Kora Nivaria Beach — Hotel in Arico

We stayed here for the first time last October in the middle of a sweltering Calima, and enjoyed it so much we came back as soon as we could this Easter. Only 15 minutes from the airport by car, it provides an excellent base for anyone wishing to explore all areas of Tenerife – especially well-placed for access to Santa Cruz, La Laguna, Puerto de la Cruz, or a trip up to the Parque Nacional del Teide.

Everything about the resort’s design and function is modern, clean, bright, efficient and aesthetically appealing. The apartments were spotless on arrival and provide the ideal space to unwind, with excellent self-catering facilities, comfy beds and good storage space in all rooms. The shower is tremendous. The staff were all really welcoming and helpful, responding immediately to any questions, booking requests or resolving minor issues by WhatsApp. Other cleaning and maintenance staff on site were always smiling and friendly: I certainly wouldn’t demand this of anyone, but it makes a big difference when you’re conscious of your role as visitor / guest, taking advantage of all the hard work that goes into making the place so welcoming. It is quite a shock to return to reality, which ought to indicate how good the place is!

My partner loved the free yoga classes run by an excellent teacher every other morning by the pool, while our 6-year-old son loved the free Kids’ Club and its brilliant, energetic organiser – a chance for him to enjoy meeting children of various ages, providing rare moments of peace and relaxation for us. He also learned how to swim properly with confidence out of his depth in the pool, which feels really safe under the supervision of attentive lifeguards who work tirelessly to keep the decks tidy and help people with sunbeds / parasols.

Beautiful red-veined darter dragonflies (Sympetrum fonscolombii) skim over the water and if you’re lucky will let you approach them quite closely for a photograph. Inquisitive Southern Tenerife lizards (Gallotia galloti galloti) occasionally peep out from under rocks or race along the walls scanning for crumbs and insects. And in the dead of night, out of the inky blackness, Cory's shearwaters (Calonectris borealis) nesting among rocks just beyond the resort's fences make the most incredible sounds: “Across their entire repertoire, males always sound higher pitched, with a timbre reminiscent of a crying baby, while females sound deeper and more rasping, like a chain smoker with a terrible hangover.” To be fair, you can easily hear these sorts of noise elsewhere in Tenerife and occasionally within this resort itself, though usually during more sociable daytime hours.

NB: There are various promotional discounts on the official website that are worth keeping an eye on for better deals than you will...

My partner and I stayed at the hotel for almost two weeks and overall, we were satisfied with our stay. The apartment was spacious, clean, and had everything we needed – including a well-equipped kitchen, which allowed us to cook for ourselves regularly.

A big plus were the extra pool towels in addition to the regular ones, and the availability of filtered water (although no one mentioned it, and we only found out by chance – it would be helpful to inform guests about this upfront).

We really enjoyed the wellness activities – yoga, tai chi, meditation, and pilates classes were well organized and added a nice touch to our stay.

There’s also a grocery store just a 5-minute walk from the hotel, which was very convenient.

All the staff we interacted with were kind and helpful – from reception to the bar and housekeeping.

The bar had a great atmosphere and the drinks were tasty – although we found the cocktails to be quite expensive.

That said, there are a few things that could be improved.

The Wi-Fi was unreliable at times, and we had little to no mobile signal in our room.

There was also a water outage during our stay.

While the breakfast was good, we felt it was overpriced for the quantity of food provided.

Dust from the nearby construction site frequently blew onto the terrace and even into the apartment when the doors were open, which made relaxing outside a bit unpleasant. Housekeeping was scheduled every four days – which was okay sometimes, but due to the dust, more frequent cleaning would have been appreciated.

One particularly unpleasant experience involved the lifeguard, whose behavior was completely inappropriate. While we were having breakfast on the terrace, we witnessed him blowing his nose into his bare hand, flicking the mucus onto the wooden floor by the pool, and then rinsing his hands directly in the pool where guests swim. It was disgusting to watch during a meal, and honestly unacceptable from someone responsible for hygiene and safety around the pool.

We also wouldn’t recommend paying for garage parking – there’s plenty of free parking available around the hotel, and in hindsight, paying for a spot felt like a waste of money.

Lastly, we were a bit surprised by how many children were at the hotel – it didn’t initially appear to be a family-focused place, but there were lots of kids around.

In summary – the hotel has a lot to offer, with a charming atmosphere, kind staff, and great wellness options. With a few improvements in comfort and attention to detail, it could be...

If I could score higher than 5/5 for Kora Nivaria then I would. We are just back from a one week stay here as a family of 4 people. We stayed in a 2-bedroom sea view apartment and our stay was perfection. ||This resort is somewhere off the beaten track in a small village and is ideal if you are looking for a vacation to fully relax and recharge. The village itself has a few good restaurants and a shop within 4 minutes walk to get everything that you need. The resort itself is quiet, tranquil, and immaculately clean with some very friendly resident cats! The staff at reception could not be nicer and are willing and able to help with anything that you need. There was security working every night and constant maintenance and cleaning staff working on the site. The 2 pool areas are beautiful.||The apartments are very modern, very well maintained and immaculately cleaned. The kitchen has a full sized fridge/freezer, microwave, 3 ring hob, oven, and dishwasher. Everything that you need is present for cooking and kitchen cleaning with items like dishwasher tablets are available from reception if you need more. The bathroom is small but perfect and the shower has brilliant water pressure. Toiletries and hairdryer are provided as are really good quality shower towels and large beach towels. The bedrooms are peaceful and have lots of storage. The beds are extremely comfortable. Although there is no air conditioning (it is in line with their sustainable ethos), there are ceiling fans in the bedroom and with the doors open there is a beautiful breeze from the ocean to cool the whole apartment.||Other facilities on site include a gym, a shared work space, a small free library and a bar. There is also laundry facilities. We enjoyed some massages that we booked through reception. The therapist comes to your apartment with her own equipment and one of my massages was honestly one of the best that I have ever experienced in my life. We also had the "slow breakfast" on our last morning which was delicious and made for a wonderful treat on our last day.||I cannot say enough good things about Kora and I hope to return many times- I just hope that it remains the tranquil retreat that I experienced as more and more people flock...