We chose to go self catering to Tenerife and found Colon 11 apartments in Playa de las Americas at a reasonable price. They had good reviews so we booked up through Thomsons and sorted out our own flights and transfers.
Transfers were booked through clicktransfers.com. We paid 16 euros for a shuttle bus that was for 2 people both ways. There was a slight delay in sorting out a bus on arrival but our plane was 40mins early and our cases came straight out. We were ushered into a bus with some very young travellers and their rep. it would have been a quick transfer except the rep got off at a hotel and said 'give me 2 mins' to the driver, 15 mins later she returned.
We were also picked up for the return journey on time but the minibus was old, cramped and very bumpy. Still it was cheap and we weren't travelling for long.
We checked in quickly paid for a safe (25 euros with 10 euro returned on check out) and were directed to our apartment on the ground floor.
We had already decided not to pay 50 euros for a television.(edited to add that most mostly deposit I think) you also had to hire an iron if needed. Luckily our Thomson rep Rachael, let us borrow hers. She was lovely and very helpful. I think aircon was also extra but we didn't really need it anyway.
The lobby area outside the apartments was clean and pretty.
Inside the apartment was rather dark as we were on the side which had no sun during the day. It was fairly spacious for two with a more than adequate kitchen area. There was a microwave, fridge, two hob rings and a sandwhich maker. Again the apartment was very clean. Many reviews had said how hard the beds were. This was certainly the case. It didn't trouble me too much but RM struggled with them a bit.
Excuse my clothes on the bathroom floor but as I was in the bath this pic could have been a lot more revealing
The apartments were cleaned each day to a high standard. If you did chose to pay for a telly, the rooms had modern large flat screens with lots of UK channels. We had some music in the apartment which suited us as we generally only have the TV on as background noise anyway.
On our first evening we chose to eat at the apartments restaurant, Mamma Rosa's. Food and service was excellent. Quite pricey compared to other places and not the best place we ate at all week but never the less it was a very nice dining experience. we had the chefs reccommendation which was a fish which we thought chef said was called Churney !!! It was a nice meaty fish anyway done in lots of garlic. One criticism would be that some bread with different flavoured butters was brought to our table. We did not requests this so were quite surprised to see that we had been charged for both items. I personally feel that anything customers will be required to pay for should be optional.
The guests at the Colon 11 were mostly more mature couples. Some people had spent a month there. There was a good mix of nationalities, I think the majority of guests were probably Scandinavian.In fact the whole resort had a good multinational vibe about it. There was one family group with children.
The pool area again was very clean. There was a bit of a rush for sun beds at 9.00am but I don't think this was necessary. The first two days of our break it was sunny all day and we managed to get a spot later on in the day both times.
There was a pool bar which opened from 10am until 5.00pm. There was also a cafe attached to the apartments out the front serving snacks, drinks and ice creams. They did a special on coffee and cake between 4 and 6.00pm. 4 euros for both. This stayed open until about 12am I think.
There had been a pub as well but this had closed down. Its a shame I think as it would have been a nice place to socialise with residents. The cafe was small and used by all passing trade so the tables were often taken.
RM enjoyed a mojito or two at the cafe.
Staff were on the whole friendly and helpful. I found one receptionist a little off. I think this stemmed from me asking for my euro back after the internet wouldn't work. On reporting that I couldn't connect, she said yes they knew it hadn't been working. Therefore in my opinion there should have been some communication to guests to that effect.
We also had no hot water one day but this was resolved by the time we came home after reporting it.
Overall I would recommend these apartments as a base for visiting Playa de las Americas and surrounding resorts. I know there are some reviews for this area already but we will put some pics of the area on soon.