A fantastic hotel and a great resort.

After reading some of the Reviews on other websites about the Sol Princesa Dacil Hotel I can truly say I had been afraid of the type of Holiday we were in for. My wife is a really fussy eater, and my kids are a bundle of energy, and these attributes didn't seem suited to an "old" hotel with a "chaotic" restaurant. I could smell disaster.

However, I had made the booking on a strong recommendation from a close friend, so I felt I would give it a go, especially as the reservations department directly at the hotel had been very helpful in sorting out the booking and giving details of the hotel. I noted that booking directly saves a huge amount of money, especially if you can book the flight cheaply, and also gives the option of booking on room only or bed and breakfast, in case you're not too sure about the hotel restaurant. I boldly decided to give it a try, as the friend who recommended it said that the Restaurant had been renovated in November 2004, hence all the complaints and problems during that period of adjustment before and after. Apparently now it was supposed to be very popular, so, with these contrasting views, I opted for trying it out to see for myself.

The other useful advantage of booking direct and actually talking to the hotel about your reservation, is that you can make special room requests, for example, high floor or pool side etc, and they are more likely to be noted than if you do it via the agency. The helpful receptionists managed to get me a spacious 12th floor room with a magnificent Sea View, and really, I must say, in no other hotel can you get views like this one, some people say that the building is too big, or too plain, but you've got to remember that you're enjoying it from the inside out, not from the outside in, if you know what I mean. And in that aspect, having a high floor room in the tallest building of Los Cristianos is a feast for the eyes, the whole south Coast of Tenerife is spread before your eyes!

So as you can see, we were more than satisfied with the actual room. For families, the Hotel has larger rooms that can accommodate up to 4 people, two in the main bedroom, and an extra two in the separate Lounge if necessary. The Sofa in the lounge can be easily transformed into a comfortable double bed for the kids, and is perfect for a late afternoon siesta during those hot summer days. Most of the hotel rooms don't have air conditioning, but it wasn't a serious problem, as leaving open the balcony lets in a cool sea breeze that sets everything right. All the rooms have safety deposit boxes and TV's, and the housekeepers are always efficient and responsive to your needs. Any requirements we did have were quickly dealt with by reception staff, who were quick in letting the housekeeper know of any extra needs which were attended to within the day.

I decided to ask the Reception about what other types of rooms they had on offer and they were kind enough to give me the keys to two different rooms in order to compare.
*The standard rooms are found principally on the first and second floor, and are small but comfy. The useful thing is that they are easily accessible for people who don't have faith in elevators or who simply want to get from A to B quickly. Despite being smaller than the family rooms they are still more than enough for two people, and again in such a brilliant holiday resort you only ever find yourself in the room to get some shut eye!
*The other rooms they had available were the Superior rooms, located on the 13th, 14th and 15th floors, and basically it says it all in their name. They are unfortunately only built for 2 people, but are as spacious as the family rooms, and have the added facilities of Air Conditioning and a built in hairdryer, something the other rooms didn't have. Ladies, do remember to bring the hairdryer with you, but in case you don't, the reception can rent one out for you for the duration of the holiday, as they have contact with a company that provides fans, hairdryers, push buggies etc, and at reasonable prices. Essential for those people who don't feel so comfortable in the heat and need a Fan to keep them cooler. The Superior rooms are brilliant for couples looking for a nice holiday, but remember they come at an extra price, so either book that with the travel agency or ring the hotel before hand to get it reserved for you at the extra price. Definitely worth the upgrade, if available, for those looking for added comfort.

The hotel itself was a genuine surprise. Yes, from the outside it looks like a huge concrete monster, but at least it helps when you're slightly drunk after a good night out and trying to find your way back. Nothing like a recognisable hotel to make your stay easier. And as I mentioned before, the inside is splendid, not only the rooms, but the hotel public areas in general have a well kept light about them, considering it was built over 30 years ago! The hotel offers internet access at very affordable prices, and also Reception were brilliant in sorting out excursions and so on for our holiday! I would recommend to all holiday makers to compare before they book anything with the reps, prices at reception were always much more affordable and also better informed, as the employees have a far better local knowledge than the reps. Reception booked us on various excursions and also sorted out a rental car for us, with which we drove the kids to Mt. Teide and had a splendid day after on of the younger receptionists, Tomas, recommended all the best places to see and even a very good Spanish restaurant.

It was a genuine surprise to meet Tomas, this young lad who spoke such good English, (not a trace of an accent at all and better English that most of us clients!) and we became good friends with him over the course of our holiday as he was very warm and welcoming, and the kids loved him! It was quite a shock to arrive for our check-in and receive such a warm welcome in perfect English, and he sorted out a problems or queries we had for the duration of our holiday. A true star, and one among many, the staff were tip top, with some true jokers among the bar staff, and the best entertainment team I have ever come across! (Thank you Phil, Marta, Arianna and Demitri!)Apparently the hotel chain (sol) has recently invested heavily in the entertainment department to turn the hotel into a Flintstone themed hotel, well it's definitely made the difference, as theatre was fun for the whole family, and it was hard not to enjoy the holiday! We hardly saw the kids during the day, they were constantly occupied with the activities that had been cooked up for them, and never bored a moment! It was my sons birthday during the holiday and I have never seen him so happy, we were able to organise a personal Birthday for him in the restaurant, with a larger than Life Fred Flintstone and a yummy birthday cake, it was a true joy for him! Definitely a great family hotels, there were many families just like us that were fully entertained throughout their holiday and vowed to come back before the summer was up!

The Location of the Hotel was perfect, 5 minutes from central Los Cristianos and just a short walk from the Promenade, right near the beach - Fantastic! There were many great bars and restaurants, and I'm totally convinced now that Los Cristianos is a far better option than Las Americas, its much less crowded and much more clean and comfortable, not as rowdy, and still has that special local culture influence that has been drained from Las Americas over the years. In Los Cristianos we were able to find everything that we needed, and the beach at Las Vistas was fantastic, really a great place to spend the day! We found a cute little ice cream shop called La Golosa that the kids fell in love with, we ended up going there on every evening walk, and we still didn't taste all the flavours! Other good nights out were had at Dreamers and the Irish Times, and we found a really good locally owned sea food restaurant called "El Rincon Del Marinero" which really offered a truly unique and indigenously flavoured meal out, we had a huge feast of a lunch, with real fresh fish and fantastic Paella, without the inflated tourist prices!

And lastly, I'll go on to analyse the "dreaded" restaurant! Well, I'll tell you something... What a relief!!! It was nowhere near as I had previously read in other reviews on other websites, in fact it was pretty good, I always had two to three servings, and was sad to have to stop! Tomas confirmed to me what my work-mate had said, the renovation period last year caused a lot of problems, but now its fully functional and the only thing I can complain about is that the queues for food are often long, and there aren't enough waiters to clear up, but personally I wasn't too fussed, as long as the food was good and there was plenty, and so it was! The restaurant opening times were good too, from 18.00 till 22.00 I think it was, plenty of time in which to dine, and convenient in case you're coming back late from an excursion or simply trying to avoid peak meal hours (the queues at 18.00 are phenomenal, typical Brits with our punctuality!) So all in all I was pleased with the Restaurant, the kids were delighted with what was on offer (they even had their own section!) and I couldn't see anyone who was too annoyed, except perhaps the most fussy. People must remember it's a buffet restaurant in 3 star hotel serving almost 800 people per night, and not a dainty haute-cuisine place! Top marks to effort for all the staff, they try their best but simply not enough of them to cope with everyone, in that sense the clients could be more helpful in leaving things neat and clean!

My family's two week stay here was fantastic, and for a summer family hotel, I'm yet to find anything that compares, not even a 5 star! I think the best possible advice is to contact the hotel before you get there, find out as much about it as possible to make sure it's suited to your needs, and then give it a go, it'll be worth it!