Originally Posted by
jpdx
To clarify, I assume "villas" -or whatever it may be called now- refers not to actual villas (as one might find in Asia ... a freestanding building perhaps with a private pool/beach/whatever), but simply the club wing of the hotel? I've stayed at fewer than a dozen RCs, but know that the clubs usually require a hefty upcharge, but then offerings are quite nice. That said, if we were to stay at the RC but ventured out most days, it might not make sense to pay €550 for a base club room when I could be paying €300 for a suite in the main building.
You can find a map of the property online. The hotel area is quite big and - as most of Tenerife - hilly. Main building, main pools and most restaurants are on top adjacent to the road. A small road leads downhill to the beach. On this road they are running a little fake train or - if broken or in low season - a van service between main building, club lounge/restaurant and the beach. On the left side of this road you will find the „villas“, 4 rows of 2-story buildings with about 20-40 rooms each. The upper 3 rows have a laguna like and well heated pool in front of the row and the closest to the sea features the larger adult pool and is to the club lounge.
All villa pools are well served with free non-alcoholic drinks, snacks, sunscreen and so on during the day and booze during happy hour.
Due to the layout this rooms have a very different feel from the main building, much more secluded and relaxing. So, if you want to relax I highly recommend the villas. If you want to explore, don‘t waste your money at all and stay somewhere else.
If you want to get out in the evening there is a small fishing town 5 min by taxi away (Playa San Juan) which has despite the touristic influx kept a bit of a local feeling so I can recommend that too. Sitting at the Plaza Mayor with a beer and dinner and watching the scene is nice and relatively cheap.