Gf Gran Costa Adeje

“Overall lovely holiday, great pools, breakfast, hotel, drinks!!”

This was our second visit to the Gran, we returned due to the refurb and we love being able to potter out for tea each night. Food – We were bed and breakfast only and found breakfast to be lovely, always the same type of stuff but plenty of choice so enjoyed it. Omelettes were so tasty. Lots of … more

This was our second visit to the Gran, we returned due to the refurb and we love being able to potter out for tea each night. Food – We were bed and breakfast only and found breakfast to be lovely, always the same type of stuff but plenty of choice so enjoyed it. Omelettes were so tasty. Lots of bread and cheese choice, few different types of sausages and bacon including English. Only issue I had was poached eggs were only in the pan for a minute so do ask for them well done or it will hardly be cooked. Lots of treats for kids, there is a pancake station at the back on the buffet which we only saw on day 4, these were better than the ones being cooked live for you. English bacon seemed to be cooked 2 ways, one was cooked and the other was cremated, I prefer cremated so enjoyed this. My daughter had a few burgers and chops from the pool bar and enjoyed them. Room – lovely, more than enough space and storage, we always take extra hangers as there are never enough wherever you go. Bathroom lovely, rain shower is amazing but not a great amount of pressure, I have extremely thick frizzy curly hair and struggled to give it a proper good wash, had the same issue as everyone else where the water does go over the pan and into the bathroom, but we rolled up a towel and put it at the opening to stop this but did have to get new towels each day which we don’t like to do. Room cleaned everyday to a high standard. Sofa bed was comfy for my daughter, other beds so very comfy! Dressing gowns were tiny, could have possibly asked for bigger ones but wasn’t that much on an issue. We had room 3116, it was a side sea view room, not that we requested it but was a nice view. We had mountain view last time which was stunning. Only thing missing were a few hooks inside the door for hanging bags up. Air con was fine, only goes down to 16 which was an acceptable temp, sometimes got a little warm in the middle of the night but was fine. Light stays on outside until early hours but we were so tired each night didn’t bother us too much. Hotel/drinks/entertainment – everywhere was very clean, it is a huge place! Lots of little places to sit when you need some shade or a drink. Cocktails were very nice and made properly, I had to start asking for less alcohol, soft drinks were a bit pricey. We started taking a few cans of pop and bottles of water to the pool and just asked for ice which saved us quite a bit of money. Staff were always happy to do this apart from one older lady at the pool bar who we found a tad rude. Entertainment was really good, we enjoy anything live. The comedy clown was so much better than we thought he would be and very funny. Always lots of seating where entertainment was although you had to get there early for a good view. It was hot in there but not too uncomfortable. Hotel is family friendly so not too many noisy drunks around. They did a kids disco each night in a different room so we didn’t have to sit through that which I liked. Pools – this is one of the reasons we returned, we do enjoy their pools, lots of space to play. My husband runs in a morning so was always down for 0730 to grab us good sunbeds, he doesn’t eat breakfast so not an issue that we didn’t eat together, on an odd occasion he would go after us and eat alone which is worth it to be able to sit by the pool and be able to see our daughter playing when we needed a break. Area was clean. Be aware around 0900-0930 the towel police would come and remove towels and belongings if no one was with the beds, I see pros and cons to this. Some people were arriving back at their beds after 1100 having reserved them around 0700 which is what the towel police are there to prevent but for those who did just nip off for a quick family breakfast, I felt sorry for them. The slides are a very welcomed addition; we stay by the big pool but a few times a day my daughter did enjoy 20 mins on the slides. We used the adults only pool once each and was only a handful of people up there, was very relaxing, pool does need some work but didn’t spoil my time up there. Be aware the wood walkways get very hot so always wear your flip flop to walk too and from the pool. They did plenty of pool activities, inflatable courses for the kids to enjoy etc. Restaurants – we visited the Seahorse which was stunning, Mustang Sallys which was very nice and cheap. Michelle’s was not my favourite and although we thought it would be cheap it was our most expensive meal out. We went next door to the Mexican, that was below standard… In fact we found staff rude next door. The El Dukes café on the ground floor is absolutely amazing, we went for lunch on our last day and wished we had eaten there on an evening too, such good value for money, we had 2 huge salads and a huge sandwich and a side of the largest portion of chips all for 35e!!! We also went to El Olivio and the one next door to that (blue one, possibly Millano…) both were amazing too, they are away from the beach front up one of the streets that takes you back up towards the hotel, they were out of the sun and were a lot cooler. I had the steak at the blue one and it was really nice, if we had found these earlier we would have gone again. We also went to Limoncello, the one closer to the hotel, hmmm wasn’t impressed not sure why they are raved about and so busy… Activities – my husband and daughter went to Siam park, they had fun, couldn’t get a fast pass but said they were glad they didn’t as their queues were smaller on some rides than the fast pass ones. They also went to Aqualand and got fast passes and enjoyed this also. We went on the land train and got a double ticket, this was a good day out. In summery we had a lovely holiday and glad we returned. I wouldn’t pay to go AI at this hotel as there are so many places local to eat and we spent less on food, drinks, shopping and days out than if we had paid to upgrade to AI. Would we go again… unfortunately it is a NO… I don’t think it has that one magical thing no one else has to take us back for a 3rd time even though we really did enjoy our stay I just feel there are others out there that we would enjoy more for what we want from a holiday.

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“Loved our time here”

Had a lovely stay at the GF Gran. The breakfast was delicious and lots to choose from. The rooms were spotless. We got a interconnecting room which worked well for our family. My boys loved the slides and the different things they did in the pool. They also enjoyed playing table tennis and footbal… more

Had a lovely stay at the GF Gran. The breakfast was delicious and lots to choose from. The rooms were spotless. We got a interconnecting room which worked well for our family. My boys loved the slides and the different things they did in the pool. They also enjoyed playing table tennis and football. This is the first holiday they have wanted to get involved with activities and I think its to do with the kids club staff. They were amazing. Everyday both my boys went to look for them. The teen den was a massive hit with them too. The racing sim was probably the highlight of their holiday. A big shout out to Kevin. He was so friendly and helpful. He really did help make sure the boys had a good holiday.

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“Overall a solid 4, not 5!”

Just returned from a week and overall very pleased. I can however definitely echo the reviews that confirm this isn’t a true 5 star all inclusive. Arrival and rooms - check in was super speedy and our bags arrived 30 seconds after we got to our room. The room itself was lovely, clean and spacious.… more

Just returned from a week and overall very pleased. I can however definitely echo the reviews that confirm this isn’t a true 5 star all inclusive. Arrival and rooms - check in was super speedy and our bags arrived 30 seconds after we got to our room. The room itself was lovely, clean and spacious. We had a mountain view which was lovely. We had twin beds pushed together but honestly this created a super king size, it was absolutely huge. We needed bedding for the sofa bed and housekeeping arrived 5 minutes after the call was placed. Clear instructions for towel/sheet changes, although our towels seemed to be changed regardless of where we left them. A fridge is provided but completely empty, unlike other top tier AI options that usually include a few fizzy drinks. 2 waters, tea and coffee that were never replenished (although we also didn’t ask). Food and drink - this would be the let down for me. There are a huge amount of surcharges for what I would consider standard AI offerings. The poolside restaurant and all bars had more surcharge options than AI inclusive. Food I didn’t mind so much as there was plenty of choice, but I hope you enjoy a sex on the beach because most other cocktails are surcharged! The surcharge is reasonable at approx €6 for a cocktail but still this applies to 80% of the menu. The buffet is fine, it’s nothing spectacular but everyone will find something. They were also incredibly accommodating for our allergy which was brilliant. Pool and loungers - this was the most ridiculous display that I’ve seen. There are signs absolutely everywhere telling you not to reserve beds, they even tell you at check in. Arriving down to breakfast at 8am would see all decent spots taken, with guests continuing their morning sleep on the beds! The hamaqueros DO come around removing people’s stuff but not until 9:30/10am and most people have arrived for the day by then, so most people will have reserved beds with no penalty as long as they’re there by 9:30 ish. At no fault of the hotel we had a few days where the main children’s/shallow pool (not with slides) was lined by adults with no children, leaving families with smaller children an obscured view and unable to play by themselves. Spa - I was able to treat myself to a massage which was very reasonably priced at €75 for 50 minutes, and it was absolutely lovely. The music was quite distracting, and not very spa like in my experience. It felt more like I was on hold. The room was lovely and clean and cool. The free spa access was a nice touch, although that itself wasn’t very impressive and I’m glad I didn’t pay for it. 2 saunas, a cold room and a jacuzzi that seemed to have a mind of its own. I’m not a sauna person though so someone might really appreciate those. Entertainment - although I find all of these a bit cheesy, they genuinely were lots of fun. The entire entertainment team firstly seem to absolutely love what they do, always so engaging and present. The booked acts on the stage were all absolutely brilliant, we saw 5/7 that we were there for. The mini disco was lots of fun, although in a bit of a strange room and it felt more like a conference room. The mini club soft play etc was brilliant and clean. Leaving your details with them so that your little one could be in there without you did seem redundant though, as the older taller children would open the gate and leave at their own free will, often allowing for smaller children to just follow behind. We did not experience the daytime mini club. My partner was very jealous that he wasn’t a teenager able to try the VR bike and racing sim in the teen room! Staff - as with the entertainment team, everyone was truly lovely. The camareros in the restaurant were quick and polite, although we did learn to seek out the senior members of staff when it came to discussing our allergy. They couldn’t have done more for us. Area - a really lovely part of the island, which we’d never stayed in before. It definitely is the more upmarket area, which was nice. Overall, it was a brilliant week with no complaints but we won’t be visiting again solely due to the menu surcharges. For what we paid (granted, peak August) I strongly believe there wasn’t enough included in the all inclusive. A shame as everything else was absolutely brilliant, I just don’t believe that something as simple as a pornstar martini or burger requires an upcharge.

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“Enjoyable stay overall, but unfortunately several things fell short of 5-star expectations”

We generally enjoyed our stay at GF Gran Costa Adeje and there were certainly positives to our holiday. However, there were a number of things which, taken together, meant that for us the overall experience didn’t quite feel like the five-star standard we had expected. The food was okay and there … more

We generally enjoyed our stay at GF Gran Costa Adeje and there were certainly positives to our holiday. However, there were a number of things which, taken together, meant that for us the overall experience didn’t quite feel like the five-star standard we had expected. The food was okay and there was generally a reasonable choice, although we didn’t find it particularly outstanding for a five-star hotel. One relatively small thing that became frustrating was the service for tea and coffee at breakfast. There was no self-service option, meaning you had to wait for a member of staff to come over to take your hot drink order. On several mornings we were left waiting quite a long time before even being acknowledged, simply to get a cup of tea or coffee. A self-service tea and coffee station would make such a difference. We were also surprised that there weren’t easily accessible water refill stations where guests could fill their own bottles. These may sound like small things individually, but they’re the little conveniences and touches that, for us, help distinguish a true five-star experience. Unfortunately, our biggest disappointment came on our final day and involved my sister’s medical needs. My sister has epilepsy and the hotel had been informed of her medical condition by TUI prior to our stay. Our checkout was at 12pm, but we weren’t leaving for the airport until approximately 3:30pm. I had therefore been asking for several days during our holiday whether something could be arranged so that she would have somewhere safe, quiet and dark where she could lie down and rest before travelling, particularly as tiredness can trigger a seizure for her. Despite raising this several times in advance, I was repeatedly told to ask again closer to departure. On our departure morning, I explained the situation again and was told that retaining our room for approximately another 3.5 hours would cost €65. I want to be clear that our disappointment isn’t simply because we were charged for late checkout. We understand that late checkout is normally chargeable and subject to availability. Nor were we expecting to keep our room for free simply because we wanted to extend our holiday by a few hours. This was about a genuine medical need. I explained that it didn’t even have to be our existing room and asked whether there was any other suitable room or private space where my sister could lie down if necessary. We would have been perfectly happy with any appropriate alternative. No consideration was given at all. The alternative suggested was a shower room. Unfortunately, there was no bed or suitable place for her to lie down, so although we appreciated that something had been suggested, it simply didn’t address the medical need we had explained. In the end, we paid the €65 late-checkout charge so that my sister could have the room and somewhere to rest before our flight. Unfortunately, when we returned to the room, the beds had been left raised up — presumably so that underneath them could be cleaned. We then had to wait for somebody to come and put them back down. Considering the entire reason we had paid the additional charge was so that my sister could lie down and rest before travelling, this was particularly frustrating and defeated the purpose of having paid to retain the room until it was eventually sorted. When a gentleman came to fix the beds, he knocked on the door but then entered before we had been given a reasonable opportunity to get to the door and answer it. There were three women in the room in towels at the time and we felt extremely uncomfortable. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only incident involving somebody entering our room unexpectedly that day. At around 12pm, a lady carrying a clipboard and pen opened our room door to check whether we had left. She did not knock first, and I was in the process of getting changed. This was particularly surprising because by this point we had already arranged and paid for our late checkout, so the hotel should have been aware that the room was still occupied. We fully appreciate that staff need to check rooms and that maintenance staff may need access when something needs fixing. Our issue is simply that guests should be given the opportunity to answer the door before somebody enters, particularly when the hotel knows the room is still occupied. Being walked in on while getting changed and then later while the three of us were in towels made us feel very uncomfortable. I do want to mention something positive regarding housekeeping. The lady who cleaned our room throughout the week always did a lovely job, and we were very happy with how she looked after the room. Our concerns about the incidents on our final day shouldn’t detract from the good service she personally provided. The whole situation was just a really disappointing way to finish the holiday. After trying for several days to make suitable arrangements because of my sister’s medical condition, eventually paying the €65, returning to find the beds raised and unusable, having to wait for that to be rectified and experiencing two uncomfortable incidents involving people entering the room, we were honestly more than ready to leave by the time our transfer arrived. That’s such a shame, because we did enjoy aspects of our stay and I don’t want this review to suggest that the entire holiday was bad — it wasn’t. However, between the breakfast service, lack of convenient water refill facilities and, most importantly, the way our final day was handled, there were a number of aspects that didn’t quite live up to what we personally expect from a five-star hotel. For us, five-star isn’t only about how a hotel looks or the facilities it has. It’s also about the little touches, attentiveness, privacy and how guests are looked after when they genuinely need some additional help. Unfortunately, what should have been a relaxed final few hours before travelling home instead left us feeling disappointed, uncomfortable and ultimately more than ready to leave, which is not how you want to feel at the end of a holiday you had otherwise enjoyed. I hope the hotel takes this feedback constructively, particularly regarding how guests with medical needs are supported and ensuring staff give guests sufficient opportunity to answer the door before entering an occupied room.

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