Hotel Riu Garoe — Hotel in Puerto de la Cruz

We had a double room overlooking the pool, with a large-ish balcony (#209).||We liked / appreciated the following:|* Knowledgeable, helpful and friendly staff throughout the hotel, with managers visible and approachable. |* Rooms very well-serviced by housekeeping, with minimum fuss and disruption. They generally try to access rooms whilst guests are either at breakfast or out of their rooms.|* Rooms have comfortable beds, black-out curtains, 4 English TV (news) channels, a good amount of hanging space and drawers, a fridge and a nice en-suite with a good shower. If requested, a kettle, mugs and tea / coffee making facilities will be provided.|* An extremely well-run and quiet pool / surrounding area; Gustavo has been at the hotel for over 10-years and keeps the area spotless, pleasant and very orderly. He is always ready to bring over (the very comfortable) sun lounger cushions and raise umbrellas. He is the best pool manager we have come across - and we have visited many hotels over the years. He treats the entire area as his personal responsibility and always takes great pride in his work.|* The pool bar is efficient and clean, with good quality drinks.|* Excellent Reception staff, who take action when there is a problem - Ana and Pavel are particularly knowledgable and helpful. |* Excellent waiting staff throughout the hotel; we had the pleasure to be served on a number of occasions by Sonia and Natalia.|* Breakfast and dinner choices and quality were generally excellent.|* There was good quality entertainment every evening and drinks were reasonably priced.|* Wi-fi speeds are good.|* We appreciated the regular mini bus to and from the centre of Puerto de la Cruz (not on Sundays). ||What we didn’t like was as follows:|* The room safe is chargeable.|* No complimentary water provided - particularly important when arriving late. This happened to us and we were advised to go down to the bar at 11:15pm and buy a bottle !? Not a great welcome experience.|* The kettle and tea / coffee making tray we had ordered in advance of our arrival was not there when we got to our room - however, we queried this and it came within an hour. |* No lights were on in our room when we arrived late - we had to feel our way around the room in the dark to try to find the key activation slot for the lights.|* At breakfast only a few HP and tomato sauce bottles were put out - and these were often taken to tables by guests and not returned. More bottles should be put out around the restaurant.|* Desserts in the evening were mediocre at best. Definite room for improvement here. |* We had two separate and consecutive days when breakfast items were not replenished after 9:45am - and breakfast doesn’t finish until 10:30am. We mentioned this to both the Banqueting Manager and Ana at reception and the issue was quickly remedied - but there needs to be more management checks throughout breakfast to ensure items are being appropriately refilled.|* Finally, the biggest issue we experienced was that the air conditioning in our room never took the temperature below 24C - at home we sleep at 19C so far too hot for us. Indeed, it was doubtful the air con was on at all as our room was frequently hotter than the external temperature !? Thankfully the weather was cloudy whilst we were at the hotel, otherwise the lack of air con would have been intolerable. We have stayed before at a number of RIU hotels and it seems to be a general policy now to limit the use of air con. This would stop us using a RIU hotel again - we want to sleep...

A really excellent 4 star hotel, in a quiet part of town. Service to rival a 5 star hotel, super friendly staff, hard working, always smiling, never a frown. This is rare! the rooms have been recently refurbished and are very calming, modern and exceptionally clean. Nice size balcony - we were lucky enough to get a room over the pool - we could hear the evening entertainment from the bar area below, which only added to the holiday atmosphere, and which stopped at 10pm, so it didn't make it hard to sleep. Very quiet hotel, older clientele, not many younger families. The pool is lovely, no slides or anything to entertain children but my daughter enjoyed it nevertheless. Snack bar serves tasty burgers, salads and the best iced coffee I have ever had. No choice but to go half board, but the food is great. I had big reservations about hotel food night after night, but there was a huge selection and it varied each night, with staples of pasta, pizza and rice dishes each night. Salad bar was sooo good and the range of dressings really lovely. Desserts were nice, too creamy for my taste. The serve your own ice cream bar was a nice treat - kids loved it! Nothing I can say that is negative, I would say do not pay attention to the review about the pool closing at 6pm, the pool was available to us 24/7, only the attendant leaves at 6pm, but guests are welcome to stay longer on the loungers and swim until dusk, if they so wished. One tiny thing... if I am being picky, the lighting in the restaurant in the evening is very bright - so not a very romantic atmosphere, but I was travelling without my husband and with my 10 year old daughter so it wasn't a problem for me! The breakfast is lovely, huge choice, cava on Sunday, chocolate fountain every other day (amazing!) with churros and waffles to drench in dark hot chocolate... some of the fruit was not ripe to eat (pears and peaches were very hard) but the local bananas and papaya and melon was such a treat. If you are looking for a super relaxing break with good food, a nice bar for cocktails, and chilling by the pool then this is the best place in the town. We visited La Orotava, which I'd recommend, lovely old town in the foothills. We tried some local restaurants but were left unimpressed, I dont think Tenerife is known for gastronomy. The food in the hotel was some of the best on the island I think. Top marks to all at Hotel Garoe, you have an amazing team and we will...

Excellent Value for Money, Peaceful Location

We had a lovely stay at this hotel, which offers excellent value for money and is located away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The entire property is well-maintained, with a beautifully kept garden and spotless cleanliness throughout.

The staff were kind and helpful. However, apart from the reception, most of them didn’t speak English well, which led to a few awkward moments — especially during dinner when we tried to clarify which dishes were gluten-free. That said, after a few attempts, the staff went out of their way to accommodate us, even offering to prepare something special when needed. While allergens are marked on the buffet, the labels were often misleading.

At breakfast, there was a separate gluten-free basket with products from a local bakery — a nice touch, though unfortunately the quality of these items was poor. The breakfast selection was the same every day, offering the usual items. Dinner was more varied, tasty, and dishes were constantly replenished.

The cocktails at the bar were a highlight — very well made and delicious.

The location is quite remote, so walking to the beach or town center is not really an option. However, the hotel offers a free shuttle service, which was very convenient. There is no private parking, but a free public lot is available next to the hotel, and street parking was easy to find even in June.

Rooms were well-equipped, the bed was comfortable, and even the most affordable rooms offered beautiful views of both the ocean and the mountains. The pool area is great for relaxing, with plenty of sun loungers available.

Overall, while there were a few shortcomings, they were minor compared to the value we received for the price. Highly recommended — as long as the distance from the city...