My mother and I stayed here for five nights. On arrival the room was not ready that was fine as we were early so we were directed to the bar to have a drink. My mother ordered tea, it was weak and with a dash of milk looked white! she said it was awful, i had a sparking water and the two drinks were just less then €5

The room I had booked a one bedroom apartment with sea view. We were upgraded to a two bedroom apartment which was lovely. I had requested near the lift because my mother has mobility problems, she has a stick to walk with. The apartment 711 was the same level as reception. The living area had a large round marble table with five chairs, the kitchenette spotless clean with a microwave, full size fridge with a freezer compartment, plates, cooking pots, etc. there was also a settee, which could convert into a bed and 2 chairs. There was a large balcony with a large table and 4 chairs. The tv picture was good! The tv is old style. The master bedroom king size bed was hard so I asked for a blanket under the sheet much more comfortable. From the window was a partial sea view. The ensuite bathroom was very large with a full,sized bath and 2 wash basins. There is an indoor clothes line there too. Shampoo and bath gel provided daily. The other bedroom had 2 single beds with a partial sea view from the window, again had its own bathroom smaller then the other but all the same a good size the bath was full length. The hotel can provide some meals for the microwave.

Breakfast was ok a reasonable selection of fresh and tinned fruit, hot breakfast, bread, rolls, cheese, meat, etc. we only had dinner on one night and it was terrible. I do not eat meat, but do eat fish, but for vegetarians the meal would be quite poor. The tropical buffet €32.50 per person plus drinks. Well the soup was supposed to be curried chicken mum said it looked like dish water, with the odd bit of chicken and no seasoning and definitely not curried. The hot food was a mixture of hot, and also cold...despite going to the buffet when it opened. Deserts were a hoot. Only 4to choose from, apple pie, passion fruit Pudding creme caramel or ice cream. As for the cheese and biscuits...well biscuits yes but no cheese and when I asked was told none left.! ....

One evening my mother had a Jamaican coffee. The glass was less then half full including the cream,. What a rip off. I did a letter of complaint to the hotel manager and on the day before we were due to leave we spoke with him regarding our letter. He gave us a bottle of water and a,basket of fruit as apologies.

It was my mothers birthday whilst there and I was most surprised the hotel did not acknowledge
It, we have stayed at various hotels on the island and when it's your birthday you usually get something like flowers, bowl of fruit, Madeiras wine, etc.

The hotel runs a shuttle bus to the centre of Funchal but you must book it, we did not use, as I have a regular driver I use when on the island, I have known Celestino for many years and he does not rip his clients off with the fares. If you are coming to the island and need to book a taxi fro the airport he is very good, I also ring him when I am here to take us to where we want to go.

There is free wifi but only in the reception area, it's like iPad land there!

The hotel has nice gardens, with seating in them, ponds with koi, 2 outdoor pools, an indoor pool, a jacuzzi, but the jacuzzi was freezing cold and I complained to the health centre person and she tested the water and said there is a problem and would get it sorted. In the time we were there the jacuzzi was unusable due to the fact it was cold. The indoor pool was fine. I did not use the sauna or massage treatments so can notcomment on those.

The situation of the hotel is about 6km from the centre of Funchal. To leave the hotel is a steep driveway. You can get buses into the town a few minutes walk from the hotel. You can pay on the bus, or buy a giro recharage bus card which you swipe. You buy the card at the newsagents.

Shopping if you are active out the hotel at the front turn right walk straight and in 15 minutes you will find the forum shopping centre. A taxi to here is about €4. At the front of the forum you see steps, but if you walk pass the shops on the level there are the escalators. Need the lift walk as far back as you can and there is a corridor go along it and you find the lifts. Restaurants 2nd floor and supermarket lower ground.

Would I stay at this hotel again, yes because it was relaxing, but I would not have dinner there.

I used to live in Funchal so if you need help with the location of hotels please ask, from the regency I moved to Porto Santa Maria in the town, there will be a review on this one too. I travelled with my mother so have marked it as family

It's a GREAT Madeira Hotel, near Funchal (5 minutes by car) and all the ambiance is fabulous!
The room is very bigggg!!! and the Atlantic Ocean view, amazing!
A very clean Hotel, a fantastic warm and cold buffet breakfast and quiet as I like! The bar is very nice and offers, in the evening, a kind of Madeira folklore show with all these very colourful dresses and lovely music! Really great experience! And the food....mmmmmm
They have a huge outdoor pool and a nice inside pool and Jacuzzi!

My husband and I stayed here quite a few years ago (Aug 2011) in a studio apartment, the room was large and had everything we needed. I'd definitely recommend getting a room on the inside of the hotel as our balcony over looked the sea and hotel pools, it was very pretty. The hotel is quite grand, it's been kept well and is very clean with good pools (2x outdoor and 1x indoor).

They put on entertainment throughout the week, a couple of dance shows by the pool, a bar singer and dinner poolside at sunset. We really enjoyed the sunset dinner, it was very romantic.
We attended one dance show and found it very funny, the others we watched from our balcony and were equally entertained.

The busiest pool was the large outdoor one as it has a bar in it. We spent several days sat around the pool and at the bar, it was so relaxing. If you didn't mind sitting near the smaller outdoor pool and walking to the bar then there was always plenty of space and loungers available.

It is a quiet hotel which is perfect when you want a relaxing stay without any groups of kids or binge drinkers.

The hotel provides a bus into and out of town as it is quite a trek - we did it once and it was too hot to be walking that far.

If you want a chilled holiday in good weather then i'd recommend this hotel and location.

My Husband and I stayed there with my Parents a few years ago and found the food and Staff excellent. So much so that we have just made enquiries to stay there again. The excellent Pianist, Adrian, is still there. Adrian is from the UK so go up and say hello when you stay. He has lived in Madeira for quite a few years now and is a mine of information. There was so much to see and do that we did not use the pool but the food is excellent. We asked to change our room so that we had a balcony that had the sun in the afternoon as I am disabled and need a sleep in the afternoon and my Husband sits on the balcony. No problem. We hired a car and found some nice restaurants on the outskirts of Funchal for lunch. We are going back - look out for us Adrian, looking forward to seeing you again.