| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
Jack from Strathclyde travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Thomas Cook
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2008 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff |  | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: This hotel was fantastic food was great and very hot lots of variety so even the fussy eaters would not be stuck for choice. Kids play area was great and animation team work very hard to keep kids happy. Pool area good water chute pleased the kids. Pink Panther pub is worth a visit only 1.50 euros a pint and food is lovely as is central station bar opposite burger king great play area for kids while you relax. We stayed at La Siesta year before but this hotel was far better food wise. Will definately return to this hotel.
Click here for more information on this hotel, resort and region
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susan from elgin travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
airtours
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: We booked this hotel on the strength of the reviews posted here. We were not disappointed, we had a fantastic holiday. I found the positive reviews accurate, the food is amazing, the staff attentive and the hotel is maintained to a very high standard. The hotel is definately more suited to the family/retired market, or for those wanting a relaxing break in a comfortable, good standard of hotel, the area round the hotel is fairly quiet. It is a short walk to the safari shopping centre with plenty of upmarket clothes and gift shops. We stayed one week and found it too short. We have booked to return at Easter with a family group. The first time we've been to the same place twice
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peter and jan from manchester travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
mytravel
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: previous reports we read said the cleanliness of the
rooms was exceptional,however our particular maid wasn't up to our expectations.Smears and marks on the mirrors and the balcony door that accumulated over the fortnight weren't cleaned,and some days the bathroom floor wasn't mopped,or the balcony floor swept. However,the rest of the hotel always seemed spotlessly clean.
Breakfasts were very good but got a bit repetitive,as is usually the case with spanish hotels.Our only complailt is we would have liked pancakes some mornings as an option to omelettes.
Dinners,though, were exceptional.there was always lots of choice,piping hot,well cooked,well presented and always tasty.Some of the best holiday food we've had in many years.The dining room itself was very clean,bright and airy with exceptionally polite and friendly staff.
We found the system of being escorted to a table by a member of staff very pleasant and saved on the usual scrum to find a place,as happens in most hotels.
The location of the Bitacora was very central to all the main shops and bars,though it wasn't as easy as wewould have liked to get to a sandy beach.the nearest ones were very rocky.
The hotel staff we couldn't fault.Everyone was very friendly and helpful,especially Julio and Luci in reception who helped us immensely.All the reception staff spoke very good english.
The quality of the entertainment was of the usual spanish hotel standard,knife-throwers,tribute bands,chines acrobats etc.,but what we liked was there was live music from 8.15p.m to 10o'clock when the main act was on,for a full hour,after which the live music was on again 'till midnight.
We also appreciated that the mini-disco was downstairs away from the main seating area so wasn't inflicted on people without kids like us.
The hotel did seem to have a bit of a problem with cockroaches,we even experienced them in our bedroom,but through all the problems that ensued the reception staff handled everything wonderfully.
Despite this,we wouldn't hesitate to stay at the Bitacora again.
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Bev Kirk from Barnsley travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
My Travel
on a family holiday.
There were 1 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was our second time at the hotel and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We had to be up early for a sunbed the first week but it was much easier the second week. There is lots of entertainment on during the day for adults and children alike which is great if you don't want to lie around the pool all the time.
Entertainment in the bar hall on an evening wasn't always the best but it's free and overall it was good fun. It's great for families as the kids have the run of the place without you worrying about them and the staff cannot do enough. We will definately be returning to this fab hotel.
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martina power from waterford travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
falcon
on a friends holiday.
There were 4 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: had a brilliant two weeks at the bitacora.everything from the rooms,food,pools,bar,staff was fantastic.the sunbed situation is a joke but hey if people want to get up early to get a sunbed let them be.plenty of space to sit at the grassy area by the pool bar.entertainment was pretty good but a bit repetitive.booked again for next year but slightly earlier before it gets to crowded.would recommend it to anyone..
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Phelan's from Leicestershire travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Airtours direct
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hotel food is without doubt the best I have come across in Tenerife. Good variety of food, there was always something that the kids would eat. The only moan was sometimes a long que to enter the restaurant at meal times.The bedrooms could do with a revamp. The hotel staff regulary cleaned the rooms very well.
For the size of the hotel the grounds were too small.
The result being that sunbeds were cramped in.
We upgraded for a pool view. At lunch time there is an outside bar serving burgers pizza's etc. Both food & service was very good here.We stayed for 2 weeks in July, & Overall a good hotel worth staying at. I did feel that the drinks were expensive, Beer ok at 2.70, but a pint of coke at 4 euros is too much to pay, considering you pay 60 cents for a coke at the supermarket.
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McGuire from Edinburgh travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
MyTravel
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Just returned from this hotel recently. Lovely room size. cleanliness was perfect except for dust above the headboard.
The cleaners even tidied up my own things. paired up shoes etc. pool side was safe and the animacion was very good. had activities for all ages. Good atmosphere beside the pool. The staff at the pool bar were always pleasant.
The staff in the resteraunt always had good banter with people of all ages. young children included. Always made a nice gesture when passing you.
I would recommend this hotel to anybody. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
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william henderson from glasgow travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
direct holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: we visited this hotel for two weeks in july, usually we are ready to come home after two weeks,but we could have stayed longer. The only things that we didnt like was getting up early to get a sunbeds and the dress code for evening dinner(3/4 length trousers and football tops is not my idea of smart dress)
The hotel rooms are smart but a little dated, the rest of the hotel is very clean, the report of cockroaches in this hotel from another post is utter rubbish he must have brought them in his suitcase, we seen some but not in the hotel.
We ate out every 2nd night as we do every year but the food in the hotel was first class.
The hotel is situated in the ideal position,close to the safari shopping centre(great places to eat above the shops)
The hotel staff are very friendly and cant do enough to help you.
Entertainment ............could do better.
We have already booked to go back in march
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Tracy from Devon travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
first choice
on a friends holiday.
There were 3 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel bitacora is a 4 star hotel and when you go in there it is very clean and tidy and looks nice,but the room was disapointing the furniture was old fashioned,and the colours in the room was awful,the hairdryer was so old fasioned it was like a hover,and very slow.
The staff were very polite and worked very hard.
The resturant was always busy with people rushing around and kids running around,i found the hotel to be more for familys with children,as there was kids everywhere,so it was noisy.
It was hard to get a sunbed.
The food was ok but not really what i would eat at home and half the time you don't know what your eating as they don't put a sign next to the food telling you what it is.
I wouldn't really choose to stay there again as it isn't for single people just families,plus the location was quite far out from the torviscas area,it's closer to los cristianos,so we had to spend alot of money on taxis and buses.
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Rebecca from Middlesbrough travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 6 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This is my third stay at this hotel and I have never been dissapointed.
The hotel is cleaned every day to an extremely high standard and is always spotless.
The food in this hotel is always amazing. A range of fantastic starters,main courses and the desserts are to die for.
The staff are always willing to help with any problems that may occur - Not that they'd be any!! All staff are very friendly and helpful at all times.
The location of this hotel is great, with the beach only a short walkaway and shops and restraunts just around the corner. It is set in the centre of all amenities and is near everything you need.
I have already booked to go to this hotel again this summer and can't wait.
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dave from stoke on trent travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
thomas cook
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff |  | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The Four Star Bitacora myths
Hotel Bitacora stay 15.06.07- 29.06.07
I have just stayed at this allegedly four-star hotel for 14 very Butlin’s like days. In all honesty, if this is a four-star hotel I am deluded. However, I will comment in this review on all aspects of the hotel and let you make your own mind up, however I will add my comments at the end.
Reception
Good start very efficient reception services as you would expect because this hotel likes taking money off you. Efficient currency exchange but had large commission payment of 3 % even on Euro traveller’s cheques.
Reception staff aren;'t very good at this hotel if a problem arises they refer you to the manager who only comes at a set time to deal with your problems. It really a guide to how good a hotel at how good they are at handling problems this hotel fails. Please see example below
•electric goes off and locks down the safe in your room you cant get it open until either 11am or 6 pm, they are the only time this hotel will solve your problems. I asked for the manager and when he arrived, he shouted at me and said “it was not his job to open safes”. I concluded it your job as you are the hotel manager He even told me it was my fault because you should not store mobile phones in your safe. Puzzling as I thought this was what a safe was designed to store expensive goods.
Rooms
Basic circa 1980 design and furniture to match. Double bed is fake its two single mattresses pushed together, this produces a lovely ridge to damage your back on
The room are not cleaned properly I had to pick up paper etc everyday. I complained to the manager and he told me it was not possible.
It states in the important hotel information booklet that sheets will be change twice weekly or if they are soiled. I cut my foot and got some blood on the bed(sheets) and it took the house keeping staff 3 days to change the sheets-Dirty or what!
Nevertheless, saying this. The rooms are Large.
14 inch TV in place with TV, you cannot watch as the signal or braking up.
Bathroom
Good- one area that was cleaned in the correct fashion. However, the shower is a joke it a cheap £1.50 pipe and head same as you would buy in Wilkinson’s. The water never gets hot unless you shower at none peak demand times like 3pm in the afternoon- I thought I was in a four- star hotel not some Greek pension. Even if you left the towels on the floor they were not changed, just once a week new ones were put in, we had to use our own towels as the hotel’s towels were polluted with sunscreen, as you would expect.
Dining room and Food
Not much criticism is here as the food was good and plenty of it. Only thing it was so bland. It was like eating in a school dining room where the head prefect told you where to sit and you got the one chance order to drinks, if you missed it you could never get the staff attention as they were or claimed to be so busy. I thought waiting staff were paid to wait and Serve you with drinks correct me if I am wrong please.
Pool area and sun beds
Pool area is fine and clean but space for sun beds is so limited. In addition, the demand for sun beds outstrips supply. I asked our rep about this and I got the reply that the hotel has 300 sun beds for 600 guests. That mean all the sun beds are gone by 7.45 in the morning, if you wish to get a quite spot (that a joke) or near the pool you need to @ the pool area by 7.00, some people sat there from 5.30 to secure their spot-sad or what!
Kids
This hotel is for families do not believe what the holiday companies tell you. Even SAGA holiday books this as an over 55 only hotel. In the summer months it populated by kids whose parents do not give a dam about what havoc they cause. Even down to knocking disabled holiday makers off their motorised wheelchairs, or taking delight in making everyones life a misery bar those who brought them into the world.
Bar and Entrainments
Straight out of Phoenix nights- British working men’s club entertainments of the worst kind. Out of control kids running everywhere as their parents get drunk on beer. So bad that at one point an act would not continue until the Kids were brought under control. Kids stay up till 1am. This bar is also full of cockroach’s full king size big ones.
Avoid this bar at all costs.
Overall
If you have children go to this hotel you will enjoy it, you can have a good holiday getting drunk, and letting your kids runs wild. You can sit there in the knowledge that you are upsetting all respectable hotel guest. Anyone else do not go unless you like the thought of an holiday spoilt by some one else kids.
But in any case this hotel is poor so poor, it really need some good management to sort it, the Volcano across the run is so much better run.
Four-star this hotel is not it meets none of the basic criteria now ,it shocking.
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Paul & Trish from Llanelli, South Wales travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Excel holidays
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: A fabulous hotel. This is my eleventh visit to Las Americas and always fancied the Bitacora and now I know why !! Spotlessly clean and food was excellent. I won't reiterate what other reviewers have said but just give some helpful advice to other travellers.
FOOD : Brilliant. Some queues at times but no real pattern and you are not too long anyway.
ROOMS : Superior rooms overlook pool and have a seaview above 4th floor. Room to be vacated by 12. You can book for additional time but it costs. There is a courtesy room which you book for 1/2 hour day of departure (or was it the day before ??) We didn't get access until we had 15mins left as the group before us never brought back the key !!
SPRING CARD : Ask for one as soon as you get there. You might get one before the end of your stay but I have not received mine by post three weeks after coming home.
POOL AREA:Usual game with the loungers. Unlocked at 8am and then it's all a scamble for position !! Plenty available though and there were at least 100 still stacked up during the day. Dangerous game by some who put a towel or similar on an umbrella and assume they have claimed their spot .
A pair of our European cousins set out their loungers at 8am.. weren't seen all day, returned at 4.15, picked up their towels and went !! Bit selfish but what's the answer ??
Pool restaurant is adequate and cheap.
ENTERTAINMENT: Guitarist/singer before 10pm when main act starts till 11..ish.
We watched 30 mins one night but departed for town afterwards, so no real comment.
GUESTS :Friendliest hotel I've ever been to. Never talked so much on holiday. Mostly British by the way.
STAFF : Very good
Bottom line is the Bitacora is top quality.....don't hesitate to book it.
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Mr & Mrs Jenkinson from Preston Lancashire travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
My Travel
on a friends holiday.
There were 4 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed at the hotel with our friends who had visited the hotel previously in 2006 and they had enjoyed their holiday so we decided to try the hotel based on their recommendation.This was our third holiday in Las Ammericas, all be it approx 10 years previously on our last visit
Unfortunately we didn't find the hotel to our liking based on the following points. The hotel, although rated 4 star, has seen better days. We had a superior room overlooking the pool, quite spacious but the furniture was dated. We had two single beds together making up a double that moved about during the night, not very comfortable. The TV had poor reception. The bathroom was adequate. There was about enough room in the wardrobes with plenty of shelves.
One tip if using the mini bar then don't place any personal drinks in there as you will be charged for using the fridge, we had a few days where we received a bill for water, you can empty the mini bar and use your own drinks but there will be a charge, other than that they will lock the bar if you tell them you will not be using it. We had cockroaches in our room on three occassions. appearing when we came back in the evening. The problem is that the room can only be sprayed and then outside contractors will come in the next day to do a proper clean. I would suggest that it took three cockroaches for the hotel to bring someone in. Our friends, in the next room, also had the same visitors on two occassions. We also had a bathroom flood one evening resulting from a blocked up bath drain pipe. It took 2 hours to unblock as there was only one maintenance person available and they where on another job. The house maid did mop the bathroom immediately and came back when the drain was fixed to completely reclean the bathroom and issue all clean towels, etc. The pool area is quite small compared to the size of the hotel and the sunbeds are packed very close together. You have to be up early to reserve a sunbed if you want to sunbathe around the pool in your favourate spot. The poolside snack bar is very good and reasonably priced, you can purchase drinks for round the pool during the day time. The main resturant is very spacious and we didn't have any problem finding a seat at any meal time, usually we went to 'Happy Hour' prior to our evening meal so the rush or early diners had settled down. The food was varied and had plenty of options both at breakfast and evening meal times. There is always a chef on hand if you want feshly cooked meat, steaks, fish, etc in the evenings or omelettes at breakfast. I did try this but you had a long wait if you wanted your steaks 'well done'. There is a 'Cavery', one chef cutting off pieces of meat, etc, but I didn't see one every evening. The staff, Resturant, Snack Bar, Terraces, Loung Bar, Maids, Waiters, in fact everybody, is very friendly and they are always willing to take the time speak and hold a conversation with, especially the waiters. The entertainment consists of usually a single artist on a keyboard or guitar from around 8.00pm to 10.00pm in the evening, followed by the main show, dancers or a tribute band or group. Overall the entertainment was typical of many of the bars in and around the resort. There is a piano bar but no piano player appeared during our holiday. We managed to request a 'Spring Club Card' that gives 10% discount when paying for any charges in the hotel, we paid once after one week and at the end of the holiday, you can also use the card in various shops/stores in Los Americas and receive the 10% discount, very handy!
As we went quite early in the season most of the residents where of the older age group so after the main show the concert room was empty and there was no atmosphere, most people went off to bed.
We wouldn't stay at the Hotel again unless the hotel had been refurbished.
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Ian Thurgood from Colchester travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
none
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2007 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: What a surprise! As mentioned elsewhere, it doesn't look great on arival and we were disconcerted by the older profile of guests. It's probably not a good hotel for families with youngsters and that makes it ideal for couples wanting a really relaxing time nw that the kids are off their hands.
Food was very good, unless you like salads. Paradoxically, the Bitacora Salad from the poolside bar was superb! Great choice of wines, red and white.
We thought the evening entertainment sounded awful but that didn't bother us as we sat on the balcony in the evenings or strolled around. To be fair, lots of other guests seemed to enjoy it so maybe we're just a bit too young at the moment.
The superior rooms are top class for a holiday hotel, everything worked and the room was kept very clean.
Reception and indeed most other staff were amongst the best we've encountered in Tenerife. We'd definitely go back there.
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Dot McKinney from Glasgow travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Globespan
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We arrived in the mid afternoon,and were booked in very quickly and efficiently by very pleasant reception staff.Our cases were taken up the stairs to our room by the security guy in the lobby,who we were to speak to
several times during our stay,he was a really nice man.
Rooms are very big and immaculate.Clean towels every day and the mini bar re stocked if you are using it.There is also a safe in the room which was large and held all our stuff.I think it was only about 2 euro a day.
The restaurant was downstairs from the reception and is easily accessed by a lift if you have any problems with stairs.
The food was absolutely brilliant with plenty of choice from soups right through to deserts.You can order drinks with your meals and pay for them on the way out.The only thing on the downside is at the busiest times in the morning and evening slight queues can form,but its not a major problem.
There is a card you can get from reception that allows you to join the hotel "club" idea,it can be used to get discounts in some shops and most important if you use it round the hotel and bars they also give you a discount on your drinks.They will always ask you if you want it charged to your room or pay cash.Cant say any more about the hotel or the staff or i would be here for weeks. Brilliant.
When you go out of the hotel and up to the road if you go left you will see the sister hotel called the Vulcano,if you go up past it and down to the right you will find loads of nice bars like the corner bar.
They are all great for snacks and beers.Also across from the corner bar there is a row of shops including the place to change your money,we found the guy in there to have the best rates in the area and commission free.
If you are coming down from the Vulcano and you dont stop at the corner bar(i know its very difficult) you will come out into the American shopping area.This place has to be seen to be believed..Armani Versace and rolex shops(and not a fake in sight).
Just across the road is the underground shopping centre.i have never seen so many digital cameras ipods and camcords in my life and the prices are fantastic, they were selling 8mp cameras for thirty and forty quid, I just wish I knew more about that kinda stuff and I would have bought loads.
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Bill from Manchester travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Travel Republic
on a singles holiday.
There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 11 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Without doubt this is a top quality holiday hotel with a quiet and reserved atmosphere.
The bedrooms are spacious and provide every facility - mini bar, safe, hairdryer,etc.- and are maintained in pristine condition. The bathroom literally sparkles and this standard is reflected in the bars, lounges, swimming pool area and the dining room.
The quality and varity of the food is exceptional perhaps the only slight downsides being the hot breakfasts (Why are HOT plates not provided?)and the dining room staff who appear a little 'reserved'. On the other hand reception staff were exremly friendly and helpful.
As with most Tenerife hotels, entertainment is poor overall. Much better to seek out the live entertainment in the many bars within a short walking diatance. Close by are a huge variety of different establishments - restaurants and bars catering for all tastes and pockets.
The centrality of the hotel means that the beach is only a short stroll away and it is pleasant to walk one way to Los Cristianos or the other way towards Costa Adeje. If required for trips further afield, there is an excellent bus service and taxis are easily available.
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Catherine from Dublin, Ireland travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Aer Lingus/Hotel Website
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: A thoroughky enjoyable stay at the Hotel Bitacora. This hotel is kept to a very high standard thoroughout. We stayed in a Superior Room as we felt getting the safe free of charge and a pool view would be worthwhile. Also on arrival there were two beautiful fluffy bath robes and little slippers left for us as a welcome gift. Also an arrangement of dried fruit - dates etc and two mini bottles of red wine. A lovely touch. The room was lovely, air conditioning keeping it comfortable even in hot weather. The TV had good variety of stations including BBC World, a movie channel, Eurosport and Sky sports, which was much appreciated to keep up with the Ryder cup. So it was a nice surprise for himself, who had debated the merits of taking the trip at all during the cup!! So thanks to the Bitacora there was one v happy sports enthusiast!
The swimming pool are kept clean and tidy and there was no major hassle getting a sunbed. Having to get up for breakfast also helps here.
Now for the food.. WOW. I never saw such a wonderful selection of beautiful food, every night a carvery, a grill sometimes of tender steaks, also a kiddies selection, so much more.. Also most night 4 types of potato!!
The desserts were fantastic. The breakfasts too were a delight. Was so impressed with the standard of the food. This in itself was enough to make me return. If you make dinners every day at home you will have such a good time with half board, particularly at this hotel. We never looked back, would be reluctant to go s/c again.
Breakfast was served till 10 and dinner between 630 and 930. I think another half hour longer would make a big difference however as it is a push sometimes to make the breakfast .. but then I am lazy!
The only let down for this hotel is the entertainment. When we stayed here there were mostly older people staying here of retirement age. Every night there was a guy with a keyboard playing tunes that you can imagine would suit a tea dance. The shows I didnt stick around for, and all in all the entertainment I felt was a huge disappointment as was focussed only on the older generation. Its a real shame and I would have been very disappointed if I had kids. It s pity they wouldnt get their act together regarding this as it really means going out every night down to town as there is not much around the direct area. Its not much of a walk though.
All in all would highly recommend this hotel food was second to none, standards are excellent. Enjoy!
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Kent Woolgar from Brighton travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Going places
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: I was aware that this hotel was in a good location from previous visits but trusted reports from this site when I decided to book it.
We were not disappointed either. The hotel does'nt look overly impressive when you first see it, not compaired to the likes of the neighbouring Vulcano. This should not deter you, the place is great.
It was the first time we have ever been on a half board basis, usually favouring our own eating choices. THE FOOD WAS AMAZING. The only thing to watch out for is your waistline. Every morning you can have freshly made omlette, cooked in front of you and all other types of english and continental breakfasts. The evening meal was the same with steaks and fish grilled in front of you and buffet dishes for every taste. The other bonus being that you could eat as much as you like. Unfortunately I took this as eat as much as you can and ballooned.
The pools were great and clean but no real shallow end. The depth is 1.4m all over and although my 7 year old can swim he was out of his depth and had to swim constantly. Thats the only thing to watch out for. He was too old for the kiddy splash pool but out of his depth in the other.
That said, we are going back again even if some of the evening acts were a bit pants. If you have any concerns about booking this hotel, dont. Its extremely good.
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gary and susan charnock from mold travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
first choice
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have been here 7 times now. This year we felt that the standards were starting to slip. This may be because there were too many kids.(Even the staff commented on the amount).
The Bitacora is a well run hotel which provides a good standard of accomodation.The bedrooms are spacious enough, have a good sized bathroom and the balcony is a fair size too.
Cleanliness here is second to none. Everywhere you go there is someone cleaning and it always smelled fresh.
The lobby area is now looking tired.The furniture was replaced in approx 2000 and with it being wicker it was starting to look tatty in places.It dosen`t help though when there are ignorant kids who leave their chewing gum stuck to the seats.
The restaurant is very clean,offers an excellent variety of food(fillet steak,sirloin,chicken,roast beef,pork, a variety of veggy meals,salads ,chips potatoes you get the gist)!!all of which is plentiful.There is fresh fruit, ice-creams,cakes all on offer.
The bedrooms now look dated, they need brightening up .They are kept clean, towels changed daily and bed linen changed 2-3 times per week.Pool view rooms give you a veiw of the pool, the sea in the distant and if you are lucky with the weather(it can be very hazy) a view of la Gomera.Personally, we would not want a room over looking the front of the hotel because you will be woken by the coaches dropping/picking up.The rear isn`t too bad although it does look out onto a disused parrot park which is all over grown and needs demolishing.
The entertainment is not too good.There are many ``Nanna`s``dancing about to a man on his organ.The shows, apart from two magic shows ,are too painful to watch.I really can not believe that the hotel pays the entertainment acts.This has been the same since we`ve been going ,so we do our own thing at night.
The staff here are second to none.Always happy to help,will ring for taxis,tell you anything you need to know locally.
Usually we visit this hotel mid June for two weeks.We
would not ever consider going in August again.Having said that,we are not sure we would go again until some money has been spent on doing up the lobby furniture and bedrooms.Although the food deserves a 5 star, the rest of the hotel is falling to a 2-3 star.
Also ,BEWARE!! The opening doors to the steps that lead to the pool will actually close whilst you are standing in them. My 11 year old didn`t realise this (and neither did we) and the doors came shut very quickly and trapped her face/head. Result was an enourmous bump on her head and a grazed nose .She is lucky her teeth didn`t get knocked out.Reception staff witnessed this and were very helpful towards us. I wonder how many times this may have happend?
Believe me ,SAFETY in tenerife is not top of the pile. In britain they would not get away with it.
The hotel is well situated.Excellent location.
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Davidson from Newcastle upon Tyne travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Airtours
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: I have been for the first time and I thought that it was fantastic.
The staff are very friendly at the hotel who help as much as they can. The cleanliness is the best I have ever seen.
The food was good and they had a variety of choices including roasts and fish.
There is many sunbeds so there is no problem in finding one. You don't have to get up early to find a bed.
The location is superb. There are many bars, shops and restaurants near the hotel. It is also not far from the beach.
The entertainment although was pretty poor in my opinion. Although there were several sporting activities for all ages.
I would recommend this hotel to you and I will go back soon.
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Craig Grindrod from Rochdale travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Direct Holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We arrived at the hotel at 2.30 pm after getting up at 2.00am so were understandably tired, especially the kids. Queued at check-in for 25 minutes only to be told that our room was not yet ready and to come back in half an hour.
Disappointing start but went and had a drink in the nice, spacious bar. Went back to reception and checked in, staff were very helpful and pleasant, our room was a 'superior' one on the 4th floor.
Very surprised at the size of the room as we had payed extra for the larger superior room. It was very small indeed for 2 adults a 13 yr old girl and a 9 yr old boy!
Consisting of 3 single beds and a single sofa bed.We had a view of the excellent,clean pools and the sea in the distance. The room was very clean and the maids cleaned it daily,there was also a small balcony.Fourth floor or above is the one to go for as he view is the best, lifts are a problem, there only being 3 and kids in the hotel keep ensuring that they stop on every floor. Yawn!!
However, staff are great, pools fantastic, food mostly very good(just a couple of let downs),and hotel is located not far from shops and beach.
Go out for entertainment though as the Bitacoras is not up to much. Also bar drinks are very pricey. All in all though its a very nice hotel and we would recommend it to anyone with a young family, although maybe the upgraded room was not worth the extra!
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liz cross from preston travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We went to this hotel in July 06. Hotel was very good, food good, staff very helpful in the hotel. The hotel has got 2 swimming pools which both pools are clean. One of the pools has got a slide on that was great fun.
We had a room with pool view this was very good looking out to the pool and the sea - room number 412.
We would come back to this hotel again.
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Sarah from Colne travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Direct Holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Booked this hotel after reading the reviews on here. What can we say absolutely fantastic holiday!!!! Food was excellent, the omelletes at breakfast were superb although you did have to queue a while as they were made to order. Cleanliness superb, childrens entertainment brilliant!!!
Do not think the upgrade to superior room was worth the money, as all you got was bathrobe and free safety deposit along with pool towels but the towels could be hired from reception for 1 euro per day. As the towels supplied free in your room were changed with the maid you could not use these on your sunbed until they had cleaned your room.
The only downside is the reserving of the sunbeds, which of course you have to join in with if you want a bed, 1st week they were unchained from 6.30 but thankfully this changed in 8.00am in the 2nd week.
Most of the guest were families returning year after year, as we porbably will do.
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Adrian Frearson from Stoke On Trent travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Airtours
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Just returned from two week stay first time at this hotel, we are very particular about quality but found the Bitacora an exceptional hotel for quality, cleanliness and attention to detail.
The rooms are large and exceptionally clean go for superior room overlooking the pool with free safe bath robes and free pool towels left in your room for next day we stayed in room 538 overlooking pool and sea and La Gomera any others you could be at rear overlooking disused abandoned restaurant and rear alleyway from shopping centre can be very noisy be warned.
Food excellent plenty of choice and fresh food cooked. Sun beds are an issue all taken by 9am typical. Pool large and warm, with separate children’s pool with large slide great fun. Hotel top marks no issue at all.
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gareth jenkins from blackwood travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
EXCEL
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel reception was an excellent first impression, spotlessly clean and shiny. Hotel staff were very friendly and spoke good English and were very willing to help when they could.
The room was quite large with a good view even though it wasn’t a view of the pool. We were 8 floors up right above the main entrance.
There was a great choice of food all very well prepared and all very good to eat.
The hotel entertainment was a little disappointing though, I think we only saw 3 really good shows, and they weren’t long enough, the other shows were dire.
The location is great , in off the main road and about a 20 minutes walk from the noisy bars and clubs.
There’s a nice little beach, you walk up to hotel Volcano (which you can see from Bitacora) and down the lane that runs along it , its about a 5 minute walk. There are also plenty of very nice shops (newly built complexes everywhere) to buy some great goods from.
The weather in our first week was quite overcast, but we still sat by the pool and caught the sun. The second week was boiling.
Sun beds were a little more tricky to get in the second week , not because the weather changed but you could see that the hotel had got that much more busy. Sun beds are chained up until about 7.30, and at that time there is usually a very big queue of people waiting to grab them.
The hotel is great, highly recommended, will definitely go again .
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Andy Blower from St Annes travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Thomas Cook
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The Bitacora was very professionally run and was exceptionally clean. During our stay, at least 70% of the guests were of Saga age. The food was repetetive and bland, although of a good quality.
Be prepared to reserve the sunbeds and line up for meals.
The rooms are very well proportioned and well furnished. The sat TV isn't very good so young families be prepared for aq dissapointment.
It is well situated, away from the club 18-30 rabble, which was nice.
Watch out for the touts, thesze people are ruining Tenerife by their constant pestering.
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L Kirby from Chelmsford travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
First Choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The standards in this hotel are fantastic. We have stayed half board in many other 4 star hotels around the world and this was certainly one of the best.
The food was excellent in variety and quality (be prepared to put on at least half a stone if you like cakes).
Staff spoke brilliant English and the bedrooms(although a little dated) were big and spotless. We had a superior room and I'm not sure it was worth the extra money as all you got was the safe included, free slippers and bathrobe to use, pool towels and a better view (although this was only overlooking the pool and other hotels)
If you are looking for a hotel with a bit of action...then this is not the place. The average age of the guests is about 65, many of whom have visited year on out for the past 10 years. The First Choice brochure suggests that this is a family hotel and there is good facilities for the children, but we went the week before half term and there were not too many kids...just old people. If your under 50, I really wouldn't suggest it unless you were going with another couple or group...during our time there we only met one other couple under 30 years old.
With all that said, the hotel did have exceptional standards and was in a nice location (the east side of the resort is much nicer than the middle part - around the Veronicas). If you are happy for there to be little atmosphere around the pool and venture out to the beach and resort for nightlife then this does serve as a good base.
p. s be prepared to get up at 7am to get a decent sunbed as you'll struggle after 8am. All the golden oldies are up and dressed putting their towels out at this time (although half of them don't get down to the pool until midday)...I went in my pyjamas and then back to bed for an hour or two and I don't think anyone noticed!!!!!
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Stevenson from Plymouth travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The standards are what you would expect from a 4 star hotel, rooms spacious, clean and comfortable. Food was excellent with plenty of variety and of a good standard.
Excellent location with plenty of bars and shops within easy reach and the whole area looks very modern and quite upmarket although as you walk towards the Veronicas it becomes much more tatty and tacky.
The pool area was clean and the pools themselves lovely although the lower pool was in the shade until about lunchtime.
The entertainment was generally pretty good in the evenings with some excellent shows but the entertainment for the children was a little lacking and our kids did get a bit bored although as we were only there for a week this was not a big deal but two weeks would have probably been a problem.
Beware of touts outside the hotel and surrounding areas who will try and give you lottery type tickets which you will be a winner but of course it is all a big con or they will pose as agents conducting surveys, we found the best way to avoid them was to just completely ignore them and dont answer any questions they ask you and they soon moved onto someone else, it was not a major problem but forwarned is foreamed.
The weather was a little disappointing as being so close to the mountain seemed to draw a lot of cloud down even though a few miles out to sea seemed clear and sunny, we went to Gran Canaria the previous year where we had much clearer sunnier weather.
All in all we would recommend this hotel but felt as a holiday it was a little overpriced and if you have children would suggest you stay somewhere with more on offer for them.
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John from Glasgow travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The room was large and clean. I like the settee and chair, It was good to sit on something rather than the bed.
My only complainte was that we were in room 133 right above the air condititioning generator which was quite noisy at night. The food was excellent. I only wish the breakfast that the omlettes started before 8am. Staff was very good.
Entertainment was not really our scene. We will be going back next year. Highly recommended.
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Dianne Gray from Belfast travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Direct holidays
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This is our second visit to this hotel and we will be returning again. We have been travelling to Tenerife two or three times a year for the past 11 years and this is undoubtedly the best hotel we have stayed in excellent staff.
Good food, beautiful surroundings and close to everything. Shops beach etc. We have recommended this hotel to our friends and they have returned with the same opinions as ourselves. Excellent
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CHRIS from Liverpool travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Independent
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 01 2006 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The only reason we went to this hotel was due to the postive comments on this board!
It did not disappoint when we arrived. Everything from the free taxi transfer, and the room and food was brillant. We were half board and could not recommend the food highly enough. There was a great selection(buffet style) but they also had chefs who would cook steaks etc for you on the grill.The breakfasts were good but not up to the great standard set in the evening.
All the staff were friendly and accomodating. Everywhere is spotless and the room was cleaned daily. We also appreciated all the English channels on the TV(Inc Sky Sports One) so we could watch all the footy matches going on!!
The entertainment was not to our taste(karoke) and tribute acts etc but there are plenty of bars/pubs about. The hotel bar itself was very nice (albeit a bit pricey!) I would definitely recommend this hotel to everyone and I will be making a return visit.
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jeanie from wigan travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
independant
on a couples holiday.
There were 4 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Speedy check in and very pleasant reception staff.
The reception area was very nicely decorated and very festive. the rooms very spacious and spotlessly clean, towels changed every day. Worth paying for pool view.
Food varied and plentiful,meats very nicely cooked and lovely desserts.
Superb location only few minutes to beach and easy access to Los Cristionos to the left and Torviscas to the right.
Staff very friendly if you reciprocate and very helpful.
Entertainment was ok early evening with dancing to a guy on an organ but got a bit boring later.
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lindsey blake from carlisle travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
fly globe span
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: When we arrived at the hotel we found the hotel staff very helpful! We did have a little trouble although they soon sorted that out.
Our bags were taken up to our room by a member of staff which also was helpful seeing as though we had taken a lot of luggage. We also arrived to a spotless room.
When we were looking round the poolside we found a waterslide and then we found a medium sized play area and tennis courts which were handy.
The whole of the family enjoyed their tea, it was amazing. Everything in the dining room was spotless.
We stayed in for the first night to see what the entertainment was like, as my children do not like to join in with the mini disco there was also a bar upstairs where there was some more entertainment a little bit later.
At night there is a little bit of noise but that depends whereabouts your room is.
I would advise you to take your own towels because in the morning there is hardly any sunbeds left.
The hotel is a perfect location, you've got a 5 min walk from the hotel to the beach and your not far away from the shops which was quite handy for me.
Overall I would definitely come again and would recommend it for everyone!
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Marie from Holywood travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Airtours
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel was lovely and the staff couldn't do enough for us. We paid the extra for a superior room and weren't dissappointed, we were on the 7th floor with a lovely view of the pool and towards Los Cristianos and we could also see in the distance La Gomera island.
Plenty of activities around the pool and also the pool area was spotless. People putting towels on sunbeds from 7.00am onwards but you get this at every hotel, I wasn't bothered as long as I got a sunbed (there were loads of them)
Games room with 3 pool tables (only 1 euro per game) and a few arcade games.
Happy hour in the main bar was between 6-7pm buy one drink get one free - felt they could have advertised this a bit better.
I would definitely go back to the Bitacora again.
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Norma & Kevin Lyon from Grangemouth travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Globespan
on a couples holiday.
There were 4 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was our 5th visit to this hotel and we were cetainly not disappointed.
The standards at this hotel are always improving. Rooms and all public areas are spotlessly clean. The food options are plenty and of a high standard. The location of this hotel is ideal, close to beach and on the flat for walking.
Once again the staff were all very helpfull and friendly. The entertainment has improved but there are so many bars in the surrounding area that there is more variety outside. We were on holiday with our friends who had never been in Tenerife before, but they were also very impressed by the hotel and resort and we will all definitely be back.
Sunbeds however can be a bit of a problem. We witnessed beds being reserved as early as 6am.
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karen cooley from leigh, lancashire travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
premier leisure
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The bitacora is a fantastic hotel, we usually stay at its sister hotel the Vulcano, but was not disappointed with the Bitacora at all.
Its is a lovely clean hotel, the food is excellent but the entertainment needs to be improved as it is really quite boring especially for the children.
All the staff were very polite apart from a few of the bar staff who were quite rude sometimes.
One thing that did annoy me was that it was very hard to get sunbeds, towels were left on beds and left there until late afternoon with noone on them, the hotel should put a stop to this like they do at the sister hotel The Vulcano.
The location of the Bitacora is great as its close to everything, shops, pubs, beach.
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Tracey from Sheffield travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
airtours
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was our first time at the Bitacora it is a very clean hotel and all the staff are friendly.
The food was excellent, with freshly made omelette's with a choice of filling for breakfast and a wide choice of hot or cold food at the buffet. The evening meals were good too with plenty to choose from. There's a carvery every evening and a chef cooking flamed grilled meat and fish something different every evening, fillet steaks, lamb chops, pork chops, chicken and all very tasty.
The hotel is situated in the best part of PDLA
The pool is a good size there's a slide in the smaller pool the only problem we found was you were not allowed inflatables or ball games in the big pool you had to go in the smaller pool which disappointed our 13 and 10 year olds. There are loads of sun loungers you will always get one no matter what time you go round the pool but if you want one at the edge of the pool side you have to put towels on the beds between 7.30 and 8.00.
The day time entertainment was ok not much to do for kids though volley ball water polo aqua aerobics for adults. We only stayed to see the evening entertainment once and that was very poor, the best entertainment was about 5mins walk away and plenty of it.
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Heather &Mark Gibson from Merseyside travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
direct holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have just returned after our 6th visit to this hotel with our 2 teenage daughters, and mum who was on here 9 th visit.
As always staff were very welcoming and pleasant- so nice to see the same staff year after year just shows what a pleasant and friendly enviroment they work in. We return year after year as do alot of our friends who we have met here over the years and become friendly with.
There is always plenty of choice in the dining room for breakfast and evening meal, and during then day the pool side bar has a variety of snacks -all of which i think between us we have sampled this year.
The pool area is cleaned down every evening amazing how much litter some people leave behind despite there being plenty of bins around pool!! They stack all sunbeds and chain them up until the following morning when they are undone around 7.30am.
The rest of the hotel also very clean with towels changed daily if required and bedding changed 3 times per week. I think in all the years we have visited i could count on 1 hand any cockroaches we have seen in hotel area.
Hotel is located close to a selection of bars with entertainment and hundreds of shops close by including mango (opposite hotel) and zara much to our daughters approval.
Evening entertainment has improved in the hotel this
year but it is never going to appeal to everyone but you can always relax in the bar instead.
With 2 teenage daughters they were only to keen to stay in the hotel during the evening and either play pool. Etc in the games room,go on the computers or quite simply sit and chat with others around the same age.
Daytime activities are varied from water volley, aqua gym , darts etc, but again some people are not to keen to remove themselves from the sun loungers to join in and meet other people and have a laugh.
And yes you have guessed we will be returning next year if not before.
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Mark Linley from Hemsworth travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Airtours
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Our family of four, with 2 children aged 9 and 11 have just returned from this hotel. Unfortunately we have experienced our worst holiday in Tenerife so far.
Initially, the Bitacora looked an impressive hotel. Shiny lobby floors, windows being constantly cleaned, plenty of indoor foliage and water fountains trickling away, it was quite relaxing. At approximately 7pm, after being 'shoved' through the door by the Airtours rep, we proceeded to check-in.
The guy on the desk swiped our passports, but our sons proved to be a little difficult, and would not swipe correctly. I joked with my wife that our son would have to stay somewhere else as his passport wouldn't register, to be met with a very stern faced man who was becoming increasingly frustrated with his attempts. We decided to stay quiet. Eventually we were checked-in, and we made our way to the room.
We were on the 7th floor, which was good because we had views over the pool area, gardens, and the sea in the distance. The room size was good, the fact that the kids beds were actually a sofa and a pull out bed wasn't. Considering we had paid £2800 to stay here, our money wasn't looking well spent. We emptied bags and cases, and went to find some food, as we were not offered dinner when we checked-in.
We returned later that evening to find a cockroach in our bathroom. Don't get me wrong, we understand they are a part of life in Tenerife, we just didn't expect to find one in this 'top quality' hotel. After calming the wife and kids down, we went to sleep.
Next morning we went to breakfast nice and early, at about 7.15am. We were a little disappointed to find the chef wasn't doing omelette's, and later found he didn't start these until approximately 8.30am. anyway, we ate, the food was ok, usual English breakfast with belly pork bacon, hash browns were quite cold. We then went to reception to get our 'free' pool towels.
Upon asking for 5 towels, the guy pointed to an empty luggage trolley behind the desk, and at the same time said abruptly '8 o'clock' and tuned his back on us. OK we thought, maybe it's a little early for him, we'll go to our room until 8 and then come down, collect some towels and go to the poolside. We returned to the desk at approx. 8.10, for another guy to tell us that the towels had not arrived from the laundry yet. We decided to go to the poolside, find some sunbeds, and return for towels a little later. What I saw on the terraces was unbelievable. Nearly every bed was 'reserved' with a towel - and it was only 8.15!! It turned out that the beds we found didn't get the sun until 11am. And to top it off, as we sat there a woman came out of the hotel with 4 fresh towels in her arms! So the first day eventually turned out ok and was warm.
That night there was a massive thunderstorm, and it rained very heavily. The next morning I had to be by the pool at 7am to get a sunbed in a good position. It was also still spitting of rain. The rest of the day was spent in the hotel bar, playing cards, as it rained very heavily until early evening. Apparently it hadn't rained in August in Tenerife for 30 years, so it was a bit of a novelty. We had dinner, which was ok, not anything special, plenty of choice for adults, 3 options for the kids which was a bit limited.
The next few days were spent around the pool, which became very crowded and noisy, with some kids playing quite ridiculous games (British Bulldogs) both on the very slippery tiles and in the pool itself, which meant you couldn't pop in for a quick dip. Some adults also joined in, which caused me to think these weren't really the type of clientele that should be here?
Drinks and snacks were expensive from the pool bar, so we ended up going over the road to the shop and buying from there.
Daytime entertainment for the kids was limited, and invariably included drawing, which bored our 2 kids to bits. Entertainment for the adults included water aerobics, which meant everybody, and I mean everybody, around the pool got to listen to the same music - it was too loud. Every now and again other activities would be advertised, but it was very dis-organised.
Breakfast and Dinner became very repetitive, with very little choice for the kids. We found most of the restaurant staff to be rude, interrupting conversations to clear plates away. Why they also had to whip plates from under your nose whilst you were still finishing your last mouthful was beyond me. There was a feeling of urgency that unsettled us, we couldn't relax, and one evening the waiter was so fast in clearing crockery and glasses he covered me in water, then asked if I was ok.
During the first week of the holiday our son developed an ear infection, closely followed by our daughter. This happened just after reports of something very undesirable being found in the pool. The lifeguard on duty attempted to stop the use of balls and inflatables in the main pool, but once he faced resistance from the louts messing around he just walked back to his position at the top of the water slide. He also didn't do his job of letting one child onto the slide at a time, and both our kids got hurt during the holiday. I reported this to reception, but nothing changed.
The location of the hotel is great for the beach as it's only 5 minutes away. It's not that good if you need to have an early night with the kids. Just over the road is the BUDA bar, which competes against the volume of the Bitacora entertainment, so in the room all you can hear is 'noise'. And it is very noisy. We were also kept up until 4am one night by music which seemed to be coming from within the hotel, although I think it was somewhere nearby.
Night entertainment is awful unless you like watching Flamenco dancing constantly. And why the animacion team have to hand out certificates to adults and kids at 10pm seems ridiculous - surely a more reasonable time would be 8pm, when the kids mini disco is on?
What really turned us off the staff was when my wife was sworn at by one of the waiters, asking some friends we had made if she was p**sed when she tried to tell him in broken Spanish that I had gone to our room to get some more money to pay the bill.
Previous reviews state that this hotel is spotless, and it's not. Corridors are laden with dust, the pool terraces are left untidy, and the crockery and cutlery is stained and marked.
Because we had paid for a VIP room, we got some extras. A couple of bathrobes, which were clean. A pair of slippers each, which are similar to the disposable ones you find in hospitals. A gift on arrival, which amounts to a quarter bottle of wine and a very small tray of dried fruits. We only had to pay 12 euros deposit for the safe. We got free pool towels i.e no deposit. There was a stocked fridge in the room, but you had to pay for any drinks consumed, and they were expensive. We also should have had a late checkout, but this didn't materialise as apparently you have to apply for a Spring card to get this benefit. We never got the opportunity as we never received an application form. So all in all the extra £200 was poor value for money, and I now wish I hadn't paid it, especially when I found that other families had paid around £1000 less than me for the exact same holiday.
People quote this hotel as being 'paradise'. It's not. We have been to Tenerife 6 times in the previous 4 years, and have had many varied experiences, but not once have we counted the days down to coming home like we did in the Bitacora. Maybe the staff were fed up because the place was busy with kids, I don't know, but they certainly weren't approachable. To see people reserving sunbeds at 5.30am I find ridiculous, and to have to get up at 7am while on holiday to get a sunbed is not my idea of a relaxing holiday.
There was no show-cooking in the restaurant, and the food was the same you will find in other 3 and 4 star hotels on the island. I paid more for this hotel because of previous reviews, but it didn't live up to expectations.
It's also now clear why the Hotel Bitacora hasn't won any awards since 2002.
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Claire & Terry Cox from Salisbury travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Firstchoice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: Just arrived back from the Bitacora and have had a great holiday - the food was fabulous with lots of choice. The Hotel Staff were all very nice and always there if needed. The location is very good just down the road from the beach and shops.. the only dissapointment we found was the evening entertainment for adults it was much better when we were last there in 2002. However we would go back again without a doubt because everything else was great.
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Beverley Speers from Kilkeel N Ireland travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Falcon
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: Having just returned from visiting the Bitacora hotel I would really recomend it to anyone looking for a truly brilliant holiday.
Food is excellent. Location excellent. Staff are really friendly and pool area great for kids with a waterslide for the children and adults alike.
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Lynn from Durham travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Airtours
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: Just spent two great weeks at this lovely hotel. It's in a really good location,five minutes from either the Patch or the Strip for evening entertainment and the same for a beach during the day. There are loads of shops nearby whether your budget is economy or designer label.
The room was kept spotless as were all the public areas. Staff were probably the best we've encountered in any hotel in the area. You got the feeling that you could ask for anything and they would try their best to meet your requirements.
The room was spacious although the decor was quite bland. The air conditioning was a bit noisy but welcome when the temperature was sizzling. E-mailed the hotel a few weeks before departure and requested a room on a higher floor after reading some recommendations on this site and was delighted to be allocated a room on the eighth floor- lovely views and quite quiet. The only downside to this was the lift - a trip from the top floor often stopped several times on the way down or up and it got quite hot and stuffy very quickly!
The pools were very nice - a shallow one with a fun slide for the kids and a larger one for the adults which had walk-in steps and was no more than 1.4 metres deep anywhere which suited a vertically-challenged non-confident swimmer like myself! There were loads of sunbeds and umbrellas available every morning, but it was definitely a bit cramped trying to squeeze them all in. If you wanted a 'prime position' immediately around the pool for example, you would have to join the early risers. The pool man starts laying out the beds around 8am but there were a few determined people who went down and helped themselves before then. The really annoying people were the ones who would lay out the towels and not return till late afternoon or not at all in some selfish cases.
Food was very good. Having stayed in the area in other 4 star hotels I thought I knew what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised, never had duck, salmon or mashed potato in a PDLA hotel before!
Couldn't really comment on the entertainment as we went out every night, but I get the impression not many hotels try very hard, but why would they - there's plenty of entertainment in the bars in resort.
The first week we were there it was a mainly Brit clientele but our second week was the start of the Spanish holidays and there was a marked increase in the numbers of Spanish families arriving which, in my opinion , is testimony to the quality of this hotel.
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Pat Denny from Cambridge travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: We have just come back from a wonderful holiday at the Bitacora.
After many visits to Tenerife I would say this is the best hotel I have ever stayed in. As the previous reviews have said, this hotel is very clean and well maintained.
The food is excellent with a large selection at both breakfast and dinner. There is plenty for the children to do with a great children's pool, water slide and undercover children's play area. The children's team are great and Erika is brilliant with both adults and children.
The hotel is well situated in the best part of Las americas near the sea, shops and main bars. We all wanted to stay another week and will be going back to this hotel later in the year!
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Paul from Wiltshire travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
None
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We booked this hotel purely on the information left on this site from previous guests.
The Hotel more than lived up to expectations and we have already booked for another week early next year. Check out Direct Holidays website (before end of Sept) and you will find their deals hard to beat.
The evening meal in the Bitacora is excellent with plenty of choice, normally seated quickly and restaurant runs well. Would have given 5 out of 5 but slightly let down by the breakfast with not so good bacon and sausages. The fruit juices were either watered down or derived from powder but cereals and toast, coffee and tea made up for this.
As mentioned in other posts there is a sunbed issue (as with most hotels) and its a real shame to have to 'reserve a sunbed'. Some people must have got up in the early hours to get their spot. I think towels should be discarded if nobody is using the bed for hours on end (selfish gits).
Apart from these minor issues the Hotel Bitacora is well run with clean rooms and very helpfull staff. The testament to the place is that a lot of people we met were on their 2nd, 3rd or more visit.
The entertainment staff worked very hard day and night and the children are well catered for.
Plenty to see and do within walking distance from the Hotel and its obvious that the local government are intending to give the Playas Americas area a bit of an image makeover.
All in all an excellent place to take the family and best of all the sun shines nearly all year round.
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Shaun & Lisa from Plymouth travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
First Choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: We stayed in the Bitacora hotel after a friend said it was a great hotel to stay in and he was right, great food, spotless everywhere you look and the staff are the most helpful I've known, the only thing let it down was evening entertainment but there are lots of bars and other nice hotels near by so it was not a problem.
As usual there is a 7:30 am dash to get your towels poolside for the day but there was always plenty of room.
When we arrived we had a room with no view so we asked if we could change and they said no problem and gave us a pool & sea view at no extra cost.
Whilst on holiday it was Lisa's birthday and they left her a free bottle of bubbly in the room, so it's safe for me to say we will be going to the hotel again.
Well done Bitacora *****
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Andrew Martin from Liverpool travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Direct
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: 3rd time to this hotel, and every time astounded by its excellent cleanliness. The whole hotel is cleaned all day every day including poolside.
Bedrooms have plenty of room and are quiet enough for that essential afternoon nap.
Entertainment staff looked after the kids so well we had tears at hometime! Plenty of poolside games for the grown ups too.
Food is varied and of the highest quaility and always hot. Children are well catered for and nothing was ever too much trouble.
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Gray from Belfast travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Airtours
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My husband and I have just returned from two weeks at the Bitacora and would be only too happy to return.
The hotel was spotless.
The staff were incredible and the variety of food was excellent. Steaks, chicken carvery one small moan here the meat was cooked very rare which is not too everyone’s taste.
The entertainment would not have kept us in the hotel at night but owing to the great location of the hotel there are bars with varied entertainment within walking distance. During the day there was limited entertainment for children but as this hotel caters more for more mature clientele I suppose this was to be expected.
The pool area was excellent plenty of sunbeds and kept in pristine condition. There was a lifeguard on duty at all times.
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Dave Smith from Manchester travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Booked Direct
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Visited the Bitacora for the second time in March, having been the previous July with friends.
All areas of the hotel are spotless - rooms cleaned thoroughly every day with a linen and towel change.
The food is good - there is a wide selection of stuff on the breakfast buffet but the bacon and sausage are the foreign type but still nice enough. The pool bar serves a decent range of snacks at lunchtime at reasonable prices, and the food is always hot and fresh.
The location is great - in the more upmarket part of Las Americas where it is quiet in the evenings but only 5 minutes walk away from somewhere more lively. Ideal.
The staff here cannot do enough for you - from the cleaner’s right up the manager all have a smile for the guests and speak good English. The reception desk staff are extremely helpful. I recognised 95% of the staff from my visit 8 months ago which is something you don't see often in hotels.
The entertainment was alright, but was geared towards the older guests who were prevalent in March, in June there was a far greater variety with many families and younger couples.
I would visit again without doubt - no need to pay brochure prices though as the hotel website has an online booking facility and the hotel will pay for your transfers if you pay a deposit - the service is very efficient and emails are answered promptly. Have a search for some cheap flights and you can have an excellent 4* holiday for a bargain price.
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Ian,Jan & Kids from Warrington travelled to Bitacora Hotel with
Kwik Travel
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 02 2005 |
rated the Bitacora Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: From check in to check out the service |
Sunny Says there
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