Rock On - Hard Rock Resort Tenerife

Tenerife offers a great year-round climate, a variety of scenic golf courses, good value for money and fun for all at The Hard Rock Hotel. Vicky Richards rocks out…

As two ‘young’ 50-somethings, we looked forward to our stay at The Hard Rock Hotel with an equal measure of anticipation and apprehension. With promises of getting ‘ready to feel like a rock star’ on the hotel’s website, I did wonder what we had let ourselves in for.     Our concerns quickly vanished – we spent a very relaxing, fun week at The Hard Rock Hotel. For true aficionado music fans, there are numerous displays of memorabilia located around the hotel from Elton John’s feather cloak to Beyonce’s famous bikini to a collection of photos of the Beatles on the island pre-international fame.

MUSIC IS IN THE AIR. Guitar lessons, DJ music mixing and dance classes are all available. Within the hotel grounds, bands and soloists entertain guests all day. It may be an electric guitarist playing Purple Rain on the terrace at breakfast, or a saxophone player, lulling you to sleep on ‘a lazy Sunday afternoon’ by the pool, but the standard of all these live artists was excellent. And it made a welcome change from the usual hotel play list. No boring lift music here. Each evening, there is entertainment in the lobby, or if you are lucky, you may catch one of the live concerts on the open air stage where up to 5,000 concert goers can experience world-class acts.     This beachfront resort comprises of 624 rooms, including 259 suites spread across the Oasis and Nirvana Towers. There are three large swimming pools, while the well-manicured garden and terrace areas step down to beach level and provide the opportunity to take a dip in the ocean. Access to the beach is also available by lift, which proved to be very useful at the end of an exhausting day of sunbathing!

FUN AND FUNKY The bedrooms are spacious, contemporary and well designed with all the usual essentials such as Nespresso machines, multi-channel, large-screen TV’s, rain showers and large comfy beds with Egyptian cotton sheets. You can choose from Silver, Gold and Platinum suites right up to Rock Royalty status, where you can experience a private check-in, lounge areas, panoramic views, a free ironing service and even Jacuzzi preparation! Staying at here you can naturally expect to find the sound system within your room to be exceptional and The Rock Hotel does not disappoint, with its ‘sound of your stay’ special programme.    With three pools to choose from, guests can opt for a relaxing adults-only area, a family pool or a very large activity swimming pool, down by the water’s edge, with aqua gym classes, paddle boarding, water polo and other fun activities to take part in during the day. The choice is yours.     If you have children that need entertaining then The Hard Rock Roxity Kids Club looked great fun, with the Roxtars providing their little charges with games, workshops and, of course, a weekly Rock Talent Show. Teen Spirit, for ten year olds and above, offered Rock DJ activities including music-mixing classes, Xbox on large screens, billiards, giant chess and much more.

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD The resort boasts six restaurants, which offer variety of foods – from steaks to tapas to Japanese teriyaki. There’s also a self-service eatery, a Sports Grill Bar and the Beach Club down by the ocean. The 16th Roof Top bar is a must to visit in the evening. With its chic décor, amazing lanterns and spectacular views of the sunset over the Atlantic, this is the place to be as the sun goes down. Again, there’s great live music, plus rollerblading waiters and themed evenings such as Gin meets Burger. This is a fun place for the obligatory sun-downer cocktail and pre-dinner tapas.     If you fancy visiting the nearby towns of La Caleta and Costa Adeje, there are a plethora of restaurants to suit all tastes, and the concierge in the hotel is happy to recommend and make all the necessary arrangements.

OUT AND ABOUT Located in Playa Paraiso, in the south of the island, the next bay round from the hotel is Costa Adeje. A word of warning – you cannot walk easily from Playa Paraiso to Costa Adeje, as I had supposed when looking at the map. Badly prepared for such a walk (in wedge sandals and suede loafers!), we finally made it to Adeje, two hours later. We were somewhat shaken by our experience, which included scaling a rock face, negotiating perilous cliff edge paths and stumbling across a nudist beach. Never again. Unless you have the suitable footwear and like an adventure, take a 10-minute taxi or one of the numerous buses that stop outside the hotel.     Not only are there many clubs, restaurants and bars at Costa Adeje, as well as long stretch of golden beach, but there is also golf. Golf Costa Adeje is former banana plantation; it is a very fair but challenging course favouring the straight, long hitters. It has wonderful views over the coast and the island of La Gomera. There are excellent practice facilities with two-tier practice bays, a pitching area, putting greens and an excellent pro shop. We found the club to be very welcoming to visitors and enjoyed relaxing in the terrace with a chilled glass of wine after a good round of golf. The course seemed to be very popular, so advance booking is essential.     Other courses nearby include the classy Abama Golf, described as a ‘design masterpiece’ – with pretty creeks, lakes and dramatic tee elevations. Golf Las Americas, again is very popular with the visitors and is apparently great to play, except on a windy day. Of course, that can be quite often as Tenerife is a very small island resting in the Atlantic Ocean!     If you don’t just want to hang out at the hotel or play some local golf, then attractions near the hotel include a visit to Teide Mountain, which is the third largest volcano in the world and worth a visit. For the walkers, the popular Masca Walk involves a 4.5km hike though the stunning Masca Gorge. It’s a good way to experience some of Tenerife’s dramatic interior landscape. If you are looking for a fun, exhilarating day out and you enjoy water parks, there is Aqua Land and Siam Park.

TIME TO CHILL Back at the hotel, all the activity of the day can be soothed away with pampering and the many treatments available at the Rock Spa, including a soak in its natural salt water lagoon pool, which is well worth a visit. For the more active, a Rock Om Yoga programme provides guests with a Hard Rock ‘spin’ on yoga classes. The Sound Body Wellness programme will provide you a holistic approach to rejuvenate your body and put a spring in your step. The Body Rock gym also offers fitness classes including Zumba and has a state of the art gym. And it’s all to a great soundtrack, of course.     We found our stay at The Hard Rock Hotel a very relaxing, enjoyable and lively experience and look forward to rocking our way back next year to chase way those winter blues!