Tenerife’s sunshine-drenched shores, beautiful sandy beaches and dramatic interior make it a shoo-in for many people’s perfect holiday destination. In fact the only thing putting some travellers off Tenerife is its popularity. But while Tenerife has its hedonistic side (a stretch of sand on the southwest coast), it’s also got some seriously peaceful and elegant stretches, and plenty of excellent accommodation in the rural interior too. So, while our recommendations for the best places to stay in Tenerife include some seriously fun all-inclusive-type resorts, our range doesn’t stop there.

If you know the sort of accommodation you’re looking for you might want to start with our hotel collections, but if you’re not sure about Tenerife, head to the Where to Stay section for a better idea about the different part of the island, so you can find the best place to say on Tenerife for you.

Some of our Tenerife collections:

• 13 of the Best Beach Hotels on Tenerife
• 8 of the Best Family Friendly Hotels on Tenerife
• 20 of the Best Luxury Hotels on Tenerife
• 5 of Tenerife’s Best Rural Hotels
• Tenerife’s Best Hotels for a Walking Holiday
• Tenerife's Best Guesthouses and B&Bs
• The Best Quiet and Secluded Hotels and Resorts in Tenerife
• Best Spa Hotels in Tenerife
• Tenerife Hotels with Pools
• Tenerife Hotels with Balconies

Where to stay - which area?

• If you’re looking for Tenerife’s best beaches then the island’s southern shores are where you need to head; this is where the beaches are at their most white-sandy-beautiful. The south-western resort town of Los Cristianos has some great options for families, and anyone who’s not too fussed about nightlife, and its old town is the best preserved in the region. The next hub along the coast is Playa de las Américas, which does have a lot of places to go out of an evening, some with a feel that borders on Las Vegas, and it’s got a lot of high-rise hotels and glossy shopping centres. Costa Adeje is next along the coast, where you’ll find plenty of choice when it comes to four and five star hotels, plus clubs and restaurants where sophistication is key.
• If you're here for the beaches but you want to avoid the crowds, you’d be better off considering the centres on the south-east coast. El Medáno is a good place to start, with its gorgeous, natural beaches, perfectly positioned to catch the trade winds. This makes it a well known spot for surfers and kitesurfers, but less well known and less developed generally, so it’s got a great bohemian, laid-back vibe. It’s also a beautiful spot with two of Tenerife's largest beaches - split dramatically in the middle by a volcanic cone.
• Los Gigantes, on the western coast is named for the giant cliffs that rise behind it. It’s sandy, beautiful, and fairly quiet, but another good spot to consider if you’re looking for the perfect spot for an active beach break.
• Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the island's capital and, while most people bypass it entirely in their rush to the beach, it’s a handsome, bustling port, with brightly painted buildings historic architecture, and a very Spanish flavour. This is the place to stay if you're interesting in a sunny, beach-y city break; there are art galleries, interesting little museums, grand plazas, botanical gardens, excellent local restaurants and sophisticated boutiques. In addition to cultural activities Santa Cruz also has a few nice beaches, plus it’s friendly, and really easy to get around.
• On the northern coast, spread across hills that slope gracefully into the sea, is Puerto de la Cruz, once a spa town genteel enough to host cultured Victorian ladies, and now Tenerife’s real charmer. The port still feeds the town and the excellent restaurants, there are safe swimming beaches, botanical gardens and parks, churches, and a leafy central plaza. There’s also a large zoo.
• If you’re here to climb the island’s dramatic volcanic heart, El Teide, and maybe do some other walking in the interior, you probably want to stay in the Parquet Nacional del Teide, or in one of the towns on its edge: Vilafor or Las Rosas. The other great destination for walkers is the Parque Rural de Anaga, a really exotic landscape ripe for exploration.

Tenerife is perennially popular: when the trend for all-inclusive holidays wane, there’s a rise in boutique hotels, guesthouses, farm-stays and ecologically friendly accommodation, and vice versa. This small sunny island with its gorgeous beaches will always have a lot of appeal. Which means some of our recommendations for the best places to stay on Tenerife do book out in advance.

The Best Places to Stay on Tenerife

For a Beach Hotel

• For seaside opulence involving palm trees, pillars and palatial rooms, there’s nowhere like the Grand Hotel el Mirador. This level of fanciness may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s such an elegant timelessness to it that it could easily be a Hollywood film set from the 40s, or the palace of an Arabian prince. It’s not though, it’s a five star hotel on the Cost Adeje, with 120 rooms and suites, an extensive spa, three restaurants and a heavenly beach. The service is excellent too.
• Just across the road from the sand, the Sandos San Blas Nature Resort offers the sort of scale that means there’s something here for everyone, and a room configuration to make even larger families feel very comfortable. You’re on the water, and there’s a host of watersport facilities including diving and snorkelling. Plus there’s a boating lake, a golf course, and an elegant landscaped pool, there are tennis courts, mountain bikes, a kids club and yoga classes. And you’re within the San Blas Nature Reserve, so the setting is idyllic.
• Jardines des Nivaria is on the Costa Adeje, right on the water, in a really beautiful spot. It’s large, 271 rooms, which are smartly decorated, with tiled floors, wood wall panels, modern art and private balconies. There’s an impressive spa, a huge landscaped pool, and a ‘collection’ of bars and restaurants — several have wonderful views of the Costa.
• If you’re really looking for the classic Tenerife Beach Break Experience, consider the sprawling Villa Cortes in Playa de las Américas, which has just about everything we can imagine a beach resort might need. Including vibrant, opulent, Moroccan-esque interiors, spa with all the trimmings, private hot tubs, sun terraces with Balinese beds, a huge range of room sizes and configurations, six restaurants, a beach club with private cabanas, four lively bars, one of them on the beach, and waterfalls built into the pool landscaping.

Luxurious Escapes on Tenerife

• For romance amongst Balinese-style decor in a peaceful, golf course-adjacent spot on the Costa Adeje, you’ll be wanting the Royal Gardens Villas & Spa. It sounds quite niche when you say it like that, but this collection of villas, each uniquely and luxurious decorated, and with their own private pools, is a really relaxed and intimate hideaway, with tranquil views and a deluxe spa. It sounds like a honeymoon hotel, and while, with its cocktail bar and hotel yacht, it makes a great honeymoon choice, it’s also great for families, with huge family suites and a babysitting service available. The restaurant is gourmet.
• The Hacienda del Conde is close to Tenerife’s north western coastline, by Buenavista del Norte and the Buenavista Golf Club. This isn’t a spot many visitors see, but it certainly makes for a spectacular backdrop to the hotel and golf course, which faces out to sea, just like the Hacienda’s vast pool complex. There are 117 plus rooms and suites, three restaurants, the pool complex, an extensive spa and no kids.
• The Hotel San Roque is an 18th century palace turned boutique bolthole in the sleepy fishing village of Garachico, and is the perfect place to come to relax. There are just 16 rooms and suites, arranged around an elegant courtyard, which is where you’ll find the pool and excellent new restaurant.
• Tucked away on Tenerife’s lesser-visited north coast Jardin de la Paz is a great luxury retreat for those wanting independence, offering both apartments or self-catering villas with elegant, fully equipped kitchens. Cool and stylish, with private terraces and a choice of pools, this is a great escape, whoever your travelling companions are.

For a Luxury Resort

• The Royal Hideaway Corales Beach is indulgent and stylish. It might not be entirely hidden — it’s quite large, and white, in a contemporary carving arc shape, which sits nicely against the sea views, and means that many of the 121 rooms and suites have ocean views from their large private terraces and balconies. Inside it’s all white-on-white decor, with funky fittings, and there’s a choice of restaurants, and an incredible rooftop bar. Along with an infinity pool, and indoor pool and a rooftop pool, and a spa that offers first-class wellness packages. No kids, I’m afraid.
• In about the middle of the western coastline, above the busiest section, but still benefitting from the beautiful beaches, the Red Level Gran Melia Palacio de Isora is a honeymoon dream of a resort, with chic white-on-white rooms, some with private pools or hot tubs, a 24hour butler service, eight bars, a superb spa and a handful of restaurants. There’s a private beach in front of the hotel, but a lagoon-style infinity pool too. And many, many hammocks and canopied day beds.

Off the beaten track

• The Parador de las Canadas del Teide is the only hotel on the island which is actually situated within a nature reserve. So it’s about as off-the-beaten-track as you can get. In addition to the spectacular views of the Teide cone, the Chaorra cone and the White Mountain, the clean air, and the incredible terrain that starts right from the door of the hotel, this 25 room hotel has simple, but charming, decor, a gym and pool and an excellent restaurant.
• Small and delightful with it, the Hotel Emblematico Casa Casilda is tucked away on the north eastern coast, back from the water, and outside a town called Tacoronte. It has just five minimalist rooms with white walls, big windows, wooden floors, and careful splashes of colour and modern art. Tranquil, and also great value, this is a great choice if you’re planning on staying a bit longer and seeing more of the island. They include breakfast in the price, and you can take it in the lush gardens if the weather’s fine.

Family Friendly Favourites

• We’re opening with a five star option, Puerto de la Cruz’s Hotel Botanico. It’s in the centre of town, but tall enough so that it does have sea views from some of its 252 rooms and suites, and views of Mt. Teide from others, and we like it because it’s spacious and great value. The decor is simple, by Spanish standards, which means there’s quite a bit of red and gold, and some of the rooms have private sea-view balconies and hot tubs. There’s a huge tropical garden with a pool, an award winning spa, four different restaurants on site, and a kid’s club.
• Our second recommendation is another beachside stunner: Bahia del Duque, a real fantasy getaway, with architecture that looks as if it was designed by Walt Disney, lush, tropical gardens and a private beach. There are 356 rooms, suites and private villas, with plenty of choice for families, and so many facilities that it would take about ten days to work through them all. Especially relevant to families is the playground, babysitting facilities and kid’s club, but they also offer horse riding, tennis, ping pong, billiards and a myriad of watersports.
• Roca Nivaria is on the same stretch of coast as many of the biggest, busiest feeling resorts, but it’s at the top end, and the vibe is much more relaxed. The beach is just as perfect, though, and the hotel really takes advantage of it, with stunning sea views from the large private balconies of its 298 rooms and suites. The decor is minimalist, yet cosy, and there’s a great range of family suites. Plus a kids club, mini golf course and putting green, a playground, archery facilities, beach volleyball, tennis, and a lift down to the hotel’s sandy cove, so you don’t have to listen to any moaning as you come back up.
• For great value and a rural, mountainous setting, there’s La Casona del Patio, which sits on the grounds of a 17th century manor house, which also has stables, a small museum, and a restaurant. Bookended by the beauty of the Teno Mountains and the Chinyero Nature Reserve, there’s plenty of space for running around and exploring. The 20 comfortable rooms boast a lovely blend of wooden vaulted ceilings, stone floors, funky furniture and antiques. And the seafood restaurant serves wonderful Canarian classics.

Hotels for Walkers

• In a wonderful, mountainous spot, near Teide National Park, the Hotel Villalba enjoys some really spectacular views, perfect for planning your next adventure, or for admiring your walking routes post-trek. Most of the 27 rooms have private balconies and simple decor, and there’s a shaded pool and deluxe wellness centre, with a sauna and hot spring. The gardens are lovely too.

Tenerife’s Best Value Hotels

• The Hotel Emblematico San Marcos is in a quiet town not far from Garachico, and is small and full of character. Dating from the 18th century, this six room property is about as traditional as you can get on Tenerife, with tiled floors, traditional Spanish antiques and original art works. In addition to the charming old world restaurant, the public areas also include a ‘piano room’.
• Another small charmer, the Hotel Rural el Navio is lent privacy by the fact that it’s surrounded by banana plantations, but through the palms are sea views. There are just eight rooms, simple, but charming, some with balconies, and there’s a beautiful terrace and a pool. Adults only.
• The Hotel el Patio is a good rural pick, set in lush grounds, close to the beach and several nature reserves, but also not far from Garachico. A restored period property, with traditional charm and decor: think exposed beams, tiled floors and antiques, and a fab. green and white facade. There’s a pool set in lovely gardens, and 26 rooms, with the Superior Rooms sleeping up to four.

Prefer an Apartment or Villa?

• If you’d prefer to stay in an apartment or private villa we recommend you visit our online partner booking.com.

Travel Information

• Want to fly to Tenerife?

• Tenerife is large enough, and popular enough, to warrant two airports, Tenerife North, formerly Los Rodeos, in the north and Tenerife South, formerly Reina Sofia, in the south. The budget airlines tend to use Tenerife South, but there are excellent connections from the UK and other European destinations into both airports.
• If you want to hire a car - which we strongly advise if you’re staying on Tenerife and you want to really see the island - we recommend you visit our online partner Rentalcars.
• Sunny and warm for almost 365 days of each year, Tenerife’s subtropical climate is one of the reasons it’s such a popular year round destination. You can still swim in the ocean during December and January and there’s blue skies and mild weather. Because of this Tenerife’s busiest season is between November and March. Summer is the other peak time.

Still not sure where to stay in Tenerife?

• You could refine your search to our recommendations for 13 of the Best Beach Hotels on Tenerife, 13 of the Best Luxury Hotels on Tenerife or 8 of the Best Family Friendly Hotels on Tenerife.
• Or you could expand your search to include all the best places to stay on the Canary Islands.
• Alternatively, contact one of our friendly Gurus for personalised advice.

Weather

Monthly Weather in Tenerife