Sol Tenerife

Had a lovley stay in Sol Tenerife, I can’t praise the kids club enough all staff are brilliant with the kids especially captain chicken nugget (Danny) he’s was amazing with my son thank you so much I’ll definitely be back soon!

Not what we expected from a Jet2 3-star all-inclusive – our worst Jet2 holiday

We travelled as a family of eight and stayed at Sol Tenerife from 31 August, for 7 nights, occupying four separate twin rooms.

We absolutely were not expecting a 5-star experience. We booked a 3-star hotel and had realistic expectations. We weren’t expecting luxury, gourmet food or fancy facilities. What we did expect was somewhere clean, reasonably maintained, comfortable and enjoyable to spend our holiday.

Unfortunately, this was by far the worst holiday we have experienced with Jet2, despite being regular customers who book and travel with them around 2–4 times a year.

Location & noise The location is excellent if you want to be close to the beach, shops, bars and nightlife. Unfortunately, that comes with a huge downside – the noise. Our room overlooked Revolution and Jumping Jacks and the noise was absolutely relentless until around 5am every night. The same songs seemed to be played repeatedly throughout the night. We expected some noise because of the location, but this was on another level. Add to that the extremely poor soundproofing between rooms – we could hear neighbouring guests showering, using the toilet and general conversations/noise – and getting a decent night’s sleep was virtually impossible. There were also very drunk and noisy guests returning to rooms and knocking on doors in the early hours. If you are looking for somewhere peaceful or somewhere you can actually sleep at night, this is not the hotel for you.

Rooms All four rooms our family had were dated, tired and in need of significant refurbishment. There were visible areas of dirt even after rooms had supposedly been cleaned, and there was a strong unpleasant smell around the hotel. Not to mention the mess of cannabis. The doors were difficult to close properly and the key cards were incredibly unreliable – they seemed to decide for themselves when they wanted to work, which was particularly frustrating when staying on a high floor. The electrical sockets were another concern. There were only two usable sockets in the room, one of which was in the bathroom, with neither conveniently located near the beds. Some sockets were visibly coming away from the wall. Again, we weren’t expecting luxury – but we were expecting clean, safe and functional accommodation.

Food & drinks The food was very basic with limited choice and very little variation. After the first day we were eating out for both lunch and dinner. In fact, we found ourselves spending as little time in the hotel as possible, which isn’t what you expect when you’ve paid for an all-inclusive holiday. Gluten-free options were particularly disappointing. Gluten-free bread was apparently only available at breakfast, leaving very limited alternatives at other meals. The drinks selection was also very limited for an all-inclusive hotel, with many drinks requiring additional payment. The drink-token system was frustrating too – you need a token to get a cup and apparently it’s €5 if you lose it.

Pool & facilities The pool area is another area where we felt the hotel was far from family-friendly. There are restrictions on balls and inflatables, which already limits what children can actually do in the pool. The pool tables were also not working, which meant yet another facility that couldn’t really be enjoyed.

What we found particularly uncomfortable was the way some guests were dealt with around the pool. If someone was jumping into the pool when they had been told not to, lifeguards would blow their whistle and publicly reprimand them. On occasions, guests were made to feel extremely small and embarrassed, with security becoming involved and people being escorted away from the pool area. There obviously need to be rules around pool safety, and we completely understand that lifeguards need to enforce them. However, there is a huge difference between enforcing a safety rule and publicly humiliating guests. The overall approach made the pool area feel unnecessarily strict and uncomfortable. Honestly, it felt like a kill zone for fun rather than a relaxed, family-friendly holiday pool.

Sunbeds & outdoor space Getting a sunbed was extremely difficult. There also isn’t enough outdoor seating for the number of guests staying at the hotel, particularly in the evening. For a hotel of this size, this was disappointing.

Bars & service The service was another disappointment. Staff were, on several occasions, rude and unhelpful, which certainly didn’t make the overall experience any better. There were also only two people serving at one of the bars, despite the number of guests trying to get drinks. This resulted in queues and waiting around, which was particularly frustrating when drinks were already limited as part of the all-inclusive package.

Entertainment The evening entertainment was poor and, quite honestly, often felt like additional noise rather than entertainment. With the nightclub noise already continuing into the early hours, the last thing we needed was more noise rather than something enjoyable to watch or participate in. There are also smoking areas directly underneath the restaurant windows, meaning smoke regularly drifts into the outdoor eating area.

All-inclusive – a major issue This is something I really feel should be made much clearer at the time of booking. We arrived at approximately midnight following a very late flight. By the time we arrived, checked in and got settled, our first night was essentially over. Our return flight was at 22:25, but checkout was at 12 noon and our all-inclusive status ended immediately at checkout – including soft drinks. So despite having paid for an all-inclusive holiday, we were then faced with a very long and expensive day before our flight, during which we no longer had access to the all-inclusive package. Arriving at almost midnight on the first night and losing your all-inclusive benefits at midday on the final day does not feel like good value for money.

This should be far more prominently highlighted in the booking information and terms and conditions, particularly for customers with late flights. No other Jet2 hotel we have stayed at has operated the all-inclusive package in this way.

Overall The biggest disappointment is we were in the hotel as little as possible and when we were in there it was noisy.

We ate out for lunch and dinner, spent time away from the hotel and avoided spending unnecessary time around the pool because the atmosphere wasn’t enjoyable. That’s not what you expect when you’ve paid for an all-inclusive holiday. We understand this is a 3-star hotel. We weren’t expecting luxury. We were expecting a reasonably clean, functional, safe and enjoyable 3-star all-inclusive experience.

Instead, we experienced dated and poorly maintained rooms, cleanliness issues, electrical concerns, extremely poor soundproofing, unbearable nighttime noise, limited food and drinks, poor gluten-free options, unreliable key cards, difficult-to-obtain sunbeds, unless you queue from 08:30 and can’t leave your towel, inadequate outdoor seating, broken pool tables, restrictive pool rules, disappointing entertainment and service that was often rude. The pool atmosphere in particular did not feel family-friendly. For us, this was not a relaxing all-inclusive holiday. It was a hotel we found ourselves wanting to get away from.

And considering how often we travel, this was quite honestly the worst holiday we have ever had.

We would not return to Sol Tenerife and, based on our experience, we would not recommend it to families looking for a fun, relaxing all-inclusive holiday or anyone who values sleep.