In my experience Los Cristianos is a place for waiting. In our case, waiting for the ferry to San Sebastián on the neighbouring island of La Gomera, or for our flight home from Tenerife South Airport (twenty minutes’ drive), or in the case of many of the visitors populating its busy bars, for their final days. So no, I’m not a big fan of the vibe but I’m happy to be told otherwise.
If you’re in transit, it’s quite possible you might have to spend some time hanging around here. In January 2020, the two ferry companies Fred Olsen and Naviera Armas, only sailed to La Gomera three times a day, and unfortunately for us we didn’t quite make the last sailing.
On the spur of the moment we found a surpisingly good value and aptly named hotel in the Hotel Hollywood Mirage, on Calle Sierra Nevada, www.excelhotelsandresorts.es, which only cost us £42 a night for a double room without breakfast. They have a nice pool area with a zillion sun loungers but no one was using them when we were briefly there in mid-January.
We had some nice fusion tapas and craft beers at Mezcla & Co (Intermediate B-), 11 Avenida la Habana, www.mezclaandco.com. The cauliflower was a disappointment (C-) but the roast octopus was great (B+). They also have the makings for a Brandy & Benedictine (best on ice).
According to Lonely Planet, the place to eat at Playa de Los Cristianos (just by the ferry pier) is El Cine Bar at 8 Calle Juan Bariajo www.grupoelcine.com. We didn’t go because there was a bit of a queue and you can’t sit outside but apparently it has a long standing rep for good, traditional Canarian food.
On the way home we had a few hours to kill so we sat outside Restaurante Miramar Tenerife and had mediocre food and drink (C).
The steak at Taberna Rustica Steak House is probably fine but we were full and only shared a pizza (C+) and a bottle of wine. Although the owner would probably preferred us to have eaten more, his friendly waiter let us plug our chargers into their lighting sockets.
All the places mentioned are on my Tenerife map.
Off to San Sebastián next!