Thanks for posting this. We go on 19th Dec for 18 days and don't know what to expect in terms of prices. We are going in an apartment and usually eat out, but if the prices are higher than the UK then we will have to make more use of the kitchen! We thought the Costa del Sol was very expensive in September, so we are expecting an expensive time.

For the 1st time in 7 years we decided to give Tenerife a miss this year, with the poor exchange rate and the sky high flight prices what used to be a £1,200 week for the family is now nearer £2,000 and frankly with the credit crunch it is a luxury I can do without.

We ate in a lot more this year.Only meals we bought out were two visits to El Cine at lunch time, and a mid day paella take away from Bar Rosa.
We even gave our normal visit to see Carmen Motas show at the Piramides a miss this year.

Am I imagining things or is this forum not as busy this year? Always look in almost daily a month or two before the holiday as the excitment grows to see what everyone is asking, thinking of doing etc. Could this be a barometer of the amount of people staying away this year?

your right ive noticed that new new posts are been made, even on the hotel reviews. see what happens once the sun starts to come out for more than an hour a day, it may put people in the mood.

Hi
Friends of ours have just returned from PDLA one day they decided to go on land train round PDLA stopping at first stop outside Gran Tinerfi they noticed it all closed down and all the way round bars shut that are normally open in the day and not opening untill 7.30 pm coming down the hill past Noelia hotel went past Coral Beach hotel and that was all shut up to no sign of life and on coming past Santiago 2 noticed Daniels resturant closed down to is all this a sign of the times to come for Tenerife, when they told me i decided to have a look on some webcams and noticed that Oasis Mango webcam of the pool no loungers out all deserted switched to other webcam of the bar and seating area all shut up and looked like gates closed this was Saturday checked Sunday and webcam off air have they closed to!! if so begining to look a bit grim for this year or are they up for refurbishment does anyone know anything what is going on how many more are closed and they also said how quite all the bars and resturants were.
ALFONSO

We are going May/June. Know it is quiet that time of year, will judge it on same time last year and report back on our return.
We are stopping El Medano and Los Cristianos.

Just returned from PDLA and have to admit its the quietest we've know.

The knock on effect the state of the economy is having on tourism is clear to see with several well know & established bars & restaurants now closed.

We know people who have a bar and they have really noticed how slow it is this year and not having put there bar prices up for the first 3 years while they get established and are now in a no win situation but determined to stick it out as they have put everything they have/had into there new lives in Tenerife.

Have to say that while everybody is aware of the state of the pound/euro we were taken a back at some of the prices of food & drinks an example of what we saw in & around PDLA:

€4.50 for a pint Guinness
€9.95 for fish & chips
€4 for loaf of bread
€3.20 for plate of chips
€3.50 for 10 paracetamol
even the taxi's are charging more, €27 from airport to Colon II apartments, PDLA.

You can still find most of this stuff cheaper if you look around and its clear to see that people were being more 'picky' at where they eat & drink.

All the local free papers were full of articles on how they were/are going to address the effect the credit crunch was having on the Canaries tourism.

If anybody is going self catering in and around the Colon II/Colon corner of PDLA I would strongly advise on shopping in the Hyper Dino which is next to the Chieftan Irish Pub underneath the Columbus Hotel just down from the Noliea Sur by far cheaper then the Spar just yards away. Or for even better value for money try the Mercadona just off the Av. Antonio Dominguez past the hospital on the way to Los Christianos.

One thing I would say as regards entertainment in these quieter times we were rather disappointed by the long standing PDLA legends such as The Wild Boyz @ Leonardo's, The Dubliner band, Crystal Star @ Wigan Peir they seemed to be resting on the reputations somewhat, especially the Wild Boyz who now appear to sing along to a backing track.
3/4 years ago they were off the cuff with there songs & so funny, recall them doing a brilliant version of Enimem's Stan using a bar chair as a prop that was hilarious.

Would strongly recommend people try The Central Station down the back of the Parque Santiago II, 2 nights a week they have a great newly 'ish' formed band called Crush very very good.

Still absolutely love Tenerife having been 6/7 times in the last few years but suspect that next year we may not just stick with what we know but weigh all things up more before making a decision on where to go.