The Ritz Carlton Abama

Our neighbours are blasting music and my child woke up scared. I called the front desk over 50 minutes ago. They said they will send security. They did not. And now my calls (20 minutes) to the front desk are being put on ignore! They simply do not pick up. This is not a service you expect from Ritz.

This was our second stay at The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama, once again choosing The Retreat and spending several thousand pounds on the holiday. This time we also brought our son and his partner with us, so four of us were staying, dining and spending within the resort. One particular waiter at El Mirador deserves special praise. He looked after us in the evenings and was exceptional ..warm, attentive, professional and genuinely personable. He stood out as exactly the level of hospitality we associate with the Ritz-Carlton name. Unfortunately, the rest of our experience was far less impressive. A very large Indian wedding was taking place during our stay and appeared to have a significant impact on restaurant availability. We have absolutely no issue with the hotel hosting weddings, but nothing was mentioned to us when we booked about an event of this scale or the restrictions it might cause. We were unable to book the Italian restaurant and had difficulty with other dining options. When we raised this with reservations, we were told the matter would be referred to a manager, but nothing further happened. No one followed up and nothing was acknowledged at checkout. Room service was very good, but generally we found the standard of customer service disappointing. Some staff lacked the warmth, professionalism and people skills we would expect from a five-star Ritz-Carlton property. To add to the frustration, at checkout we were being charged for a meal at the Beach Club that we had never even attended. The resort itself is beautiful, but at this level luxury should also mean excellent communication, attention to detail and making every guest feel valued. As returning guests who had also brought two additional paying guests with us, we were disappointed to feel at times as though independent guests had become secondary to the large private event. We returned because we had enjoyed our first stay. Sadly, after this experience, we would think very carefully before booking The Retreat again.

Overall a great hotel but not ritz Carlton standard. We stayed in the citadel part not the retreat. We were a multigenerational family of 12 with kids under 12 years old. Because of this we could only use the lagoon pool. The hotel advertises 7 pools but only if you stay in the retreat do you have access to all and if you’re 12 and over. Something to keep in mind. The family rooms are brilliant as there 2 interconnected rooms so huge. The gym is included but the hammam, sauna part of the spa costs €30 so we didn’t bother. It might be included if you booked the spa. The service was hit and miss and overall slow. Very friendly staff but EVERY meal they struggled with the bill because we were splitting it across 3 rooms. It’s like they’d never had this situation before. It’s got all the ingredients but missed the mark for us.