The catch at Bahía del Duque

The Deluxe Room, the entry category, is 30 to 35 square metres without the terrace, and the hotel's own room page sells it with a garden or inland view; the sea view is listed as a supplement, and the outdoor space is a balcony, a terrace or a French balcony depending on what is left when you book. The same is true one tier up: the Casas Ducales Double Room is also 30 to 35 square metres, and its sea view is also a supplement.

Guests rate location and service highest and value lowest, and report that rooms in the older blocks feel dated next to the price. Our word for them is tired.

The hotel's own accommodation page counts 386 rooms, 58 suites and 40 villas, laid out as separate Canarian houses running downhill to the promenade. That is the charm and the catch. Breakfast for everyone outside the Casas Ducales and the villas is one buffet, El Bernegal, from 7.30 to 10.30, and guests report it overrun at Christmas and in the school holidays. The FAQ lists six pools, two saltwater and three freshwater of which two are heated, plus a heated children's pool: in a February week the unheated ones are scenery and the heated ones fill early.

Then there are the steps. The houses sit at different levels, and guests report that the walk from an upper block down to the beach and back wears older legs out by the third day. The Mini Club takes children aged 3 to 12 from 10.00 to 5.45pm daily, so the gardens are never hushed at noon.

The hotel's FAQ is clear on the mechanism. Half board is breakfast plus an à la carte dinner at selected restaurants, drinks not included, and Nub, Upalupa and Kensei are not among them. The restaurant pages add that half-board guests receive a discount at Nub and Kensei rather than a meal.

Guests report the practical result: the discount is a small credit against a tasting menu that costs several times as much, and inside the included restaurants a good number of dishes carry a supplement, so the bill at the end of the week is not the one you budgeted. In a March 2024 review a guest complained that most dishes carried a supplement, and in its reply the hotel put the share of dishes without one at about 55 per cent, which is its own kind of answer.

The FAQ says it in one line: entry into the Bahía Wellness Retreat is not included in the room rate. The circuit is an outdoor thalassotherapy pool of sea water with air beds and jets, a hammam, a sauna and experience showers, open 10.00 to 18.00, with a minimum age of 16 and, for non-residents, a 180-minute slot. There are 20 treatment cabins. The hotel publishes no price for the circuit on its own site and asks you to email for rates, so budget for it as an extra rather than a perk.

Guests describe the spa as tired for a hotel at this price, and the hotel's own villas page lists preferential access to the circuit among the villa inclusions, so even the top tier is sold on getting in more easily rather than on the spa itself. Of the two gyms, the 24-hour one is free; the other is inside the spa.

Every dinner reservation at the hotel has to be made in advance, by phone or email, on its own restaurants page. Formal attire is required at dinner: shorts and open-toe sandals are not permitted for men over 16, and only Kensei and Upalupa allow tailored shorts and smart sandals. Nub admits no one under 10 and opens Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm to 9.30pm, so a week's stay has five evenings when it is possible at all; Kensei is over-10s after 6pm too. The hotel asks guests not to walk through the main building in swimwear.

None of this is unusual for a grand hotel, but families who imagine strolling in from the pool to eat will find the gate shut and the good rooms full. The 2026 Michelin guide lists Nub at its top price band, and there is no à la carte, only two tasting menus.