Many of you have shown interest in knowing who is behind the scenes at Spring Hoteles web, the blog and the social media. As usual, your wishes are our command so here we are, and now you can put a face to our names!!!

The on line department is run by two young men, and I am sure you have spoken to them on several occasions, as they are also behind the web help line. Their names are Bernardo and Stani.

Bernardo is 35 years old and is originally from Tenerife. He is married and has two little boys of 7 and 3 years old. Bernardo loves sports, and his hobbies are going out on his mountain bike during the weeks-ends, and also running a few miles after work at night.  Bernardo has been working with us for the last 3 years, and his previous work was also within the travel industry.    

Stani is also 35 years and he is from Slovakia. He is married and has a 3 year old little boy. His only known hobby, or should I say addiction, apart from devouring chocolate is flying a light aircraft and adding up flight hours on his license. His dream would be to become a commercial pilot. Stani has been working with us for the last 6 years, since the on line department was set up.

And now it’s my turn. My name is Bea. I am also married, and I do not have children, but two lovely cats. I have been working in Spring Hoteles for over 15 years. At first I used to work at the recepcion of Hotel Vulcano but for the last 10 years I have been in the commercial department.  I dedicate most of my free time to my absolute passion, my baking blog.  The rest of my time I love riding with my husband our Harley Davidson.    

We three make a very happy team and balanced team, tough boys will be boys……. and I need to keep my eye on them from time to time!!!.  

Our main offices are situated at Hotel Vulcano, so if one of these days you see us walking round the hotel,  just stop us and say hello, so we can get to know you too!! 

Feel free to contact us at any time, we will be happy to be of assistance!!!.

Our e-mails addresses are:

Bernardo : spring(at)springhoteles.com

Stani: web(at)springhoteles.com

Bea: comercial(at)springhoteles.com

As we mentioned in our previous post, we will begin featuring every month different places we hope you may find of interest, and that you can visit while you are on holiday in Tenerife.  We would love to receive your feedback and comments, to let us know what other places of the island would you like us to  discover for you.

Todays visit is to the Ethnographic Park Pirámides de Güimar, which I believe is one great unknown for many of you. I have tried to make a brief description of its history:

The Ethnographic Park Pirámides de Guimar  is a complex of six steep pyramids , that bear a surprising architectural resemblance to those found in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Sardinia, Sicily and Latin America.

The existence of these pyramids first came to light in the early 90’s, after an article was published in a local newspaper. This unusual information  got to the hands of Dr. Thor Heyedahl, a Norwegian anthropologist, internationally known for his adventures on the high seas aboard replicas of prehistoric boats and his theories about prehistoric human migrations.

Dr. Heyerdhal carefully studied these pyramids on site, and related them with the prehispanical civilizations of Tenerife. In 1991, it was confirmed that they were astronomically orientateded towards the summer and winter solstices, and hence they are of great , cultural, historical and archeological value.   This investigation became of a personal interest to him specially after the grounds of the park were bought by Fred Olsen and in 1998 the Park open its doors to the public.

In the Park, not only can we find the pyramids, but also a museum, an auditorium  where a documentary about the park can be watched so visitors can have an idea of the magnitude of their surroundings.  Also a cave known as Cuevan Chacona can be visited.  Cueva Chacona is an 8 meter long cave were archaeological rests were found (goat bones, fish bones, lithic piercers,  potshreds  and bead necklaces). These rests  date  from  680 to  1020 C.E . Another  interesting feature of the Park are its gardens, as they  treasure a wide representation of endemic Canarian Plants, and other from different parts of the world.

The Park is situated in Güimar, 26 Km away from the capital city Santa Cruz de Tenerife. To get to the Park from the North of the island, you must drive on the TF1 motorway  direction South, and take the exit 19 Km at Arafo. If  you travel on the TF 1 from the South of the island you must take the exit 23 at  Puerto de Güimar, and go up direction Cacona in Güimar

The opening hours of the Park are: Daily from 9.30 am to 6 pm (Closed 25^th December an 1^st January)

The Ethnographic Park Pirámides de Güimar, has given us 2 tickets ( without transfers) to raffle between our readers. You just have to leave a comment saying you wish to participate . We would announce the winner within

Good luck to you all!!

Hello everybody!!! Today we are starting a new project in the Spring Hoteles Magazine Blog.

We have have given it  a good “facelift”, made it user friendly,  easier to read  and we will be adding interesting features. We will be posting frequently in Spanish and English. You will be able to find here what is happening in “the backstage” of our Hotels. We will keep you informed of our attendance at important tourism fairs. We will tell you who is visiting us. We will help you get to know the personal side of our staff. You will have the chance of participating in interesting prize draws.  We will be offering you other features such us Day Time Out, Night Time our, Traditions, Gastronomy,  Sports etc, and we hope that you may find them interesting.

Despite being present in Facebook and Twitter, we would like to use this blog to bring us closer to you. Please follow us , and participate with your comments on this new and exciting  adventure.

Thanks for reading and for your support!!

Where else could you hope to find two Apollo astronauts, a pop guitarist turned doctor, and a legendary German rock band, all under one roof. Tenerife is full of surprises and attracts people from all over the world, and a few that have been out of it.

From March 21 to 26 next year, 2011, the Magma Arts And Congress Centre in playa de las Americas will stage the Starmus Festival celebrating greatness in astronomy just a few day short of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space. Among those gathered to say their piece will be Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11, Jim Lovell (pic) captain of the ill fated Apollo 13 and Queen guitarist Brian May who a few years ago completed his PHD in astronomy thanks to research in Tenerife and La Palma. And just in case you think these space experts are all work and no play, they have arranged a concert by German rock band Tangerine Dream.

During their stay the assembled experts will be visiting the observertories in Tenerife and La Palma and getting to see some of the unique volcanic features of our holiday heaven. They may even let their hair down and head for the beach, just a short stroll away from the Magma centre.

It’s one of the biggest tourism fairs in the world and Spring Hoteles will be there flexing their muscles to keep Tenerife at the forefront of the holiday industry. The World Travel Market is taking place in the ExCel Centre near Canary Wharf, London from Monday 8th November to Thursday 11 November and Spring Hoteles are part of the Tenerife stand.

During the event thousands of travel industry movers and shakers will browse the stands, attend presentations and generally absord all that the exhibitors have to offer. The big political guns of Tenerife will be attending, President Ricardo Melchior and Tourism Councillor Jose Manuel Bermudez will be singing the praises of our beautiful island and ensuring that it stays firmly on the travel map.

Stealing a march on the hundreds of other exhibitors, Turismo de Tenerife will be hosting  a pre event presentation in the Tate Modern Gallery hoping to paint a bright and rosey picture of what they have to offer.

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,

It lived up to all expectations, the third annual Spring Hoteles Golf Tournament on Saturday 25 September attracted 120 players to Golf Las Americas. The format was stableford individual and both men and women were well catered for with five categories to compete in.
Helping to focus the minds on the play, the weather was a little overcast with a welcome cool breeze. The players set off in pairs, eager to enjoy this top Tenerife course and determined to savour the natural delights of lakes and wildlife that abound there.
It wouldn’t be a true Spring Hoteles event without their trademark attention to detail and sure enough the ninth hole offered a hospitality marquee with every food and drink temptation a golfer could want. Re-vitalised at that point, players found new inspiration and as the rounds finished it was clear there had been some top notch golf played.
For those keeping count, the winners of the male and female top category were Guilleremo Moreno Masia (40 points) and Maria Dominquez Jerez (32 points). The other groups were equally keenly contested, Aurelio Ricardo Perea Gonzalez (40 points) and Andres Afonso Guerra (39 points) claimed the other male titles and Candelaria Carrillo took the womens second category with 32 points.
There was only one way to finish such an enjoyable day, that was food, drinks and prize giving at the Arona Gran Hotel in Los Cristianos.