Sol Puerto de La Cruz

I read reviews and was not sure what to expect, the hotel was in a superb position although probably not suitable to people with walking difficulties. You were a few minutes to the beach and a 10min walk into town. I would recommend paying for a sea view the room was as expected perhaps a litte worn in places but very comfortable. The restaurant was fine the staff helpful and food varied and when we were there in February it was well organised I would imagine in the height of the summer it would be a bit busy. The resort was lovely not and good for a relaxing break, the only thing we found the resort and hotels are mainly geared for German and Spanish market.

We had a very enjoyable stay here.
First of all - fast, unlimited and FREE WIFI is available in this hotel - but it does not cover all that many rooms, so only request it if you really need it, and ask when you book so that they can allocate you a room in range of the signal.
This really is a hotel of two halves: Imagine the wings on an aeroplane, one longer than the other - this is the shape of the hotel. At the inner angle where the two wings meet, you have the pool and garden nestled in the "elbow". Surrounding this garden, directly facing the hotel and reaching up to about floor three, is a rocky cliff. On top of this cliff is a very busy road and a junction with traffic lights, on a steep hill. The revving of the traffic at the junction makes this side of the hotel, the trailing, inner edge of the "wings", rather noisy - and the subject of some bad reviews. However, the leading, outer edge of the "wings" overlooks a pedestrian walkway, with panoramic views over the top of the town and out to sea. This side of the hotel is tranquil - you cannot hear any traffic at all, and you can even hear the birds singing.
We asked for a quiet room with WIFI (the signal covers only floor 4 and only certain parts of that). We were allocated room 408, which is about half way down the outer edge of the longer wing - and has a WIFI aerial in the corridor right outside, so the signal was strong.
Staff - There are two other notable points about this hotel. The cleanliness and the friendly staff. Our room was very clean for a start, and the marble staircases fairly sparkled! The staff we encountered were friendly and smiling - clearly happy in their work or very good actors! This included the reception staff, the restaurant staff - and even the cleaners always came out with a cheery "buenos días" whenever we passed them.
Food - We stayed half-board and found the restaurant to be light and airy (it overlooks the pool) and the food to be well-prepared and reasonably varied. At breakfast there was the traditional hot breakfast, cold meats, cereal, bread and croissants, cakes, fruit - a slow toasting machine and pretty awful coffee! In the evening there was a range of hot dishes, sometimes fish, always meat, vegetarian dishes, plenty of vegetable dishes, salads, cake-based desserts, fruit, cheese, sometimes bananas in caramel, yoghurts and icecream. We added a bottle of wine for about 10 euros. Enough variety to eat as healthily or unhealthily as you wish. All in all it was a good example of a fairly typical Spanish 4-star buffet.
Bar - We visited the bar one evening. It is a huge, airy lounge with plenty of easy chairs and lots of light in the daytime. In the evening there is live music - nothing too off-beat, mainly the old favourites and nice and relaxing. The inevitable TV with football, near the bar, makes little impact as the space is so large.
Parking - There is an underground car park for which you are issued a free pass if you request one. It has about 20 spaces and is first-come first-served. We had no problem getting in as the hotel was quieter than usual. parking on the roads immediately around the hotel is allowed but in short supply.
Location - the hotel is up the hill from the Piramides shopping centre, half way from the town centre to the La Paz district. There is a public walkway (mainly a flight of steps) from this shopping centre which goes right to the hotel. Starting at the hotel, a leisurely walk to the Lago Martianez took us about 15 minutes. The walk back up a took a little longer! If you can't manage steps, you would need a very short taxi ride into the town centre.
Overall - reviews of this hotel seem to be divided according to which side of the hotel the reviewer stayed in. My advice is to request a quiet room (one facing the sea). We put our request in the notes of our online booking form and also followed it up with an email to the hotel directly, in Spanish, so we got confirmation that they had received the request. Our room 408 was definitely one of the quiet ones.
I recommend this hotel and would happily return.

This hotel has been transferred to Sol and renamed Sol Puerto de la Cruz. I understand that this is a downgrade and can appreciate that.
What the brochure does not tell you that there are over 150 steps between the hotel and the town. Everywhere is hilly.
What it also does not tell you is that half the rooms face onto a very busy and noisy cross roads which reduces the effectiveness of the balcony and will give light sleepers an early wake up call. The sun is on these balconies in the morning only
Of the other half those on the top three floors have a great sea view, the others look into adjacent properties or onto a retaining wall. I cannot comment on the sun, but it appears that they do not get any.
The food is average, except for the vegetables, which were almost always overcooked and tasteless. The meat and fish cooking depended very much on the chef and what was already cooked in advance.
The place is clean but showing signs of wear and tear, loose toilet seats, wonky cupboards, etc.
The staff are friendly and helpful, but some knowledge of Spanish is an asset.

My husband and I went for 1 week over the new year, we were very disappointed with this hotel which was supposed to be a 4 star but in fact was more like a 2 star. I can definitely say this is the worst Portland/Thomsons hotel we have stayed in.
The food was always just about warm and even at peak time breakfast the bacon was cooked four rashers at a time so waiting five or ten minutes was not unusual. The beans etc at breakfast ran out and were not replaced until you asked. The hot plates were never replaced, neither were the soup dishes etc so we were having to ask and again wait around for replacements. There was little choice in the menu especially the puddings, they were very poor.
Some of the staff were not very helpful and one was very rude and made you feel you were a nuisance everytime you asked for a drink or a menu. The one pool was supposed to be heated, but it was freezing cold and no one was brave enough to go in. This pool in my opinion was not heated at all. The deck chairs around the pool were always taken early by the towel on deck chair brigade.
The hotel was very clean though and the towels and beds were changed often and our room cleaned every day. Cleaning staff excellent. We shall not be returning.