THE last I heard of Tenerife, Big Bro’s Charley Uchea was being thrown out of a club in Playa de las Americas. If she was the sort of celeb the island attracted nowadays, I was in big trouble, writes LEIGH PURVES.

I visited Tenerife ten years ago on a last-minute deal with some boozed-up pals.

A decade on I vaguely recalled umbrella hats, streets of pubs selling cheap all-day breakfasts and swarms of timeshare sharks.

But a mate told me: “It’s totally changed.

“There are loads of nice bits now.”

I just wanted some relaxing winter sun without going on a long-haul flight, so I decided to give it another go.

The sunny skies and warm air hit me as soon as I touched down after the four-hour flight.

Thinking of everyone shivering back home, I couldn’t help feeling smug as I soaked up the heat and felt the knots in my shoulders untangling.

In under an hour we had arrived at bustling Los Cristianos.

With loads of beaches, shops and attractions close by, it was hard to decide what to do first.

There’s the World Heritage site La Laguna, the old capital of Tenerife, which is packed with architectural spectacles including the cathedral.

Mount Teide, Spain’s highest summit at 12,200ft and Tenerife’s most-visited spot, is perfect for a day trip. You can also hire surf boards for next to nothing and a two-hour lesson is cheap as chips.

The island offers seriously stunning scenery.

We hired a car for three days and our first stop was the village of Candelaria, famous for its fabulous basilica square.

In the village there are cafés offering fresh Spanish food at its finest. Garlic prawns and sizzled squid are always a good bet and the salt-encrusted sea bass is half the price you’d pay back home.

We drove north through Santa Cruz, with its large natural bay and majestic backdrop of the 3,000ft Anaga mountains and stopped for a swim at the beach of Playa de las Teresitas.

We also took a break in Puerto de la Cruz, which has a pretty old town.

The area around the old fishing port is full of cobbled streets and many of the – colonial buildings still stand.

On the road back to Playa de las Americas, I was able to check out the huge cliffs at Los Gigantes and look forward to a much-needed glass of wine on our apartment balcony.

The shopping is great. You can pick up bargains in the perfumeries and I grabbed a few nifty clothes items in both Zara and Mango – at a fraction of the price I’d pay here.

When it comes to eating in Tenerife the best doesn’t necessarily mean the most expensive.

I found dining at top-notch eaterie Garibaldi disappointing. My steak was cooked to perfection but the staff were indifferent, got the order wrong and it was way overpriced.

In Playa de las Americas, however, Sugar And Spices serving fresh Italian food at its finest was my favourite, while Deep Blue was excellent both in service and the variety of the menu.

When it came to bars, I spent most of my time at the Buda Bar. With its cool tunes and chilled atmosphere, it isn’t hard to see why the Buda Bar stands out. A few white wines later and chatting to the owner Maulo, I decided Tenerife wasn’t so bad after all.

Harry’s Bar is where most stop off for a cheeky cocktail and I would strongly recommend popping into the Monkey Beach Club.

A new venue, it’s a fusion of café meets restaurant meets late-night bar and even offers regular well-known DJs with free tai chi and yoga classes in its setting overlooking the sea.

If you’re not fussed about the beach, there are some beautiful hotel pools to relax by in Tenerife.

Most, for a fee of a few euros, let non-residents in and I took a pit-stop by the tropical paradise of a pool at the plush Hotel Jardin near Puerto Colon.

If you think Tenerife is still full of teenage lager louts flashing their bits, then you obviously haven’t been there for a decade.

Give it another go, like I did  and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.