We have always stayed in the north of Tenerife, cooler and greener, but decided to try the Aguamarina Golf Hotel in the south of the island this time. It is a good choice, in area referred to as San Miguel but actually on the coast Golf del Sur, so an ideal location to walk the coastal path in either direction from rear entrance of hotel. This is a small centre, a few shops and restaurants especially along the coast, so you need to walk on a bit (eastwards) to San Blas village and Abrigos town a bit further along.
The Aguamarina Hotel is comfortable, clean, tidy and our room on 4th floor overlooking the pool gave us sunshine on the balcony most of the day and a sea view. But it is noisy until midnight, overlooking the outside area of the bar, with constant music all day – music not so bad as you can do your own Zumba session in the privacy of your own balcony!
It is self-service restaurant with a wide selection of foods including a chef cooking fresh meat or fish each day. There are several different vegetable dishes and plenty of fresh fruit, so good for vegetarians or vegans. The waiter brings all the drinks to your table – wine by the glass or bottle, beer, soft drinks and bottled water. We liked that bottles of water are free to collect from the bar in the morning and evening.
This bar is the central point for most things throughout the day, with snacks and drinks until 11pm then you pay for extra drinks which we thought was very reasonable. Excellent bar staff. There is a free shuttle bus to Los Cristianos 3 times a day. You need to pre-book but it is a good service, especially the 11.00am bus there and return at 5.15pm so plenty of time to explore.
The bus to Abrigos is from the stop on the street above our hotel, walk through the Wainter Gardens opposite and turn right. It is a one-way street so the same bus number can be in either direction – for example, Cristianos or Abrigos. It is a good walk back to the hotel, around 3 miles and it is a rough shingle path for part of the way so wear some stout shoes! When we arrived February 12th, it was 25-32⁰ so far warmer than normal for a couple of days so we needed high-factor sunscreen as the breeze kept it cooler.
We regularly left the hotel shuttle bus at Los Americas then walked back to Los Cristianos for the shuttle back, easy walking with lots of shops, restaurants, bars and hotels to visit. Walk a few miles along the busy prom and enjoy excellent tapas meal (8 dishes) at €18 for two plus a bottle of wine at €13. If you were choosing this resort, I think a sea-front hotel would be good.
The bus station is central point for all directions, so we bought a Bus Card between us to try all the options during our 4-week stay including a very long journey up to the north of the island.
Towards the end of our stay, we visited the local Teppinyaki Japanese Restaurant (see review) and booked the Tall Ship Dining Experience, at €49 each it is not cheap but only up to 16 guests at a time (see review).
To sum up, the Aguamarina Golf Hotel is a great location and facilities are very good. Unfortunately, it is geared towards French guests rather than English-speaking (or even Spanish speaking) guests, including the entertainment. All the information you receive when you arrive is in French with a few sentences here and there in English. It even suggests that you join in the activities even if they are only in French!
There is only one Bar, so it is very noisy every evening with children running around and shouting, music, and some limited entertainment. However, it does end by midnight but there is no chance of a nap during the day because of the constant Pool music, exercises and dance. On the good side, there is a free glass of bubbly at the Captain’s Cocktails at 11.30am on a Monday, although this presentation is only in French too!
