Santa Catalina, A Royal Hideaway Hotel

We’ve just enjoyed an excellent week at Hotel Santa Catalina. Our first stay at this hotel. Apologies in advance for a long-ish review but hope a comprehensive assessment will assist other travellers. Firstly, Las Palmas is a large capital. It’s not pretty and most tourists head south to Mogan or Maspalomas etc. There is a town beach and on the other side of the peninsula, Playa de las Canteras - but mainly it’s ‘city’ and whilst the hotel and gardens are spectacular, once outside it’s far more commercial. On the positive side this means that restaurants cater predominantly for locals so quality and value are excellent (if interested, check out our separate reviews of Trattoria Pizzeria Calabre Las Palmas, El Churrasco, Restaurant Ons, Origen Steakhouse, Que Leche and one of the hotel’s restaurants 1890 La Bodeguita which will be posted shortly). Our preference is for classic rather than contemporary hotels - and the style and history here ticks all our boxes. Hotel Santa Catalina was originally built in 1892 and fully refurbished in 2019 by Barcelo Group. It is the ‘Grande Dame’ of Las Palmas and you can’t fail to be impressed as you approach up the short private drive. If you’ve stayed in a Belmond hotel you’ll realise the quality and service isn’t quite to the same standard, but the hotel is nevertheless very good and far better value for money! We were staying for a week ahead of a cruise and had initially reserved a ‘standard’ room but further research revealed that to take advantage of the rooftop pool area during the day and complimentary use of the Thalassotherapy pool/spa (otherwise €15pp per 90 mins time slot), you need to upgrade to a Junior Suite or above. In our view this is definitely worth the additional spend if affordable. We arranged for the hotel to pick us up at the airport and check-in around 7.30pm went smoothly, eased with a glass of Cava. We had been allocated Junior Suite Premium room 128 on the 1st floor. Initially we would have preferred a higher floor in the expectation of views, but for the ‘Wow’ factor and location, the 1st floor is the one. Our room was modest in proportions - basically one decent sized room split into two to create a small-ish sitting area. Fine for us but you’d need to upgrade to one of the larger suites if space is your top priority. Star of the show was the private terrace directly above the main entrance at the front of the hotel. Two sofas and appx 70sq mts of terrace. Perfect for relaxing. The hotel is east facing so lots of morning sun but not in the evenings. On our first night we had room service. The ‘service’ box was ticked but the food was OK rather than good. With 2 or 3 dining venues on site including a Michelin starred restaurant, we wonder if hotels fail to appreciate how guests might view room service food quality as a barometer or ‘shop window’ for other dining on site. Subjective of course. The bed was an enormous super-king with nice linen and very comfortable. The bathroom was excellent, particularly the shower with simple electronic control, strong pressure and almost immediate heat. Plenty of decent quality toiletries and accessories provided. Lovely free-standing oval bath. Good wardrobe space with large shelf above (for the tall) but insufficient drawers. Large TV masquerading as a mirror, but few English-speaking channels. One grumble is the automated lighting which has more buttons than a space rocket and is a triumph of technology over functionality. Serviced daily with an evening turn-down. Kettle and Lavazza coffee maker. Small fridge containing the usual non-alcoholic mini-bar rubbish (subjective - sorry), but we had a couple of complimentary bottles of water. Rooftop pool was lovely - a gorgeous space at the top of the hotel spanning the complete roof of the hotel with very comfortable loungers, cabanas, tables and chairs plus a bar and food service. Pool towels were plentiful and plush. Breakfast was not included in our room rate and if required is paid on arrival. It’s a very comprehensive buffet including a good eggs station and the ability to order off menu if preferred. Table service for tea, coffee, juice etc. Nice outdoors seating area. We were very happy with quality and quantity and thought €25pp was reasonable. Service throughout was steady to good with moments of excellence - we will commend Daniel and Soraya who are a credit to the hotel. For those essentials, there’s a Dino supermarket within a 5 mins walk. So, we stayed for a week wanting to relax, enjoy good weather in nice surroundings, with good food, drink and service. Hotel Santa Catalina delivered for us on all these measures - and we thought represented excellent value. Fully merits our 5 Star assessment and recommendation to others.

Sounds a bit of a cliché …I do write trip advisor reviews but I am now. Without sounding arrogant, I have travelled all over the world and stayed in the most amazing hotels, however this this hotel has to be one of best hotels in the world. It is difficult to know where to start and I am sure I will not do the hotel or the staff justice. The hotel itself is beautiful with wonderful gardens and the sounds of birds chirping all day long. I stayed in a Junior Deluxe Suite which had a glorious view of the hotel, gardens and port. When you arrive, you are offered a class of cava or sparking water at reception whilst you check in. The room itself was very well thought out with everything you could want in a hotel room. If you needed anything else or for things to be replaced, all you needed to do it to ring reception. Lots of reviews have mentioned the breakfast which is truly fantastic. So much care, thought and attention to detail has been put into the hotel. Even when ordering a Sparking water, I was offered nuts or crisps to go alongside my drink! Chocolates are left on your pillow at night. The service from the reception staff to housekeeping is exceptional. Everyone is polite, helpful and friendly but you are left alone to do your own thing. I had a massage too with Carlos which was outstanding Las Palmas itself is just wonderful and not overrun with tourists. I cannot recommend this hotel or Las Palmas enough. I am thinking of words to describe the hotel: sophisticated, elegant, tasteful, quiet, world class service but it is not pretentious. I know I will come back again and again… If I could only go to one hotel for the rest of my life, it would be this one….

Stunning architecture, beautiful interior and a wonderful service. It is an absolutely brilliant hotel. I’m trying to think of what i’d look for in a review to convince me of going here. Just go. I needed a break from work in the sun and what myself and my partner got was luxury in a calm setting with lovely people surrounding us and great weather (nothing to do with the hotel i may add). Will definitely be back and maybe use it was part of a cruise around the canaries and Cape Verde islands as some people were doing next time!