subject: Two Sides Of Tenerife - Resorts For All Tastes [print this page] When most people think of Tenerife, chances are they picture the kind of booming party resorts made famous by fly on the wall documentaries graphic enough to scare most of us off for life. Over recent years, certain resorts spanning the West of the island of Tenerife have become synonymous with hedonism and the kind of party scene once reserved exclusively for the shores of Ibiza. However, while it might be true to say that there are still some of the most throbbing and thriving resorts, bars and clubs for those seeking a week of madness, there is another side (literally!) to the island offering the opposite.
And what's more, even the heady West has been given the overhaul and is no longer the out of control beast it once might have been.
South-West Coastal Resorts
Anyone looking for fun with a capital 'F' will undoubtedly head for the South-Westerly hotels of Los Christianos and Playa de Las Americas - both of which have recently clawed back much credibility after becoming clichs in the own rights. True, the area is still a mecca for stag parties, loud girlie groups and debauchery not tolerated on home soil, but intimidating and dangerous it certainly is no longer.
The area around Adeje has imposed an enormous crackdown on bad behavior at the hands of the drunken masses, ensuring that much of the traditional mess is kept off the streets and those not abiding by the rules are summarily punished. Even the notorious 'Veronicas' strip of bars and nightclubs is barely responsible when compared to that of a few years ago, as authorities from the surrounding resorts cleaned up crooked businesses, clamped down on rowdy tourists and increase supervisory patrols of the revelry.
However, even with all of the above taken into account, these resorts are still among the liveliest, loudest and most outrageous to be found anywhere in Europe for party-animals and clubbers alike. The hotels have gone upmarket, the beaches are beyond stunning and amenities are affordable for families and groups of all sizes across the board.
The South East
On the other hand however, a short drive of just 20 minutes or so is all it takes to reach the deep-south of the island and a world of sleepier resorts including El Medano and the Costa Del Silencio. As the names accurately depict, these are the kinds of places those in the know flock to as a welcome sanctuary from the noise and carnage of the West, while still enjoying the beauty and hospitality that makes Tenerife so famous.
Instant reassurance that you're in the right place can be taken by observing how this is where the locals and those from the Tenerife mainland come for their holidays with their kids, leaving the West to the masses from the UK and Germany. The food is incredible, the beer bountiful and the beaches stunning - the only downside being that as these are the much quieter resorts, accommodation is often priced about twice as high as the equivalent to the west.
It really is impossible to go wrong on an island like Tenerife as even if the resorts chosen by travelers aren't to their liking; they're never more than a 30-minute drive away from the complete polar opposite!
