There is no mistaking that Tenerife is an arid island – all volcanic peaks, lava and beaches covered mostly in black sand. You would be hard pressed, though, to notice this when staying at Bahia del Duque, the 5 hotel on the island's south-west coast. There are endless pools (I lost count but you can choose between heated or not, sea water or fresh) and ponds, lakes, fountains, streams (with black swans and massive koi carp) all linked with the lushest vegetation. There are dates palms and olives, cacti and rampant bougainvillea. Everywhere you seem to hear the sound of water mostly those plashing fountains but also, at times, the sound of the waves on the beach (not black here but the imported, golden kind). I say Bahia del Duque (literally the Bay of the Duke) is a hotel but really it's more like an entire village. The architecture is pleasingly Spanish colonial with steeply pitched tiled Canarian rooftops. It's painted in ochres and creams, pinks and russets and fe