Winter sun to me is so important much more than Summer.
It’s nearly like a reset button as we have went ding dust from September , between hockey blitzes, golf and swimming and by the time Halloween comes we are knackered.
So after going on YouTube for countless videos we settled on the Gran Hotel ,Costa Adeje, Tenerife.
We went for 2 interconnecting rooms and to be honest the choice of the hotel was based on the pools .
The most important bit of our holidays is ALWAYS the pool.
Now if you read the reviews online , there are numerous reviews saying all sorts of things.
There are 3 pools On the level floor and I think on rooftop pool for adults. As we had the kids with us we never ventured upstairs. The downstairs pools consist of a fresh water pool, which actually wasn’t that cold then the heated pool, which is massive and the kiddies pool.
Now this review is in no way to bash anywhere, it’s a honest review where we as a family spent a week in #costadeje #gfgrancostaadeje .
We stayed in two interconnection rooms , my husband and I shared a king size bed and there was a pull out sofa for my 11 year old that felt like a camp bed.
Then in the other room we’re my two daughters and 16 year old son , he slept on the “sofa bed” and the two girls in two singles beds.
Now our beds were super comfortable. But if you have an extra one in the room with you and they are older than 10, be prepared to hear them moan.
Our flight departed Belfast at 2 pm and by 8 PM we were check in and the hotel had offered us to use the buffet on our arrival.
The staff at the hotel cannot be faulted. Their customer care is beyond exceptional.
The downstairs of the hotel , the Lobby Area, and the pool area is superb, however the bedrooms let them down badly.
This is why I could not give it a 10.
The hotel is SPOTLESS , if you are fussy then this is the hotel for you. Our rooms were cleaned every day and the rooms are immaculate. It’s the interior that lets it down. And the reason I moan about it because the holiday was not cheap. We paid £1200 per person for half board. Averaged out. Over 6 of us.
I don’t feel the experience warranted the money.
Now in the year of 2019 we had stayed in Gran Anfi, Tenerife and Mediterranean Palace in Las Americas and Bahia Fantasia so yes I have hotels to compare them too.
I had watched a few vlogs before booking and a couple had mentioned the noise levels, that’s where the bedrooms let the hotel down. The sliding doors need replaced, I would say they are in since it was built as they are single glazing. If you are a light sleeper then bring sleeping aids.
It was brutal. We were in rooms 158 and 159 facing a side road that didn’t get much traffic but got a flipping moped at 6am every morning. There is also a hairdryer in the bathroom and to be fair it’s good. No complaints about it. There are no irons in the room but you can get from reception.
So onto the board/ food. LA FINCA
We went half board and Im glad we did. The food was very “same” and repetitive. Loads for vegetarians in fairness and every day at the “grill bar” there was a change of meat, pork, chicken , rib steak however it was plain and lacked flavours.
I could not have stayed 7 days full board. If you have a “beige eater “ then you might struggle as not once did I see chicken nuggets however my daughter lived on plain chicken breast with gravy all week which was a lot healthier than a processed nugget.
Breakfast was actually the best sitting of the day, there was an array of pastries, eggs,meats and they even had varieties of fresh smoothies. The only moan I would have is, there is no coffee machine. My husband loves about 3 coffees in the morning, boiling hot and the hot drinks are table service, however my kids loved the hot chocolates. Maybe it’s a covid thing I don’t know but it’s a pain in the ass. Lol. But there were sufficient staff on so you weren’t left to your end devices.
Some people say you have to book for your meals , however we never did, and there were 6 of us and we never struggled to get placed.
If you are looking for entertainment at night then it is a hit or miss, and personal preference. In the evenings we always went out for tea and then back for 10PM to get a last drink or 2 and there was a singer or musician on.
There does be a crowd but it’s lovely and casual and my kids just played pool. Also there are charging ports in reception for those kids that are addicted to their phones 🫣.
#Pool uproar
Now if you are on #tiktoc you will have seen the “Towel Police” video that went viral . Yes they were active when we were there, however we took our towels down to breakfast with us and after breakfast my kids went up to the room to get changed and me and the hubster went out and set out the towels and creams . I don’t like breaking rules so we never sat out towels out before 10am unattended,
#EatingOut
We had a blast eating out .Thank God 3 out of my 4 kids are adventurous however they have an expensive pallets but also love a Maccie Dee’s. If you want handiness, pizza and Indian is on your door step, with San Marcos across the street and the Bombay Babu in the Shopping Centre next door.
Now if you walk to the seafront there are an array of Restaurants, now we went to one where they seemed to own about 3 on the Upper Level and it was rotten, not worth the money. We got 6 steaks in Coer de Fillet for a third cheaper and the quality of the food was exceptional.
We ventured into Las Americas a couple of nights, once went to the Hard Rock, the experience was fab and the kids loved it however the food was just ok. It ticked the box. They don’t take reservations however we went upstairs for a drink and they gave us a buzzer to wait and we enjoyed the wee drink and wait. No big deal.
#HardRockCafe had an amazing atmosphere. The whole restaurant erupted for a Sondra and my kids loved it.
For a wee handy number Limoncello was fab! And the atmosphere.
Another one in Las Americas was Imperial Tai Pan ,but BEWARE , you need to book WAAAAYYYYYY in advance! There is an APP for restaurants called “My Venture”. Which has an array of Restaurants for your stay. 
#Siam park is a must, this was our 4th visit as we had been before but it was so busty and we weren’t on the English mid term. My advice is to buy express passes ! By the time we went to upgrade our tickets to express they had sold out.
There was a free bus outside our hotel that took 10 minutes on an open top bus but be aware of the smack on the head of the palm tress 😂 It will waken you up!
The duration of the journey is only about 10/15 minutes.
A taxi costs only 10 Euro. Also once you get Siam park make sure you get the lockers close the “the beach” as at lunch time it will save you walking back for sun screens when you are there anyway for food.
Also I recommend buying the wee booties. Makes walking around the Park so much easier.
All in all we had a lovely break however I found the location just too quiet for us as a Family. We love a bit of hustle and bustle and people watching, so for that I recommend staying in Las Americas. The area around the Gran is a wee bit hilly, not that we minded at all however if you have someone that has a waking impairment then this maybe a problem.
To spend nearly 8k on a holiday you kind of want the WOW factor. We didn’t get it plus don’t forget we only went half board. We love eating at nice Restaurants and that was the reason why we went half board, if we had booked Full board, there is not a chance I would have stuck it.
Feel free to PM me on Instagram for any questions but there is a Facebook group called “Homeof the Granners” and it’s a really informative group however I feel people may be mislead as a lot of views are romantic , nostalgic memories and yes that’s brilliant however when you spend close to 10k I don’t feel this was value for money . Now I did do my research via YouTube so I knew what I was heading to , it was of no big surprise but as my husband says “when you are on holidays you want the same standard you have at home” .
