Arona is not only home to the three Spring Hoteles in Tenerife, it’s also home to great food, drink and music traditions and they are not shy about sharing it with visitors. The local council makes a point of introducing Canarian wines, cheeses, and pastries to as many people as possible and following last winters sea front festival, the Canaries Folk Festival is back again for another run.

Every Thursday evening from now until 14 April 2011 the promenade at Los Cristianos old beach is the place to be. Starting at 8pm stalls along the front will be selling the best of local produce so you can get a taste of natures bounty. This will take place against the backdrop of live music and dance on the stage at the back of Plaza del Pescadora, named after the statue of the fisherwoman carrying the fish catch of the day in the basket on her head. The promenade is a popular place to walk in the evenings and just a short stroll along from Arona Gran Hotel, the  Hotel Bitacora and Hotel Vulcano are a little further the other side but they too are just a short walk away from the promenade at Las Vistas beach which leads through the small tunnel to the festival area.

Tenerife is well and truly on the international scene and the biggest of the world’s cruise liners are regular visitors to our capital city, Santa Cruz. On Tuesday 19 October there was a right royal treat when Cunard’s new Queen Elizabeth slipped into port amid great exitement. The bare stats are pretty impressive, 16 decks high, 294 metres long, 90,400 tons in weight and built in Italy for a cool 500 million pounds. But it’s the royal name and proud history of the two previous Queen Elizabeth ships that made this a very special visitor.

Captain Chris Wells from Bournemouth ha worked his way up the ranks and served on the Queen Mary 2  and Queen Elizabeth 2 but was clearly brimming with pride to be in charge on the maiden voyage. Leaving Southampton after being officially named and launched by HRH The Queen, this 13 night trip had already called at Vigo, Lisbon, Cadiz, and was visiting the Canary Islands with a first stop at Gran Canaria followed by calls in Tenerife and La Palma before saying hi to Madeira before returning to Southampton.

Even at nearly 16,000 pounds for a luxury suite, all 2,092 passenger tickets were snapped up in half an hour and passengers couldn’t wait to try out the Royal Theatre, the bars and lounges and swimming pools. The Grand Lobby is one of the most impressive points of the ship as stairs curl their way down three floors to a piano lobby feeding off to the fully stocked library, shops and restaurants like the cream and white Verandah where the tables dripped with cut glass beneath twinkling chandeliers.

Although only here for 10 hours passengers got to taste the pleasures of Tenerife, a thousand were bused off to Teide national park, some took jeep tours and others tried out the shops of Santa Cruz. When it was time to cast off, a local group re-enacted some of the old defensive fire that defeated plundering pirates, and a folklore group serenaded the grand old lady as she took to the Atlantic.

Photo by ColinKirby.com

In times of financial crisis councils have to choose priorities wisely and back what they see as most important. So good news to hear that Arona council, their area covers Los Cristianos and much of Las Americas, has pledged 3.1 million euros to be spent in 2011 on improving the look of their area.

Great news for visitors to Spring Hoteles as Hotel Bitacora, Hotel Vulcano and Arona Gran Hotel are all part of the Arona district. The money is coming jointly from the council and the Tenerife government and will be used to install a cycle lane along the sea promenade and to add to green areas and gardens. Regular visitors will already appreciate the beautiful flowers and plants that line most streets, and many small corners of waste land have been converted into play areas for the family complete with benches and shade.

The good work will continue, Arona are very aware of their appeal to tourists and want to ensure they keep adding to the visual impact and make people proud to show off their holiday snaps. The sea front promenade is one of the great delights, you can now walk from Arona Gran Hotel at the east end of Los Cristianos through to Playa de las Americas with the Atlantic always in sight.

Spring Hoteles are pleased to announce the winner of our questionnaire about creating a  Chill Out Bar at our Spring Hotel Vulcano.  The winner was chosen from all entries received up to and including 30 September 2010.

The winner is: Valerie Olivier and will enjoy 1 free stay for 1 week for 2 persons on B&B, congratulations,