A Hotel on Mount Teide Tenerife.

If you are looking for a hotel on Mount Teide Tenerife, then try Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide! For the location, this hotel is amazing. Situated in the National Park at about 2200m above sea level, the hotel is surrounded by an alien landscape. If you are looking for a hotel near the beach, this is definitely not for you!

As with all my reviews, I don’t get paid for them or get any free stuff nor was I invited to review them with a nudge and a wink, if you know what I mean! And, as such, the service I received is the service any person would! What follows is just my honest opinion of a hotel I spent my own money to stay in.

Location, Location, Location

The Parador Hotel is a great location for the volcano and stars. It is above the treeline and indeed the clouds! As can be seen above, in the picture of Roques De Garcia, the landscape is spectacular and the hotel is only about 400 metres from the rocks. The Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide Hotel TripAdvisor is slightly more expensive, but there is really very little choice in the area. Below is a Google Satelite view of the hotel next to the crater rim, the hotel is the orange pin with the volcano at the top with black lava flows visible.

There is a small swimming pool out back with fantastic views of the crater rim towering ominously behind. Apparently, the hotel also has a bit of a gym but as you have guessed dear reader, that ain’t my bag!

Rooms

The rooms were large enough although there were no tea or coffee making facilities! However, there was a mini bar. Prices were ok, the cost of the beer in the fridge was only 15 cents more than the soft drinks. We had a room at the front of the hotel, west facing, and the views from the window were once again amazing! The bathroom had a combined bath and shower with some very good pressure and heat behind the water. All in all the room was fine but don’t bank on spending a lot of time in it as there is so much to see outside!

As you can see above, we had two single beds pushed together. Whilst not usually ideal this did suit us quite well as I was getting up at all hours taking photos of the stars

A little word on Geology

Mount Teide and indeed all of Tenerife is a Stratovolcano, being made up of three large shield volcanos. The crater of Teide slumped in the past, making the crater walls significantly higher than the floor, except where the peak of Teide sits, as can be seen below.

The Hotel Restaurant

Compared to some restaurants in the islands, the food is more expensive, with a main course costing between 15 – 20 Euros. It was expected, however, as you are kind of a captive audience. But, I think it was worth it for the scenery! You will find stunning views from every window.

There is a big restaurant area in the hotel, it doesn’t pretend to be cosy, there are cosy areas in the bar area, but the restaurant is all business, as many bums on seats as you can get. The decor was 4*, white tablecloths, and quality flatware.

One tip I have is to get to the restaurant early. We usually went to the restaurant after sunset, at about 9 pm. However, one night we went early and found the portion sizes a lot larger for the earlier visit. However, we only went early one night so was it a one-off? Hey, go there and find out. Then let me know.

Maybe, the waiters need to write down the orders. On one occasion, butter was missed off the order and the next day coke was missed off our drinks order. They could also smile a bit more!

Food

All in all, the restaurant was good although perhaps slightly inefficient. But maybe that is Island style? Island style is what I’ve taken to calling the service I have received across the Canary Islands, although to be fair, I have only done Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Island style is a laid-back style where timings are not necessarily stuck to. It’s kind of a ‘mañana-mañana’ thing.

The restaurant food I found, was a bit hit and miss. The pork had plenty of flavour. However the lamb I found tasteless. But before I condemn it, let’s talk altitude! Now, I know human taste buds function on half measures when you are at altitude so I’m not going to slate it. However, the red wine was flavourful and fruity; which begs the question, I wonder what it would be like at sea level?

Altitude and Taste

Yes, things taste different at altitude. The average airliner is pressurised to between 6000 – 8000ft inside when travelling. It has to be pressurised as you cannot breathe at 36,000ft!

The airlines spend a lot (and I mean a lot) of money on their menus, and test in altitude chambers and on real-life flights, testing the flavour of the food when under aircraft conditions.

And, the Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide hotel sits at about 7200ft above sea level.

The air is dry and the lower air pressure does make a difference! Sweet and salty are usually the first tastes to go along with limiting your sense of smell. You know this well, for when you have a cold or a bunged up nose, you have trouble tasting your meal at ground level. For the details see this BBC news article on Why Food Tastes Different on Planes.

Inside the Hotel

The rooms were large enough although there were no tea or coffee making facilities! However, there was a mini bar. Prices were ok, the cost of the beer in the fridge was only 15 cents more than the soft drinks. We had a room at the front of the hotel, west facing, and the views from the window were once again amazing! The bathroom had a combined bath and shower with some very good pressure and heat behind the water. All in all the room was fine but don’t bank on spending a lot of time in it as there is so much to see outside!

As well as a restaurant, the hotel has a bar area which is quite pleasant. There are tables outside with umbrellas for summer and inside there is plenty of seating and a nice looking fireplace with comfy chairs. I would assume the fire is lit in the winter, but we were there in July so I could not say for sure.

Wifi is available in the hotel and, considering you are on a volcano, the speeds are ok. But, you might have trouble streaming a film.

Overall

The staff spoke English well enough to sort out any query we had. Reception is manned all night, I know this as I would go out and come back at odd hours with the moonset and sunrise, taking pictures, like the one below.

Yes, this was my primary focus of going to this particular place, astrophotography! It really is great for that, it is one of the darkest skies in Europe and on this basis alone I cannot recommend the hotel enough!

Things to do

Check out the activities on TripAdvisor. If you are into stargazing, astrophotography, walking, hiking, geology or any combination of them then this is the place for you. I know Tenerife has, in some ways, a bad reputation for just doing the sun, sea, and sand holidays, a little England away from England with ham, egg and chips on the menu but Mount Teide is another world away!

If you have a rental car and are looking for a hotel on Mount Teide Tenerife it is well worth a stay to get away from all the resorts on the coast! Check out the reviews on TripAdvisor.

Click here to book the Parador.

Some Useful Guide Books

 

I was primarily here for the Astrophotography. Click on any of the pictures to find out more.

 

Booking.com

 

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