In Spain there is a system where some of the pensioners get cut price holidays courtesy of the Spanish government and this is perhaps what you are referring to.

No, I'm definitely referring to families. Our holiday was spoiled after Christmas by the noisy Spanish children (and their parents). I don't want to sound "snooty" but they didn't seem to be 4* hotel material.
We are now actively looking for "adults only" hotels.

I know what you mean about noisy children but I would not say that Spanish children are more or less noisy than any other nations children. We have had members who have had the same experience of noisy children on holiday and they were British kids. You are perhaps wise in looking for adult only hotels and I believe that Thomson Gold is one which does cater for adults only. I know of one such hotel and it is Los Gigantes and the hotel is the same name having been there myself I would recommend that you have a look in the brochure or check our review here

I hope you are successful and enjoy your holiday where ever you take it.

I'm sorry to say that these were definitely Spanish (speaking) families and they were by far the most noisy and least disciplined of any of the children in the hotel. Until this last week after Christmas, things were fine and then these ninos came in and, with their parents, spent all night shouting and screaming outside my room until midnight. I know British children can be badly behaved but these (adults and children alike) were just noisy. How on earth they can tell what is being said when they all shout at once is nothing short of a miracle!
I got the feeling that these were families who had been given cut-price rates.
There is some confusion about Thomson Gold in that although Thomson themselves do not accept Gold bookings with children, the hotels don't necessarily follow the same rule.

I don't want to sound "snooty" but they didn't seem to be 4* hotel material.

What is 4* material.?...Who decides who is 4* material.?

Those SPANISH families have probably worked their fingers to the bone saving up all year, to take their children away into a hotel for what is known as "Los Reyes Magos"....or the Three Kings festivity.
The 5th and 6th of January is their Christmas, when the children receive their presents....so Christmas and children means...excited, happy children on holiday in THEIR country.
What do you want them to do?"¦gag them

Holidays and particularly Christmas time, parents are relaxed and a certain amount of discipline is wavered, the last thing they need is some old foggie (including me) putting a damper on their joy .
There is enough misery in the world that I have come to welcome the sound of happy, innocent children ..after all I was one myself, and have given birth to two.

I was on mainland Spain, and on the 30th December, my 4* hotel was "took over" by bus loads of Spanish families, arriving mainly from the suburbs of Madrid.
All happy people, who when spoken to, are warm friendly people who went out of their way to say Buenos Dias every morning....people who love their children more than life itself....and during New Years eve, I spent my time with them, rather than the English beer swilling, get as much free booze down your neck morons.

I get the feeling that many people go to Spain, think it is their country, expect everyone to speak English and know nothing about the festivals and traditions of the locals.
Some of us have to learn to be more tolerant .we don't like smokers, drinkers, children blah, blah, blah.

I had a room quite near to the lift in my hotel, and I got woke up at 2 am nearly every night by mature English intoxicated couples, finishing off their conversation and saying goodnight at the top of their voices they had no respect for anybody else asleep and what made it worse, was those 4* material snobs, should have known better.

A desert Island may be the only option for some of us
Besos xxx
Sanji

I have been to tenerife many times and would not go back. Too many wild and stuiped young uns, but remember this: The Spainish earn a fortune from the British. You could say that we have made somethings worst, yes this is true, BUT without the money that you and I spend, they would feel it.

I get the feeling that many people go to Spain, think it is their country, expect everyone to speak English and know nothing about the festivals and traditions of the locals.

The Spainish earn a fortune from the British

Correction...The Spanish government make a fortune out of the British...the Spanish workers are amongst the poorest paid in Europe, and they have to work longer and harder than either you or me, to get the same amount of money.....especially if they do not have a profession.

but you can't paste all with the same brush

I`m not pasting everyone with the same brush

all that money you have spent on your holiday, you want a little peace and quiet,

Yes, you do to a certain degree, but you cannot expect excited children to walk around on tip toe, at what is their Christmas....and if you want a quiet life, then go somewhere were children are not allowed by any tour operator.
I have also tried this option, and my holiday was made a misery by having mature people who are partially deaf, either shouting at each other all day long, having the TV on full volume or coming back into their room in the early hours....at least the majority of children are in bed at that time. !!!!!

I spent quite a considerable amount of money booking into a 4* hotel for Christmas and the New Year, and my money doesn`t fall from the sky ... I don`t particularly like screaming kids, but I was fully aware that it would be a happy, noisy time.
I have learnt to give and take a little on holiday, and accept that my level of discipline that I administered to my kids when they were younger, is not everyones standards.
Looking back...I made my kids lives a misery by getting on their backs to be quiet, so that the person in the next room could grab some sleep after coming in tanked up in the early hours....and given that time again, then I would do it differently....without doubt.!!!!

In a few years time, I will be booking into a nursing home and I`ll have plenty of peace and quiet
Besos xxx
sanji

It's so simple.....
My wife and I love to go to Tenerife but we also don't like the noisy children in our apartment and the restaurants.
Because of that we go in those periods when you don't see many children.
So, the solution is: look on the internet when (local) people have their holidays and don't go in the high seasons....
If you absolutely want to go during high seasons then you know that there are a lot of children and then don't complain about them.

If you really want a quiet life, I believe tenerife is not the place to go,

Roger the Dodger, I live here in Tenerife and to be honest it shows how little you know. You are a classic case of thinking Tenerife is all about "yobs", louts and noisy people wanting a good time. You clearly have not seen the rest of the island as there are countless beautiful, peacefull and restfull plces to stay.

Also, and Im not agreeing at all with Children running riot cos it drives me mad too, but if the "Spaniards" that were mentioned were canarians then it is unlikely they would have the same amount of money as British or people from certain parts of mainland spain as pay is a lot less over here. So they may well have spent their whole year saving up for the break. Ag...NOT saying that british dont, and not saying that its right to let the kids run wild but as has been mentioned, it is the spanish holiday season and Kings Day is celebrated here more than Christmas day so Im not surprised they were excited.

Sanji...I agree totally

Yes I agree with sanji and apollo, they got there before me on this one,
if you really want a "quiet" holiday, well dont go at peak times, or as you maybe suprised to learn that some people like to stay up very very VERY late on holiday !(after 11pm) i jest you not!!!

Arona1 xxx

I too agree........................also very strange that someone who dislikes the place so much would go on a Tenerife discussion forum?Just an observation................

I am one of the few people on the planet who has NEVER found Tenerife to be loud and unruly and I have holidayed at all times of the year. I have been visiting since 1995 and fell in love with the place almost as soon as the plane's wheels hit the runway on the first visit and have never seen an incidence of wild behaviour. True, I don't plonk myself in the centre of PDLA, as I usually stay in the Oasis Del Sur area of LC, but I have always found the district, along with the rest of the town to be a very pleasant, restful place. Yet, whenever I mention where I am holidaying to friends or workmates, I get the usual comments about lager louts and 'Blackpool with sun' nonsense. My wife and I have now taken the plunge and bought a place in Chayofa and plan moving there full-time in 2008. We stayed in a villa in this lovely village during Xmas in 2004 and I have never stayed anywhere as peaceful. I believe that people who regard Tenerife as a wild, noisy place have made a snap judgement based on an isolated incident or have just swallowed the tabloid hype. I agree that unruly behaviour can be annoying when you have looked forward to a holiday, but this sort of thing can happen anywhere in the world, it's not a phenomenon peculiar to Tenerife. I am a hillwalker who loves visiting the countryside away from the coastal resorts and when you are in the quiet of this beautiful landscape, it makes you realise what a wonderful island it really is. Scratch the surface and you will discover the 'real' Tenerife.

Iberostar and Spring and and RIU and many other hotel chains offer 40% discount to CANARIAN residents. Its available as a button to click on their websites. I can go to Gran Canaria in a 4 star for as little as €200 for the room half board for two for a week hahahaha.

What I want to know is can I (as Tenerife resident) book a room on behalf of a "friend" and still get the discount???

Hi Makum
Just a genuine question from me here...I`m not disputing what you have said...but....
Are these discounts offered during the high peak weeks like Christmas, when the hotels can be occupied by other nationalities wanting better weather, and prepared to pay the price hike.?

I have found that they are not, which will bring us back to the original question that those Spanish people who took their children away for Los Reyes Magos...will have paid full price.

besos xxx
SanJi

Are these discounts offered during the high peak weeks like Christmas

No I don't think they run all year round. The iberostar sites current offer ends in April.

Well, lets not give opinions. I was under the illusion that forums were for open thoughts but it would seem that this forum is for people who think they are always right. If I or any other person wish to say that they don't like a place, then so be it. Or must we all think 'happy thoughts'. I have been to Tenerife many times, as a Kid as a young lad and with my girlfriend. The last time I only went because she wanted to go. I love Spain but not Tenerife. If you live there and you like it, I'm happy for you. That is your choice and I wouldn't say a word about it. Sanji, all governments around the world make loads of money from the avarage joe, and we in the U.K work some of the longest hours in Europe, with most privite sector workers opting out of the working time directive. I think if you pay a lot of money for a holiday you should expect respect from other holiday makers. If you go in high season then you will have loads of kids around, but if you have respect then so should everyone else. I tend to go on holiday in the costa blanca and I have been to Tenerife and I have had three major problems in Tenerife and none on the main land. So my opinion is that the island off the coast of west Africa is not for me. I can still go on this part of the forum and give my views.

Hi Roger
As you have mentioned my name then I will reply on certain points.
Yes you have the right to your opinion, just as much as the next person, and I often "put the cat amongst the pigeons" by not agreeing with the flow....when I genuinely and not just "for the sake of it," disagree.

To go back to the original question, I personally thought the post was rather snobbish, even though the poster said otherwise, and it implied that the Spanish were in some way inferior and had no right in disturbing his/her holiday with their children's presence in his/her particular hotel.....and I also thought that he/she knew nothing about the dates of the Spanish Christmas festivities.
Given that it was Christmas, I think everyone, including all nationalities, should have considered some leeway.

As I have stated, I don't particularly love screaming kids, but one good thing about screaming kids is...that they are usually tired out and in bed before midnight....thus giving me at least 8 hours sleep unless the 20 year old drunken wannabees wake the place up at 2/3 am so, I have learnt to cope with children, adults are another story.!!!
You only have to burp in a hotel room and the person can hear you next door.!
I personally, try and be as considerate as humanly possible, I don't flush the toilet chain until the morning, I don't slam doors, I take my shoes off when coming out of the lift, instead of allowing the clip-clop sound that can be created from heels driving everyone mad.!
Sorry, I have waffled on here a bit, but the point I am making is that other ADULTS do not take these measures, yet they have the audacity to moan about children.

We all do things on holiday that we wouldn't dream of doing at home, including letting our children get away with murder what is the point of taking your children away to be disciplining them all day long? What fun is that for anyone.?

I've been there, got the T-shirt, worn it and thrown it away.!!!! And when I said in my previous post that I would do things differently with my children, I meant every word, because until some ADULTS started showing respect for other clients in a hotel, then I would not enforce discipline on my children, just to keep adults happy.
Jaysus, you only have one childhood, and it's gone too quickly.
Respect and manners I'm all for, and we as adults should set an example to children who know no better . but some adults are complete @rs$holes when intoxicated.!!!
I have come to the conclusion that if you want a peaceful holiday, then book into a health farm, nursing home or the cemetery

Sanji, all governments around the world make loads of money from the avarage joe, and we in the U.K work some of the longest hours in Europe

We (UK) get paid more and work shorter hours than the Spanish, fact.!!
Finally, I was speaking to a couple last year, who lived in Barcelona and had flown down to stay in the same hotel as me on the Costa del Sol, for the same duration, and when we did the conversion from sterling to euros, it may suprise you to learn, that they paid MORE than me for the same holiday.!!!!
Besos xxx
Sanji

Please people everyone is entitled to an opinion and if you don't happen to agree with it then that's fine the subject does not need to be continually brought up. If the forums were for people who agreed with each other it would get very boring. Yes we like opinions but not when it turns into a slanging match between members just because their opinions differ.

Let us all stop and think for a while, and while you do that be aware that it can be stopped. I would like to think that I'm fairly easy on the forum as a whole but there is only one person on here who gets the last word.