⭐ A Great Location, Lovely Rooms, but the Food Was a Huge Disappointment!
We recently stayed at Hotel AF Valle Orotava in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, and unfortunately, our experience was very much a mixed bag.
THE POSITIVES 🌟
First of all, the location is fantastic! Perfectly situated for the town centre, with plenty of lovely restaurants, bars and shops nearby. The hotel itself is clean, modern and well presented, and the rooms are spacious. We paid extra for a sea-view room, which was absolutely lovely, and the daily housekeeping was an added bonus.
The rooftop swimming pool and sunbathing area are excellent, with lovely sun loungers and a great place to relax. However, one feature I particularly loved was that the rooftop area doesn’t open until 10am. The lifts and stairway access are restricted until then, preventing guests from reserving sun loungers with towels at the crack of dawn. What a brilliant idea! Other hotels really could learn from this.
A special mention must go to Oscar on reception, who was incredibly helpful, attentive and a genuine pleasure to deal with. The lifeguard at the rooftop pool bar was also very friendly and welcoming, although unfortunately I didn’t get his name.
NOW FOR THE DISAPPOINTMENTS… 😬
We booked half board, and honestly, what a waste of money!
Breakfast was extremely disappointing, with a very limited selection. On two days I managed to have toast, but on the other mornings we gave up and went to a local bar for breakfast instead. Thankfully, the lovely Spanish people and their hospitality made that a much more enjoyable experience!
And then there’s the evening meal… where do I even begin?
The food was lukewarm, unappealing and, in our opinion, absolutely dreadful. We ate in the hotel twice during our stay and decided we simply couldn’t face it again. For the remainder of our holiday, we ate out at the many lovely restaurants nearby. We were so glad we had that option!
To make matters worse, you even have to pay extra for water with your evening meal. When you’ve already paid for half board, this just adds to the frustration.
To put it into perspective, the evening meals were so poor that I wouldn’t have wanted to serve them to anyone, let alone recommend them to fellow holidaymakers. I’d sooner have taken someone to McDonald’s! 😂 That really says it all.
THE EVENING ATMOSPHERE 🍹
Another disappointment was the complete lack of entertainment. The downstairs bar was practically deserted in the evenings, with no staff readily available, meaning we had to ask at reception for assistance. It certainly wasn’t the lively, welcoming atmosphere you might hope for when returning to your hotel after a day out.
Some staff members also struggled with English, which occasionally made communication difficult. However, I must stress that Oscar was outstanding, and the friendly lifeguard deserves recognition too.
MY FINAL VERDICT
Hotel AF Valle Orotava has so much going for it: an excellent location, modern and spacious rooms, cleanliness, lovely sea views and a fantastic rooftop pool. The sunbed arrangements are particularly well thought out, and there are plenty of wonderful restaurants nearby.
However, the dreadful standard of the food, the limited breakfast choice, the extra charge for water, the lack of evening entertainment and the absence of readily available bar staff really let the hotel down.
We came away feeling that our money would have been much better spent booking bed and breakfast, or even room only, and enjoying the excellent restaurants in Puerto de la Cruz instead.
It’s such a shame because the hotel has real potential, but the food and evening experience need significant improvement to match the standard of the accommodation and location.
Would I stay here again? Possibly, because of the location, rooms and rooftop pool, but I would certainly not book half board again!
A hotel can have beautiful rooms and a fantastic location, but when the food is this disappointing, it really does take the shine off the holiday. 🌴
