Gran Hotel Taoro

The Taoro is the reason Puerto de la Cruz exists as a resort. A British-backed company opened it on 22 December 1890 to a design by the French architect Adolphe Coquet: three storeys, four corner towers, 217 rooms. It drew the European winter set for decades, Alfonso XIII, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Agatha Christie among them. It stopped taking guests in 1976, spent 1979 to 2006 as the island's casino and then sat empty in its own park. The Cabildo de Tenerife still owns it. Tropical Turística Canaria took the concession in 2019, spent about EUR 35 million and reopened it as a five-star hotel on 20 October 2025 under My Way Hotels & Resorts. Its restoration is the biggest thing to happen to north Tenerife hospitality in a generation.

What you get is a landmark: the pale Victorian pile on its terrace in Parque Taoro, gardens all round, and views straight down over the old town to the Atlantic and, on a clear morning, up to Teide. There are 199 rooms now, 179 deluxe doubles plus eight junior suites, eight suites, two grand suites and four presidential suites, and what separates them is mostly the view, at the mountain, the ocean, the valley or the gardens. Three heated outdoor pools sit in the gardens. The Sandára Wellness Centre arrived last, opening in spring 2026 with Anne Semonin treatments, a thermal suite of sauna, steam room and experience showers, and a gym, for guests of 16 and over.

Food is where the hotel has spent hardest. Five restaurants: OKA for Japanese cooking, its dinner menu built by the Michelin-starred Ricardo Sanz, LAVA as a small tasting counter and Amalur as the bistro, both with menus by Erlantz Gorostiza, La Carola by the pools and the Atlántico buffet. The Tagoror lobby bar covers the hours in between. Early feedback praises the building, the sense of occasion and the position. It is also honest about the things new hotels get wrong at first, service that is still finding its rhythm and a food offer that is not yet as sure as the setting.

We include it because a hotel like this comes along once. The north coast is the other thing to weigh: cloud and cooler days are part of the deal, which is exactly why the Victorians came for the winter. It is uphill from town, so dinner in Puerto means a climb back or a taxi. Book it for the story and the views, expect a few rough edges while it settles, and read the latest reviews before you commit. If you need everything to run like clockwork, Botánico down the hill is the safer north-coast choice.