Overview

A very comfortable 4 star hotel in the town centre of Puerto de la Cruz. Hotel offers buffet breakfast and evening meals. There is a swimming pool, bar and some evening entertainment. The hotel as wonderful sea or Mount Teide views. Staff were excellent and very friendly.

Transport & Parking

There are 2 airports in Tenerife. The nearest airport is Tenereife North. However, most airlines from the UK fly to Tenerife South. I flew in to there and I found the special assiatance staff very helpful and friendly. There are buses and shuttles that do transfers to Puerto de la Cruz. However I booked a taxi transfer. The journey took about an hour and it cost £138 (2018) for a return journey. I used Holiday Taxis, which offered accessible transport. However thought I had booked a regular taxi, there was no additional information box to mention my disability, and found that although I was the only passenger on the way there I was in a minibus and on my return a full size coach, so if you have access needs please check.

Access

There is a step free entrance into the hotel and immediately outside there is a level drop off/ pick up area for cars/ coaches. The door was always already open when I visited. On the ground floor there is a receiption with a counter at standing height. Opposite is a large, spacious room with bar, plenty of seating and a stage, which is where the low key entertanment takes place in the evenings. This area looks like it has recently been refurbished and there are floor to ceiling windows with amazing sea and city views. There are 2 medium sized lifts. On the lower ground floor, accessible by lift is the dining room. This is spacious with free standing tables and chairs. The restaurant offers a self service buffet for breakfast and evenig meals. The counters for the buffet are at sanding height. There are waiters who will take your drinks order in the evening. Outside areas are step free. There is a pool but there are only ladders into the pool. Surrounding the pool are movable sun beds and some tables and chairs. The pool is located on the side that faces Mount Teide. There is a pool bar with an automatic door for entrance. Following the level path round there is a garden area with some benches. There are wonderful sea views from here. This side is quieter, although it sometimes attracts smokers. My room was 607, a superior, corner room. It had windows on 2 sides and it was very light and spacious. The double bed, which was made up of 2 single beds, had a comfortable but firm matress which made transfers very easy. There was a desk and chair, an arm chair, flat screen TV and plenty of wardrobe space. There was an empty fridge for your personal use, and also a safe, which had an additional charge. The bedroom area was spacious for an European hotel. The room had recently been refurbished. There was an ensuit bathroom. This had a sliding door, which I think would be slightly too narrow for a wheelchair to get through. However there was a walk in shower with a single grab rail. I had informed the staff I had a mobility disability and when I arrrived there was a stool in the shower. The shower was spacious, although not wide enough for roll in shower. I took my bath mat, as I always do, but I didn;t find the shower service slippy. There was a sink with vanity unit next to the toilet and I was able to hold on to it to assist me with toilet transfers. I had patio doors leading out to a double size corner balcony. It had sea and city views, which were breathtaking. There was a table and 2 chairs and 2 sunbeds. Most of the accomodation is on the level above the the garden but I noticed in the garden area a staircase leading down, and read tripadvisor reviews that there are some lower floor rooms which are only accessible by stairs. It's quite hilly in Puerto de la Cruz once you get away from the sea front. This hotel, like many in the area, is located on a steep hill. For me this meant I needed to budget for a taxi to take me everytime I left the hotel. A taxi would cost between 3 - 6 euros (2018) depending on where I was going and the taffic. However the advantage was that the grounds of the hotel are level, which is not the case for many of the other hotels, so there was step free access to the hotel entrance, pool and garden area.

Toilets

I didnt find any accessible toilets. On the ground floor there are regular toilets. In my room although there was no toilet grab rail I was able to easily use the vanity unit to help me up.

Staff

Staff were amazing. I arrived at 8.30pm and was welcomed and checked in. Another member of staff brought me a welcome non alcoholic cocktail while I was registering. The receiptionist anticipated my needs and suggested I leave my case at receiption and directly to dinner which was still being served. Receiption staff were extremely helpful throughout my stay. On the first morning the receiptionist spent time explaining the topography of the area and marked off the areas on a map where the taxis could drop me off. Each morning they would order my taxi. Waiters in the restaurant were always welcoming and friendly. Service was excellent although at times it was busy. The cleaners always said hello when I went passed and my room was always clean and tidy.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I had spent a lot of time researching and stressing out about where to stay in Puerto de la Cruz before I went. A friend of a friend who lives in Puerto de la Cruz suggested areas to stay, at that point I was able to narrow it down and Hotel El Tope stood out. The hotel has recently been refurbished and the rooms have lovely walk in showers. I was initially unsure about being located on a hill as I knew that I would need taxis to get me about but getting about by taxi was cheap and easy. The benefit of the location was the view. It was magical to wake up to such beautiful views and sit out on my balcony, in the afternoon when I returned from my day out. On a couple of the nights I was there there were fireworks and I had a great few of these from my balcony. The 1st floor rooms have terraces rather than balconies, see my photo of the pool for more details. The self service buffet style meals were well presented, clearly labeled vegetarian, etc, there was plenty of choice and something for everyone. Food was replenished quickly and was of good quality. Although it wasnt an issue for me, but think it's worth mentioning that there is no tea/ coffee making facilities in the room, I didn't notice cereal at breakfast and there are 3 English TV channels BBC1, ITV 1 and BBC World News. While I was there I spoke to the manager Manuel who said that the hotel has recently been refurbished and they are wanting to improve accessibility. I loved staying here and highly recommend it. I hope to return again next year as I fell in love with both the hotel and Puerto de la Cruz, as it made for a charming and relaxing holiday.

Photos