Dreams Jardin Tropical

Very disappointing stay at a hotel that claims to be one of the best in Costa Adeje

We stayed at Hyatt Ziva Jardín Tropical for 5 nights with our 13-year-old daughter. We have been coming to Costa Adeje for the past four years, so we know the area well, and we chose this hotel because of its reputation and the fact that it presents itself as one of the best hotels in the area.

Unfortunately, our experience was very disappointing.

First impressions

The hotel itself initially looked lovely, although personally I don’t think it is situated in the nicest part of the Costa Adeje strip.

When we arrived, we were told our room wouldn’t be ready until 3pm, which was absolutely fine. We were able to leave our luggage safely at reception and head out while we waited.

Unfortunately, the room was a disappointment. It was very dark, with extremely minimal lighting. There were only two mirrors: one above the bathroom sink, where there was no natural light, and one by the doorway. The doorway mirror was the only full-length mirror in the room, again in a dark corridor with no natural lighting.

There was also only one plug socket in the bathroom or one between the beds. This might sound like a small issue, but having no socket near a mirror makes something as simple as drying your hair or getting ready extremely awkward.

The food

This was probably the biggest disappointment of the whole stay.

There are five restaurants in addition to the buffet restaurant. We tried three of the five and eventually gave up because the food was so poor. There was no kids’ menu, and unfortunately the food we ordered wasn’t eaten.

With a 13-year-old, we weren’t expecting an enormous children’s offering, but we did expect there to be some simple, child-friendly choices.

In the end, at the buffet restaurant, we found ourselves having toast and coffee and nothing more.

We actually ended up eating outside the hotel for the majority of our stay, which is particularly disappointing when you’ve booked a hotel expecting its dining facilities to be one of its selling points.

Our last day

This was another situation that really left a bad taste.

On our final day, we were told that although we’d checked out, we were welcome to relax and enjoy the hotel facilities for the rest of the day.

At 28°C, my daughter went to get a Coke and was refused because we’d already checked out.

I completely understand that there may be a policy around drinks after checkout, but this had never been explained to us. If guests are being told they can stay and enjoy the facilities, I would expect this to be made clear.

When I went to reception to ask about it, I was simply handed a business card and told to leave a review. I explained that we hadn’t even eaten in the hotel because there was so little suitable for children.

The response was essentially a shrug, followed by “thank you, madam,” before the member of staff turned away.

That interaction really summed up how we felt about the stay. There was no attempt to listen to our concerns or understand why we were disappointed.

Entertainment

For a hotel of this size and reputation, we also found the entertainment extremely limited.

There was no music around the pool apart from around 30 minutes of aerobics, and we saw a guitar player on one day. We weren’t expecting constant entertainment, but there was very little atmosphere around the pool during our stay.

A particularly disappointing missed opportunity

Perhaps the saddest part is that the hotel had actually been given advance notice that this was a special trip for us.

My mum had contacted the hotel a couple of weeks before our arrival to let them know that we had recently got engaged and that it was also our daughter’s 13th birthday. She simply asked whether they could do something to make the occasion a little special.

We knew nothing about this at the time, so we weren’t expecting anything and certainly weren’t demanding special treatment.

However, finding out afterwards that the hotel had been told about these occasions and that neither was acknowledged in any way was really disappointing.

Overall

We have been visiting Costa Adeje for four years and have stayed in the area because we love it. We booked this hotel because of its reputation and because we believed we were booking somewhere special.

Sadly, for us, it didn’t live up to those expectations.

The hotel itself is attractive and has potential, but the lack of suitable food, limited entertainment, disappointing room facilities and, perhaps most importantly, the lack of customer service when we raised our concerns made this a very disappointing stay.

We wouldn’t return, and based on our experience, we would struggle to recommend it to families with children.

We had such a lovely stay! From the moment we arrived, the staff were incredibly welcoming, friendly and helpful - this continued throughout our stay. The hotel itself is so beautiful! The pool area was particularly lovely and made the hotel feel really relaxing and inviting. The food was also great. Would defo recommend this hotel and will be visiting again 🤍

A very unique hotel with a excellent layout in a quiet location. I paid for a upgrade to a sea view which I'm glad I did. Lovely size room with comfy bed, perfect shower with descent size bath towels. Pool area vast with plenty of sunbeds with towels which can be changed daily. Restaurant area is large with a good layout, with plenty of show foods. Sometimes the food could have been on being hotter. The breakfast was plentiful but bacon is cheap, which was a disappointment considering the standard of the hotel. Even a violinist serenading while you eat. The staff were so welcoming from cleaners to management. Highly recommend.