Admin Note:
This is the most recent thread that I can find about the Ritz Carlton Abama in Tenerife, Spain. Marriott's website writes it as Ritz Carlton, Abama. Just adding these so it is easier to find this thread. @OP or moderator: Perhaps you could add "Ritz Carlton" to the title, or generally align the hotel name with the (more recent?) official name.
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Now onto the report about my stay.

A hotel-junkie friend of mine and I booked a three night stay here at the beginning of July. For me it was a kind of celebratory stay as I was going to achieve lifetime platinum status with the stay.

We stayed using the Ritz Carlton credit card upgrade certificates. The base rate was very reasonable (well under 200 EUR). This rate can be found regularly at various periods of the year. I was not able to find the upgrade rate with the $100 incidentals credit for my dates.

Prior to the stay I was contacted a couple of times via email with my arrivals preferences and whether I was celebrating a special occasion. I mentioned expected arrival time and the fact that it was my lifetime platinum celebration. Although I responded to each of these emails, this information never seemed to actually make it to someone at reception. This is an small area in which I think the hotel could improve.

Upon arrival our luggage was quickly removed from the car and the car parked. Refreshing: there is no charge for valet parking at this hotel. The bell hop checked our reservation and immediately informed someone that we had a club reservation. That person met us and brought us up into the club lounge. The check in went seamlessly. We were assigned a sea-facing club room, as we had booked, about 30 meters from the club entrance.

The room was very nicely decorated and spacious. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures. The highlights to me were the very comfortable bed, the very large bathtub, the balcony with table and two chairs (can be swapped for two loungers) and the free pressing of clothing each day.

There were some food and beverage welcome amenities including bottled water, a local item (palter syrup) and bananas. The presentation was done well. I believe the bananas were refreshed daily. There was also a personalized welcoming card. As a club guest you get a one-time invitation to use the spa facilities.

About the club lounge: The staff members at the club lounge were absolutely amazing. For those uncomfortable with not speaking English, there is no reason to fear. Their English language skills were amazing. I know that they also had native French and German in their language arsenal, probably also some others. All of the members were extremely friendly, without the "painted-on" friendliness that I despise. They all were genuinely interested and took time out to discuss the backgrounds of the guests, the guests's interests and travel plans. They even brought in some of their own travel and personal experiences to make for more rounded and interesting conversations. At the same time, they were perceptive enough to realize when we wanted to be left in peace.

A particular note was when I was feeling ill upon arrival. I was in the lounge for about five minutes before I informed my friend I needed to lay down. One of the staff members took it upon herself to come by a bit later with a tray with some of the food items from the lounge along with some water. I thought this was a very nice gesture.

The food and beverages offering in the lounge is very good. It is offered five times per day, in the typical Ritz Carlton fashion. Although it is of good quality and there is a good selection, I personally could not recommend it as replacement for all daily meals. Unlike other Marriott family hotels that come to mind (Frankfurt Marriott or Ritz Carlton Istanbul) there are not any main dishes really offered. It is mostly appetizers and finger food. For us, we ate breakfast and lunch in the lounge and had dinner in one of the hotel's restaurants. The lounge offers wine, spirits (and I presume) beer throughout the day - I did not try any so I cannot comment on the selection.

The grounds of the hotel are overall beautiful - lots of trees and flowers. This is in strong contrast to the surrounding area which is rather arid. Everything is sloping down into the sea - even the golf course. I did not try the golf course and never saw anyone playing, however it did look nice.

There are several options to take you around. The most basic and our preferred option was walking. It should not be a problem for anyone but the most mobility challenged. Another option is the train that goes back and forth from the main entrance to the beach, stopping several times along the way. I found this to be a bit embarrassing option, but we did end up taking it twice when it was just about to leave as we were walking by. A third option is to catch a lift with one of the staff members that are constantly going up and down in the course of their work. If you are staying in the adult-only Tagor Villas, I understand that you are given a golf cart to use during your stay.

Overall this is the first time in my life that I have stayed several days at a hotel on an island I had never visited before and never left the hotel. I guess I really felt relaxed here!

Pools: there are lots of them. We saw all of them and they looked nice with one exception. We felt that the club/villas-only pool to be bland without much shade. We stayed at the lowest pool, which is adults-only and also an infinity pool. This pool has plenty of loungers, poolside food and beverage and towel service. You can also eat at around the bar at normal tables. Alternatively you can eat at the restaurant.

The largest negative of our experience was a wedding party and how the hotel dealt with the noise. They had their ceremony with lots of music near the adults-only pool. Here I felt this could have been communicated to the guests in advance with a schedule, so that guests seeking relaxation at the pool could have known to go to another pool or to plan other activities during that time slot. None of the pool staff seemed to be aware of how long the wedding would last. Further the party at night lasted until 7 am (impressive!), but here I think the hotel should have done better noise control. I woke up around 3 am as the noise was flowing directly into my room. I went down to check it out and saw that the ballroom doors were wide open and there was no minder to keep the doors closed or remind the guests going out for a smoke to keep the noise down. A simple measure that I raised to front desk. I believe they will be more mindful of this in the future.

The best for last: To be honest I had mentioned it in the emails before check-in that I was having my lifetime platinum celebration stay, hoping to get a nicer room. However, the lounge staff had better things planned for us. On the second day I was asked by one of the staff members to come into the lounge before heading out to the pool. The way she managed it had me not suspecting what was to come next. As I came into the lounge there were about 15 members of the hotel staff waiting for me to congratulate me and thank me. They had a poster board with lots of personalized messages on it, a chocolate cake and champagne. What a surprise! And to thank me for my loyalty they also invited us to dinner at "El Mirador" for the following night. Funnily enough since the poster board had 500 written on it in large letters (yes, I know not quite the right number), many of the club guests who witnessed this called me "Mr. 500" for the remainder of the stay. I personally think it sounds better than "Mr. 750".

The dinner the following evening was absolutely amazing. They had reserved the best table in the house for us. We were being a bit reserved about what we were about to order, but the waiter made it clear that we were being invited and we should try the best stuff on their menu. We then followed his recommendation and had some wonderful appetizers. For our main, we had the Galician lobster. I am not a shellfish fan, but I absolutely loved this. We also had a wonderful bottle of wine and probably-we-should-have stopped-eating-but delectable desert. All of this with friendly and competent service. A dinner I will never forget!

Although Tenerife is a bit off my normal beaten tracks, this is a hotel that I will certainly seek out again in the future. I can certainly recommend it to anyone from singles to couples to those with children to older adults.