Go All Inclusive in Tenerife

This friendly family hotel on the east coast of Tenerife is near the airport: fantastic if you’re just looking to ‘fly and flop’. But if you’re after action, there are enough activities around to keep everyone engaged – plus the area’s got a good selection of golf courses.

You’ll find branded spirits and even a few cocktails on the All Inclusive menu, plus a spread of buffet food, desserts, teas and coffees, and snacks. Free soda refills are also available. The All Inclusive offerings stop at 11pm – so night owls will have to pay to keep the party going past bedtime.

If the buffet becomes repetitive, walk down to the towns of Los Abrigos or San Blas; there are a few modest restaurants in both. However, Los Abrigos harbour is best for fish. The track is a little rough and ready – so you may prefer to take a taxi.

The eastern side of the island is breezy, so bring a jacket if you’re sitting out to watch the evening entertainment. The cool wind is especially refreshing during the high heat of summer.

Book a stay at Sandos San Blas Nature Resort & Spa

A spacious western Costa Adeje hotel, with big bedrooms and an even bigger pool, Meliá Jardines del Teide is a popular family resort above Bahia del Duque - just a ten minute walk from the area's beautiful beach. Rooms have been recently renovated to nudge the hotel up to its five-star status.

All Inclusive is optional at this hotel. As well as branded spirits and the buffet, All Inclusive guests can help themselves to poolside water and ice cream all day.

All Inclusive guests can dine in the on-site Italian restaurant at a discount for your first visit – and for free on your second.

If you aren’t swayed by the All Inclusive, upgrade to The Level instead. There are superior rooms with Nespresso machines and access to an exclusive lounge. Snacks and drinks are available throughout the day, and they are also served at a sociable happy hour. This area is available to all the family and has its own pool.

Book Meliá Jardines del Teide

This hotel is a sun-bleached beauty set on Costa Adeje’s Torviscas beach. It reopened in 2018 with a complete renovation and now only hosts adults aged 16+. There’s airy modern design throughout. The restaurants, including a buffet and a ‘market’ with local produce, serve standout food. Rooms have balconies and Nespresso machines.

With a wide selection of buffet food at each meal, plus the Snack Bar and Lobby Bar on hand, you certainly won’t go hungry if you select the All Inclusive option at Sabila. Pour yourself a prosecco at breakfast and have eggs to order. Whilst there’s a supplement for premium brands, you’ll get alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on the plan, too, plus bucket-loads of ice cream.

Shell out a bit extra for an upgrade to the Star Prestige area. These higher-floor rooms have access to a chic rooftop pool area surrounded by Balinese beds, and if you do choose the non-All Inclusive option, the snacks and drinks in the Star Prestige lounge are a welcome addition. This area of Costa Adeje has plenty of restaurants and bars, which are useful if you want to eat out one night.

A spa is slated to open in 2018. Until then, Torviscas beach is close at hand accommodate all your lazing needs.

Book the Iberostar Sabila

This fun four-star hotel on Costa Adeje is a great All Inclusive resort for families, with round-the-clock activities, a tireless entertainment team and interconnecting rooms available.

All guests are on the generous All Inclusive plan, which works out at very good value for money. Your Tenerife holiday starts with a glass of fizz (an Iberostar staple) and the fun isn’t allowed to fizzle out: you can attend an evening show at the hotel every night (look out for magical ABBA tributes and even more magical magicians). There's a nightly themed buffet with everything from seafood nights to chocolate fountains, and a cocktail menu with premade cocktails on tap. You can also enjoy branded spirits and welcome drinks. When you retire for the evening, find free water in your room – a nice touch.

A taxi ride back to the hotel will save you the effort of slogging up a steep hill if you've walked the ten minutes down to the beach. Then again, there are so many activities on site at the hotel you might not make it to the sea, anyway.

With a new adults-only pool you can enjoy some peace, but your kids won't be neglected: there’s a mini disco so pumping that grown-ups might get envious – and daytime foam parties, too.

Book the Iberostar Las Dalias Hotel

The Be Live Experience Playa La Arena is a good value-for-money four star with all the amenities you need for your family holiday. It's set on the sleepier south west of the island, about half an hour from Costa Adeje, but the lively animation team help create a fun atmosphere. For the silly, there are poolside games where you might make a few new international friends; there’s a second, quieter pool too where you can sulk if you didn’t win any of the aforementioned silly games. An infinity pool is due to open in 2018.

This hotel is set in a quieter region of the south coast and there aren’t many restaurants around, making All Inclusive your best bet if you choose to stay here. You can help yourself to ice cream, sangria and beer throughout your stay. Cava and cocktails are poured at the bar – and at the piano bar your drink comes with a relaxing musical accompaniment. The buffet has fun theme nights, and children can create their own sundaes at a designated station for the sweet-toothed.

You’re a short walk away from the dramatic cliffs of the south, Los Gigantes, and you can always get the bus back. Otherwise, the hotel offers boat tours to see the cliffs – and perhaps a few whales and dolphins in the wild, if you’re lucky.

The hotel gets a lot of French visitors, which explains the petanque courts, and you can also play tennis for a small additional fee.

Book Be Live Experience Playa La Arena

Just outside Costa Adeje, this four-star family hotel is the smaller of two in a complex, set on a cliff above the sea. You can use the facilities of both hotels but enjoy the quieter experience of being uphill of the main complex. Float about in the infinity pool, be entertained by the animation team and help yourself to sangria and cocktails on tap. A free bus runs you down to the busy Las Americas area if you fancy a day out.

A buffet restaurant, snack bar and bar are included in your package, plus you’ll be offered the opportunity to eat in the resort’s four world cuisine restaurants (Asian, Mexican, Brazilian, Italian) a few times during your stay. Order a toastie if you’re hankering for a snack after a dip in the pool.

The two other hotel bars – a sports bar and karaoke bar – require a charge. But where else are you going to hear a note-perfect rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’?

The free shuttle bus leaves at lunch time to take you to Las Americas, but if that time doesn’t suit you, you can always get a local bus from the top of the road, or a taxi – for an evening at the bars of Costa Adeje.

Book Sunlight Bahia Príncipe Tenerife Complex