Bull Escorial & Spa 

Afteran absence of a couple of years, I returned recently for a week's stay at the Escorial Hotel in Playa del Ingles. It was a thoroughly successful experience. The generally positive feeling was, of course, not without any connection to unseasonably warm weather and sunshine during the whole week. But the hotel's performance was also a factor. The hotel's generous rooms were modernised and nicely decorated, with their large balconies andfull-sized bathrooms. There was a modern walk-in shower with plenty of pressure and hot water. The bed was reasonable - if not luxurous. Room furniture was comfortable and included a sizeable desk and a large fridge for my own drinks. There was air con, excellent wifi and a TV with several English-language channels. Also plenty of hanging and storing space for clothes. There was no electeric kettle in the room, but the hotel kindly lent me one for a 10-euro deposit. Downstairs was nicely decorated with a friendly lobby bar whose staff worked hard to keep everyone happy. Evening entertainment was good to middling. The dining room was full the week I visited, but the wait and kitchen staff coped well. Tables were generally cleared quickly a well as politely. As on my previous visits, breakfast was efficient and varied. Dinner was even better, with enough variety to satisfy most guests (including me). The range of salads each day was generous; the after-dinner cheese and fruit was better the the desserts. Outdoors the pool area was friendly and not over-crowded, and there was an additional, large grassed area with additional loungers behind the building that got the sun all afternoon. In addition there was the rooftop solarium, which gets sun from 9 to 5, and which had been improved by new flooring and wall panels. It was just about summer 'up on the roof'. Finally, the Escorial is offering much larger, more comfortable pool towels than in the past. Only thing I can ask for is a similar switch to larger, thicker bath towels. That would just about raise the Escorial to 4 stars!