Globehopper

I posted a trip report about my stay, but can't seem to find it via the search function.

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Anyhow, I stayed there twice on the same trip to the Canary Islands around three years ago. My destination was actually the far more enjoyable and customer friendly Hotel Gran Bahia El Duque on the south side of the island (the sunny side), and as I wanted to sample the Hotel Mency on the north side (rainy side) I spent a night en route in from the airport.

Flying out of Tenerife, we spent a second night there, as we had a relatively early flight, and we wanted to be close to the airport.

In short, I'll never stay at the Hotel Mency again as that hotel, which prides itself as a Luxury Collection Hotel, offers miserly one star customer service.

This hotel does not recognize nor upgrade Platinum members. This is perhaps not surprising, since they would not even recognize my confirmed hotel rate.

They claimed that my room rate which I booked at was "too low," and a "mistake." Those were exact words used. They would not believe that such a rate even existed. When I mentioned that they were trying to charge me a higher rate than what I had booked for, the reply from the front desk was "that's a good rate, Sir."

Even after I showed them a fax confirmation clearly indicating my room rate, they still wouldn't believe the rate and claimed it was a mistake by central reservations.

Efforts to resolve this unpleasantness with the Front Desk Manager was fruitless, as he wouldn't deign to talk with a Platinum customer-- despite the fact that he was standing only about 3 meters away and not apparently busy at the time.

Eventually the hotel agreed to honor my confirmed room rate, but then declared that they would not honor that confirmed rate when we planned to return a few days later. Feh!

So that required yet another round of time consuming discussion to resolve.

After an overnight trans-Atlantic flight, followed by a second long flight from Madrid to Tenerife, this hotel staff displayed little in the way of hospitality towards a tired pair of travelers.

On the other hand, we very much enjoyed our stay at the Gran Bahia, which was a delightful place to lounge about for several days. The Gran Bahia is the shining jewel in the Sol Melia Hotel chain crown.

As for the room at the Hotel Mency, during the first stay it was a small, nothing special room, overlooking one of the interior courtyards with a pleasant fountain.

The second stay resulted in a room in the newer wing, overlooking the gardens. Although it was a non-smoking room, the smell of cigarette smoke seeped into the room anyhow, thanks to the air conditioning system.

As for a Platinum amenity, I don't believe that the hotel has heard about that concept.

If you're visiting Santa Cruz, do visit the hotel lobby and gardens-- they're worth a visit.

But if it gracious hospitality you’re seeking—while you may indeed be treated royally-- this traveler will not spend his Euros at this hotel a third time.