this hotel has a beautiful pool area but as the big pool is not heated in winter its far too cold for most people.The staff are very friendly apart from an odd one and very helpful.The food has enormous variety so you would not go hungry but as its a buffet the vegetables are stuck in bowls under the lamps and very quickly go lukewarm then dry out-not good if you love veggies like i do.That said i have never enjoyed desserts as much as i did here.

On arrival we were greeted by an efficient and friendly receptionist. I requested a room with pool view and got one with the morning sun on the balcony. The porter took our bags to the room and it was absolutely no problem to him when I found myself without any change !
The hotel, grounds and rooms are beautiful.
We didn't use the gym or the pools.
I found the staff very helpful and friendly and Marina kept our room spotlessly clean.
I am a fussy eater and found the food inconsistant. One or two days it was pretty good but the rest of the time it was bland. Most people thought it was great and thoroughly tucked in!
For breakfast on the last day they served smoked salmon - so I had this with a freshly cooked omelete and a glass of bucks fizz and it was lovely!
There was a huge choice of food for the evening meal. I dont eat meat and the fish dishes were not very good, although one evening I had a prawn salad which was delicious. They generally served chips, rice and pasta. I never saw any Canary potatoes which was a shame.
I wasn't expecting the entertainment to be good but it wasn't bad. After the evening meal we had a coffee in the lounge where different musicians performed every other night. At 9:30pm downstairs was 'Showtime' - and the likes of 'ABBA' 'The Drifters' and a brilliant mime artist entertained us for an hour or so which was good.
For more of an atmosphere visit the 'Rock Bar' on the strip
The beach (Sand Dunes) is one of the best I have been on.
The weather was great for January.
A fab break !

we stayed in the Blue Bay palace as it is now called in December over the New Year. I have mixed emotions and I shall try to explain why, Anybody who has read my other reviews will know I am very decisive but not here.

First the good points and there are a few.
1 The hotel is spotless
2 Most of the staff are excellent. reception and especially David the porter . Told you David I would mention you. You are one of the friendliest and most helpful members of staff we have come accross.
3It is ideally situated right beside the main shopping centre with lots of places to eat in

Now the bad points and unfortunately there are a few here
1 the food is ok but very repetitive
2 some of the staff need to smile and be friendlier. I could be mean and name names but I won't. I found one in particular rude no matter how hard I tried to be friendly.
3 The first room we were booked into was in the shade so we moved to another . we had to move again as the airconditioning was blowing out warm air but David to the rescue and we were in our third and final room.
4 there are three pools and only one is heated . So because of that it is crowded with children and no room to swim. I am surprised they don't heat the big pool as no one swims in it.
5 the entertainment is very average. We saw the Drifters and they were good but New Years eve was poor with hardly anyone staying for the bells as the group were rubbish. Things kept breaking down and they should have stuck with a disco.
The guy that does the entertainment is superb but he really needs to think about how to improve for next year. No atmosphere whatsoever and we were not even sure when it was midnight.
6 the gym is old and tired .

Ok here is what I think
If you are a family this hotel is ideal and I would not hesitate to return if I was with my grandson. However if like us you are a couple do not go in season .Also I would only go bed and breakfast as there are so many lovely places to eat i n on your doorstep.

We stayed at the Bluebay over New Year. There were apparently no less than 3 hotels of the same name in the same resort. How Spanish is that? I thought I had booked the 5* which is now known as the Bahia, but I had in fact booked the 4* which is now known as the Bluebay Palace (the other one, to confuse you more, is the Atlantic Palace Suite Hotel).

Make sure you are getting what you booked, however as much as I may have been initially miffed, that soon wore off and we all had a superb time.

My wife and I went with our 2 older teenagers, our 12 year old son and my wife's parents and the Bluebay was great for everyone. We were so glad that we hadn't infact gone to the 5* which people told us was a little bit stuffy for the kids and a little bit too far from the resort nightlife for the teenagers to walk home.

Rooms - all were great. We had a mixture of superior suites (great for the two lads who like their own rooms and a TV each), junior suites (great for us as there was a bit more space) and double rooms (absolutely great). I wouldn't pay extra for the Ocean View as there is a better view over the pool. Try to get rooms that have sun on the balconies in the afternoon.

Service - the staff really set this hotel apart from anything else. Nothing is too much trouble and everything is done with a smile

Location - great location just 10 minutes to town, 5 minutes to the shops and the sports bars if you want to catch up on the footy at the same time as being an oasis of quality and calm in the middle of what some people might call "Shameless Country". My older kids loved it and were out down the town a lot coming in at unGodly hours, but we never worried about them because it was so close.

Food - good buffet quality food. Great New Years Eve banquet. Don't expect British bacon or sausages but if you're that bothered about that stuff, either go somewhere else or pay 3 Euros at a bar down the road. There's loads of choice including fresh crepes and fresh omelettes for breakfast. Dinners are similar. I had freshly grilled sardines and seabass one night.

Entertainment - pretty crap but what do you expect?

Activities - the team were great at doing what the guests requested and so we had a couple of hours of football every afternoon.

Gym - could do with opening at 8.00 so you can use it before the mega-breakfast. There were lots of exercise classes though but, in common with lots of hotels, it was 16 and over.

Broadband - 4 computers in a PC room and free broadband for your laptop but only in that vicinity.

TV - you get a bit fed up with watching the same 3 news stories every day on Sky News and CNN. Could do with some British Freeview stations and radio given that 90% of the guests are British.

Would we go back?

Most definitely. If i was going back to the Canaries, I wouldn't go anywhere else.