Hotel Sir Anthony

Hotel Sir Anthony is a high-end boutique that attracts older, primarily British guests, including many couples. Overall, the vibe here is classy and relaxed. It's part of the larger Mare Nostrum Resort complex, which it shares with sister properties Cleopatra Palace and Mediterranean Palace, and it can be a bit difficult to find if you're coming by car. Even though Google Maps has it correctly marked, there's no signposting, and guests enter via a discreet door at the end of a cul-de-sac. 

Guests pull up into a parking area with a headless, Grecian-style statue out front. Inside, the lobby is quiet and elegant, with low ceilings and ample use of brass in the fixtures, plus soft jazz music in the background and a light peachy fragrance pumped in -- the same aroma is found throughout the rooms and everywhere inside the hotel, except for in the spa, which has its own musky scent. Although there is a small check-in counter, guests instead are invited to sit in the lobby or terrace, take a welcome drink, and are checked in using an iPad.

The whole lobby area was refurbished in 2016, as was the Windsor Restaurant, which occupies an open space that extends out to a poolside dining deck featuring a solid mix of black-wicker chairs, plush blue sofas, and lots of tall potted plants. A DJ plays chill-out music here every night, and there's a singer inside the restaurant on Thursday through Saturday nights. 

The building is u-shaped around the pool so that all rooms face the beach, though the pink transparent balconies give it a borderline Miami Vice vibe that doesn't quite mesh with the snazzier, up-to-date interiors. Elevators and a spiral staircase lead up to the three floors of rooms, and hallways have big windows that look out onto the gargantuan lagoon pool at the adjacent Mediterranean Palace.

Hotel Sir Anthony is located in the heart of Playa de las Americas, right across from Playa del Camison and the beach promenade, accessible directly from the hotel and about a 15-minute walk from Los Cristianos. It's at the end of a cul-de-sac that jets right off Avenue Las Americas, full of nightclubs and shopping areas -- there's even a musical fountain. It's about an hour's drive to Mount Teide at the center of the island, while Tenerife South Airport can be reached in around 20 minutes by car. 

Hotel Sir Anthony offers three room types: Superior Ocean View Rooms, Junior Suites, and one-bedroom Deluxe Suites. Some rooms come with direct pool access (via small staircases from the terraces) on the ground floor and two accessible rooms one floor up, while the top-floor units have tiny private plunge pools on their own private rooftop decks, plus ample lounge chairs. All rooms have lovely decor with shiny black accent walls and balconies or terraces with views out onto the pool and the sea beyond. Everything's impeccably maintained but still homey, thanks to ample use of wood in furniture and colorful linens. 

All rooms have Nespresso coffeemakers, kettles, flat-screen TVs, safes, minibars with full-sized bottles of top-shelf liquor and Moet & Chandon champagne, Belgian chocolate, and every kind of stemware imaginable. Bathrooms are predominantly black, and some have large glass-panel walls that look out into the rooms. Molton Brown toiletries and hairdryers are provided, as are bathrobes. Most bathrooms have walk-in showers with square rainfall showerheads and separate soaking tubs, except those on the ground floor, which only have showers. 

All of the amenities at Hotel Sir Antony are luxurious and on-point, starting with the large, oval pool with a mosaic flower design on its floor. It's surrounded by grass and palm trees, plus a mix of Bali beds and lounge chairs, while a gate from the pool area leads out to a public beach (all beaches in Spain are public) just outside of the property. Adjacent to the pool is a large deck with a variety of chairs and tables that doubles as an outdoor dining area for the restaurant, Windsor Gastronomic Place. The restaurant is open for all three meals (breakfast comes standard in room rates and half- and full-board packages are available, though they don't include drinks). Breakfast is an elegant affair, with a buffet featuring all sorts of local products, including Tenerife olive oil and honey from Mount Teide, as well as hot dishes from a show kitchen and Veuve Cliquot mimosas. 

The Oasis Spa is another hugely attractive feature and offers a variety of treatments, including facials that use special machines to reduce wrinkles, as well as mani/pedis, massages, and even anti-cellulite treatments. There's also a room for couples with a whirlpool hot tub that guests can use for an hour after their treatments. The lack of a fitness center is surprising for a hotel of this caliber, but at least guests can use facilities in adjacent hotels, which include not only fitness facilities and an enormous pools, but also lots for kids, including go-karts.  

Other amenities include free on-site parking, free hotel-wide Wi-Fi, and a small book lending area in the lobby, right by the entrance.