Reports about Resorts on Tenerife

Hollywood Mirage

All the blocks are named after Hollywood actors/actresses & we were in the Clark Gable one on the 3rd floor but there were lifts. We were in studio 3321 overlooking the pool area & had a lovely sea view as well. There was a fairly long entrance way with a good size wardrobe on the right with plenty hangers & full glass doors. Opposite that was a decent sized bathroom with a nice long marble shelf & a powerful shower over the bath.

At the end of the entrance way there were twin beds on the left & a chest of drawers come dressing table on right with a large mirror. Then there was a dining table & 4 chairs on the right & a unit with the TV set in to it. Then there was the sink & fridge & 2 ring hob & opposite that on the left was a long sofa bed & single soft chair with a coffee table in front of it.

There were then 2 large patio doors leading out on to a decent sized balcony with a table & 4 reclining chairs,which had cushions,so were very comfy. We got the sun shining on there from about noon till sunset so was very nice for eating & drinking on our evenings in. The pool area was very nice & I could have a look to see if the sunbeds had been put out before I went down in the mornings. Yes the sunbeds & cushions were all put away every night & then set out again in the morning about8 to 8.30am. In fact the lifeguard used to ask folk to move round so he could get the far side done about 6pm just so he could get away as near to 7pm as possible!! Someone must have reported him I think as he stopped doing that the last couple of days we were there.

The sun did not reach the pool till about 10am so I had plenty time to go for a nice long swim to start the day. The tiles were really good as did not get hot in the sun & there was a nice non slip rubber like matting about a foot or so wide around the edge of the pool so safe for the kids. There was a small kid's pool & pool table which both had covering over them so they were not in the direct sun. The pool bar was really good & seemed to be busy most of the time from 9am till 7pm. The Happy Hour was spread over 3 hours from 4pm to 7pm so that was a bit of a bonus...............lol You could then go up to the main bar for another one from 7pm to 8pm & then again from 10.45pm to 12.15am I think - we were only in for that twice.

Right, back to the studio first which had very good air conditioning. The TV turned round so you could watch it either from the sofa or from your bed. There was a screen you could pull across to divide the beds from the living area if there were 3 or 4 of you staying. The TV had 3 movie channels plus sky sports & BBC & ITV ones. We ate in every other night on the balcony so could watch all the comings goings from the bar & restaurant next to reception area in the White House. There was entertainment on nightly but we were never bothered by any noise from it as it was inside. The bar area had 2 large screen TV's which showed the football much to the delight of many of the diners. That brings me on to my restaurant & bar report. We only ate in once on the Wed night BBQ & it was the strangest one we've ever been to. We were all seated & the food was brought to the table though it was cooked outside on a huge BBQ. There was a bottle of wine per couple but Mike asked for soft drinks for himself & 2 kids at our table. This was no problem but the waitress then took away a bottle in lieu. I was ok however as had our bottle to myself & the couple beside me only had 1 glass from their one & gave it to me so I took it up to our room to have with my meal the next night. We only went in for drinks twice after being out for meals so the entertainment was finished & happy hour had started.........lol Now we're off to the pool area where I spent the majority of my time. There was an entertainments team which provided a variety of activities for those energetic people & also a kiddies club for 4 to 12 year olds. I have to say that all the children there were very well behaved & there was no unruly behaviour. The water polo was good fun to watch with anything from 12 to 20 taking part including ladies,men & older kids. One women did get hit in the face one day but she was sitting behind the goals so what did she expect?? All the sensible ones moved to the side till the game was over. There were restricted times for use of lilos & balls which were enforced by the lifeguard. We met a lot of nice people who were owners,exchanges through RCI & freebies like us. There was music playing daily from Holiday FM which was enjoyable & not too loud. There was also a quiet pool which was a real suntrap for those who did not want any noise.

Next we're off to the leisure centre which was underneath the White House & next to the pool bar. It was air conditioned & had a gym with treadmills,cycles,lots of weights etc, 2 squash courts, sauna,steam baths & jacuzzi. There was a games room with pool tables & table tennis & games machines. You could purchase a "Resort Card" for 15 euros which gave you unlimited use of all the facilities plus the tennis courts & bowling alley. You could hire pool towels for 2 euros daily or 9 for the week but they were free if you had a resort card. There was also a bookcase with quite a selection of books you could borrow.

There was also a mini-market & hair & beauty salon just opposite the White House. You could charge everything to your room including purchases at the mini-market & at happy hours so was very handy as saved taking any money down to the pool area. There was a courtesy bus daily every half hour from 9am till noonish & then from 3pm till 7pm down to the harbour in Los Cristianos but we never used it. There was a laundry room with washers & dryers which needed tokens which you purchased in the mini-market for 2 euros per machine plus another 2 for your washing powder.

The resort was very clean & the maids even swept the pavements & roads. All in all we had a really lovely time & would return if the opportunity arose. We were given a booklet of vouchers to use at the HM & the associated resorts & bars nearby. They are all part of the XL Group - Excel Hotels & Resorts.

On to our meeting with the reps. Well the Resale Agents are Resort Properties which I am sure someone said on here a few weeks ago were the same lot that run the presentations at the Radisson in Malta - please correct me if I'm wrong there. Our rep came to our appt to collect us at 10am as agreed a few days beforehand. His name was Kevin Hewitt & he was very pleasant & took us down to the sales offices on the lower floor next to the quiet pool. However inside it was anything but quiet & resembled a call centre full of reps chatting to their "clients" in many different languages. Kevin made us a nice cuppa & then started chatting away about his family & showed us a picture of his wife & 3 year old daughter. Then he asked us what kind of food we liked & spent the next hour giving us the names of & directions to 5 or 6 restaurants in Los Cristianos. This seemed to be the same tactic they all used as I could hear both German & Swedish reps at the next desks doing exactly the same thing. As it was now past 11am Mike said he'd better get started with his sales patter soon or his time would be up & we'd be off......lol. So he said ok but offered us another cuppa first which we accepted as that passed another 5 mins away. He asked us where all we had been on hols & if we knew how the timeshare business worked. We told him we probably knew more about it than he did so he asked if we owned anywhere. We said no but had been to lots of presentations so knew what was entailed. He then went to talk to someone else & came back & asked us if we owned points & we said yes but did not tell him how many we had. He explained they only dealt with resales as the resorts were all sold out,so we would be able to buy them cheaper,but would not say how much at this point. We explained that as I had recently retired & Mike was not able to work we were looking at options for future holidays within a reasonable budget.

So he then produced a wad of paper with lists of Gold Status (I think he said)clients & how they had managed to work the system with bulk purchasing of appts & then reselling them. But the minimum spend was 30K right up to 75K plus so he must have thought that would be a reasonable amount to us!!! He even showed us a gold plaque he had showing his total sales the previous year was over a million pounds. We said that was way out of our price range & think he got the message when I started looking all around me & ignoring him. So he said they could do a deal with us for our points - yes they could buy them off us & went to fetch a colleague,who was a previous Sunterra rep,to show us a copy certificate they had bought from a Swedish couple for 170 points??? I just said they could not do that & he said yes they would do a deal with Sunterra. So we asked again what sort of prices they were talking about for a studio or 1 bed appt - still no answer though. Mike was getting restless by now as it was midday so Kevin said he'd take us to see a couple of appts nearby.

So off we went to a new place just down the road - well about 5 mins away in his car. It had locked gates & he had to key in his combination to gain entry. He showed us around a 3 bed place which was on 3 floors so no use to Mike. It was a super appt with lovely soft mattresses on huge beds,nice kitchen & gorgeous open plan living room overlooking a very small pool - so no use to me lol. He did say it was about 75K so I said well that's no use to us then as we don't have that kind of money to spend. Oh but we can arrange finance for you he said & I said NO WAY - if I don't have the money I won't buy it. Well he could not believe that we had no loans at all & insisted we must at least have a mortgage. No says I that had all to be paid off before I retired - not that it was any of his business really. Next we went to see a 1 bed at the Beverly Hills Club & it was up a flight of steps near to the pool. Again it was quite nice but a bit on the small side I'd say. Then we went back to the sales offices for a final assault. Mike said he was getting real sore so would have to go & take his medication with some food. Kevin quickly offered to make him a sandwich & I just as quickly declined & said he needed to have a proper meal. So he said ok but would have to run through some figures with us first which would only take 10 mins or so. Now we were just getting to the point we had asked about more than an hour ago - yes you are right - the costs of the appts. A studio was £6k, 1 bed £9K & 2 bed £12K so we said if they gave us the paperwork to read over we would think about it. Paperwork,he said,what paperwork? Well there must be some kind of contract we said & he said "do you think I'd try to deceive you or tell you lies". Yes we said you might so we will sign nothing until we can read over the terms & conditions of a sale & then get back to you if we are interested. There's nothing to read he said again so we said well we're not interested then.

He then had to fetch his boss so that we could tell him the same thing. He wanted to know if Kevin had explained everything to us & we said yes he had told us everything in detail. He then said we could do a deal with our points & we said no as we wanted to keep them. So he said if he could come up with a good deal for us there & then would we go ahead & sign up. Again we said we would not without reading through all paperwork first. "Do you think we would try & do you?" he said. We both nodded & said yes you may try but as we're not signing anything today you won't. So they both said ok that's fair enough then we'll leave it at that. We told them to make up their best offer & put it up to our appt along with the paperwork & we would look at it & let them know in a couple of days. They said they would but that was the last we saw or heard of either of them for the rest of our 2 weeks. So that was us all done & dusted & escaped intact at 12.40pm - just over 2 & half hours but others were not so lucky,as we found out when chatting around the pool - they all seemed to have been kept for 5 or 6 hours!!! I just don't know why they stayed that long though. One lady,who stays near Pine Lakes,said they had a woman rep who was downright nasty to them as soon as she found out they were not going to buy. She accused them of going there under false pretences & of wasting a 2 bed appt that someone else could have had. Another said their rep told them they must have some money stashed away somewhere they could use. But as I said earlier our rep was really nice & not too pushy at all so we had no complaints. A man who owns there said they bought a 1 bed through Global resales for just over £2K in all. Another couple who own a 3 bed said they were only offered £6K for it so the maths just does not equate as Kevin said they take 25% commission on all sales so that would make the 3 bed £8K in total!!!

A few days before the end of our holiday we got an invitation under our door to go & fill in a questionaire about our meeting - again down at the resales offices. Mike went on his own though as I wasn't giving up any more of my sunbathing time.....ha!ha! He saw a different man this time who asked if he was happy with the way our presentation went & he said yes. Then he tried to see if he could get Mike to buy a 2 bed at a discount price but he just said not at the moment. He asked if we would go back there again & Mike said yes we would as thought it was a lovely clean resort with good facilities. So he was only there for half an hour & again escaped with wallet intact...................lol

Wishing you all many happy hols,

Cheers Marion xxxxxx