The Hacienda is LOVELY - set in gardens which are almost a tropical forest - absolutely beautiful. We went in January when it was a bit chilly, but very quiet and relaxing.
The staff are very friendly and helpful. In-house mini-market very limited, but there is a SPAR up the road which is better (though still a bit limited).
The apartments are excellent, comfortable and clean. Beds very comfortable. Bathroom good with excellent shower over the bath. Satellite TV very limited if you don't speak Spanish or German, but you can get BBC World News and SKY news.
Kitchen facilities are basic - fridge, 2 rings, microwave and a coffee percolator, cutlery and crockery all provided. Quite adequate - except there is NO KETTLE provided. Pre-warned, we took our own, so no problems.
The patio opened onto the lovely gardens. Garden table and chairs provided.
The BAD NEWS - food in the restaurant is ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL - I MEAN REALLY AWFUL. Fortunately we were on B&B only and managed to cobble together a reasonable breakfast each day. More bad news - there only seems to be one restaurant in Los Cancajos worth eating at (the Italian in the Hacienda approach road) and that was only average (DON'T EAT THE CHICKEN!!!!). The owner is very pleasant though and his Pizzas and Pasta are good. Don't bother with the Hong Kong Chinese in Los Cancajos - they seem to have taken lessons from the cooks (if you can call them that!) at the Hacienda!!!

Travelled with Thompson / 1st Choice - airline as terrible as ever but what a treat the apartment was.
Simple cooking area - they really dont expect you to cook but we managed - good bathroom with bath and lovley little bedroom. Only downsite a plague of ants - everything had to be kept sealed / in the fridge.
Buildings set in gorgeous gardens with a big pool - a bit chilly for C-mas.
Site restuarnt was poor - very much the buffet - no vegetarian idea at all so we cooked,
Local town is tiny, very few options - advise a car or use the excellet busses to get around.
local beach very nice - even better ones on other side of island.
Lots of options for walkers - we loved the volcanic trails on tip of the island / world.

We chose the Hacienda San Jorge and La Palma on the basis of Tripadvisor reviews and were not disappointed. We were self catering and based on members' comments we arrived with a corkscrew, kitchen knife and travel kettle. In fact we found a functional corkscrew and a kitchen knife of sorts, however, the travel kettle was essential.
Our one bedroom apartment was comfortable, attractive, and the kitchen was all we needed. The hotel gardens are truly exceptional and we signed up for the guided garden tour with Ute (recommended).
As members have commented, you shouldn't go to La Palma for night life or haute cuisine (consider Puerto Mogan in Gran Canaria for ambience and decent restaurants). However, we found the food reasonably priced and enjoyed our tipicas rabbit and goat. El Pulpo, on the beach was worth one meal. We were happy with our two dinners in the hotel buffet.
We were in La Palma the first week of December and a point to watch is that there are two public holidays, December 6th Constitution Day and December 8th Immaculate Conception. This meant that shops and buses only operated normally on two of our six full days. The weather was probably kinder than average. We arrived in sunshine, and set off in sunshine the next morning to walk to Santa Cruz. Within an hour we were sheltering in the market from the rain. Moral, don't go out without your waterproofs. Overall we had four cloudy days with bright periods/light showers and four fine warm sunny days. We did two coach tours with an inimitable guide Rudi. The tour to the west and the roof of the island is particularly recommended.
These days we don't hire a car if we can help it, and we used local buses. These were good, but run at half frequency on public holidays, which was a nuisance for us. There is an excellent system of official marked trails and we walked a couple of these. What we desperately needed and lacked was a decent detailed map, so that if we missed a trail marker, we could see where we had gone wrong. We can confirm that when members say the island is steep, they really do mean it.
Although the hotel is predominantly used by German tour companies, the guests were about 50:50 English:German when we were there. The problem for Germanophobe members is that Germans and Scandinavians have excellent taste in places and hotels.
The location of the hotel is excellent. Santa Cruz is in easy reach. The transfer time of 10 minutes effectively gives you two extra half days at the resort. Although you are close to the airport, there are too few flights for this to be a problem. We confirm the advice not to pay the £50 transfer. We paid the £23 prebooked taxi transfer since we had not been before, but when we go again, we will just get our own taxi.
La Palma has different priorities, First come bananas, second come the international telescopes, and only then come tourists. This all gives a low key ambience which we loved.

The building itself is very charming, so are the gardens, as mentioned before. Staff is outstandingly friendly and we were very glad with the live music in the evening bar. Our appartment was clean and comfortable with garden view and sight on the large and even not so cold pool. We took half board and must say that by the end of the week we've had it. This is certainly not fine cuisine but with some common sense you can compose yourselve a balanced diet with the salads and fruits provided and given that you do n't eat bacon and eggs every morning. The weather in december was often clouded. We did the test twice and crossed the island (direction Los Llanos) where the sun was shining. The difference in weather between the two sides of the island are spectacular, you can literally see light at the end of the tunnel.
San Jorge is mainly booked through German and British tour operators, with an overwhelming German presence. We noticed that not only the hotel but also the rest of the island is Germanised. Some might like this, we do n't. My T shirt " No soy Alleman" is already ordered.