It was Easter last year when Tenerife Magazine headed to the Hotel JardÃn Tropical to find out what keeps 40% of guests returning year after year and what one lucky winner of our competition can expect.
Strolling past the elegant palm trees and soft, white turrets that guard the entrance to the Hotel JardÃn Tropical, I pass beneath the straw thatched roof and leave the glare of sunlight to enter the portal to a dream world. Combining the principles of Feng Shui with shades of North African, Moorish and Colonial design, the architect Melvin Villaroel has created a space filled with hidden, tranquil corners where light, air and nature combine in perfect harmony.
Velvety white corridors weave below mirrored ceilings to shady courtyards at the foot of tiered minarets and bougainvillea draped terraces. Falling in gentle tiers from the hotel’s reception, brick paved terraces embedded with turquoise and ruby ceramic tiles lead past carved pine settees and over wooden foot bridges to water cascades and a sapphire pool that meanders around scented garden jungles.
The check-in welcome is accompanied by a chilled glass of cava while JoaquÃn explains the Alice in Wonderland principle of a ground floor which is in fact on the fifth floor and points me towards my room. Minus the aid of a White Rabbit, I follow the warren of corridors, my eyes wide at the eclectic beauty of my surroundings, until I arrive at room 457.
Don’t you just love it when you walk into your hotel room and the first thing that comes out of your mouth is “Wow”? A corridor of fitted wardrobes with wooden latticed doors leads to a cavernous room where crimson, colour washed walls lend a rich warmth to the beautifully cool interior. Centre stage, a bed the size of a small land mass is draped in the same rich, flower print drapes that cover the windows. French impressionist paintings join forces with the period furniture to give the room a classic, timeless elegance. I open the curtains and step onto the intimate balcony which peeks out through Kentia palm fronds at the giant strelitzias and towering palm trees that lend the gardens and pools the environment so richly deserving of the name JardÃn Tropical.
I relax into one of the cane chairs, savouring the short time I have before my dinner reservation at the hotel’s award winning restaurant of Las Rocas. Birds are chatting noisily as they make last minute preparations for their sundown bed time, the last of the day’s sunbathers are heading back to their rooms while other couples are already dressed for the evening, strolling hand in hand towards a sunset cocktail at the Beach Club before dinner.
Three words are foremost in my mind ““ symmetry, serenity, serendipity.
The Essentials
Location: One of the first hotels to be built in Tenerife’s newest resort of Costa Adeje, the Hotel JardÃn Tropical has seen many bigger and more flashy hotels springing up all around it while this tropical paradise has quietly taken root and flourished. Sited on a picturesque headland of Costa Adeje with Playa Bobo a few minutes stroll to the south and Puerto Colón to the west.
Rooms: Completely refurbished in 2010 and featuring LCD satellite TV, mini bar and safe, rooms are beautifully designed and appointed to maximise the quality of light, coupling the hotel’s trademark white with rich turquoise soft furnishings. Suites raise the floor space quota from generous to oodles and the decor to individually styled. The walk-in shower was powerful enough to double as an aqua massage and the bath was big enough to lie full length in. 26 interconnecting family rooms offer microwave, baby alarm and Playstation – essential ingredients of a family holiday.
Service: From the moment I arrived at reception, I was made to feel welcome by multi-lingual, professional staff. Service in the buffet restaurant and the bars was exceptionally good while at restaurant Las Rocas, the delightful Julio fussed over my every whim with a warm smile, professionalism and buckets of personality.
Food: Hotel JardÃn Tropical has a deserved reputation for excellence in dining. The El Patio restaurant is reputed to serve the best steak tartare in Tenerife from its heavenly garden setting, while the romantic headland setting of Las Rocas is the venue for excellent gourmet cuisine. Breakfast in the Las Mimosas restaurant was a sumptuous choice of fresh fruit, continental and cooked dishes, all prepared and presented with aplomb in the stylish dining room and garden patio.
Entertainment: I followed the sound of laughter and applause to the bar lounge where families were being entertained by contemporary clowns, acrobats and breakdancers until it was time for the youngest of drooping eyelids to be carried to their beds. Night people will find themselves within sandal strolling distance of the iconic Faro Chill Art at Puerto Colón.
Overall: A fabulously stylish and chic four star hotel with five star design and aspirations where the good things in life ““ consummate service, fine dining, luxurious comfort and impeccable taste – are placed at the top of the agenda. Perfect for couples, honeymooners, families and anyone with an eye for quality and selectivity. As official host to players at golf tournaments like the Tenerife Ladies Match Play, it’s also the perfect year-round base for Tenerife golfers.
Hotel JardÃn Tropical; 4 Star; Calle Gran Bretagña, Costa Adeje; (0034) 902 25 02 51; email: [email protected]
