hi sunworshipper, we were there for easter and yes, it was surprisingly quiet I thought. considering it was our school holidays, we thought it would be much busier at night.
Through the day it seemed to be really busy, loads of people about, but it was a different matter at night, in fact on one night, we were the only people left in a bar and it was only 11 0'clock !
We also came to pdla last may for 2 weeks and again, it was very quiet, HT members also commented on this last year, which is why we thought it would be much busier over easter.
Having said that, we have different school holidays this easter around the uk, so maybe this could be a factor ?
Like you, we love tenerife and hope that tourism isn't on the decline, the rate of the euro hasn't helped matters and ( I'm problably gonna get slated for this ) but all inclusive doesn't help, we spoke to one bar owner who thought that introducing AL on the island was going to be the nail in the coffin for him.
We went to one bar hoping to see one of the islands 'top acts' and the landlady said that they hadn't taken enough money prior to him coming ( he was supposed to be on at 10 o'clock ) and he was in the bar waiting to get come on, but they couldn't pay him, so he just left and we were all sat listening to a poor landlady nearly in tears apologising to everyone !
Maybe we just went at a bad time, or people are sampling new places, fair play to them, but we will always love tenerife, busy or quiet !
cheers,
juby

Yes we found it much quieter this year, and it was easter weeks as well.

My theory and i've said it before on these forums is the price of drinks.

i went into shennanigans and bought 3 vodka and 3 tonics and the cost was 18 euros

i went back to the bar and got 3 vodka and 2 tonics cost was 19 euros.

i questioned the girl, the same girl who'd served me before, and she couldn't explain it.

maybe someone could explain why the cost of drinks are so expensive.

on saturday night, i bought, in our local club

1 bottle of wine
1 bottle cider
1 half larger
2 vodkas
3 tonics
1 pint orange for a total of £16 odd

Now our club sell the wine for £6.60 a bottle, i know the steward and asked him how much he pays for the wine, he tole me £3.00 a bottle or sometimes £2.75 if they have a special on.
So they make a few quid from the wine, which is fine.

yet i can go to the supermarket in las americas and buy a bottle of lira wine for under 2 euros, but when i go out at night i'm paying 5 euros for a glass of wine.

Then there are the spririts, they are so cheap to buy over there, and yes i know your not getting pub measures, but your not getting as much as you think, after you have taken your massive ice cubes out of the glass, i've said this before (hairy) you can confirm this. It's getting daft now, bar staff are trying to cram 2 massive chunks of ice in smaller glasses than last year. Take that out and your not getting as much as you think. And i still stand by this.

We now go out later at night, and we also stay in some nights and have a 2 euro bottle of wine on the balcony.

WE also now tend to eat in a bit more on an evening, as again the costs of soft drinks can really up the price of your meal.

The rate of the euro didn't help at all this year. But i did get 1.28 each time cause i had my nationwide flexi account card.

I think at the moment tenerife is pricing it's self out of the market, i have thought this for the past couple of years and i now believe it, after seeing this year.

Paying 10 euros a round for 2 drinks is just not on.

wickedchris wrote:

My theory and i've said it before on these forums is the price of drinks ....
Paying 10 euros a round for 2 drinks is just not on.

And there lies the argument between going All-Inclusive or going out on the town every evening to "support the local businesses"
The local bar owners can whinge as much as they like about the AI hotels keeping people away, but when they're charging silly prices for drinks (and can't even make up their mind over how much the drinks cost from one round to the next), what do they expect people to do?
Of course there's the argument that you get to see better acts in the bars when you're paying for your drinks; and the AI hotels get the acts that nobody else will pay for, but unless you've got unlimited spending money, most families (or even couples or singles) just cannot afford to be out on the town every night of their holiday. We stayed up at the Caledonia over Easter and there were a few groups of young people there - generally it seemed their evening plan was to drink as much all-inc alcohol as they could before going out on the town later on - and I have to say I don't blame them with bar prices the way they are

Weel, the school holidays in the uk have been spread over a 4 week period this year, which may have made it a bit quieter. Personally, that's fine with me, don't like the beach too busy. Off in three weeks,.

i still stand by the fact that your getting around 150ml of vodka in a glass
in my place that will cost you 3 euros (without mixer) and thats smirnoff.
now compare that to ....whats the uk now a 30 ml measure????.......... which if my calculations are correct and allowing for currency change works out about about 48 pence per uk shot........ anywhere in the uk sell a measure of smirnoff for 48p ???????????..... mmmmm, now add your free entertainment into the sum.................................. naaaaaaah !!!
anyway nuff said on the price of drinks, cos chris will start on me!!!!!
it has been very quiet this year so far.... lots of places are suffering...... things can only get better......

oh, one other thing... a comment regarding smaller glasses...... now we serve, as do most bars..... spirits in a tubo....a tall thin glass.... now a tubo is a 33cl glass. end of story..... if there are smaller size tubo's then i haven't seen them..... the only problem you will get here with size of glasses is the "pint". English glasses eg. fosters, strongbow, john smiths etc are pints. Spanish beer (as well as most other european countries i'm aware of) is sold not as a pint but as a half litre. hence you are not getting exactly a pint (about a half an inch less).... still, if your charging the equivalent of £1.20 a "pint" should you be complaining? ....

anyway...... back to the bar....... i need a half litre of Dorada !!!!
xx

You're right about the price of the drinks alright, I did think they were very expensive. The euro thing doesnt affect me because Im from Ireland but I can see where youre coming from with the big change in the exchange rate.

My OH was saying that he thinks that maybe the people are just more spread out over the newer resorts over the past few years becuase the flights always seem to be full...? I dont know any thing about the other resorts though having never been...

Is it quieter in the summer aswell?

A quick question for Hairyhamster where is your place? we are coming to Tenerife in July and staying at Club Atlantis

A quick question for Hairyhamster where is your place? we are coming to Tenerife in July and staying at Club Atlantis

Crikey it's worse than trying to get blood out of a stone.

i still stand by the fact that your getting around 150ml of vodka in a glass

I'd say it is around 90ml your getting

spirits in a tubo....a tall thin glass

And after they have crammed those 2 massive pieces of ice cubes into this, there really isn't much measure for 150mls of vodka.

whats the uk now a 30 ml measure???

In our club its 35ml, or a 70ml double

free entertainment into the sum

I get this in our club on a saturday night, and most of the artists are paid between £150 and £200 for 2 spots a night, what is johnny kelly on for his 30 min slot.

The local bar owners can whinge as much as they like about the AI hotels keeping people away, but when they're charging silly prices for drinks (and can't even make up their mind over how much the drinks cost from one round to the next), what do they expect people to do?

totally agree with this one. I'm not an all inclusive lover, i have to say, i have done it, but ended up on the 2nd week with a massive family from hell, who's moto seemed to be it's free so we'll have it day and night, towards the end of one afternoon, a fight started between them, cause of all the free beer. I prefer to explore the resort, and look at bars to decide where i'm going that night.

I found the drink prices about the same as last year,all depends where you are drinking.Most lunchtimes I found myself at The Players Lounge siting and drinking 1.50 euro a pint looking at the sea,in the sun.Where can I do that in England?

We also found prices of beer hadn't changed from last year, still managed to get our 1 euro a pint (this was the price day and night) from the bar behind the apartment.
It was the price of soft drinks that got me, we ended up paying 2.75 for a coke in one restraunt !
Even Dick Turpin had the good grace to wear a mask !!!!!!!!!

I go to Tenerife to have a good time in the sun, not to worry about the price of drinks, your on holiday, enjoy yourself!. I think its quiet beause people are going to more varied destinations, & if flights to the USA get cheaper with deregulaion it'll only get worse for places like Tenerife.

So what IS your bar called Hairy? I'm sure we'll pay a visit next month if it's within staggering distance of the Colon II appartments!

I have reasons to believe his bar is on the Torres Del Sol complex, Los Cristianos

I go to Tenerife to have a good time in the sun, not to worry about the price of drinks, your on holiday, enjoy yourself!. I think its quiet beause people are going to more varied destinations, & if flights to the USA get cheaper with deregulaion it'll only get worse for places like Tenerife.

I couldn't agree more. We were all set with accommodation for New Year 2009 but the flight prices are absolutely ridiculous. For not a lot more, we have opted for the States. Tenerife is pricing itself out the market imho

Surely its the airlines that set the prices not Tenerife itself.
I visited PDLA last December on a mates 50th birthday bash and found it busy but also noticed the drinks are dearer than lots of other parts of Spain.I'm returning for a week in May but we will be on a budget,we cant all go out and spend as if theres no tomorrow.

Surely its the airlines that set the prices not Tenerife itself.

Of course it is, it was not meant literally! I found last year when I was there that the cost of your overall holiday (food, drink etc.) has increased considerably, it can no longer be considered a cheap holiday. Hence the reason I feel there is better value for money to be had elsewhere and undoubtedly other people share my sentiments.

There is no doubt that flight prices have increased, but not only to Tenerife but in europe in general, combine this with an ever worsening exchange rate against the euro,the economy being painted bleaker by the day by the media then I'm afraid Tenerife will become even quieter.If people still decide to travel then the USA with the current exchange rate would seem to be a better option.2009 brochures just coming out and there are considerable increases in prices

Me and my better half have just come back from Las Americas, spent a fornight in the Parque Santiago 4 so I was interested to read some of the comments.
I didn't find it particularily quiet at some times of the day, but yes on an evening the bars were often only half full and when we have been there previously we sometimes struggled to get seats, so I agree there's a downturn in tourism there and I think that the bar prices may well have something to do with it.
For a pint of local lager and a port and lemon, we payed between 7.50 and 7.90 euros, now at current exchange rates that's well over £6 and I think thats a lot more than one would pay in Britain. Also some cafes were selling lager at only 1.50 euros a pint, so even taking into account that acts had to be paid, the bars were still going over the top on prices.
In one well advertised Irish bar, we also watched with amazement and disgust as the owner/entertainer loudly and nastily humiliated two Norwegian women because he didn't consider they were drinking fast enough and spending enough in his bar. Fair enough, he has a living to make, but his drinks were already among the most expensive we found, he couldn't claim he had to pay for any acts as he was the act, and there were better ways of suggesting to them they bought another round than shouting at them over the microphone in full view of everyone else. We got up and walked out and will never set foot in his bar again.
Tenerife has certainly become much more expensive and so less tempting than other places, unless you plan to come home with a case full of cameras and binoculars, and I think that unless they realise that their prices are actually destroying their trade and begin to get competitive with places like Benidorm then they will continue to decline. About the only thing they now have going for them is the weather, but it's not going to save their tourist industry on its own. People want value for the holiday they've worked and saved hard for, and Las Americas is no longer giving it.