Prensa

El Hotel San Roque ofrece su bonita arquitectura tradicional vestida de eso que llaman rojo inglés. Con muebles y sillones no canarios, sino ideados por algunos de los mejores diseñadores del mundo: Mackintosh, Hoffman, Mies van der Rohe, Bertoia, Le Corbusier… Un lujo morfológico para arropar los riñones. Además, los cuadros y algunas esculturas vanguardistas como la que preside el patio, de Miquel Navarro, ponen el contrapunto moderno a la arquitectura colonial. Los propietarios de tan exclusivo hotel, Dominique y Laly Carayon, decidieron en 1991 convertir aquel palacete del siglo XVII en un oasis de lujo depurado, cerrando sus puertas al ajetreo exterior para garantizar un silencio y una privacidad sin fisuras. Las comidas, de sello canario-mediterráneo, se sirven alrededor de una pequeña piscina interior cuyas ondas de gresite azul acunan sueños epicúreos.

Restaurante Anturium: es el Restaurante del Boutique Hotel San Roque, instalado en un palacete canario del Siglo XVII totalmente restaurado. Pequeño comedor con terraza al aire libre en torno a la piscina en un patio privado, que ofrece una cocina de mercado donde mezcla lo canario y lo mediterráneo.

El País

For absolute serenity, check into Hotel San Roque, a pretty 18th-century manor house. Here the rooms have polished wooden floors, furniture by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and deep bathtubs. There’s also a courtyard pool for sun-soaked dips until those crowds disperse, as well as creative comfort food by Danish chef Danny Nielson, including white asparagus with truffle oil, and steak with Stilton mash.

Condé nast Traveller

C’est un descendant de Cristobal de Ponte, le fondateur de Garachico, qui fit construire cette belle maison du 18 ème siècle aux murs pourpres. Épargnée en partie par l´irruption du volcan en 1706, elle a été restaurée selon un cahier des charges précis. Ses chambres s’articulent autour de deux cours à balcons – dont l’une avec une petite piscine. L’établissement a su concilier avec harmonie le passé et le présent en intégrant des pièces d’art contemporain dans le espaces communs. Un lieu plein de charme.

Stay here: Hotel San Roque, Tenerife

Tenerife: it doesn’t exactly evoke connotations of stylish, peaceful, classic beauty.

Sunshine guaranteed in the winter months, a cheap flight away, sure. But boutique, unspoilt spots for an authentic experience? Less likely. Hang on, because we’ve discovered a truly exquisite gem nestling on the North East coast of Tenerife, an hour and half slightly perilous drive from the somewhat more touristy Tenerife South, and the Playa de las Americas ridden with Hard Rock Cafes and McDonald’s.

Breathe, relax and let the adult only peaceful vibes wash over you.

The Hotel San Roque is located in the picturesque town of Garachio, the former capital of Tenerife, and a site of cultural interest only moments from a charming square where locals wile away the day playing boules and drinking espresso.

Hotel San Roque: The Lowdown

The Hotel San Roque is housed in a stately 17th century restored house brimming with history. Owned originally as a private house for one of the big families of Garachio, it has now been owned by the same family for twenty years. They spent four years lovingly restoring it into a magical adult-only paradise, with two open courtyards, a roof terrace to catch the winter rays, a swimming pool and sauna, and plenty of nooks and crannies to nestle with a book when the sun goes behind clouds. There is such a specific energy this hotel provides; relaxed but smart, a place you can comfortably walk around barefoot, but which feels classically elegant.

Hotel San Roque: The Food

Breakfast is served by the pool until 11am, which means long lie-ins and lazy breakfasts with repeat returns for crumbly buttery pastries, sweet tomatoes and cured meats at the breakfast table. Eggs are available on request, and we spent many a mornings slowly eating omelettes and bacon, and making crumbs on the English newspapers provided. The hotel are incredibly flexible with dietary requirements, making frothy soya cappuccinos and butterless omelettes.

If you so choose, food is served whenever you like and all you have to do is press a button by your seat and one of the charming staff will appear. The staff are perfect here; available when you need them, but not too suffocating.

The hotel is home to Restaurant Anturium, one of the most celebrated places to eat in the village. The dishes mix haute cuisine with Canarian influences, and it’s a real must visit.

Hotel San Roque: The Rooms

Each of the rooms are unique, and are continually being tided by the lovely housekeepers. We got so used to our little mat at turn down service, it was quite a disappointment to return home to a crumpled duvet. We recommend stay in the impressive ‘La Toree’ (the watchtower) suite built on three levels with its own private terrace with views for miles of the volcanic rocks and beyond.

Hotel San Roque: The Verdict

We can’t be more effusive about Hotel San Roque, it was a true Canarian experience that blasted all my misgivings of Tenerife away. Stay here, bring handfuls of books and amble amid the charming narrow streets of white washed houses and you will be utterly content. One tip: do bring a phrasebook, or at least learn the name of your favourite seafood in Spanish as the locals mostly do not speak English.

The motto of the town of Garachio translates as ‘Glorious in Adversity’, reflecting how it was reborn from a week-long eruption in 1706. Adversity or no adversity, perhaps just a bad euro rate, it is utterly glorious at the Hotel San Roque and we urge you to try it for yourself.

Gemma Perlin
Gemma is Health Editor at About Time.

About Time

A year of living it up

Sleep in style: The lovely Hotel San Roque, on the northwest coast, is an elegant 18th-century building in the village of Garachico, about 40 minutes’ drive from Santa Cruz.

Chic retreats

When it comes to stylish boltholes, Tenerife has led the way. The Hotel San Roque, in a converted 18th-century mansion in the pretty village of Garachico in the northwest of the island, was essentially the first design hotel in the Canaries and is still a chic place to rest your head.

Trails of the unexpected

The balconies that overhang both courtyards look classically Spanish, yet if you look again, you discover the fine lattice work is Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Inside the bedroom, the armchairs you sink into to watch a video from the hotel’s library are Le Corbusier or Mies van de Rohe. The bedrooms and shared spaces are filled with pieces of Spanish modern art. A nine-metre-high steel sculpture called the Sentinel by Miguel Navarro dominates one courtyard. On the main staircase, a small figure, reminiscent of an Anthony Gormley, lies prone.

Rodeado de piscinas naturales bañadas por el Atlántico y a la sombre del Teide, sus cenas junto a la piscina o el jacuzzi construido sobre lava volcánica hacen de esta estancia una colección de momentos exclusivos.