Royal Hideaway Corales Resort, Tenerife

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While Tenerife has long been known as a party island, it has far more to it than that. In fact, along the Costa Adeje, away from the crazy strip of Playa de las Américas, you’ll find a luxury enclave of high-end hotels along with sophisticated restaurants that wouldn’t be out of place in any major city.

The Royal Hideaway Corales Resort cuts a commanding figure among them. Shaped like a sleek futuristic cruise ship, it’s home to the family-friendly Royal Hideaway Corales Suites and the adults-only Royal Hideaway Corales Beach. They’re linked by various paths through the grounds, along which you’ll find boutiques, restaurants, and a wall of chef jackets signed by guest chefs through the years. At the Corales Suites end, you begin your journey in a vast cave reception – a Bond-like lair, hewn out of volcanic rock.

It was later than planned when we arrived (thanks to a drunken stag do on our flight and having to wait for the civil guard to be called). We were hungry and went straight to dinner at the hotel’s NAO eatery, which has a mix of buffet style options and live cooking. Admittedly, I’m not a fan of the buffet format if it’s not breakfast, but here it is taken to a whole new level – on our visit, local charcuterie and cheeses artfully laid out and several seasonal dishes cooked to order – I had a delicious piece of hake. With the tension of the flight melting away, I watched the sun set, enjoyed the relaxed dinner, then headed up to my suite.

The rooms are calm, tranquil spaces: pale wood, whites and creams. They are big, with a seating area, freestanding bath, plus a separate shower. Outside, a generous balcony with chairs and loungers looks out over the chalky rooftops of La Caleta harbour and to the sea beyond.

I was excited by the prospect of breakfast at NAO, having seen what the quality was like at dinner, and it didn’t disappoint. Baskets loaded with freshly baked carb heaven, fruits, cured meats, an omelette station, freshly pressed smoothies, and all executed with meticulous attention to detail: smoked butter, anyone?

Afterwards, we drove to nearby Puerto Colón to take a yacht trip along the coast. Unlike many of the big tourist boats, Blue Jack Sail is designed for a quieter experience and smaller numbers, with private charters and group trips of just 12. We spent a delightful few hours at sea, stopping for a swim, and then watching pilot whales close by.

For lunch, we headed to La Calabacera – an organic plantation run by the impressive Dulce Acevedo, who inherited the farm at a young age, and not only supplies the area’s top restaurants but has also diversified with the rows of banana plants providing a unique setting for weddings and events. Under the palms, she has planted other crops that thrive in their shade – chard, kohlrabi, parsley, basil.

We were invited into Dulce’s outdoor kitchen. Pans hang from the walls, there are pickle jars covering every available surface, and, save for two vast steel vats for making wine, it feels much like it might have done a century ago. Guest chefs came to cook for our press group, serving us tender beef with a red wine sauce and a sweet pop of apple slices. Dulce sliced up some of the kohlrabi she had just picked. It doesn’t get fresher. We greedily dipped our hunks of bread into the spritely olive oil made on the farm, and a delicious crisp white wine made from the Marmajuelo grape, a variety native to the Canary Islands.

Later, we tasted some of the seasonal, local produce in the eight-course vegetarian Garden Menu back at the hotel’s Starfish restaurant. Highlights included aubergine with black garlic sauce and beetroot with smoked yoghurt. At €65, it seemed like excellent value for this level of cooking.

We spent a very lazy Sunday at the spa. It’s a stunning space surrounded by black lava stone and pops of jade-coloured ferns, and is home to a small pool, steam room, sauna and a cold plunge. The spa pool is lovely indeed, but in a resort of four pools, it wasn’t my favourite. The rooftop infinity pool drew me back several times – it’s a decent length to get in some laps and has a stunning view of the sea and La Caleta below. On the other side, the cragged volcanoes wait for the clouds to lift. When they do, it reveals their jagged outlines and striations running like battle scars across their surface.

Later, we tried cocktails made from zero waste ingredients, with banana and pineapple skins used ingeniously in cocktails named after aspects of the Canary Islands. Dinner was at Il Bocconcino, the resort’s one Michelin-starred Italian restaurant. Dish after dish impressed – a particular standout was the classic carbonara, elevated: wide tubes of pasta coated in silky egg yolk and topped with crispy morsels of cured pork cheek.

What is particularly appealing about the Corales is that it doesn’t feel like it is shut off from the locality, like some high-end resorts. It’s private and yet you can walk down to La Caleta in five minutes. On a Sunday afternoon, the harbour was filled with locals picnicking on the rocks, or sitting out on the terraces of the seafood restaurants for sea bream, gambas and mussels.

And for food lovers, the Corales offers the best of all worlds: local seafood restaurants a stroll away while four Michelin stars shine brightly across the resort: the Corales claims the title of “the hotel with the most Michelin stars in Spain”. Next time, El Rincón de Juan Carlos, with its two stars, and one-starred San-Hô are top of my list.

From €400 per night for 2 adults, B&B

Royal Hideaway Corales Resort