La Palma Princess Hotel

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Our flight arrived at Santa Cruz airport from Gatwick with the Manchester flight 15 minutes behind us. Therefore, 2 coaches arrived at the hotel within minutes of each other, both full. We therefore had to queue to check in. It is all very well offering glasses of orange juice, but it is very difficult to hold a glass whilst trying to manouvre cases around. Best advice is to try and get off the coach and get your luggage as quickly as possible!
On checking in, a map of the complex was provided and very quick directions were given on how to get to our room. The receptionist did not speak very good english and what she told me was very confusing. The main reception is at the top of a hill. As we came out of the door that she had pointed us in the direction of, we found several of our fellow passengers looking around very confused, with a very steep slope ahead of us. Directions were to come out and turn left, but that would have taken us out of the complex. About 10 of us decided to go down the slope and were relieved to find a signpost directing us to Bloqs 6 and 7. Assuming that we were in Bloq 6 as room number was 6022 we went in that direction but still could not find our room and the map was no help. Eventually I sent my husband off to find the room, which he did, eventually, but if there had been more signs we would have found it easily. I did advise the reps (Emma and Chris - who were excellent) of the problems that we had and they said they would let the hotel know.
The room itself was excellent and I've never encountered such a lovely bathroom with a bath and separate shower cubicle, but we were disappointed with the situation of the room. The brochure does not provide any opportunity to book sea view rooms, which I would have done if I had had the choice. Our room looked out on what can only be described as a compound. My husband said it reminded him of being in barracks when he was in the army. Later on in the week I was advised by a fellow guest that the Germans (of which there were many, although for once they were less arrogant than usual, probably due to an abundance of sunbeds!!!) and possibly other nationality's, were given the sea views. It was also noted that the other nationality's appeared to be on an all inclusive basis, which was also something that we were not offered!
Food was excellent and there was plenty of it. Don't believe the brochures when it says they have 2 a la carte restaurants. It's the same restaurant under 2 names depending on if it is Spanish or Italian night lol. Beware, the waiters do not speak much english and in the main restaurant do not understand if you try and order a cup of tea with your dinner, however, you can get a cup of tea in the Pizzeria and the Teneguia piano bar.
The Pizzeria is excellent value for lunch and I would recommend 1 pizza between 2 as they are large. The La Choza restaurant is not good value for lunch at 20 Euro's per head for a cut down version of the evening buffet. This is where those on all inclusive were having their lunch.
The hotel is actually 2 hotels: La Palma Princess and Teneguia Princess and at times we did not know which of the two we were in. There are 2 receptions, so if you book any trips, make sure that you know which reception you are being picked up from. Trips on La Palma are quite limited. We went Whale Watching and only saw dolphins, which we obviously cannot blame anyone for, but I was disappointed. It's a great base for hikers and a selection of guided hikes were available. If thats not your thing (and its not ours), there are other day trips around the island, but they are very long and tiring. I would recommend a day between trips if you can manage it.
The hotel is in a very secluded spot at the bottom of the mountain (or should I say volcano lol). This means that even if the weather is bad on the rest of the island, it still stays virtually sunny all the time at the hotel. The nearest shop off complex is a 20 minute local bus ride away and therefore you are a captive audience when it comes to buying drinks and snacks.
The shop on the complex only carried a very small stock of grocery items. We managed to buy milk (we took our own kettle for my husbands much loved cup of tea lol) but could not buy sugar or tea bags. Luckily we had bought some of our own, but the girl in the shop managed to advise me in very limited english that we should take some from the restaurant when we got the chance. As Thomson's give this hotel 5 stars, we think that tea and coffee making facilities should be provided in the rooms.
The spa has a lovely spa pool with lots of buttons to press for different types of bubbles and jacuzzi experiences. It costs 10 Euro's each to spend the whole day there, which is OK but I felt that if you were also paying for treatments (110 Euro's worth in total for us)you should get the spa for free.
Outdoor swimming pools in February were too cold to swim in except for the 1 heated one, which was very nice. Beware, there is a nudist area of the hotel beside the vitamin bar with no warning notices, so if you don't want to see other peoples wobbly bits, don't go to the right of the bar while exploring!
Entertainment staff not pushy and provided a daytime sports and activity programme. Evening entertainment not too bad. We just didn't bother as I ended up with a cold!
If you have limited mobility, I wouldn't recommend this hotel, although the hotel will ferry the less mobile around the complex in golf buggies, but for those of us that are mobile, I suggest getting fit before you go, as there are no lifts and everything is up and down steep slopes!
Overall, we didn't have a bad time. I just found a lot of things that annoyed me as I had expected 5 star luxury and don't think that we got it. Official rating is 4 star and I don't think that Thomsons should give it more than that. I think the main thing that annoyed me was not being able to sit on my balcony and enjoy what would have been a lovely sea view. That really marred my enjoyment! No wonder the Germans love the resort!