canarian splendour

Set in a hillside, the Gran Hotel Bahia del Duque (pictured right), Adeje, south Tenerife, is nearing completion. It comprises 19 buildings designed by architect Andres Pineiro to reflect a turn-of-the-century Canarian-style village.

All the buildings, decorated in tones of ochre, sienna, salmon and white, are imitations of Gran Canarian houses, with some Victorian and Venetian influences.

Four of the 19 houses are known as "Las Casas Ducales" (the manor houses) which add extra luxury with their own private breakfast room, butler service and reception desk.

The interior section of the hotel was designed by Rosy Zamorano, who toured Morocco and the Philippines to find plant pots, lamp bases, antiques, pictures and furniture, spending a total of Pta400m (around £2m) to decorate every corner of the hotel.

Zamorano wanted to create a feeling of "being in your own home", so technology is tucked away - as are the staff, who move around in three underground passages.

The 362 rooms, mostly with their own balcony, sea view and spacious bathroom, are furnished differently.

Some of the rooms are richly decorated with heavy drapes and upholstery, while a fresher look has been created in others with typical Spanish tiles, lighter fabrics and ornamental plaster-work.

The main reception building is designed to feel like a garden, with a high ceiling emphasised by palm trees, wrought iron stairs and railings, Philippine cane furniture, and marble floors which came from both Portugal and Tenerife.