Gran Melia Palacio de Isora

Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora is everything a 5-star hotel should be — and then some. From start to finish, our stay was flawless. The only complaint I have isn’t even about the hotel — it’s about the black flies on the island that had a real appetite for my ankles! The hotel itself is stunning — set like a modern Roman amphitheatre, it oozes luxury and class in every corner. Beautifully maintained grounds, elegant architecture, and an atmosphere of pure relaxation. It’s ideally located too, just a short walk to the natural sea swimming pools and the unique black sandy beach. We stayed all-inclusive, and I have to say, it was worth every penny. The menus were excellent, with something for everyone, and the range of restaurants kept things fresh and exciting every day. The food quality and service matched the luxury of the surroundings. Our room was spacious, bright, and well-designed — complete with fantastic his and hers sinks and a huge bath if you fancy a soak. Every detail felt considered and premium. And then there's the staff — every single member of the team seemed to know exactly what they were doing and how to do it with warmth and professionalism. Nothing was ever too much trouble. On check-in, we were greeted with two cold beers, and on checkout, handed two chilled bottles of water “for the journey to the airport.” It’s that kind of thoughtful service that really stands out. This was, hands down, one of the best hotel experiences I’ve ever had. A true credit to the Gran Meliá brand. Until next time.

Make no mistake, the Palacio Isora is a top hotel (certainly the best we’ve stayed at on Tenerife and we’ve stayed at a number of 5* hotels on the island ). The property is first class, particularly the common areas, with great pools and lush planting. The restaurant offer is varied and pretty good (although you need to be on top of the reservation process). That accolade even extends to the buffet restaurant, which I would rank alongside the others in terms of quality. The staff are friendly, helpful and effective, particularly with children. We’ve stayed here before about 4 years ago with the extended family and had a great experience. This time, it was just the two of us, so we opted for the Red Level, which is at the western end of the property. This area has its own pool exclusively for Red Level guests, personalised check in process, separate breakfast area etc. All things being equal, I would say that the Red Level is worth the extra cost, however, there is one major problem that I am not sure that they can remedy. Adjacent to the Red Level area there is a banana plantation (outside the ownership of Gran Melia edged red on the photo), that is the source of a major fly infestation. These are not your standard house fly. These are slightly smaller and they bite relentlessly. On our first day, we sat around the Red Level pool - on that one day, my wife suffered over 100 bites (see photo). The problem also extends to the Red Level breakfast area and other sitting areas. As you move further away from the western boundary, the problem diminishes (on our first stay we were at the other end of the hotel and barely saw a fly). The consequence of this was that we didn’t use the Red Level pool or sitting areas. Instead, we stayed around the adjacent adult only pool, which also had a fly issue, albeit not as bad on the basis that it is a little further away from the plantation. We also only used the dedicated breakfast restaurant a couple of times, opting instead for the Pangea buffet in the middle of the hotel where there was no biting fly issues. Gran Melia are a great brand and the Palacio Isora is a top quality hotel, but I wouldn’t book the Red Level again unless the biting insect issue in that particular part of the hotel is resolved - but short of buying up the plantation and spraying it regularly, I doubt that there is much they can do.

This review will focus on the Red Level because that's all we really know. We have been to the hotel several times before and keep coming back because of the quality and service. It was still there. The room was always clean and didn't look tired to us. We had an ocean view which is always breathtaking. The breakfasts were hampered on a couple of days by the weather and so we ate at the Red Level section at the buffet which was good. The area around the pool was always kept really well and having the reception on hand to be able to talk a few things through is always a bonus. Big thanks to Denis (one "n") who helped us with a couple of things as did Damian. They exemplified the service that this hotel delivers. We ate at the Duo which was expensive but probably because we did a couple of courses. We needn't have as the portion size of the main was really sufficient. Perhaps because we have been therefore nothing really "took our breath away" but the high standard was maintained. Couple of points: The hotel clearly has a large number of returners and at time it can feel like there is a different class of service. Staff actually laid out beds for some guests who may have used them for just a couple of hours - even asking other guests to move because of the reservation they had made. Also on one occasion while enjoying the bar drinks at 5pm what looked every inch like senior management ploughed past the tables to make their way to the front to hug and sit down with some customers. One of the two did bother to say hallo to one other couple. Once again it would have been nice if they had bothered to speak to others on their journey. The staff we interacted always reflected a commitment to the best possible experience for every visitor that and at other occasions seemed to indicate that wasn't shared by those in "suits." The experience is always good but it was impacted by the climate which appeared to encourage more flies around the pool and dining area. A stormy couple of days - the hotel didn't seem to have a plan B for that which I suspect is going to be a more regular occurence Completely understand the climate is out of the hotel's control as is the impact. There appeared to be less staff everywhere. The pool staff that were there worked extremely hard but they appeared to be covering a wide range of venues. The other restaurants on the site were open partially over the week which made meal planning a key event. Oasis was not open in the evenings. It lead us to suspewct that there wasn't the staff. Nothing happened to shake our commitment to the hotel and we have booked again for November. Perhaps it was a case of familiarity and expectation leading to a little bit of - lets say a reduction in expectation and appreciation.

We return to this hotel because the location, the pools, the views, the gardens and the architecture are definitely 5 star. The service and the food however, fall well short of 5 stars and you pay a premium for it. The reason for the 2 star review however is the infestation of flies at the hotel which dam near ruined my holiday. Being plagued at (outside) meals and on my sun bed by biting insects is not my idea of fun. This has not happened before in our last 6 visits to this hotel so I guess some unusual weather conditions have caused an increased insect population. This is not the hotels fault but what is their fault is their lack of action to deal with the problem. I saw a few anti insect candles which the wind blew out immediately deployed at breakfast and that was it. What the hotel should do is deploy insectocutors, fly papers and fly traps everywhere to decimate the population. Yes I know this would look unsightly but it would be far more acceptable to guests than being bitten by flies.

Fabulous place, great room, great food and exceptional staff. The selection of restaurants is brilliant, Nami was our favourite. The Red Level experience is well worth the money. The staff are amazing with shout outs to Ray and Jose, extra special shout out to Beatriz and Roberta in Agave, they were absolutely outstanding. Would definitely recommend.