Riu Garoe has a staff that is just second to none. From the moment we arrived we were greeted by the efficient staff in the reception, given a refreshing drink and sent to our room in under 5 minutes, must be a Spanish national record!. Almost all the staff is English and German speaking. We were surprised to have a bottle of local white wine and a plate with fresh fruit upon arrival in the room.
The room was very large on the 3.rd floor with a view of the ocean - a terrace where you could relax sunbath and also dry your clothes. The bathroom was again large with two washing basins and a bath tub/shower arrangement, that I with my nearly 2 meters of height could feel comfortable in. My wife felt that the mattresses was too hard for her back, and she called the cleaning lady and asked in Spanish to look for a solution for that problem - when we returned she had got an extra top mattress and shortly after the cleaning lady Elenia knocked on the door to ask if the bed was now satisfactory. Now that is service.
The architecture of the Riu Garoe is special, Canarian style, and for us with a pleasant walk of a couple of minutes with views of Mount Teide and of the hills from the elevator to the room.
The dining facilities ware adequate - but again the service! - we often face the problem in the morning, after jogging, that we are quite hungry and thirsty, and have to wait for at waiter or the coffee and tea for several so it seems very long minutes. Not so at Riu Garoe - you are met in the door by a waiter even at breakfast, that not only seats you but also gives you the coffee/tea you need and then you are off to get breakfast.
The restaurant has on the spot cooking like other Riu hotels - they did not have theme nights so far as we could tell but the quality of the food was actually good - with a variety of also healthy food. We could though wish for more local products like the little green peppers, local fresh fish etc.- but that seems to be hard to combine with the Riu concept. The spacing between the tables was good – so that we didn’t feel disturbed at dinner. I find the air quality in dining room a little stuffier than in other dining rooms at Riu hotels –perhaps the ventilation needs to be geared up a little.
There is a small inner garden with a pool to the hotel – but we didn’t use it this time – too much too see and do in Puerto de la Cruz.
The hotel is situated in La Paz which is a very peaceful area - there is a 20 minutes’ walk down hill to Puerto de la Cruz. The hotel does offer a small free shuttle bus that we used once.
The local area gives a good opportunity for a light morning jog - end the Botanical Gardens is just around the corner.
When in Puerto de la Cruz it is hard to choose between Casablanca and Riu Garoe - two different types of vacation. We tried both and we rank the Riu Garoe our favorite Riu hotel - not least because of the wonderful service, that seems to spoil you - the feeling lasts long after we returned to the cold north.
We recommend this gem of a hotel highly and could not wait to go back

We stayed here for 3 nights on a bed & breakfast basis.

This is a large, modern hotel, but designed with elements of a traditional style.
It is set in beautiful, well-maintained gardens, and has a splendid outdoor pool – very clean, and kept at a very pleasant temperature, which tempted us to swim outdoors on each afternoon of our stay! (There is also a small indoor pool, but that didn’t appeal to us in comparison to the lovely outdoor facility.)

The room and bathroom were of average size. Nicely decorated and furnished, well-equipped (including tea/coffee making facilities) and clean. A little vase of fresh flowers in the bathroom was a nice touch. The balcony was pleasant, with an attractive view of the gardens. The hotel is quite busy, so there was some internal noise – particularly from the kitchen or dining room, which I think was just underneath our room – although it was not too troublesome.

The extensive breakfast buffet provided everything that anyone could reasonably wish for breakfast!
We tried the hotel’s buffet dinner on one evening of our stay. Dining is within two time slots. There is certainly a huge selection of good food, well-presented, with much of it being cooked on the spot. However, due to the large size of the dining room, and the buffet style, there is a lot of activity and noise – In my view, this is somewhere you would go to have a good meal, but would not go for an intimate/romantic dining experience as a couple! Nevertheless, we couldn’t fault the food, and it was good value for money.
On the other nights, we ate out. There is a good selection of restaurants just a short walk away.
The poolside ‘snack bar’ provided far more than ‘snacks’, and we had some superb lunches there. It was a pleasant place to sit with views of the garden and pool. The lunch was served to table by waiter/waitress, and offered an excellent menu including splendid large salads and grilled fish/meat, as well as ice creams, sundaes etc.
The bar area is also pleasant, and the drinks were very reasonably priced. There appeared to be a band (of different styles) playing there most evenings.

We had no problem in finding an on-street parking space just outside the hotel.
All the staff we encountered during our stay were helpful and efficient. We were welcomed with a fruit drink at check-in. We weren’t aware of any other British guests when we were staying, but the reception staff spoke excellent English.

Very good Riu 4* but not quite as good as Riu Palace Madeira or Riu Maspalomas on Gran Canaria. Made a bit of a mess of our original booking but was sorted out the following day (moved room). Dining room service (buffet style) very good at breakfast but basic "cafeteria style" in the evening (eg removing one plate before other person had finished, setting neighbouring tables for breakfast).
Location excellent if, like we did, you want to be in a quiet area a couple of miles from the centre - use hotel shuttle bus or car hire needed.
Only used room service once (for bucket of ice) - very slow. Quicker to get your own from the bar.

We were so lucky to have found this hotel having had a disappointing start in another location.
The Hotel Gareo lives up to the name of the Riu Group and is very good value for money. Although we couldn't obtain a room looking over the pool, this really didn't matter as the hotel is not on a busy road and the views of the surrounding areas are beautiful.
Although this hotel is not huge, it is large enough to offer all the facilities which can be found in a four or five star hotel. The swimming pool area is set amongst tropical gardens which are very well cared for. Loungers are spaced well and there is ample space for everyone.
We stayed on a bed, breakfast and evening meal basis which was very good indeed. Both at breakfast and in the evening the food was beautifully presented and there was a wide variety of choice. Food was always hot and a lot was cooked in front of you. Staff were very welcoming and extremely polite.
Although this hotel is a little way out of town, there is a courtesy bus which is available to all. Also a short walk away there is a small mini market which has refrigerated drinks which we took advantage of. There are also a few restaurants and we recommend the Europa which is basically Italian but offers all types of other dishes. Having lived in italy, we can recommend, very highly, the pizzas which are delicious. The fish was also very good. There are also other restaurants near the hotel which makes a pleasant break if you just want to get out.
All in all we would highly recommend this hotel. Perhaps it might be fair to say that the general age group of people is older rather than younger although there were some young families around, there weren't many.
If you are British, please remember that Spanish hotels do not provide kettles so if you are used to your early morning tea, then remember to bring a travel kettle and cups!!!!