Ona Alborada — Hotel in Arona

3.5 stars. We spent 5 nights at the Alborada 10-15 November 2019. Overall we had a really enjoyable stay. From the outside the hotel is unattractive - think Brutalism style architecture reminiscent of the Barbican, but there is not much that can be done about that. The corridors to the rooms are quite dark and reminded me of the Overlook Hotel but their tiled floors are really attractive. A lick of paint and improved lighting would make a massive difference. There are some beautiful and well kept garden areas. The room itself was very spacious; an apartment rather than a room with living area, small kitchenette, table and chairs, in addition to the bedroom and bathroom. We had paid a little extra for a sea view from our balcony which was money well spent. The decor was a little dated and tired but clean, comfortable and serviceable. The scarcity of usable sockets to charge phones etc. Most of the sockets seemed to have been fitted with screwed in adaptors that were incompatible with our travel plugs. A hairdryer can be secured from reception with a 10 euro returnable deposit. The wifi in the room was poor. KISS fm channel on the tv provided a great musical background for us children of the 80s! The view from the balcony was lovely. Apparently the hotel was taken over earlier this year and the fabric of the building and its environs needs TLC but it did not spoil our experience. It will take time and money to address these matters. The sea water pool is huge and has an infinity pool look with the ocean as a backdrop, which is stunning. At the time of year we went it was a little cold but that did ot stop us or others using and enjoying it. The pool was cleaned out during our stay which occurred overnight and was interesting to watch (for us anyway)! The restaurant overlooks the pool and the ocean which is an added bonus. The food was varied and has something to suit everyone. The quality reflects the hotel standard - good rather than outstanding. The all inclusive drinks were local rather than main brands (save for Amstel). The wine on tap was drinkable. You could help yourself to soft drinks, water and coffee. The all inclusive cocktails were from a machine and unspecial. We were happy with the rum or sangria! We visited the bar each night, adjacent to the pool area. There was entertainment from 9.30 onwards. The flamenco dancers on Sunday were truly amazing as was the Italian singer Danielle on Thursday night. The Caballo Loco and Marx Hermanos provided good humour other nights. The animacion team were engaging with Magdalena in particular an asset, as she had a great rapport with the children. One issue left a bit of a sour taste for us. We arrived for dinner one night (Tuesday) to be told that we were only down for breakfast each day and we needed to go to reception. We duly did (some kind of error in the lists seemed to have occurred). We were less than impressed with the way in which the young man on reception dealt with it. My partner showed him our email confirmation that we were all inclusive and he made a call to 'someone'. He did not explain who or why. We stood there for a few minutes whilst he had a joke with the colleague on the phone. He then made another call to confirm we were entitled to all meals. At no point during this encounter did he offer any explanation or apology. It was pretty appalling customer service. When we returned to the restaurant, Señor Herrera (Jose) could not have been more welcoming or apologetic for our experience that evening. He went out of his way to look after us every time we came across him, a true gentleman. Juan Andreas on reception, who was generally there during the day was efficient, helpful and friendly. Generally, the staff were good. A holiday is what you make of it, and who you are with. For a relaxing poolside holiday with food and drinks included, a massive pool and lovely views of the sea, it would be difficult to find better value for money. Most importantly we would definitely return and hope that next time we do, to see...

This is going to be a very mixed review and a bit of a "sh*t sandwich". Firstly the reason I booked is because my TC holiday fell through the day I was due to fly and this was an emergency back up.

Reasons I picked this holiday. I read lots and lots of reviews and saw that the staff were friendly, the food was good and the animation team were meant to be great. There were lots of negative reviews about the visuals of the hotel.

On arrival it is awful. The building itself looks like a prison. Not a massive issue as I had prepared myself for it.

When we arrived in reception we met with the new manager Colm Duff and he showed us to our room and told us a bit about the hotel. I thought great .. this is what I have read about... how great the staff are.

Unfortunately that all changed. Without writing an essay I'll start with the rooms. They are massive but dated. Again I'm not bothered about that. They have a full size fridge so if you have children at least you can store milk and treats etc. Not many plug sockets would suggest taking a multi plug extension. Again not a massive issue.

Staff..... Colm was the only person that took time out to speak to us. Animation approached us once about salsa dancing and said we couldn't do it as we have children. I saw them for 10 mins 2 days out the 7 at lunch time when they dance at the pool and again for mini disco... last about 4 songs and it's done. It's also on really late and by that time my little one was over it. Didn't see anything in regards to Kids club and the park needs a little bit of work.

FOOD!!!! Isnt great and nothing for children. Fish fingers for breakfast isnt the best and everything is so spread out and didn't really understand why.

Pool side snacks were cheese and ham. That's it. Nothing more nothing less. My biggest let down along with the pool.

Kids plastic cups for you all inclusive drinks... could do with being a little bigger. We ended up paying for a drink at night and keeping the glass they gave us. I'm not 12 and dont want to be drinking out of a tiny kids cup. But again.... this is the norm for all inclusive.

If you have young kids.... dont bother booking as the pool is freezing and pool side is dangerous. Half of pool side is tiled and looks great but the actual part around the pool is broken and dangerous. My son loves the water and wouldnt get in. We ended up booking 4 days out of the hotel at the water park a couple of times and beach.

This hotel has so much potential and I can see that colm is doing what he can with the investment that he has been given. I believe this hotel was totally run down by previous manager

One of my suggestion would be to paint it white but upon leaving the painting had begun!! Obviously have the same vision.

Food and layout needs revisiting to see how it would work better.

Pool needs to be a normal pool. While it looks great would be worth spending the money to really sort this part out.

Cleaning.... AMAZING. a million cleaners always working and cleaning everything.

We were there for 7 days. 5 of the seven we were out of the hotel. We only saw 2 evening entertainment both were really good. But not many seats and when you do go early and get a seat I think it's the locals come abs sit in front of you so not only can you not see but you cant get out.

This place could be amazing but unfortunately at this time we didn't have a great experience.

We did find a hidden gem called the black sheep bar. If you come out of the hotel and turn right until you get to Bobby's indian. Turn right again and go on the left hand side of the road. Keep walking for 5 mins and some bars and restaurants will be on the left. Behind them is a litter walk way .. alley and this bar is there and it's amazing.

If you want to go into los chris... there is a bus stop across the road and its 20 mins and 1.50 xxx we did this most days. Taxi is about 16...

I'm finding writing this review a struggle, because for all of the negative points I will raise along the way, the rechristened Alborada Beach Club (or Alborada Ocean Club, depending on who you're talking to) has a number of heartening plus points too.

First and foremost, the staff are fantastic. They are genuinely happy in their jobs, polite, helpful and friendly - especially the kids' entertainment team, who seem to have boundless energy and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the scars of the resort's former poor management are still very much in evidence around the resort itself, and I suspect it will take a while for them to be repaired.

The most glaring issue is the surfacing around the pool area, which is jagged, rough brick. It appears for all the world as if the former owners tore up the tiling in a fit of pettiness before leaving (which I can believe is what actually happened); as a result, it's painful and dangerous to walk on. My daughter, 16 months old at the time of this review, stumbled and fell over a lump in the surface and scraped her arm pretty badly (it bled profusely).

The outside of the complex looks pretty grim; it's grey, industrial brick which has become weather-stained and dirty. Other reviews claim that it looks like a municipal car park, and they're not wrong. My advice to management (who I see do read and respond to these reviews) is to make painting the walls white a top priority, because it's really crushing to get dropped off by your transfer bus and look up at the resort's current appearance; you immediately feel as if you've made a mistake.

The corridors inside the complex fare little better; lights are often broken or missing, and the walls are that same municipal grey. The apartments, however are actually very nice; spacious and impeccably clean. Staff arrive once per day to clean, replace bedding and towels, and replenish basic toiletries. The bathrooms come with a full sized bath, a shower (not a power shower, sadly, but the water pressure is fab), a toilet and a bidet. The kitchen, however, is where our apartment let us down; you are not supplied with pots, crocks or even a kettle. Kettles are available free of charge from reception, however.

The food and drink are average. I found something to eat easily at each meal, but partner - who is a lifelong vegetarian who gets physically ill if she ingests any meat - struggled. Her meals consisted of chips, rice (when it wasn't served with meat chunks mixed in) and plain pasta, because the pasta sauces were labelled badly or not at all and often have meat in them, e.g. for yesterday's meal the sauce labelled "tomato" was actually tomato and bacon. Drinks are actually pretty good, with decent house red, white and rosé on tap and Amstell available for beer drinkers. There's also a range of off-brand spirits and mixers, plus Pepsi-branded soft drinks, available readily.

Location-wise, the Alborada is excellent. You are a 20min bus ride from the beach town of Los Cristianos, and the in-house reps organise regular excursions to the best the island has to offer (and can give directions if you'd like to drive yourself). If you'd rather stay on-site there's holiday camp-style entertainment on offer.

Finally, let's talk bugs. Others have mentioned cockroaches, but these are daily reality of life in Tenerife; as common as butterflies are in the UK. You will occasionally see them indoors, but not in the food areas. Staff kill them when they are spotted. They are nothing to be concerned about.

Overall, it's hard to recommend the Alborada in its current state, but it's clear that the new owners are trying to turn it around. If you're looking for something cheap and cheerful you could do worse, but maybe check back in...