Columbia Hillen
Walking into Landmar Hotel Playa La Arena on Tenerife is like walking into a luxuriant botanical garden.
A veritable jungle of exotic green ferns called helecho (ferns) hang from ledges and drape tall white pillars lining the lobby of this luxury 452-room hotel in the southern coast of the Spanish island.
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Though this 8-floor hotel can accommodate over 1,000 people, such is the hotel’s immense layout with separation into different segments both indoor and outdoor, it doesn’t seem crowded.
Landmar, a name reflecting the image of both land sea and under family ownership for more than twenty years, was created as a brand four years ago.
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A special feature of the hotel is its Platinum offer, meaning guests choosing this option have many benefits including rooms on the upper floors with clear ocean views, an exclusive bar, a special terrace in the main restaurant, complimentary drinks and free all-day snacks and beverages in a special look-out section called ‘The View’ with its own exclusive infinity pool and jacuzzi.
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The highlight of our room, 892, was its spacious balcony granting panoramic views over the hotel’s swimming pools, across a black sand beach and on to a rocky promontory pointing its finger out to the Atlantic Ocean.
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At night, it was delightful to be serenaded to sleep by the sound of the ocean’s ebb and flow. The room was practical rather than decorative, with only a framed photo of the nearby Los Gigantes cliffs. It featured a large wall-mounted television, in-built cupboards, a coffee table and desk and a large sofa. The bathroom had two showers, one with a bathtub and the other a standard glass-fronted one.
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The hotel offers varied dining options. Its general lunch restaurant is buffet-style and during my stay included oriental bao bread, paella, grilled seabream, tuna, pizza, pasta and a wide range of salads, as well as platters of desserts and fruit.
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Two à la carte restaurants offer contrasting menus. Arena is spacious with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the swimming pools. It featured large hanging globes of various sizes as lights, wood and cane ceiling and chairs, an open kitchen, terracotta tiled floor and a colorful, decorative wall.
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Its Mediterranean menu featured starters such as goat cheese and caprese salad with mains ranging from entrecôte to grilled prawns on a moist bed of cauliflower puree.
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The other, outdoor terrace restaurant, Macaronesia, with bamboo decor and subdued lighting from hanging clay baskets serves nachos with guacamole and onion rings among its starters and hamburgers with bourbon sauce, falafel wrap with yogurt and cucumber sauce, marinated chicken and barbecued ribs as mains.
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A highlight of a stay at Landmar Hotel Playa La Arena is the impressive array of activities and shows organized for guests. While my companion and I stayed there, they ranged from an excellent concert by tribute band, The Queen Project, featuring the songs of Freddie Mercury; an ‘80s concert; a flamenco performance; a solo pianist, as well as quiz shows, pétanque, archery, darts and outdoor water aerobics classes.
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Guests can also enjoy the gym facilities or an outdoor massage. If they prefer massage indoors, guests can also enjoy the facilities at Hotel Landmar Costa Los Gigantes, the more family-oriented sister hotel five-minutes walk away, with a sports center that also features water jets, a seawater dipping pool, sauna, steam-room and jacuzzi. This is where my companion and I enjoyed a deeply relaxing hot stone massage treatment from Nadia and Domenica, from Cuba and Italy respectively.
Javier, Margarit and Jonathan. Photo by Columbia Hillen
Friendliness of staff at Landmar Hotel Playa La Arena is also an aspect well worth mentioning, from room cleaners to front desk including Margarita who managed to reserve a table at the last minute for us at Macaronesia on a very busy evening.
While focusing mainly on leisure guests, the hotel also caters for business clients, with meeting rooms for 350 people.
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Among the island highlights within an easy drive of the hotel is the village of Masca, originally a Guanche settlement before the Spanish conquest in the 15th century. At an altitude of 650 meters in the Macizo de Teno mountains, the village offers panoramic views.
