Where to Stay in Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Best Areas Compared

Quick Answer: Which Part of Santa Cruz Suits You

First visit, short stay or a cruise call: the historic centre, where Hotel Adonis Plaza sits by Plaza de la Candelaria close to the port. A pool with the park on your doorstep: the Rambla and García Sanabria Park, home to Hotel Taburiente and Hotel Colón Rambla. Concerts, congresses or the Palmetum: the Auditorium side and Hotel Escuela. Beach first: San Andrés and Las Teresitas, a few minutes out of the centre. Hikers: Anaga, by bus from Santa Cruz or from the Albergue de Anaga in El Bailadero.

Historic Centre: Plaza de España, Calle del Castillo and La Noria

The Tenerife tourism board's guide to the capital describes pedestrianised streets that are always busy and made for shopping, emblematic historic buildings next to contemporary architecture, the traditional Calle de La Noria with its many restaurants and bars, and shopping streets all around Calle del Castillo. Squares and parks are planted with gardens, and the board points to terraces in the centre for local food.

The board's Adonis Plaza listing places the hotel next to Plaza de la Candelaria, a short walk from Plaza de España, with the Guimerá Theatre, Calle Castillo and the seafront promenade a few minutes away on foot. It lists 24-hour reception, free high-speed WiFi, a buffet breakfast, luggage storage, laundry service and a pet-friendly policy, and it calls the hotel an ideal option for cruise passengers thanks to the nearby port.

Our take: this is the base for being in the middle of things, not for a sleepy street. If evening bars and terraces are part of the plan, our guide to the Best Area to Stay in Tenerife for Nightlife compares the capital with the island's other going-out districts.

Rambla and García Sanabria Park: Leafy and Central

The Rambla de Santa Cruz is a boulevard that crosses the city under Indian laurels and starts the capital's open-air sculpture route, with works such as Joan Miró's Femme Bouteille and Henry Moore's Guerrero Goslar along the way. García Sanabria Park sits beside the route and holds pieces from the 1st International Street Sculpture Exhibition, so this side of town suits travellers who like a stroll under trees.

Hotel Taburiente describes itself as sitting between the movement of the city and the calm of García Sanabria Park. Taburiente's own website highlights a rooftop space with a jacuzzi, pool, gym and solarium, set against views of the city, plus its own restaurant offering.

Hotel Colón Rambla's official site puts it next to García Sanabria Park, the Rambla, the Town Hall and Plaza de los Patos. Its room types run from Comfort to Family, Comfort Quadruple and Junior Suite, and every room has air conditioning, a minibar, satellite TV, a hairdryer and free internet. The hotel lists a pool and garden, a massage centre, a breakfast buffet and parking, making it our pick for families and drivers.

Auditorium, Palmetum and Parque Marítimo: The Cabo Llanos Side

The Palmetum guide from Tenerife Tourism places the 12-hectare palm garden on Avenida de la Constitución in Cabo Llanos, opposite the César Manrique Maritime Park and very close to the Tenerife Auditorium, the Exhibition Centre and the Santa Cruz Transport Interchange. The garden was built on a former municipal landfill and has more than 600 palm species, while the Maritime Park opposite is a lagoon-like seaside pool complex designed by César Manrique.

The Hotel Escuela listing puts Hotel Escuela Santa Cruz de Tenerife a few minutes from the Auditorium, the international congress centre and the football stadium, with a swimming pool, spacious gardens, panoramic terraces, a restaurant serving Canarian and international cuisine and four meeting rooms. Rooms have air conditioning, a minibar and a safe, and some add a hydromassage and Jacuzzi; it is our pick for event-goers and business travellers.

San Andrés and Las Teresitas: Staying Near the Beach

Santa Cruz is an urban city, and its famous beach is not in the centre. The board's Las Teresitas page places the golden-sand beach in San Andrés, a fishing district, with palm trees and water kept calm by breakwaters, which it rates as family friendly. Showers, lifeguards, sun loungers and parasols for hire and a paddle-board area are listed, along with beach bars, the fishermen's guild and restaurants in San Andrés itself.

Our advice: choose San Andrés only if beach days come first. Most visitors are better served by a central hotel and short trips out, since the tourism board puts the district a few minutes from the centre, bus 910 links the Transport Interchange with San Andrés and Las Teresitas, and Colón Rambla quotes less than 15 minutes by car to the beach.

Anaga: Using the Capital as a Base for the Mountains

Anaga Country Park is a Biosphere Reserve of sharp peaks and ravines that run down to the sea, spanning La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Tegueste. Approved trails such as PR-TF 2, PR-TF 5 and PR-TF 8 are reachable from the municipality itself, buses 945 and 947 run into the park from Santa Cruz, and drivers take the TF-11 towards San Andrés, then the TF-12 to El Bailadero.

For early starts, the Anaga Country Park page from Tenerife Tourism suggests the Albergue de Anaga in the village of El Bailadero, which it describes as a balcony over both faces of the range, a short distance from the area's best beaches. Our take: a central Santa Cruz hotel works for day hikes, and a night or two at the albergue suits walkers who want to be on the trail at first light.

Getting Around: Walking, Tram and TITSA Buses

You can manage without a car here. TITSA's interurban buses connect Santa Cruz with every municipality on the island, and the tram runs to San Cristóbal de La Laguna. Tram Line 1 stops at Intercambiador, the Transport Interchange near the Auditorium, where bus routes include the 014 to La Laguna, the 110 to Costa Adeje and the 910 to San Andrés. The Palmetum is also a 2-kilometre walk from the centre along Avenida Marítima.

The tourism board estimates about 15 to 20 minutes by car from Tenerife North Airport and roughly 50 to 60 minutes from Tenerife South Airport, and the port has ferries to the eastern Canary Islands. If the tram ride to La Laguna tempts you to sleep there instead, our guide to Boutique Hotels in Tenerife includes options there.

Choosing Your Santa Cruz Base

Book the historic centre for a first visit or a cruise call, the Rambla and García Sanabria Park for a pool and greener streets, the Auditorium side for events and the Palmetum, and San Andrés only if the beach is the point of the trip. Facilities differ by room type at these hotels, so check the exact room you are booking.

Travelling on a tighter budget? Our roundup of Cheap Hotels in Tenerife compares a simple hotel, a pension and hostels across the island, including bases in Puerto de la Cruz, La Laguna and Costa Adeje, to weigh against the capital.