Parque Del Sol - Half Board

Let me just begin by saying, yes, I know I booked half-board, but I did so because through Tui it was cheaper than B&B or Self-catering. Not because we fully intended to eat there every night. My initial impression was that Parque Del Sol is overall of a much higher standard than it's 3-star rating would suggest, so don't be put off by it's rating. It is very clean, very well appointed, the apartments are clean and comfortable, and at this time of year the lack of air-conditioning wasn't an issue in the low twenties, the ceiling fans coped just fine. I stand by that initial impression after a weeklong stay. The pool area is really nice too, the bar is evenly priced, and there are usually enough sunbeds. The lifeguards are always about, too. There is a child-free solarium atop the roof, if that's your thing, and a sauna and gym, too, although we didn't look at those. The nightly entertainment was varied, and generally good. We saw bands, singers, parrot and eagle shows, it was all good. Sadly, some aspects of the stay were not so great. Let's get the small ones out the way first. First off, the sunbed situation. The hotel's pool rules board forbids 'reserving of sunbeds' and states that the staff will remove towels etc. This does not happen. Whatsoever. People are out there at 7am laying down toweling like it's going out of fashion, and no one says a word to them. We saw beds with folded towels on them that were exactly the same at 5pm as when we left at 9am. Next, the restaurant's table system. The restaurant is not big enough to cope with all guests when the hotel is busy. So, all rooms are issued with a meals card with the door keys, that allows the restaurant staff to tick off your meals, and it shows you which 'Tourno' you are allowed to eat on. Tourno 1 is 06:30 am to 07:30 am, so if you get that and arrived at 01:00am like we did, there's no lie-in for you if you want any breakfast. No lie-in for any of that week, for that matter. Tourno 1 also means dinner at 18:30pm to 19:30pm. So if you get back late from an excursion and the hotel is full, you've had it. It's Tony Roma's for you, as the Maitre'd won't move you to Tourno 2 if they are full. The food itself was nothing to write home about either. It was varied each day, and a few things I tried were very nice, but overall, it was mediocre. You are allowed to change a dinner for a lunch picnic if you wish, but the picnic was abysmal. It was a cardboard box with a couple of stale packet sandwhiches, over-ripe apples and pears, a couple of weird yoghurts (with no spoons) and a couple of botles of water. We lobbed it in the bin at the Teide cable car, having only drunk the water on the coach, and got decent rolls and crisps in the visitors centre instead. My biggest bugbear with the restaurant wasn't even about the food. It was with the labelling system. Cartoon pictures of various animals and vegetables is NOT enough information for me to decide if I can eat dinner. "Yes, I see it has chicken/fish/pork/beef/squid in it, but what ACTUALLY is it??" was a common phrase between us. Also, there was very little allergen information at dinner time; a real problem for my partner who has food allergies. She ended up eating some smoked haddock pilaf, that was labelled as 'rice' and looked like pilau rice and veggies, but she's allergic to fish! We informed the Maitre'd, who apologised, then did approximately nothing, whatsoever. The labelling at breakfast was much better, weirdly. I found this system archaic, and inflexible, and it meant we ate out 60% of our week. As I said, we only went half-board as it was cheaper. If those meals weren't 'free' I wouldn't have eaten there again after the first breaksfast. I suspect that the restaurant is run by another organistion to the hotel, as the hotel reception will not field enquiries about eating times, etc. They send you to the Maitre'd, every time. My final complaint, is about noise. There were workmen drilling all day one day in an apartment by the pool, and a fierce amount of noise at night from the back areas of the G.F Fanabe next door, also sounding like building work. I hope that's not a regular feature...... All in all though, Parque Del Sol was a nice resort, and I would stay there again for the pool, location and nice apartments. Great value for money.

Hotel is still as lovely as ever. Very clean and peaceful. But they are experiencing serious problems regarding the half board. As the dining room is small it is spread out over 2 sessions. When the hotel is full there is still a shortage of tables, people are queuing at least 10 minutes before it opens to ensure they get a table, but this still results in late comers having to wait for a table.If they have a long wait people on the second session can find that service is nearing the end, especially if they want to have something cooked on the grill. On the second session the sweets table can get very empty so clients are actually getting their deserts first and taking them to their tables before picking their main meal. This is not a criticism of the restaurant staff or catering (I've never seen staff work as hard and the food is quite good for the star rating) But listening to other clients who seem very unhappy with the situation and are saying that eating in the restaurant is really not a relaxing experience it really needs something doing. A quick solution when the hotel is full would be to offer 1 night in the Infinity to just a few clients per day. This would help the table shortage and might even be an advantage to the Infinity which is more often than not empty.Everybody know people are attracted to a restaurant that looks popular.