by Telegraph Travel experts, The Telegraph, December 19, 2018
An expert guide to the best hotels for Canary Island holidays, including the top resorts, boutiques and budget hotels in Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro.
Tenerife
The weather is the number one reason why most people flock to Tenerife’s shores, to enjoy almost guaranteed sunshine all year. Family-friendly and just a four-hour flight away, it is consistently one of Britain’s top winter sun destinations. Most holidaymakers head to the south-western resorts of Los Cristianos, Playa de las Americas and Costa Adeje where the bulk of the island’s holiday accommodation is located. Although it’s hard to see the join between the two resorts, Los Cristianos is quieter than its neighbour and attracts a more mature visitor.
Where to stay
Royal Garden Villas & Spa Tenerife, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
An oasis of exquisite design and perfumed luxury with on-site gourmet cuisine, Royal Garden Villas combines the privacy and exclusivity of a deluxe villa with the service and facilities of a boutique hotel in an exotic garden setting. This is possibly the most elegant and luxurious accommodation on Tenerife. 29 one-, two- and three-bedroom villas, Asian in style, lie in magnolia and jasmine-scented gardens in cloistered seclusion above the coast. Read expert review From £277per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
The Ritz-Carlton, Abama Tenerife, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
Designed to resemble a North African citadel with sandstone turrets rising from a luxuriant garden of tropical flora and palm trees, the property covers a vast surface area yet the design creates a sense of intimacy and privacy by incorporating hidden gardens and quiet corners. It's positioned in splendid isolation on a clifftop above banana plantations on the south-west coast, overlooking the neighbouring island of La Gomera. Read expert review. From £234per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
Gran Canaria
Forever in the enormous shadow of its neighbour to the west, Tenerife, Gran Canaria is nonetheless never so eclipsed that it cannot provide temperatures around the 20 degrees mark as March makes the rest of Europe shiver. In truth, the third-largest Canary Island is a fabulous destination. The capital Las Palmas offers elegant culture at its Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno – but saves its best for the beach in the shape of Playa de las Canteras.
Where to stay
Lopesan Villa del Conde Gran Canaria, Spain
9Telegraph expert rating
Set apart from Meloneras’ shopping centres, you would be forgiven for thinking Villa del Conde isolated - until you realise, as its name suggests, that it’s a village in its own right. There's a plaza that feels more like a square, especially during a concert by a covers band that saw children climb up onto the stage for a better view. Accommodation blocks mimic traditional Canarian houses, with a painstaking attention to detail. Read expert review. From £193per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
Grand Hotel Residencia Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, Spain
9Telegraph expert rating
Grand by name, grand by nature; the five-star Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia has accommodated both politicians and rock-stars, including the likes of Angela Merkel and Bruce Springsteen. Nothing’s higher than two stories - a look patented by artist and architect César Manrique, in an attempt to preserve the traditional feel of neighbouring Lanzarote. The hotel is located on the outskirts of Maspalomas. Built on an ancient palm grove, it lies adjacent to the area’s Charca, a lagoon attracting migratory birds travelling from Europe to Africa. Read expert review. From £409per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
The best hotels in Gran Canaria
Lanzarote
This may surprise you, but Lanzarote is turning into a rather upmarket destination. Don’t expect anything glitzy or flashy though; this quiet revolution is all about staying in chic, eco-friendly places and spending your days cycling, walking, surfing or sampling the local wines. All over the island, you see the influence of the visionary artist, architect and environmentalist César Manrique, who saved Lanzarote from the ravages of rampant development. His extraordinary creations accentuate the unique geology of the island and are now its main tourist attractions.
Where to stay
Princesa Yaiza Suite Hotel Resort Lanzarote, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
Popular with families, this stylish five-star hotel complex, next to Dorada beach in Lanzarote’s prime resort of Playa Blanca, has sweeping sea views towards neighbouring islands. Rooms are well-designed and spacious, and facilities include eight restaurants, a large spa and well-equipped children’s activity area. There are eight restaurants, including three buffets, serving local, international, Italian and Mexican food. Read expert review. From £146per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
Arrecife Gran Hotel & Spa Lanzarote, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
A refreshing antidote to Lanzarote's sprawling amassment of mammoth resorts, this more modest-sized hotel has garnered the respect of guests for its stylish sea-view rooms, tasty breakfasts, and restaurant, which sources its produce locally and has proved a hit with the locals too. Rooms on lower floors with city views get a close-up look at the architecture of Arrecife, or you can upgrade to a sea-view room and request a high floor. Read expert review. From £83per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
Fuerteventura
Golden drifts of sand, like fine-spun silk, ripple towards the sparkling shore. Goats are herded across arid plains dotted with windmills. And long-dead volcanoes, scarred and deformed, pierce the cloudless sky. Just 50 miles from Saharan Africa, the island of Fuerteventura has a breathtaking, barren beauty. Despite the volcanic terrain, it has some of the best beaches in the Canary Islands – miles and miles of largely deserted sand. Guaranteed sunshine and negligible rain make it a great year-round destination, and there is no time difference after the four-hour flight.
Where to stay
Gran Hotel Atlantis Bahía Real Fuerteventura, Spain
9Telegraph expert rating
Resembling a sultan’s palace, Fuerteventura’s standout hotel bridges the gap between Corralejo and nearby North Africa. The five-star Grand Luxe rating makes Gran Hotel Atlantis Bahía Real the only superior luxury hotel on the island. The Balinese beds at the Coco Beach Chill-Out club are a superb place to relax, with complimentary fresh fruit and cocktails. Read expert review. From £120per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
Avanti Hotel Boutique Fuerteventura, Spain
9Telegraph expert rating
This boutique establishment started out as rather more modest accommodation when it opened as Corralejo’s first hotel in 1969. These days, following a 21st-century makeover, it graces the pages of style magazines, representing Fuerteventura at its most fashionable. With its whitewashed exterior and interior, Avanti wouldn’t look out of place on a Greek island. The vibe here is infinitely more Mediterranean than Atlantic. Read expert review. From £103per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
The best hotels in Fuerteventura
La Palma
The Spanish know La Palma as La Isla Bonita: “The Pretty Island”. And she is indeed a beauty. Plentiful panoramas represent one good reason to visit: of volcanic cones and rocky barrancos (ravines), lush forests, terraced hillsides studded with rainbow hamlets, craggy coastlines and the limitless, cobalt Atlantic. You’ll find another two at the end of your legs. Because walking is the big draw on the north-westernmost Canary Island: laced with more than 600 miles of waymarked footpaths, it’s a treat for trekkers.
Where to stay
La Palma & Teneguía Princess La Palma, Spain
9Telegraph expert rating
Traditional Canarian style, sub-tropical splendour, and quite possibly the best hotel swimming pool complex in the archipelago, on the sunny, south west coast of Fuencaliente. The ideal choice for quiet couple or family getaways. The hotel lies in easy reach of the San Antonio volcano and the volcanic trail that leads to the lighthouse and salt flats at the southern tip of the island. Read expert review. From £111per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
Hotel San Telmo La Palma, Spain
9Telegraph expert rating
A peach of a boutique hotel in a converted 17th-century house in the oldest part of Santa Cruz de La Palma. There's impeccable style, personal attention from the owners and a lovely breakfast in the heart of this architecturally resplendent town. Eight individually-styled rooms are set around a floral central patio and rooftop terrace in a delightful blend of contemporary and tradition. Small but perfectly formed, the building has been lovingly restored and converted to retain its original character. Read expert review. From £70per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
La Gomera
The pint-sized La Gomera is one of the archipelago’s best-kept secrets: unspoilt and picture-book perfect, with rough and ready palm-studded beaches, sleepy mountain villages of marzipan-coloured houses, banana plantations, eye-watering ravines and a stunning rainforest of ancient laurel trees. With its own microclimate, it’s a walkers’ paradise.
Where to stay
Hotel Gran Rey La Gomera, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
The only hotel located directly on the seafront in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera's longest established resort on its sunny, south coast. Its crowning glory the sun-trap roof space with swimming pool, terraces, bar, lounge and dining room that afford 360 degree vistas over the mountains and across the ocean to the neighbouring islands of La Palma and El Hierro. Read expert review. From £70per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
Hotel Rural Casa Los Herrera La Gomera, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
A warm and welcoming rural boutique hotel in a converted 19th-century merchant's house in the small town of Hermigua. Expect individually styled rooms, original fittings and fixtures and a sumptuous breakfast, all within a stone's throw of good restaurants and great hiking trails. On the roof, with views over the church square to the mountains beyond, is a swimming pool and solarium with sun loungers, and seating area. Read expert review. From £53per night. Rates provided by Booking.com.
El Hierro
Lanzarote has its extraordinary lava fields, Tenerife its towering volcano of Mount Teide and La Palma the cavernous crater of the Caldera de Taburiente. But if you want sheer scale, the sense of being a fly on a green wall, you have to come to El Hierro, the Isle of Milk and Honey, the smallest and most westerly island of the Canarian archipelago. The stupendous gulf (El Golfo) is all that remains of the inner wall of a volcano crater too mighty even to imagine.
Where to stay
Parador de El Hierro El Hierro, Spain
9Telegraph expert rating
Romantic, private colonial charm and contemporary comfort combine in this elegant parador set between mountains and sea, on the island that was once considered the end of the world. A more complete getaway would be hard to imagine. Low-rise, whitewashed walls with traditional wooden balconies and extensive, volcanic stone terraces, all set within sub-tropical gardens on the edge of the ocean, provide Colonial charm and contemporary comfort. Read expert review. From £80per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
Hotel Balneario Pozo de la Salud El Hierro, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
A small and friendly spa hotel that uses mineral-rich waters from an 18th-century spring, the Balneario sits amidst volcanic lava between towering cliffs and the ocean's edge on the remote and unspoilt island of El Hierro. Outside, extensive terraces of black, volcanic stone, and planted beds of black volcanic picón surround the main building and descend to sea level in a series of terraces and walkways. Read expert review. From £57per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
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