Hotel Riu Garoe

In excess of 22 visits to this first class hotel in the La Paz area of PDLC, over the last 12 years, speaks volumes about how we personally feel about the staff, management, facilities, location, quality of food, service and ambience on offer to the guest at the superb RIU Garoe. As professionals working in the leisure sector and thus travelling on business & pleasure, worldwide, as a career, we live in many fine hotels. Honestly, the RIU Garoe, is up there with the best, if not the very best, and, we use it as a benchmark of quality when comparing it to other similar hotels across the planet in the 4 star category. Seriously, we have not found a 4 star hotel, anywhere to compare with the product on offer at the Garoe. Shortly, the Garoe, will close for a two and a half month renovation & upgrade. We feel that this will enhance further an already wonderful hotel into a new league. Personally, we can't wait to experience the hotel post refurbishment. The tone & ambience at the hotel is one of laid back elegance and calmness. The new spa will compliment fully the relaxed ambience of this classy 200 room hotel. Although children are welcomed at this wonderful hotel, the Garoe, in our opinion, is more suited to couples and adults with its facilities on offer. The new bedrooms will be beautifully appointed and offer a touch of elegance and modernity. Equally, the refurbished dining room will offer a more contemporary setting too. So, the exciting changes and refurbishment will compliment the Garoe very well. The caring and welcoming team at the Garoe, under the leadership of the excellent & experienced, hotel Director, Snr Luis Hernandez, really help set the RIU Garoe apart from other hotels. Nothing is too much trouble for the customer focused Garoe personnel. Snr Hernandez is always on hand and highly visible around the hotel should you wish to say hello or simply ask a question or deliver positive feedback. Overall, another highly memorable stay at the first class RIU Garoe. It is without question our favourite leisure hotel anywhere in the world. We know that we will always have a quality experience at the Garoe. It is consistently a great product on offer at the Garoe. A huge thanks to the excellent Snr Hernandez and the very special Garoe staff, who really are the heart and soul of this hotel. They make a huge impression on guests making you feel genuinely valued and welcomed. The Garoe hotel director and staff simply wish you to enjoy your time at the RIU Garoe, to leave feeling happy and for the guest to return in the future. We cannot wait to return and experience the newly refurbished RIU Garoe. In a word...MARVELLOUS.

If you want a quiet, clean, comfortable hotel with good food, attractive grounds and well equipped bedrooms, the RIU Garoe is a great choice. We stayed for a week in mid March  just before the hotel was being closed for refurbishment. We actually wondered why the hotel was being refurbished as everything appeared to be spotless! Meals were excellent. There are two sittings for dinner  6pm and 8pm and you are allocated a table for the duration of your stay. This is great is you get a good table, otherwise you may want to ask for a for a different table/sitting. We were on the later sitting, which worked out well for us as we hired a car and drove around the island, so would have arrived too late to make the 6pm sitting each night. Dinner was marvellous – one of the best hotel buffets we’ve had with a huge selection of quality items. Drinks of course are extra, but if you want to buy a bottle of wine, the restaurant staff will tag it for you to drink the next night if you don’t finish it. After dinner, there was entertainment provided in the bar area – singers, magician, pianist, dancers. The entertainment was variable, and was probably the weakest part of the hotel. The buffet breakfast was also very good, a choice of hot or cold items – look out for the specials table to the side. Our room was very clean and was equipped with a kettle and fridge. The room safe is two Euros a day to hire. The grounds and pool are attractive and very well kept. There’s even a small gym if you want to work off some of the excess calories from dinner! There are some lovely coastal walks to the back of the hotel and the Botanic Garden is a ten minute stroll. It takes about 20 minutes to walk into Puerto de la Cruz, or the hotel runs a free minibus. If you want to walk, there are routes either through the main streets, along the clifftop or the pavement by the seafront which is accessed by an underpass to get across the main road. The hotel doesn’t have a car park, but there is plenty of free street parking in the vicinity. We didn’t have a problem getting parked. The hotel has free wifi, ask for a login at Reception, although it’s limited to two devices per room. We had a very enjoyable stay here, booking independently, rather than through a tour group, and had a lovely, relaxing holiday.