining area, they run a well-organised chaos system! They know what they're doing, though it does look like bedlam. The Animation team (kids club) were brilliant, always happy, always engaging with the kids. Often saw them sitting down in the late evening at people's tables having a beer and a laugh as well.
The food was a typical buffet style, but there were 3 separate rows of many dishes. My kids can be fussy, but found something across 3 meals per day on nearly all occasions. When they didnt, there was also an easy chips, burger, fresh bread, fresh pizza that they could have. My kids did venture to some of their more "out there" dishes - sushi, BBQ sauce pork ribs or pork belly, among others. I had great selections across the week myself, very varied, and only recall a couple of times (out of 21 total meals) where there was nothing in the selection I was interested in.
We were all-inclusive, so it was easy for me and the kids to get drinks as well as food. Except the ice creams at the pool bar were not included (though did get a discount).
Simple but controlled access (using our hotel wristband) through some external stairs down to the beach area and the shopping & restaurant strip that lines the isolated cove. The beach has a great inflatable play area, with required all-day life-jacket available for €25/person. The isolated cove ensures no waves.
The daily towel placing does occur, though only allowed from around 8:45am, so no need for an early rise. The number of sunbeds seemed aligned with the number of guests, so whilst you may not have gotten prime sunbeds with umbrellas everyday for all sunbeds, at least 1 or 2 (of 3) would be covered at different parts of the day. People were friendly about moving the umbrellas around through the day. Only 1 time did someone swap 1 towel we had reserved onto the next sunbed along, but they were gracious and unoffending when we first sat down.
Unsure if the pool is actually heated or not. Its definitely colder in the morning, before the sun shines on it all day. Good lifeguard coverage, and regularly heard his whistle for overly-animated kids.
My kids enjoyed the various kids club events they put on, doing more as the holiday progressed. They did not like the weekly water polo, as the men became overly boisterous and took too seriously. My comments to the animation team to calm it down fell on deaf ears. Though as 1 of those men, we did have a good, physical match! Germans, Dutch, Spanish, Brits all joining in.
Nearby to a well built-up area with shops and restaurants nearby. Up the hill and just over the roundabout and down a couple steps is the bigger pharmacy that offers the best choice of sun creams. Though the noise at night from 1 bar in particular went on long and loud into the evening. Can still be faintly heard when the balcony doors were closed.
Evening entertainment every night, which got good attendance overall. Only a couple performances were decent, sorry to those other performers though they did put the effort it every time.
Guest clientele was a mix across numerous European countries. Mostly British, German, Dutch and Spanish. All friendly and accommodating to each other.
Hotel is 15mins from Tenerife South airport. I would recommend jumping in a taxi (€30-40), not transfer coaches or private hire which can be more or slower. Reception book it, they arrive within minutes. We pre-booked the return taxi to the airport the day before just in case, and was waiting for us when we left the building.
I would come again. Me & kids had a brilliant time, many memories and lots of laughs."
