hackney58
14-11-2011, 14:33
Holiday Report 2011
Just back from 4 weeks holiday in Tenerife the weather was very hot with a few days rain. We started the holiday with a delayed flight, not the best start but beyond our control one of the down sides of air travel. I know the flight would be late before we left home as I had been checking the flight for a number of weeks before our departure, and it had been running late every week prior to our holiday date. So no surprise there then! We arrived at Tenerife South Airport and collected our luggage the time was now approx 21.20. I have been holidaying in Tenerife for over 20years For most of that time we have traveled to our apartment in Playa Las Americas by taxi. But after reading reviews on the forum and my own past experiences of being over charged by taxi drivers I decided to look for an alternative mode of transport. Friends who had used a taxi the week prior to our holiday were charged 30 Euros to the La Siesta Hotel. In my opinion this was an overcharge I booked a shuttle bus pick up at airport to destination and return thru Travel Republic. I have used this company before when booking holidays and found then to be reliable. On arrival at their Airport office we were directed to our bus, time now 21.26 after waiting for other passengers we set of for our apartment; time now 22.10 dropping others of at their hotels on the way. We finally arrived at our apartment time 22.56. With military precision my wife started unpacking while I went to the local supermarket for some essentials. As we had packed butter and cheese the only requirement was water bread and milk, everything else could wait. On my return we changed over jobs and I finished unpacking while my wife made a few sandwiches. Why you may ask the urgency? Well with the flight being late and the coach trip round part of Los Cristianos and Playa Las Americas, our plans for the night were going rapidly down the toilet. The plan was to be in the Drunken Duck have a drink, and play sticky 13 a well known game with both locals and holiday maker’s young and old
alike. This we achieved and although it started to rain we had a good first night.
Travel Transfer Pros:
1. We made a saving on the transfer costs e.g. Taxi Airport and return 56-60 Euros. Shuttle bus 14 Euros. Saving approx 42-46 Euros.
2. We had a tour of hotels making a mental note of the one’s to avoid. But, after saying that, it’s all down to individual taste. We dropped a couple off at the Paradise Park Hotel at the top of the hill in Los Cristianos. You could not pay me to stay there, arthritis in the ankles, too old and not fit enough for the hill. But we have two friends that stayed there in March paid £2000.00 for the fortnight all inclusive and they have booked another two weeks early December. Just proves one man’s meat.
Con:
1. The wait at the airport for other passengers made worse by the flight being late.
2. The number off stops dropping people off at their Hotels.
3. Early pick up from our apartment for the return journey to the airport and the high number off stops and pick up’s
4. The saving was in our opinion was not worth the experience!
5. Booking the airport transfer bus was my idea.
6. Bad mistake you should when trying something new let your other half take all the credit for it. Otherwise, like me if it goes wrong you never hear the last of it. On and On and On. I am too old for this. Never again.
Food:
Being creatures of habit we tend to use Restaurants we know, again this is personal taste but we have found these consistently good value.
1. The Roast House. Los Cristianos, excellent carvery and good menu including Fish and Chips on selected days. Well worth a visit.
2. The Montana: Near the Patch and opposite the Siesta hotel, we had a number of meals including sea bass, steak and paella. All cooked to perfection and well presented. The service was excellent and the price very reasonable.
3 .Goodfellas: Vista beach. We found this beach front cafe 4-5 years ago while walking from PDLA to LC. They do a very good Sunday roast a real plate full of good quality food. All meals and snacks are very reasonably priced, good quality and served with a smile. The coffee is not to be missed and you will not be disappointed. If there was a criticism it would be on the front two tables, again not everybody would agree but on the number of times we stopped off there, it was very hot and sunny, and everybody seemed to be avoiding sitting there. This could be easily addressed by placing two large type parasols sun shades in a strategic place. That way they can be put up or down as required.
4. Martins just below the jersey cow, if you fancy Italian food go to an Italian restaurant. Good food and well priced pasta excellent service again with a smile.
5. Frankie’s China Restaurant: On the patch. We have eaten at Frankie’s for longer than I can remember. In the nineties it was always full and very busy, Frankie was out front greeting his customers checking tables and being a general mine host. Times have changed the food is excellent the staff inviting but the place was empty, when we have visited as the song goes “just the two of us” and this has been the same story for the past three to four years give or take six people. The problem is the competition that’s on his doorstep. We had two starters’ spare ribs and wan tons followed by a main course of king prawns and special fried rice. Good food, excellent and friendly service but at a price! 38 Euros and there is the problem. Customers are looking elsewhere for better value in economic times like these. See next review.
6. Rong Kong on the Patch just down from Frankie’s. Advertising a 6.50 Euro buffet. We hadn’t used this restaurant before and decided to try it out. We were pleasantly surprised not only by the choice but also the quality of the food; the staff was very pleasant and greeted us with a smile. The place was full and everybody seemed to be enjoying their meal. More than enough to eat (we could not manage to eat any of the puddings offered)
Entertainment:
There are so many bars with entertainment you are spoilt for choice; Regardless of your age there is something for everybody. I will only review the artists we watched bearing in mind our age (65-67)
For music lovers you had to visit the strip behind the safari centre
First off Joe Harriet at the Brahms and liszt. Friday’s and Sunday’s a must see excellent soul singer.
Jamie ORourke. Brahms and liszt. Tuesday’s. If you like swing music. Frank Sinatra /Dean Martin you will love this guy. He has the voice and all the moves, just a gigolo, not to be missed! (I videoed two of his songs and hopefully will post on u tube)
Charlie Hodge. Corner bar Tribute to Neil Diamond Charlie has been working the bars in PDLA for a number of years and always entertains, if you like Neil Diamond you will love Charlie. And this year we were all treated to seeing Charlie in his new shirt! Just joking Charlie but the purple one owed you nothing.
Soul Suite. The name say’s it all, good singers and tribute act’s, if you want a seat go early.
Corner bar: Compere Thin Tim as a warm up man he does a difficult job well. Don’t miss The Blues Brothers very entertaining.
The Drunken Duck: Resident singers Terry and Steve fondly known as Two Risky very entertaining and I will be downloading them onto you tube.
That’s some of the singers we watched, there are many more, just indulge yourself.
Comics:
Corner bar: on the strip. Billy Porter, Gay comic and very funny.
Corner bar: Wednesday’s Anthony Scott Tribute to Billy Connolly again another very funny man.
Drunken Duck: Sunday’s. Dee Daniels, Irish singer and comedian entertaining and funny.
Drunken Duck Monday’s Comical Elvis: Kevin Isaac, Elvis with humor lots of laughs.
Drunken Duck Tuesday’s Buddy Graham Tribute to Freddie Starr, I have been entertained by Buddy for a number of years and always found him very funny, I am aware he was given a bad review on the forum some time ago, but I believe it was unfair. Yes he does tell some old jokes but he always tries to include new material. Making people laugh is a very hard business to be in, and with all the doom and gloom comedians if you let them can be a release from your troubles and they should always be supported. car hire:
I used the Tenerife Travel site to book my hire car 14 day’s £144.00 all in. I booked a car to pickup at PDLA 11.30. Smallest two door, lowest spec. Always pick up the car late, that way if all the basic cars have gone and you may get a free upgrade; mine was upgraded to a four door V W Polo with air con. Highly recommended would use again.
Just read through my report and realized it’s a bit longer than intended. I was going to report on my experiences with drivers and other road users, shops, duty free goods and money exchanges but that will have to be another day.
Till then all the best and may your shadow never grow smaller.
Just back from 4 weeks holiday in Tenerife the weather was very hot with a few days rain. We started the holiday with a delayed flight, not the best start but beyond our control one of the down sides of air travel. I know the flight would be late before we left home as I had been checking the flight for a number of weeks before our departure, and it had been running late every week prior to our holiday date. So no surprise there then! We arrived at Tenerife South Airport and collected our luggage the time was now approx 21.20. I have been holidaying in Tenerife for over 20years For most of that time we have traveled to our apartment in Playa Las Americas by taxi. But after reading reviews on the forum and my own past experiences of being over charged by taxi drivers I decided to look for an alternative mode of transport. Friends who had used a taxi the week prior to our holiday were charged 30 Euros to the La Siesta Hotel. In my opinion this was an overcharge I booked a shuttle bus pick up at airport to destination and return thru Travel Republic. I have used this company before when booking holidays and found then to be reliable. On arrival at their Airport office we were directed to our bus, time now 21.26 after waiting for other passengers we set of for our apartment; time now 22.10 dropping others of at their hotels on the way. We finally arrived at our apartment time 22.56. With military precision my wife started unpacking while I went to the local supermarket for some essentials. As we had packed butter and cheese the only requirement was water bread and milk, everything else could wait. On my return we changed over jobs and I finished unpacking while my wife made a few sandwiches. Why you may ask the urgency? Well with the flight being late and the coach trip round part of Los Cristianos and Playa Las Americas, our plans for the night were going rapidly down the toilet. The plan was to be in the Drunken Duck have a drink, and play sticky 13 a well known game with both locals and holiday maker’s young and old
alike. This we achieved and although it started to rain we had a good first night.
Travel Transfer Pros:
1. We made a saving on the transfer costs e.g. Taxi Airport and return 56-60 Euros. Shuttle bus 14 Euros. Saving approx 42-46 Euros.
2. We had a tour of hotels making a mental note of the one’s to avoid. But, after saying that, it’s all down to individual taste. We dropped a couple off at the Paradise Park Hotel at the top of the hill in Los Cristianos. You could not pay me to stay there, arthritis in the ankles, too old and not fit enough for the hill. But we have two friends that stayed there in March paid £2000.00 for the fortnight all inclusive and they have booked another two weeks early December. Just proves one man’s meat.
Con:
1. The wait at the airport for other passengers made worse by the flight being late.
2. The number off stops dropping people off at their Hotels.
3. Early pick up from our apartment for the return journey to the airport and the high number off stops and pick up’s
4. The saving was in our opinion was not worth the experience!
5. Booking the airport transfer bus was my idea.
6. Bad mistake you should when trying something new let your other half take all the credit for it. Otherwise, like me if it goes wrong you never hear the last of it. On and On and On. I am too old for this. Never again.
Food:
Being creatures of habit we tend to use Restaurants we know, again this is personal taste but we have found these consistently good value.
1. The Roast House. Los Cristianos, excellent carvery and good menu including Fish and Chips on selected days. Well worth a visit.
2. The Montana: Near the Patch and opposite the Siesta hotel, we had a number of meals including sea bass, steak and paella. All cooked to perfection and well presented. The service was excellent and the price very reasonable.
3 .Goodfellas: Vista beach. We found this beach front cafe 4-5 years ago while walking from PDLA to LC. They do a very good Sunday roast a real plate full of good quality food. All meals and snacks are very reasonably priced, good quality and served with a smile. The coffee is not to be missed and you will not be disappointed. If there was a criticism it would be on the front two tables, again not everybody would agree but on the number of times we stopped off there, it was very hot and sunny, and everybody seemed to be avoiding sitting there. This could be easily addressed by placing two large type parasols sun shades in a strategic place. That way they can be put up or down as required.
4. Martins just below the jersey cow, if you fancy Italian food go to an Italian restaurant. Good food and well priced pasta excellent service again with a smile.
5. Frankie’s China Restaurant: On the patch. We have eaten at Frankie’s for longer than I can remember. In the nineties it was always full and very busy, Frankie was out front greeting his customers checking tables and being a general mine host. Times have changed the food is excellent the staff inviting but the place was empty, when we have visited as the song goes “just the two of us” and this has been the same story for the past three to four years give or take six people. The problem is the competition that’s on his doorstep. We had two starters’ spare ribs and wan tons followed by a main course of king prawns and special fried rice. Good food, excellent and friendly service but at a price! 38 Euros and there is the problem. Customers are looking elsewhere for better value in economic times like these. See next review.
6. Rong Kong on the Patch just down from Frankie’s. Advertising a 6.50 Euro buffet. We hadn’t used this restaurant before and decided to try it out. We were pleasantly surprised not only by the choice but also the quality of the food; the staff was very pleasant and greeted us with a smile. The place was full and everybody seemed to be enjoying their meal. More than enough to eat (we could not manage to eat any of the puddings offered)
Entertainment:
There are so many bars with entertainment you are spoilt for choice; Regardless of your age there is something for everybody. I will only review the artists we watched bearing in mind our age (65-67)
For music lovers you had to visit the strip behind the safari centre
First off Joe Harriet at the Brahms and liszt. Friday’s and Sunday’s a must see excellent soul singer.
Jamie ORourke. Brahms and liszt. Tuesday’s. If you like swing music. Frank Sinatra /Dean Martin you will love this guy. He has the voice and all the moves, just a gigolo, not to be missed! (I videoed two of his songs and hopefully will post on u tube)
Charlie Hodge. Corner bar Tribute to Neil Diamond Charlie has been working the bars in PDLA for a number of years and always entertains, if you like Neil Diamond you will love Charlie. And this year we were all treated to seeing Charlie in his new shirt! Just joking Charlie but the purple one owed you nothing.
Soul Suite. The name say’s it all, good singers and tribute act’s, if you want a seat go early.
Corner bar: Compere Thin Tim as a warm up man he does a difficult job well. Don’t miss The Blues Brothers very entertaining.
The Drunken Duck: Resident singers Terry and Steve fondly known as Two Risky very entertaining and I will be downloading them onto you tube.
That’s some of the singers we watched, there are many more, just indulge yourself.
Comics:
Corner bar: on the strip. Billy Porter, Gay comic and very funny.
Corner bar: Wednesday’s Anthony Scott Tribute to Billy Connolly again another very funny man.
Drunken Duck: Sunday’s. Dee Daniels, Irish singer and comedian entertaining and funny.
Drunken Duck Monday’s Comical Elvis: Kevin Isaac, Elvis with humor lots of laughs.
Drunken Duck Tuesday’s Buddy Graham Tribute to Freddie Starr, I have been entertained by Buddy for a number of years and always found him very funny, I am aware he was given a bad review on the forum some time ago, but I believe it was unfair. Yes he does tell some old jokes but he always tries to include new material. Making people laugh is a very hard business to be in, and with all the doom and gloom comedians if you let them can be a release from your troubles and they should always be supported. car hire:
I used the Tenerife Travel site to book my hire car 14 day’s £144.00 all in. I booked a car to pickup at PDLA 11.30. Smallest two door, lowest spec. Always pick up the car late, that way if all the basic cars have gone and you may get a free upgrade; mine was upgraded to a four door V W Polo with air con. Highly recommended would use again.
Just read through my report and realized it’s a bit longer than intended. I was going to report on my experiences with drivers and other road users, shops, duty free goods and money exchanges but that will have to be another day.
Till then all the best and may your shadow never grow smaller.