If you’ve got a window seat on the right side of the plane landing at Tenerife South airport, it’s impossible to miss the terracotta labyrinth of Barceló Tenerife. This massive, 272-room hotel feels like a small town, with low buildings clustered around plant-filled courtyards and a river-like pool snaking through its centre. Once checked in, you’re given a map of the place, like you would at a zoo or a theme park. There are restaurants and bars, hairdressers and shops, a nightclub, a volleyball court, a climbing wall, a lake, even an on-site environmental reserve. In other words, there’s everything you could possibly need here from an all-inclusive – and then some.
Why stay at Barceló Tenerife?
Barceló Tenerife is on the island’s sun-soaked southern coast, and like many of the chain’s properties, it’s beautiful in a way that makes every effort to preserve its natural environment, rather than impose on it. Between clay-coloured buildings (all of them low-lying – you won’t find towerblock hotels in this corner of the island), there are cacti-studded patios and palm tree-filled courtyards. Interiors are shady and calm, full of rattan furnishings, wood and ceramics. But Barceló Tenerife is as fun as it is relaxing – this is an all-inclusive, after all, with families and couples catered to with a huge breadth of entertainment, adventure and food and drink offerings.
What are the rooms like at Barceló Tenerife?
The 272 rooms here range from poolside doubles and spacious family suites to sea-facing ‘Royal Level’ rooms. Decor is refreshingly simple, matching the shapes and colours of the exterior – earthy browns, beiges and clean whites, with exposed hydrotherapy bathtubs and hanging steel lamps. You have all the mod cons and luxuries of any above-par hotel, including a massive TV, a coffee machine and a suite of Rituals toiletries. Our Royal Level room came with a large terrace, affording far-reaching views over the resort and the sparkling expanse of the Atlantic. Early sleepers should take heed that the evening entertainment space is quite literally right under your nose here – prepare to be kept awake by ‘Sweet Caroline’ sing-alongs.
What is the food like at Barceló Tenerife?
Drago Buffet Restaurant serves as the main dining space for guests and, as such, you can expect it to be busy at peak breakfast and lunch hours. It’s an above-decent hotel buffet, with a bit of everything for everyone, including a stacked dessert station at dinner and made-to-order omelettes, pancakes and the like at breakfast. Royal Level guests have access to their own calm little buffet space with a separate menu. Two à la carte restaurants – the Tuscan-inspired La Dolce Vita Trattoria and Spanish rice restaurant Arrazonte – offer a fancier dining experience. You can’t go wrong with the huge Valencian-style paellas at Arrazonte, perfectly sticky and smoky, along with a nice drop of Canarian white. We were slightly less impressed with the sadly bland papas arrugadas (you’ll find the best versions of these famous Canarian potatoes in a local guachinche – hotels and posh restaurants just don’t do ’em right).
What’s the service like at Barceló Tenerife?
No complaints. You’ve got champagne on arrival; a warm, chatty welcome from reception staff and porters; restaurant workers who are just the right amount of attentive and more than happy to divulge their recommendations; and the vast entertainment crew is headed up by unbelievably chirpy staff who seem to genuinely love their job, whether leading a dance class with kids or a sangria-making session with adults. The people who work here, largely locals, are the reason the place feels so fun and laidback. Royal Level guests have the added advantage of premium-level service, particularly poolside: towels fetched for you, sunbeds hunted down and reserved, drinks ordered via QR code.
What are the pools and facilities like at Barceló Tenerife?
With several swimming pools, a boating lake, an entire on-site eco-reserve accompanied by an underground immersive museum, plus a volleyball pitch, climbing wall and plenty more for sporty types, there’s more than enough to do at Barceló Tenerife to make up for its (comparatively) quiet location. The tiered pools that meander through the resort’s centre are, unsurprisingly, the focal point. The most popular bit is the lower-level pool – it’s not maximum levels of sunbed-hogging holidayers, as the hotel doesn’t allow ‘towel bagsying’, but it’s busy. Up top is a tranquil adults-only pool, and Royal Level guests have access to an exclusive pool area with waiter service. By far the hotel’s best offering is its guided tours of the San Blas Environmental Reserve, exclusive to hotel guests, where you can get to know the island’s volcanic landscape and watch out for local birdlife.
What’s the area like around Barceló Tenerife?
Barceló Tenerife is on a quiet patch of the island’s southern coast – winter sun is pretty much guaranteed here, if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s almost right next door to the airport and on the periphery of Golf del Sur, one of Tenerife’s best golf courses. The hotel sits along a rocky coastline overlooked by a pretty coastal promenade, which makes for a great setting for walks and runs. While it’s tucked away from the main beachy resorts of Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje, there’s a small black-sand beach nearby. The nearest town is Los Abrigos, which has some lovely seafood restaurants, and a bus stop outside the hotel will take you to buzzier beachfronts. But really, you’re in a bit of a bubble here – Barceló Tenerife is part of a nature reserve, after all, so it’s generally quite quiet.
Why you should book a stay at Barceló Tenerife
It’s not easy for a hotel to find that middle ground between an upmarket stay for adults and a family-friendly vacation spot, but Barceló Tenerife nails it. There’s everything you need for a sunny family holiday, but the hotel’s clever usage of space and many calm, adults-only areas make it perfect for couples and friends, too. The unique draw here is the place’s attentiveness to its natural surroundings: alongside its environment-first design, eco-credentials include stuff like 100-percent recycled cups and compostable straws. All in all, this is a sophisticated all-inclusive that offers big bang for your buck.
DETAILS
Address: Avenida de Greñamora, Urbanización San Blas, 1, 38639 Oasis del Sur, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
Price per night: Standard rooms from €136; ‘Royal Level’ rooms from €265
Closest transport: Tenerife South airport is an 11-minute drive
Book now: Via Booking.com