Overall: A moderately priced city centre hotel offering contemporary style and comfort in one of the best locations for exploring Santa Cruz.
Where is it?
In Santa Cruz city centre, on the corner of Calle Candelaria and Dr Allart. It’s a two minute stroll to Plaza España, the heart of the city, and the main shopping streets of Calle Castillo and its subsidiaries. Five minutes on foot will take you to the restaurants and bars of the trendy Noria district.
What’s the hotel like?
One of the Spanish owned chain of NH hotels reflecting their house style of contemporary chic with the emphasis on convenience, comfort and value for money. The NH Santa Cruz ticks all three boxes.
As a city centre hotel, space is at a premium but the NH manages to utilise what it has to create a light and airy environment. The lobby has a predominantly glass frontage and glass interior doors to the stairwell and lifts, with an open plan layout incorporating reception, a lounge area and the cafe-style, self service breakfast area.
There’s a roof bar for summer nights when the heat in the city can be hard to bear and anyone who’s got one heads to their roof. There’s also a small jacuzzi tub and three exercise bikes on the roof which is what passes for the gym and spa facilities. You might find the jacuzzi drained during the winter months when Santacruceros would consider you were mad to want to take your clothes off outdoors. They have obviously never been to the UK in winter…
The NH is not a resort hotel and if you’re looking to spend time lazing at the pool and enjoying top class services in the city you’d be better heading to the Mencey – but it will cost you. On the other hand, if you fancy a weekend break to explore the shops and restaurants, the NH is perfect.
What are the rooms like?
We had one of their standard double rooms which faces in to the interior courtyard which sounds a lot better than it is. In essence, our room overlooked the wall opposite. There are superior doubles and Junior suites available which may have street-facing rooms and which would be considerably nicer. But to be honest, we weren’t there for the view so it didn’t matter to us.
Again, space is not generous but it was perfectly adequate with a good-sized en suite and plenty of wardrobe and drawer space. Décor is in the chocolate and mulberry school of interior design with dark wood furniture which, coupled with the lack of natural light, tended to make the room quite gloomy. Towels were soft, the shower was hot and powerful and the toiletries were pleasant. The bed was extremely comfortable and the double glazing ensured a quiet night despite being next to the lift, although it was a quiet night in terms of guests when we were there.
Being a business-oriented hotel there was a small work desk and, best of all, free WiFi in the room.
How is the food?
We were on a tight schedule the next morning and so opted not to take their breakfast which is an additional €8. I peeked at the buffet and it looked like a nice but fairly standard cold selection although you can apparently request hot dishes too. There are plenty of places on the doorstep to pick up a good breakfast for under that price.
The hotel has its own restaurant, the Nhube which gets good reviews but unfortunately it was closed when we there.
What’s the best thing about the hotel?
The best thing about the NH is its position which puts you at the heart of the city. Secondly, it’s excellent value for money, particularly if you go for a weekend.
How much is it?
Mid week in September will cost €76.51 for a double room without breakfast; at weekend that price drops to €49.50. Keep an eye on the website as offers come available on a regular basis.
How do I get there?
From Tenerife South airport take the 111 bus to the terminus at Santa Cruz (€7), running every half hour between 6.30am and 10pm and five times during the night (see Titsa website for details). From Santa Cruz bus station jump on the tram for one stop to Fundación (€1.50 – buy at machine before getting on), once you get off continue walking following the tram lines as they swing round Imeldo Seris and take the second right onto Calle Candelaria.
NH Hotel, corner of Candelaria and Dr Allart; (+34) 922 534 422; email: nhtenerife@nh-hotels.com
Andrea (Andy) Montgomery is a freelance travel writer and co-owner of Buzz Trips and The Real Tenerife series of travel websites. Published in The Telegraph, The Independent, Wexas Traveller, Thomas Cook Travel Magazine, EasyJet Traveller Magazine, you can read her latest content on Google+
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