Calle Doctor Jose Naveiras, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Buzz Trips View
It feels as though the Mencey Hotel in Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife, has been closed forever whilst undergoing a 25 million euro revamp. The city hasn’t felt complete without its famous 5 star hotel. The historic building (a site of cultural interest) re-opened its stylish doors on 11/11/2011. Although we haven’t stayed at the hotel yet, we went along to the opening ceremony for a tour of the new look Grand Hotel Mencey to see what guests had in store.The Grand Hotel Mencey is situated in a peach of a position beside Las Ramblas. Opposite is one of the highlights of Santa Cruz, Parque García Sanabria. It’s only a few minutes walk to the main shopping areas and about 20 minutes from the port. There are a mix of modern and traditional restaurants very near the hotel.
Although the old look Mencey had the air of a grand dame, it was a bit tired and dated in parts. What I particularly like about the new look Grand Hotel Mencey is that it has retained its olde school 5 star exclusive personality, but has rebooted its interior spaces so that they are now fresh, modern and chic. The fusion of colonial and contemporary is apparent throughout the hotel. Vogue seating in open air terraces overlook sub-tropical gardens in a scene that could easily be mistaken for the Far East whilst the dining room oozes class and positively demands the presence of a glamorous film star to finish it off.
In short, the Iberostar Grand Hotel Mencey is exactly the sort of hotel that Santa Cruz deserves – a classical but modern establishment that harks back to the time when 5 star conjured up glamour rather than a long list of facilities.
Rooms
The Grand Hotel Mencey’s 261 rooms all have hi speed WiFi and flat screen TVs as you’d expect from a hotel of this calibre. The rooms are airy and fresh with an attractively cool, minimalist décor. They seem comfortable and well equipped and are clearly a great improvement on the outdated rooms of old that were frequently criticised on TripAdvisor. But if I was being hyper-critical they do seem to lack a bit of personality.
Facilities
The Los Menceys dining room is the sort of place where you feel you’ve got to look as good as humanly possible to fit in with the dapper décor. As the hotel has just opened I can’t actually comment on the quality of the food, but I did get to munch a few goodies at a rather splendid buffet that held promise. I’m not always keen on hotel bars, but the Mencey’s lobby bar falls into the inviting category and it would be easy to while away a few hours in the presence of a dry Martini or two in its warm embrace. There will be another bar, the Casino, but that hasn’t opened yet. Outside facilities are as attractive as the interior – the pool area is elegant and there are plenty of tranquil spots to relax with a book. A couple of nice touches are a terrapin pool and a little herb garden beside one of the terraces. The hotel’s attractive spa overlooks the pool and gardens and its expansive floor to ceiling windows make the most of the sunshine that is Santa Cruz’ default setting. There will also be a fully equipped gym but at this point (Nov 2011) the gym is without equipment.
1 Trackback / Pingback