Hotel Green Golf Resort

The Green Garden is situated in a quite area of the southern resort of Playa de las Americas, right in the middle of the Golf Las Americas course. The immediate vicinity of the hotel holds nothing of note. Both the town centre and the closest beach (Playa Las Vistas) are around a 15-20 minute walk away. You will almost certainly find a car parking space outside the hotel, however, if not, then one of the surrounding roads should provide more luck. The island's southern airport is just 11 miles away while the northern airport lies 49 miles away by road.

The Green Garden is part of a small group of hotels in Tenerife comprising the Oasis Golf Resort and the magnificent Royal Garden Villas. Of the three hotels, the Green Garden is situated in the middle in terms of welcoming children. It is geared up to welcoming either couples of families of three. The hotel's slogans of 'Be happy' and 'Happy holidays' encapsulate the atmosphere and the sense of fun that is sought, and achieved, by the management.

You can tell from the spotless and well-maintained exterior of the Green Garden that this is a very pleasant hotel. Once inside from the palm-lined streets you will be welcomed by both smiling faces from behind the reception desk and, if there is an arrival of kids, an all dancing, all singing oversize teddy bear. Both of these things get your holiday off to a great start and set a standard below which the rest of your holiday is unlikely to dip. The small lobby comprises a seating area to the left and then stairs leading up to the main core of the hotel. The pool area is an extremely agreable place to be, the main pool being divided in two by a footbridge at the centre of which is a greenery-covered gazebo and seating. It's true to say that there isn't heaps of space around the pool for sunbathing but it is clean and due to the low-rise buildings you can cram in hours and hours of bronzing looking up at the alms and the sun drenched terracotta apartments. Also at the pool is a small jacuzzi, a kids pool and a massage cabin. Just opposite the pool is the restaurant at which at night there is some form of entertainment including a minidisco followed by either bingo, song and dance or a professional show brought in from outside. The setting is perhaps not the best we saw, but it certainly pleased the crowd. The animators who organise the entertainment put on activities during the day for everyone such as shuffle board, aqua gym and ping pong tournaments. While the hotel doesn't have its own sports and wellness centre, guests do have access to the Aqua centre, about a 15-minute drive away on the free shuttle bus. One of the best facilities in the south of the island it has several pools, a gym and a host of wellness treatments. Admission is 27? for two people or 40? for a family of four. (Note that guests have to make their own way back from the centre, there not being a shuttle bus for the return journey). The kids club only operates during the summer holidays for Thomas Cook guests. Other amenities at the hotel include a mini market, an arcade room, complimentary wifi in public spaces, coin-operated PCs and free scuba diving lessons in the pool several times per week. Guests can also take advantage of a 10% discount on the green fees at the surrounding golf course. The public areas of the hotel are very well maintained and are decorated tastefully. The hotel is quite compact too so getting around is a piece of cake.

The hotel is made up to 100 one- and two-bedroom villas, but they can sleep up to four and six people respectively. They are also deluxe versions of each type of villa, with small differences such as the décor, the presence of flatscreen televisions and larger showers in the bathrooms. The generously-sized main bedrooms are well appointed with a wallpaper-covered feature wall, a beautifully dressed double bed and attractive furniture including bedside tables, drawers and a chair. The en-suite bathroom has a bathtub with shower, a double marble-topped rustic vanity, a bidet and a few toiletries. The second bedrooms (for the villas that have them) include two single beds and their bathroom is located in a separate room next door which has a shower cubicle and single sink. All villas have a fully equipped kitchen including crockery where those staying on a self-catering basis have everything they need to sustain themselves for the duration of their holiday. The living areas of the villas area quite spacious and have seating at the kitchen bar, a seating area with couch and armchairs around a coffee table and a small dining table with four chairs. All villas have either a generous terrace or balcony and furniture or both in the case with the two bedroom villas. The hotel has one room for guests in wheelchairs, however they are not fully adapted with a walk-in shower.

The hotel has one main buffet restaurant open all year round and a second à la carte option serving an international menu open during the winter season only (this latter offers a 50% discount to those staying self catering). The buffet restaurant is located next to pool area and is a covered, open-air affair. The setting is one of the more agreable ones we saw and has two small serving stations at which all three meals are served. The breakfast buffet is made up largely of hot food and there is not a huge choice for vegetarians, while at lunch and dinner while the quality of the food is high, the choice is somewhat limited. Several days a week there is a themed meal accompanied by decorations linked to that theme as well as staff uniforms to match. The menu rolls on a 14 day cycle meaning you will never have the same thing twice. Each restaurant has its own bar, the one in the buffet restaurant serving as the pool bar during the pools' opening hours.