Lying in my balcony jacuzzi watching the early evening sun bathe dramatic volcanic cliffs in orange light, it seemed a long way from the image of tacky Tenerife.

The Canary Island has a reputation for cheap package breaks and English theme pubs akin to the Costa Del Sol, but that appears to be changing.

Staying in the new Palacio de Isora hotel, I suspected it would be like any other seaside 5-star resort, with copycat pools and characterless rooms. But this was far from usual.

I stayed in the 'Red Level', a 53-room section of hotel that is for adults only and benefits from top level service.

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The large balcony jacuzzi that was filled as a welcome by my private butler, a separate lobby and pool are among the added extras.

The 'palace' hotel was designed by Spanish architect Alvaro Sans. The main reception looks down over a grand central atrium, with views across the Atlantic to the island La Gomera and brilliant fountains that provide a light show at night. This and the rest of the tastefully landscaped are littered with sculptures.

On our first night we ate at the showpiece Calima restaurant, one of five on the site. It is overseen and the menu devised by Danny Garcia, the holder of two Michelin stars for his Calima restaurant in Andalusia. A tasting menu of six courses included some extraordinary concoctions.

The most unusual combinations worked on each of the excellent courses, foie gras and strong goats cheese would have been too rich but for the sweet caramelised green apple sauce, what looked like a glazed tomato was filled with a light airy substance that tasted of red peppers, a gently boiled egg hidden in a potato puree oozed beautifully into the surrounding red mojo and fruits, while the dessert was a divine white chocolate 'moon'.

The hotel site is surrounded by banana plantations, the main crop of the south of the island, which is drier and sunnier than the north with average temperatures of 22 degrees celsius

Those huge cliffs that I could see from my room are Los Gigantes ("The Giants"). A closer look reveals the magnitude of the structures that were thrust more than 500 metres out of the sea out of the sea by volcanic activity.

The volcanoes that created the Canaries also forged a trench between La Gomera and Tenerife that plunges 2800 metres down from the surface, and make them an ideal place for whale and dolphin-spotting.

We set off on the Lady Shelley and our host, Marco, explained the need to be considerate to the sea dwellers by not getting too close or using artificial calls to tease and confuse the dolphins as some less scrupulous operators might.

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