Arona Gran Hotel

"When it was our turn to check-in we were checked in at half the time taken by the couple in front of us; but we did do a pre-book in on-line. Tip: you can probably do a pre- check-in on-line too. The hotel is sort of crescent shaped. The pool view rooms at the south end of the crescent face north. The result of this aspect is in January they get no direct sunlight onto the balcony. We had such a room, but fortunately it was an aspect we would have preferred. Most rooms will get some direct sun. The hotel staff are pleasant, professional and hard-working: a strong asset of the hotel. Our room was clean and tidy, the room-cleaners were superb. Beds were comfortable, room spacious. I liked the design of the rooms (early 1990s?), on entry there was a small lobby, with separate doors to the bathroom and the main bedroom. During our first five days there was no noise heard from the corridor or our neighbours. On day six the Noisy and Slammer couples arrived, that said, the disruption was slight. The most irritating noise was from a neighbouring room, they insisted on often letting the wardrobe doors, which are on runners, slam like a train crash on closing, especially at our bedtime. The corridor outside the bedroom was lined with a carpet - good sound insulation for walking and wheeled objects. This time of year there were plenty of vacant sunbeds around the pools, sometimes it was a bit more difficult getting sunbeds (in the sun) near the pool-bar area. The early bird gets the er… sunbed. There was a daily visit by a falconer, with sometimes two birds of prey which were used to keep the seagulls away, it worked, though the collared doves were a bit smarter. There was plenty of choice of food for breakfast and evening meals. A minor criticism was the hot food was often lukewarm, though you can get hot plates and there is a microwave for guest use. The tables in the dining room are a bit close together which means you get to meet people and you may have to plan interesting routes to and from your table to the buffet areas. Evening entertainment was a bit of a mixed bag, some quite good, some we found not quite good. Check-out was quick and friendly. Would we return? Probably yes."

"The room on floor three we were given was horrible and had blood on the curtain. I went down to reception and asked to be moved, they did find a room on floor two, by the way plenty of free rooms on floor three. Then they charged me over 300euro for the change. On your site it says the floors below 3 were cheaper. Reception could have been a bit more supportive and understood my situation, especially as my husband is so disabled. Overall experience not good. Hotel not that clean, also had sickness and diarrhoea going round."

"Clean, friendly hotel with excellent facilities. Buffet restaurant very good and restaurant staff excellent. I can’t praise enough how thoughtful, efficient, considering and professional the restaurant staff were."