GF Gran Costa Adeje Hotel — Hotel in Adeje

It's been a week since we've returned from Tenerife. We moved out from the hotel early because I was awake at midnight absolutely hating myself for choosing this place. Trust what the others have said - by normal standard this place can only be 3 star for hardware and service. Imagine a budget cruise ship - wear and tear everywhere (falling concrete overhead), tacky entertainment (Bee Gees tribute band), and cynical staff trading hours forcing a smile. I have wasted 3 days here, don't let my mistake be yours!

This hotel opened in December 2001. 22 years is the kind of duration that differentiates hotels that would carry on being 5 stars, and those that would go on an interminable decline.

Let me describe what you can't see on marketing photos. When I first walked into the room I was hit by a dull, ill ventilated smell mixed with supermarket air fresheners.

The wood wardrobe... smelt of... very old wood veneer that have absorbed all the moisture and smells over the years. My dresses have picked up the smell by the second day.

On day two I discovered mould hidden behind the faux ceiling. The fact that there were paint splashes on the sink countertop suggested more mould had been covered up. The air vents were SO DIRTY the flaps were covered in black dust.

After the first shower I hated this place even more. The extractor fan did not work - a quick shower steamed up the whole room and there's nowhere for the steam to escape (natural ventilation by the balcony door... which was on the opposite end of the room). If you used the toilet the smell lingered.

The bathtub was an old plastic composite that SAGGED. You stepped onto it and it immediately drooped. The water took forever to drain and after a quick shower the water was above my ankle.

I think what killed me was the armchair - I have a small baby and could really use an armchair to breastfeed. I looked at the armchair: did someone die on it? Threadbare, with red marks?

Pools were under refurbishment and most people booked because of the pool I believe. The baby pool was blocked in with 2m high construction canvas on all three sides, and the open edge faced the back of a row of sun loungers. The water looked an errie mud colour and my local pool had a better view than this. I saw in other reviews that guests with children were able to use pools in sister properties and when asked at Reception the receptionist said no before I even finished my sentence. His expressionless face and exasperated tone suggested that was the 10000th time he had said this.

Even with the pools reopened I strongly recommend you take your money elsewhere. What cannot be rectified are what others have said in their reviews too: broken air conditioning (technician would play pretend and fiddle and tell you it's fine. In fact the system needs replacing), demotivated reception staff, dated rooms, and a retirement village vibe.

Management read my email 4 days later and said "Sorry about your feelings".

Facts are not feelings. Sagging bathtub is not a feeling. Mouldy room is a health hazard and not a feeling.

But "you declined our offer of a room change". But you already knew I was moving out, so what's the point of saying that? That's peak victim blaming and another classic example of extremely out of touch, borderline FU customer service.

That's exactly the attitude the frontline staff have rubbed off of management. It comes STRAIGHT from the top. you would get at reception.

You can't please everyone, but if you are a well travelled person, AVOID.

This place was once the place to be on Tenerife, what have you done to it? And why are staff so cynical and hates being there?

PS: Kudos to all the staff who tries to do an impossible job. Buffet is full of choice and very good but that's not a...

This hotel needs proper maintenance, lots. Lots of things were broken or about to break or fixed poorly. We had issues with loss of cold water pressure ie. scaldingly hot showers, elevators misbehaving and giving odd noises, coathooks broken in room. Tiles broken in public areas including lobby floor, which gives bad first impression. Invalid WC has been renovated recently with fancy equipment, poorly. Faucet was not tight. Hand wash basin was so shallow that you touch the basin as you wash which is unsanitary. Especially as you were supposed to wash baby bottoms there as well. Faucet was too low for that purpose so nobody tries. Baby changing station is way too high for women. Works for tall men but not for anyone else. Soap dispenser drops the excess on the floor and not on the wash basin, maybe that was a choice, wouldn't do it that way myself. That fancy invalid toilet support handlebar was tightened so tight that moving it, makes it squeel like a stuck pig. Also missing a hose for washing on the toilet as some invalids really need that. Installing that requires floor sewer and proper drainage, don't remember if they had that there.

What is the point in emergency support pullropes if those are so high that you can't reach them? Try smacking your head in the bathtub, lying there crippled and then reaching for rope just out of reach. Never getting there. Well luckily the walls are so thin that you can yell for help easily. Sorry for our neighbours.

Outside door to room won't close all the way. That is a firehazard. Inside doors won't stay open or stay were you leave them. Cubboards smell bad.

Balcony sliding door lock was broken.

Bed was too soft for me. Wife was happy.

Fridge worked perfectly. Toilet paper was soft 2-ply, which is cheap but not the cheapest kind. At least nobody steals that stuff.

Maybe get some proper maintenance guys? Cleaning staff was excellent after first day. Found some hairs in shower side walls. They do use bad smelling cleaning agent. Don't know what it was/is. I hope it's not cloride based as that is unnecessary and workers safety hazard. Don't know though.

Bathtub leaks on the floor everytime you shower so there's always three towels on the floor. Bide basin top hinges were fixed poorly.

On the service side at dinner, one cook thought medium steak equals well-done (why do you even ask?) (Had to supervise steak roasting myself). Didn't try alacarte restaurant so I can't speak about the quality there. Pizza was bad. Excellent pizza is available on the other side of the road at the Italian restaurant. Maybe hotel staff could be sent there to learn/spy how to make good pizza bread as that is the basis for everything. Other ingredients they already have available.

Sometimes we had to wait for morning coffee for over 20 minutes.

Olives were small and bad tasting kind. Otherwise breakfast selection was good. Cheese selection was good, especially goat and blue. Bread topping meat selection was excellent. Bread was good as well. Good selections of cakes which were bad tasting. Bbq restaurant near the beach was good. Italian restaurant next to hotel was excellent.

We chose this place due to good reviews but I don't know how they have gotten them. We won't be returning. Costa Adeje as a location is nice. It is built for tourists and general driver behaviour is very good and generous towards pedestrians.

View from top floor was great though. I liked the plants and ambience. I liked the big mirrors in the rooms. Pool area was nice. I liked the beaches more. Tenerife was a nice experience as this was my first time in the south. Weather was sunny all week and temperatures higher than...

We're just back from From Grand Costa Adeje. The first impression of the hotel was great. It's a very large hotel with an impressive entrance. We had two rooms, for us and the children, they are spacious with a large bathroom. They clean them and make them up every day, we received water and a free basket of fruit on arrival which gives the 5 star impression. There is also a fridge to keep drinks cold. The view from our room was also impressive, looking over the hills and the sea to the right.

The pools are on the second floor and are spacious, it wasnt over crowded, there was loungers available after breakfast although you do get the usual early risers holding the good positions from 8am. The hotel activity remove unsupervised towels at 9.30. There is no waiter service at the pool which i would expect as part of 5 star.

There is an adult only pool on the roof, also with plenty of space anytime of the day but again no waiter.

The condition of the hotel is dated with a lot of cracked floor tiles. A function room on the first floor had water leak and the smell of damp was pretty bad when you were in that area.

The rooms were also a bit tired looking with varnished wood that needed redone. Our Aircon didnt work well and wasn't fixed after reporting it several times. They gave us a fan one night, which we used together with an open balcony door to stay cool. They did allow us to keep our AI bands for lunch after I raised this issue at check out.

The outside sport courts were also a bit run down with broken locks and fencing.

I will leave my worst criticism for the all inclusive (AI). If there is one piece of advice I would give, make sure its worth it. The only beer on offer is the Dorada local beer which isnt great. Also the cocktail options are also very limited and you are expected to pay extra for the rest. The AI cocktails were also pre-made in plastic bottles and poured in a glass when ordered. How this was done depends on the waiter, two rarely looked the same.

There is very little options for food once the pool bar closes. Once closed, you can only get a ham sandwich or a hot dog from the hall bar. I would rate this as one of the worst AIs I've ever had. They just make it so difficult with different areas offering different items. Another example was a tray of crisps wasnt available at the roof bar. But i could purchase a bag of this common snack at the same bar if I wanted. I became resentful a few days in about this service and we ate and drink out more than i want to.

The pool bar was also an issue when it came to the AI. On pool days you like to go and sit down for something to eat without trekking into the hall, but we again had to pay extra for most of the menu, even the dishes I could get in the food hall. An example of this was a salad sandwich, ham and cheese was included, but we had to pay for a salad one. Even though the take away salad sandwich was included. All in all it was a mess, confusing, frustrating and felt limited.

In summary, the hotel is large, great pool area and offers all the services you need but it just falls short on quality and for a 5 star hotel that is not OK. The B&B options wouldn't be a bad option there are plenty of deals out there. Esp booking direct like we did. But I would not return or...