Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora

Palacio de Isora is big, and it knows it. Around 600 rooms on the west coast at Alcalá, opened in 2008 and built in the manner of a Canarian palace, facing straight out at the Atlantic. There are five pools, and the one that gets photographed is a saltwater infinity pool of more than 5,000 square metres, billed as the largest of its kind in a European hotel. Add 18 restaurants and bars, two kids' clubs, a spa and a beach club on the rocks, and you have a resort that runs like a small town, with something for every age and no need to plan.

The decision that matters is which part of it you book. The main hotel is lively, family-heavy and, in holiday weeks, crowded at breakfast and around the pools, and the recurring complaint in guest feedback is exactly that scale. RedLevel, the premium tier, with most of its junior suites in an adults-only area for over-16s, is a different hotel: private check-in, a butler, its own lounge and adults-only pool, Le Bistrot Provençal kept for its guests, and villas with private pools and gardens. It costs more and it is worth it.

Around that sit eight à la carte restaurants plus Pangea, the food market that handles the buffet and keeps an adults-only section, with Dos Naifes by Jorge Peñate for a proper dinner. Some venues close out of season, so check what is open before you count on a particular night. The Farm Caretakers, the kids' club for 8 months to 4 years, charges for its morning session but not for its afternoon Stay & Play, The Ocean Navigators takes ages 5 to 11, the Spa by Clarins covers 2,000 square metres, and the beach club is built on the rocks rather than on sand. Playa de Alcalá, black volcanic sand, is across the road, the village keeps a small harbour and a square, and almost anything facing west gives you the sunset over La Gomera.

The sea access is rocky rather than sandy, so this is a pool resort, not a beach one. Alcalá is a small village, and Costa Adeje is 20 minutes away by car, which matters if you want shops, bars and somewhere else to eat. The resort does not try to be refined and it does not charge as though it were, and for a family week that is often the better sum. Book RedLevel if the budget stretches, and check its availability before you check anything else.