Arona Gran Hotel

We were really looking forward to staying at the Spring Arona Gran Hotel because it was such a special place for my great auntie and her husband. They visited the hotel twice a year for many, many years, and sadly my great auntie is no longer with us. Because of this, we really wanted to love the hotel and understand what made it so special to them. We had a lovely stay and could certainly see why they kept returning.

Hotel: The hotel itself has a lovely, airy reception area, and we really liked all the plants throughout the hotel. There were plenty of comfortable places to sit indoors. There was a downstairs sports area was also great, with different football matches, F1, rugby and other sports shown on the TVs.

Staff: The staff were welcoming and always happy to help. The reception team in particular couldn’t do enough for us. They were friendly, helpful and even arranged a taxi for us when we went out, which arrived within minutes. The cleaning staff were also lovely and always greeted us with a smile.

We did find some of the restaurant staff a little stern at times, and occasionally it felt a bit like being back at school with the dinner ladies! That said, service was generally efficient.

Location: The location is fantastic, right on the seafront at the quieter end of the resort, which we really liked. Most things were within a 15–20 minute walk, with some lovely restaurants and bars along the front for lunch or an evening drink. There is also a supermarket directly across the road, which was incredibly convenient.

The transfer from the airport was another bonus. It took around half an hour and we were the third drop-off, so we were at the hotel very quickly.

Food: We thought the food was good overall, with something enjoyable available each evening. My boyfriend loves fish, so he was particularly pleased with the number of fish options.

However, some dishes weren’t labelled, which could understandably be a concern for guests with dietary requirements. One experience also concerned us: there was meat being cooked on a rotating spit which guests could slice off themselves. When we asked the chef what meat it was, he hesitated and told us it was chicken, when it definitely did not appear to be chicken. This made us uncomfortable, particularly given the importance of accurate food information for allergies and dietary requirements.

The food did become a little repetitive after a few days. We noticed that on three of the five mornings we were there, samosas and cauliflower cheese were available at breakfast, which felt unusual!

The desserts deserve a special mention, though, as these were our favourite part! There wasn’t a huge amount of variety beyond cakes and ice cream, but the cakes were absolutely delicious and it was very difficult not to fill your plate!

Room

We had booked a sea view and requested a high-floor room overlooking the pool, and we got exactly what we asked for. We absolutely loved our room.

It was spacious, with plenty of storage and hanging space, and the walk-in shower was great. The shower temperature wasn’t always consistently hot, although that may just be because I personally like my showers extremely hot!

The TV was huge and had a good selection of channels, the air conditioning worked brilliantly, and our room was always spotless after the cleaners had been in. We couldn’t fault the cleanliness.

Entertainment and facilities: There was plenty happening during the day, including quizzes, pool parties, aqua aerobics and boules, so there really was something for everyone.

The main issue we experienced around the pool was the sunbed situation. Sunbeds were being reserved from around 7am, but there were beds available right next to the pool up until around 10:30am. More frustratingly, the lifeguard seemed inconsistent when it came to removing towels. On our first morning, our towels were removed after we had left our sunbeds for around 20 minutes. However, we saw other guests leave their beds for 4-5 hours, with their belongings left untouched. This felt very unfair. You couldn’t even pop back to your room for a short time without worrying your things would be removed, while others could seemingly leave their beds to go out for the day and return to find everything still there. There really needs to be a clear and consistently enforced policy around sunbed reservations.

There were 3 pools which were a comfortable temperature. We did like the heated spa-style pool which had jets and showers in. The pool area was always very clean.

We didn’t stay in the hotel for long in the evenings to watch the entertainment as we found it extremely loud. We did sit on our balcony and watch some of it, but we generally went out in the evenings instead and enjoyed exploring the resort.

From what we saw, the evening entertainment did feel quite repetitive. We also noticed, like other guests, that some of the same songs were performed every night. We did enjoy the piano player, which created a lovely atmosphere, and one evening there were guitar players and singers in the restaurant, which was particularly enjoyable.

We also enjoyed using the pool table (€2 per game). There is table tennis and a dart board downstairs too, although unfortunately the dart board was unusable as it had so many holes and the darts were blunt. Replacing it would be a small improvement that I’m sure many guests would appreciate.

The gym also looked very well equipped, with plenty of weights and machines.

Overall, we had a really lovely stay and could understand why this hotel meant so much to my great auntie and her husband. There are a few small areas that could be improved, but the fantastic location, beautiful sea views, spotless rooms, helpful staff and range of activities made this a very enjoyable holiday. It was lovely to experience somewhere that holds so many happy memories for our family, and we left with some very special memories of our own. ❤️

First time at this hotel, so let's start with the good bits.

As you walk into the hotel, it is absolutely beautiful. We were also on the ground floor, which was another positive. The room was good, and the breakfast was great, with everything you needed. I'm not really a breakfast person (hubby is!), but there was plenty of choice.

The pools are fantastic, and the sunbeds are comfy. The aqua aerobics was good, and the entertainment staff are very nice. The waiters and waitresses work extremely hard.

Now for the negatives. The cleaner, I found, was pretty lazy when cleaning the room. A couple of times, I tidied up myself.

I woke up at 7am one morning and there were already towels on the sunbeds. To me, that was pretty sad, and I did laugh. To think you want that sunbed so badly that you get up early to put a towel on it! There are plenty of sunbeds.

What I did like was one of the lifeguards/towel staff. He would go around and take towels off beds if they weren't occupied, which left some people with a sour taste in their mouths. I thought it was great what he did. I understand that if you have a disability, I feel you should have first call on this.

We could also, on various occasions, smell weed being smoked, as well as cigarette smoke, especially around the sun loungers. When we spoke to a member of staff about this, they couldn't seem to be bothered to investigate it, which I found disappointing.

Now, the evening food. Gala night was great, I have to say. After two weeks of being here, though, the food got a bit much, as it was very similar each evening. A couple of nights, I hardly ate anything. The desserts were amazing.

Now, the entertainment — oh my! I just found there were a lot of singers who sang the same songs. If I hear One Night Long again, I think I'll scream! It was so similar all the time.

I did really like the guy on guitar. He was like a warm-up act before the main act. It's the same every night. Why not have a comedian or something different? There were all different ages here.

Would I come back? If the price was right, and only for a week. I could not do two weeks.

I do think they should look at better entertainers and maybe do themed dinner nights.

Also, can I say about the paella and other food... how much salt?! 😂

We had a good experience at Arona Gran hotel. We stayed at this hotel for 10 nights which we felt was the right amount of time. We went half board. The food was impressive for a buffet-style restaurant and also featured a gala night on Wednesday which was a nice surprise. On the whole staff were very friendly. The nights we stayed in the hotel to watch the entertainment were good. The queen tribute was great! Service when waiting to get drinks was quite slow and was a struggle to get a drink after having one. The poolside entertainment was engaging and there was always some activities to take part in. We were really impressed with the room on the 6th floor. The views were incredible and the beds were comfy and clean. The noise level was okay but as someone who lays in you can hear the maids in the morning. The floor was a bit cracked and our bathroom door didn't shut properly however all else was good. The decor of the hotel was amazing to look at and it felt like you were in 5 star hotel when in the reception area. The hotel is a 15 minute walk to the main town. We would recommend this hotel to others.