Hotel & Spa la Residencia Puerto

We booked two double sea view rooms for ourselves and two adult sons. Nice balconies with views of the harbour and ferry port but over the road so didn't use the balcony too much. I think the Residencia appartments at the other end of Tarifa beyond the castle have much better views of the sea. The rooms were nice with good bathrooms and cleaned everyday. The mini bar was filled with about 8 drinks and some snacks which were provided free of charge, though you had to pay for a refill. The only negative about the room was that both ourselves and our sons had some nice thick towels that were clean but had some significant stains which had to be replaced on a couple of occasions. For a hotel with ~50 rooms the buffet breakfast was excellent and varied with hot options such as fried eggs, scrambled eggs, bacon. Plenty of pastries, bread, cheese, hams, yoghurts etc as well as lovely fresh orange juice. There was water at the reception, along with salted popcorn and each guest could have a natural flavoured ice cream lolly pop each day. Staff were friendly and helpful. Really good idea to book a place in the garage which was a reasonable price per night. The rooftop pool is not enormous but large enough and they have ~ 11 sun loungers, which were not fully occupied the times we used it apart from early on a Friday evening. Great views from the rooftop pool which also has a bar in the afternoon/evening. The hotel is on the harbour and just 5 minutes walk to the main town. I would recommend a trip to Tangier which takes just over 1 hour from Taifa and the place of embarquement for the ferry is just 5 minutes walk from the hotel. There was an FRS/DFDS ferry office ~ 100 m from the hotel which sold return ferry tickets to Tangier including a guide with a group for just a few €s more than we paid for just the return ferry on-line. The hotel also has a wellness centre which is exceptionally good and equivalent to those of a large hotel. Since we stayed for 7 nights we were offered one complementary visit each which was really nice, though I am not sure I would pay € 25 each for a session unless the weather was really bad outside. All in all to be recommended , the courtyard facing rooms looked nice so the additional price for the rooms with a view of the harbour probably not worth it.

Great hotel with fab location for views across the harbour and to Morocco beyond. Comfy beds and pleasant, airy rooms. Nice touch with 'free' initial mini-bar. Fantastic breakfast with genuinely helpful staff. Always a warm greeting from reception staff too. Highly recommend.

We spent five nights here and were really impressed with the staff as nothing was too much trouble. They were always attentive, polite and helpful at all times. The rooms and public areas are really clean, spacious and well-appointed and the bed comfortable. We had a room which looked in on the courtyard which meant it was cooler and considering the days were warm in June, was a welcome relief. Breakfast is really good and probably one of the best buffet choices I’ve seen in a while and tasty. Plenty of space for guests so never had a problem getting a table when we came down. The location is excellent – literally 10 minutes tops from the small and beautiful town and less from the marina where you can get a high speed crossing to Tangier. The restaurants and bars in town were really good value so we ventured out each night to eat as it was great to soak up the atmosphere. We had a hire car and there is a fee for each day of your stay. The car park is a little tight when manoeuvring the levels so be aware if you have a large vehicle. The rooftop pool was a really nice addition and had great views. The only issue being a lot of people wanted to use it and space is limited but if can get a bed, it’s a great space to soak up the sun and have a drink. We were able to check out and pay the night before as we had to leave at 6am which was no problem at all. The hotel even gave up a packed breakfast to take with us which was a really nice touch. If we find ourselves back in Tarifa, we would stay here again.

The hotel is wonderful but the staff are just amazing. Nothing is too much trouble, they assist at every turn. I am disabled, room was great but bed a little low for me - can you believe they raised the bed on blocks whilst we were out to dinner. Six stars are due if I could give them! Thank you to all