Hollywood Mirage Hotel

The Hollywood Mirage Hotel is a 115-room resort in Arona, on Tenerife, built for days that do not need much organising once you are back on dry land. You have a choice of apartments and studios, air conditioning in the accommodation, a restaurant, a pool bar, a spa and a fitness room, so the evening can be as quiet or as sociable as you fancy.

English, Spanish, Italian, German and French are spoken by the hotel team. That matters when you are sorting out a transfer, asking about dinner or trying to establish whether the coffee machine has understood the assignment. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel, and the 24-hour reception keeps the practical side of the stay straightforward.

You are in Arona, Spain, at the Los Cristianos end of Tenerife, on Sierra Nevada in the Oasis del Sur development. The sea is under half a mile away, and the centre of town is around a 15-minute walk, putting shops, restaurants and the coastal area within an outing rather than an expedition.

The location also gives you room to vary the non-diving days. Playa de Los Tarajales, Playa Callao and the natural monument of Montaña de Guaza are among the nearby places to explore, while a golf course is about 2 miles away. Tenerife South Airport is roughly 8 miles from the hotel, useful when the return flight is early and enthusiasm for a long transfer has evaporated.

The accommodation works particularly well if you want more than a bed and a kettle after diving. The two-bedroom apartments bring a proper kitchen, microwave, fridge and dining area, giving you somewhere to keep drinks cold and a way to make a simple meal without turning the evening into a restaurant appointment. The sea-view version is the one to consider if looking out towards the water is part of the holiday rather than a detail you only notice while checking in.

For couples, the one-bedroom apartments offer more living space than the studios, while the twin studios keep things simpler. All rooms have a private bathroom; the accommodation equipment also includes air conditioning, a television, wardrobe, towels, toiletries and a hairdryer. A desk is available in the larger apartment categories, and the rooms include tea or coffee-making facilities. After a hot day in and around the water, air conditioning and a fridge are the useful luxuries here, not decorative promises.

There are two restaurants, both serving breakfast, lunch and dinner on terraces. Mordisco Restaurante takes a Mediterranean menu in a more contemporary direction, with dishes described as creative and varied. El Bistro keeps the same Mediterranean base but adds international touches, so you can stay familiar after a day when the last thing wanted is culinary research.

A buffet service runs during selected periods, and the poolside terrace bar adds snacks for the moments when lunch feels too formal but dinner still belongs to another time zone. The Malibu Bar is the hotel’s pool bar. Local and international recipes, music and live shows may also feature according to the programme, giving the evening a little more movement without turning the whole stay into an enforced party.

Three outdoor pools give you the obvious post-dive option: find a sun lounger, get wet without carrying a cylinder and let the day slow down. The terraces, garden and solarium provide space to sit with a book, while the hotel library offers a quieter alternative when the pool area has too much life in it.

Spa by Hollywood has a hydromassage pool, sauna and Turkish bath, with massages also available. There is a fitness room reserved for guests aged over 18, open daily from 08:00 to 21:00, if your idea of recovery involves moving deliberately rather than remaining horizontal. Families have a children’s pool, play area, games room, children’s club and entertainment, with babysitting and childcare also available. Car hire, bicycle hire and excursion assistance make it easier to use the resort as a base rather than treating it as a fenced-off holiday bubble.

Check-in starts at 16:00 and check-out is by 12:00. Reception is open around the clock, and the hotel offers free parking, luggage storage facilities, a safe, laundry and dry-cleaning services. A lift provides access to the upper floors, and accessibility facilities are available. The hotel also has an on-site infirmary, which is a useful detail when a minor problem appears at an inconvenient hour.

Airport transfers can be arranged on request, and car hire is available if you want to explore beyond Los Cristianos and Arona. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel. Breakfast is available as a buffet, while the details of what is included depend on the booking arrangement; the restaurant and bar options remain available for a more flexible routine. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are accepted, and a deposit is required for the stay.