Best value hotels in Tenerife

Here the money buys character rather than facilities. Hotel San Roque is a restored 18th-century manor house with 20 rooms, adults only from 14, where original wooden balconies meet furniture by Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Breuer, and contemporary art hangs in the stairwells. Breakfast is included on every rate, served à la carte in the pool courtyard or your room, and the heated pool and a free sauna you book for yourself come with the stay.

The savings carry on outside the door. El Rebojo, a Bib Gourmand, is two minutes away on foot, the El Caletón lava pools four, and the free public car park is 30 metres from the hotel. Anturium's two set dinners, at 49 or 69 euros a head with wine extra, are the evening to plan: book them at least 24 hours ahead.

Crossing to the north buys a five-star for less. Hotel Botánico & The Oriental Spa Garden, a member of Leading Hotels of the World, typically starts at about 200 euros a night in low season, and its rates run kinder than the south's in the same weeks. The rate also carries more than most: the Oriental Spa Garden's thermal circuit is included for guests, the 25,000 square metres of gardens come with it, and a free minibus runs down into Puerto de la Cruz.

The room ladder rewards a careful eye. The renovated rooms in the adults-only wing cost little more than the older ones below them, and the Double Penthouse, a fifth-floor room with a whirlpool bath and a private terrace facing the valley and Teide, is the best view for the money on the ladder. Check whether your rate includes breakfast; it is the meal guests rate highest.

This is the value answer on the west coast. It shares the sunsets over La Gomera with The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama, nine minutes south by car, but typically starts at about 250 euros a night in low season, against about 285 there. For that you get a saltwater infinity pool of more than 5,000 square metres, five pools in all, 18 restaurants and bars and a 2,000 square metre spa.

It is also a family sum that works. Every Deluxe room is at least 54 square metres, the under-fives' afternoon Stay & Play is free, and all-inclusive plans settle the bill before you arrive and include the spa's water circuit, with the steakhouse and the Bali beds outside them. Spend any saving on the view rather than on RedLevel if the lounge and the adults-only pool are not the point.