Parador de Cruz de Tejeda

Wonderful stay! With this being situated at the highest point of the island the Grand Canaria mountain views were incredible! The restaurant food was delicious. Loved my pork belly for dinner and lunch. Yes had to have it more than once. The service was good. The spa was my spot. Vanessa the spa receptionist was patient and answered all questions. I had the Serene Light massage with Ana and it did not disappoint. Exactly what I needed to relax. I also did the Wellness Spa Circuit a couple times that gave us access to the pools, jacuzzi, and sauna etc. They sell them in increments of 90 minutes, so it’s never super packed. And the views from here were incredible also. I also just learned about Parador and that they are special hotels with a historical and cultural value, which made this stay even more special.

You are paying for the view. Full stop. The view is outstanding. But the service and staff obviously hate their jobs, and people. The rooms are pleasant, but the balcony view makes staying here worthwhile. Sunset over the valley with views of tiede are immense. Being based in the area for the hiking is also brilliant as the hiking options are many and all outstanding. Unfortunately the service at the cafe and at brekfast is beyond poor. The staff would rather you were not there, or alive. Extremely slow and when they are compelled to take your order they are grumpy and show how much they hate it. This was the case both in the brekfast hall and the hotel cafe. The food was good, but not really worth the wait. It’s a shame as with an improved service it would be a great place to stay. Alternatively enjoy the view during the day on a hike and find somewhere else to stay.

Stopped off at this hotel for lunch with wonderful views but that is where it stopped. Ordered our food but when burgers were bitten into they were actually raw dripping with blood, ( ordered medium ) the waitress was nowhere to be seen she did not even come near to ask if our food was alright and was never seen again. After some time we had to go to the bar to complain and he said he could have the food returned to the grill not only had we bitten into it but it was covered in veg and sauce not ideal to do this and not hygienic .This was his only solution no replacement or even an apology. The service was not good and a very expensive lunch in a beautiful location was spoiled by inept staff !!!!

Fantastic location for hiking and exploring. Usual high Parador quality except some dining room hitches. No more to say but I´m required to use 200 characters, so I´ll repeat: fantastic location for hiking and exploring. Usual high Parador quality except some dining room hitches.

The hotel is situated centrally at the top of Gran Canaria and as such has staggering beautiful panoramas from both its rooms and public areas. It is in a unique and unforgettable position close to a large number of well sign posted walks (most will need either a car or taxi to access) The hotel has been recently renovated and modernised to a high standard. Our superior room was in the original building, was spotlessly clean, well furnished and quiet. The view from its very large balcony was stunning) Be prepared for rapid weather variations as cloud blows in and out, temperatures can drop dramatically and it can be both sunny and hot and foggy and cold on the same day! Service in the restaurant can be erratic although the food quality is very good. The Spa is quite basic and, we felt, somewhat over priced. This hotel is ‘an experience’ and amongst the most memorable, for good reasons, we have ever stayed in.

If you want to splurge during your time in Gran Canaria and expect value for money or some of the minimum services you would expect for that amount, this is not the place to do it. We spent an incredible amount of money to basically stay in our bedroom. When we arrived it was completely foggy and no view from the room or the bar. We were looking forward for a heated pool after a full day of hiking in the cold and rain. Despite the high fare, the heated pool is not included as it is considered as not part of the facilities but rather “the spa”. You have to book in advance and be lucky there is space (limited to 16 people), add extra 35 euros to access, kids are allowed only between noon and 2pm which when you would be checking out and only accompanied by an adult so throw another 35 euros plus 12.5 euros per kid! No complementary water is offered in the rooms so we assumed that water was safe to drink from the tap….still recovering….

We had 2 nights terrible sleep but no recompense. Be warned that our experience suggests that if anything seriously affects your stay at this hotel you may get apologies but no material redress. The details: We stayed here 4 nights and for 2 of them (3rd and 4th night) our room experienced a dinging/banging noise through the bedroom ceiling by the window. The period of the noise coincided with period of high winds, which was no doubt the underlying cause. The 3rd night I awoke at 3:30am and could not get back to sleep. The 4th night I couldn't get to sleep at all and resorted at 1:30am to pulling the mattress into the bathroom. Not acceptable for any hotel but particularly given the price of this one. During the 3rd night we tried to find the source of the noise but couldn't - it was not from the balcony area or outside, it was definitely through the bedroom ceiling by the window. In the morning the wind had died down and even though we investigated further we couldn't see any possible source - we had wondered about guests above us but all that was above was a terrace where some building work was underway but nothing obvious that would have made the noise. On the evening of the 4th night the noise started again (the wind which had died down in the day had again strengthened) and we had water coming in from outside. I went to reception to ask for towels to mop up the water and to complain about the noise. The receptionist brought towels but after less than a minute (when annoyingly the noise didn't sound) the receptionist said he was the only person on duty, that he needed to get back to reception and asked us to take a recording of the noise. When we checked out the next morning the receptionist said that he had reported the evening problems to his manager (who hadn't replied). I explained that I had slept in the bathroom so really wasn't happy and he said to give him a copy of the recording of the noise (which I did) and he would forward that. I had hoped to hear from the hotel but heard nothing. So I sent a complaint to the hotel explaining the issues, requesting a partial refund for our stay, and attaching the recording of the noise. A month later I had had no response at all and so complained again. I then got apologies but no recompense. I then raised the issue to head office of the Parador chain but the final answer was "the Parador was practically full and all the rooms located in the area where you room was were occupied and there has been no evidence that any other client has made any comments in this regard. Therefore, since we have not been able to verify the origin of said sound, we feel that we have to reiterate that we cannot take responsibility for this incident and we cannot respond to your request for a refund." I don't understand why, the fact that the sound was localized to our room (to me showing it could only be caused by something related to the hotel) and the hotel could not find the source of the noise, means that th