The Ritz-Carlton Abama

"Really disappointed. We have been looking forward to this holiday for months and months. Arrived to be told all of the restaurants were booked solid for the entirety of our break and were told we should have booked 6 months ago. Luckily we managed to get into 2 restaurants after pleading to the one member of staff that has been helpful. We were never told this when booking otherwise would of course of booked well in advance . It took us 3 hours to be able to get access to our room even though I was asked if I would like to check in early so arranged our flight accordingly. We were called to say our room was ready but when I asked for the key they couldn’t locate the people with our key or our luggage. Once in the room we discovered the most of the amenities weren’t here and had to call multiple times to ask to sort. This place costs a small fortune and feel completely neglected after only half a day here. I am a loyal Marriott member and have been for years but this has put me of staying away for a family break with them again"

"To describe this resort as a disappointment is a gross understatement. The setting is lovely. The buildings, handsome and well maintained. The problem is this facility is toxically understaffed. It is so understaffed that the answer to everything is no because the staff has neither at the time nor the inclination to do what you ask. These folks hold themselves out as a five star hotel, but this is no five star. I am not inclined to detail all the problems, hassles, disappointments, and insulting service that we endured. We did speak to a very nice assistant manager by the name of Adrian, who seemed competent and acknowledged all of the mistreatment that we recounted for him. He assured us the Hotel manager would contact us to address our concerns. If you were to ask me if the manager ever did contact us that would be a rhetorical question as you can gather from the balance of this review. Never heard from him. On top of everything else, this facility squeezes every single penny out of you that they possibly can ,here extras, there extras, everywhere extras. It's borderline criminal. They're desperate for your money and when they get it, they don't spend it on staff. Go figure. And when I say go figure I mean go figure another hotel to stay on Tenerife. This is a must to avoid unless you're interested in developing an ulcer on your vacation. MUST TO AVOID!"

"Firstly, the bad things… this hotel is completely no-smoking. This seems to be a big secret which you only discover once you arrive – Had I known I would not have booked. It is not mentioned prior to booking, not on their website, or indeed displayed anywhere in the hotel itself, it was not explained when checking-in – I only discovered when I requested an ashtray from the bar. You cannot smoke on the outside bar terrace, or by any of the pools. I found it quite bizarre that they still had a cigarette vending machine though! Indeed Tenerife itself is pretty un-smoker friendly now – if you are expecting to be able to smoke outdoors in restaurants or outside bars, forget it Upon arrival at Tenerife airport our transfer cancelled on us. This was actually a good thing, as the taxis are cheaper! There was a long queue though. So do not bother booking an airport transfer The Ritz Carlton Hotel is just too big for its own good. It is vast. The lift/floor allocation is ridiculous – the Lobby (Ground Floor) is on floor 6… Anyone with any sense would make the Lobby floor 0, and floors below, -1, -2, etc. The signage around the hotel is also extremely poor. I got completely lost many times on first arrival The hotel is in the middle of nowhere and its prices are 5 Star high. A starter in one of the restaurants was 37 euros… A beer is 8 euros. We taxied to Adeje on most nights which costs about 15 euros each-way, and ate and drunk there – the Titanic Restaurant is very nice (also you CAN smoke on the terrace in the Hard Rock Hotel). In Adeje you can get a large beer for about 2 – 3 euros. You can however, notice that the "class-level" of customers is lot lower than at the Ritz Carlton! Getting a taxi is quick and easy from the concierge at the front door of the Ritz Carlton. I don’t think we waited more than 2 minutes on any occasion. All the taxis are official, and prices are the same. Most of the drivers didn’t speak English, but the concierge explained to them where we going. They all accepted credit cards At reception we were told one pool was adult only. The other 2 large pools were very busy so we went to the smaller adult-only pool. That was fine until 2pm when a lady and 2 children turned up shouting and screaming. We did ask the pool lifeguard and were told it was now not adult only – so the reception are ill-informed On one occasion the lights in the room didn’t work. I went to reception and was told maintenance would have a look. Fortunately my partner found a master switch near the door, which the cleaners had obviously switched off. This brought the room to life again. Surely this must be a common issue yet Reception didn’t know this. The maintenance guy turned up about 2 hours later, even though we had told Reception we had fixed the issue Now the better things… The whole place is like paradise! All – well most – of the staff are very friendly, and can’t do enough for you Checking-in was quick and easy and the lady at the desk was lovely and very helpful. The information given is a little daunting. The free glass of Cava was nice The room was very very nice (way nicer than the Hard Rock Hotel). The bed was wonderful – it was massive. The balcony had an excellent view of some of the golf course and the sea. The supply of free drinking water was excellent – every day we would be left 4 bottles in the room. However Tea and milk seems to be a commodity and we were only given 2 English Breakfast and 4 milks – fortunately I expect this sort of thing so had brought a box of Twinings with me and each morning I would borrow a jar of milk from breakfast. The shower in the room was wonderful - I miss it, now I’m home. The toilet area with bidet is separated by a door so there is privacy from the sinks and shower area. Bath robes, slippers, shampoo, body wash, hair dryer, iron/ironing table, mini-bar and safe are all in the room. Every day the room was cleaned in the morning and the bedding was turned down in the evening – excellent Breakfast each morning was good. They have a bit of a strange set-up where you have to queue at a desk, and be asked your room number and what drink you’d like, and then taken to an allocated table. This generally worked okay, but on one day the queue was huge. Pretty much everyone is catered-for, with full-English (sausages were absolutely vile and gave me the runs!), omelettes, boiled eggs, cheese, fish, croissants, salad, meats, doughnuts, and a great selection of breads. Again Tea seems to be a commodity and on some occasions I was allowed 2 tea bags and on others only 1. There is ample juices and freshly squeezed orange. All in all I thought the breakfast was very good. We did not eat in any of the hotel’s other restaurants due to pricing One day we took the “train” down to the beach – the hotel’s own beach. This is a bit of an “Italian Job” experience in the train. We were warned it is quite steep, and we were very glad to have not attempted the walk. The beach area is nice and they have their own bar and provide towels. There is a restaurant half-way down, and another at the beach too. The swimming area has wave breakers, but the waves do come over the break. One second I was standing on sand, the next I was waist-high with water – I actually rather liked it, but my partner found it quite frightening. The sea current is very strong and I wouldn’t swim in the sea, but lots of people did Back by the pool – there are two large pools, the life guards are normally very attentive, putting the towel on the bed for you, offering free sun cream and even to clean your sunglasses! At different times of the day they normally bring round a free smoothy and flavoured ice. The pool was a perfect temperature and wasn’t too crowded. Drinks are served around the pool, but they are not very attentive to this – surprising, since this is an obvious money-maker The coy-carp pond was very relaxing and clean, my only worry is that it is easy for a youngster to full in and it is quite deep On our last morning, a very large group (40+ people) arrived, and took over the pool, just standing in the pool, shouting at the tops of their voices. Anyone trying to swim was frowned upon by them. This ruined the final day and I am thankful this didn’t happen earlier in our stay. This shattered what was otherwise a very relaxing, quiet, holiday Checking-out was quick and easy, our only gripe was they didn’t bother to ask how our stay was. Seems a bit strange. Our stay was lovely, but it would be nice to be asked All-in-all I would say this is the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in. It isn’t totally perfect, but it’s close. It was a very relaxing holiday – exactly what we both needed. I would certainly return"